I was hoping to spend a few minutes before Shabbos writing a post about more positive things but since the Gush Katif saga has caused a lot of comment in this blog (many I suspect from the same persons) I feel that I have to make a few comments of my own.
The original article and many, many comments is here.
I was forwarded an email from the chairman of Australian Friends of Gush Katif & Shomron, Moshe Elkman. He expresses what he sees as the positive aspects of the rally to be held on 19 July but also warns against negative actions that some have commented on here.
In the interest of fairness I will add the email to the first comment after this post.
Some interesting comments were made by Jake in Jerusalem regarding this topic. Jake is known by many people in Melbourne as he lived here for a number of years. He also spent many years in America and has lived in Israel in the past and is living there again. Jake is knowledgeable about Israeli (and US and Australian) politics and has, in my opinion, a level headed attitude. I suggest that you read his post which I believe summarises the problem well.
Another correspondent, "Millhouse", another ex-Melburnian living in New York, who is also known for his action on behalf of Israel, is also against the disengagement. A couple of his points are:
- Demos in Melbourne won't stop the expulsion. The only purpose can be to arouse public sympathy, which might translate into pressure from the general community on the Israeli government. Except that Sharon doesn't care what anyone thinks, he never has.
- The Lubavitcher Rebbe was against public demos against the USSR. I am not aware of his ever having commented on demos against Israel. The reason he gave for opposing demos against the USSR was that every time there was a demo, the government retaliated against the Jews, vehatzel lo hitzalta et amecha - nothing positive was achieved. Others, with access to much the same information, saw things differently. The whole analysis doesn't really apply to the current situation. I don't see how demos in Melbourne can really help, but I'm even more certain that they can't hurt the situation in Israel (how they affect community relations in Melbourne is another matter).
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