Who is Like You Israel?
I just wanted to take a moment to talk about my trip to Israel. It really was an amazing trip. I got so much out of this trip. I really love it there. I saw the greatest people there. Me K'Amcha Yisroel?! I was on my way out of Jerusalem for Shabbos (the one before the 9th of Av) in a van, and there were some girls getting dropped off on the way. They weren't quite dressed decently, tank tops, shorts, metallic objects coming out of their faces. But on their way out of the van, they wished the driver an easy fast and a good Shabbos. Wow. Only G-d's People are like this.
The disengagement was another example of this. While the disengagement was abolutely the wrong thing for the government to have done - it was certainly an example of the greatness of the Jewish People. There was no fighting, just extreme sadness. Settlers were crying, along with the soldiers. No matter what side, it was just sad.
I was returning the rental car at the airport, and the fellow from the car rental place Amnon was driving me to the terminal. I was wearing my Gush Katif shirt as a statement on my way out of the country. Amnon was such a nice guy. We were talking about the disengagement (probably because of the shirt). He said that he was against it, but that the whole event could be summed up with three letters...S...A...D -- it was just sad (his words). He said that he was crying, his brother said that he was crying and their grandmother was crying.
A girl who I met on the way into New York from London, an Israeli, said that she was friends with some of the soldiers who had to take part, and she said that they were crying on the phone with her.
There's a respect for each other here. The settlers respect the army, and the army respects what the settlers had built there and their sacrifices. There was a mutual respect for each other and what each had to do.
There was so much to be learned this summer. I'm thankful to HaShem that I was able to recognize the greatness of the Jewish People as one of the lessons that I learned.
Comments
Was any sadness or tears left over for the ongoing plight of the Palestinians, downtrodden by those same people of G-d whose lack of empathy is all the more disheartening given their own long history of suffering oppression?
Ah, but that wouldn't fit on a T-shirt.
Posted by: Joseph | August 26, 2005 3:28 AM
Ahhh, there's so much to say to this.
First of all, Israel tried to build those poor "Palestinians" proper housing in Gaza but UNRWA (thank you United Nations) refused to let Israel do such a thing because it might have affected the "Palestinians" right of return.
Second, there were no Arab settlements in those areas of the Gaza Strip.
Third, if the Arabs of the world would show half as much concern for their cousins as we do for our fellow Jews there would be no Jewish-Muslim problem in the Middle East. Why? Because when the Arab countries decided to throw out their Jews, Israel took them in with no questions asked. Here we have an Arab created situation, and it is more expedient for them to leave these people in camps to be a thorn in Israel's side rather than actually resettle them in their own countries. But of course, Israel would never throw the Arabs out, and the Arab countries have no interest in taking them in (or taking care of them at all with any of their billions of oil dollars). Thank G-d the Jewish People are more merciful than any other people even though we are sometime misguided in our mercy to those who want to murder us.
Posted by: Shira | August 28, 2005 10:50 AM
Ignoring the fact that the Palestinians' "long history" is a creation from imagination and a spit in the torrential downpour of Jewish history, it should be noted that many Arabs would rather live under Israeli rule rather than Arab rule. This is because the Israelis not only provide them with food, shelter, and necessities like shopping and education, but they also make sure their civil rights are in tact (for men, women, and gays - unlike in Muslim countries).
Further, I have a simple question that Arabs have so far been unable to answer. Why is it that 1.5 million Arabs can live in peace in Israel's 5 million+ Jews, but Arabs in Gaza (and other smaller cities, e.g. Hebron) cannot stand to have even one Jew living among them? Who's committing apartheid? Not the Jewish people.
I agree with the misguided comment, but the case is - if more people were as giving as the Jewish people, the world would be a better place.
Posted by: Talya | August 31, 2005 12:14 AM