A history of the struggle for Israel (ISRAEL HAYOM OP-ED) Dr. Haim Shine 04/08/12)
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=1695
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The house near the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, purchased at
full price, has been evacuated. The forefathers will have to wait
until the Judea and Samaria Civil Administration allows new neighbors
to move in next to them. The forefathers waited two thousand years;
they can wait a bit longer.
Not a day has passed since the evacuation and the Grad rocket shot
from the Sinai Peninsula into Eilat that we are not reminded that the
true battle is over the entire Land of Israel. It does not end with
the house in Hebron, which has already earned the nickname "the
disputed house." Indeed, the story of this house is the story of all
Israel, which since Jews began returning to it in the second half of
the 19th century, has been a "disputed house."
In fact, the state of Israel is independent, strong and prosperous,
and in a constant state of dispute. Every person who knows world
history knows that Jews, for thousands of years, have been a nation
of dispute. Thus it is no wonder that after we read the Book of
Esther each year, describing our salvation from Haman, we
bless: "Blessed be Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who
hast taken up our quarrels, who hast judged our judgments, who hast
taken revenge for us" (Babylonian Talmud, Megillah Tractate, Ch. 3,
pg. 21).
Alleged breaches of public order have accompanied the Jews for
generations. One might argue that in practice, wherever Jews have
lived, they were a threat to public order. Even these days, residents
of central Tel Aviv violate the global public order. It is a fact
that many people around the world are convinced that if Tel Aviv did
not exist, the Iranians would not need a nuclear bomb and therefore
world oil prices would be remarkably cheap. There is no difference
between the luxurious towers in the city and the disputed house in
Hebron.
The Jewish return to Zion after two thousand years of exile radically
changed history. Such a phenomenon had no precedent in human history.
Israelis carried out a swift revival of Hebrew, a dead language,
renewing the days of glory from before the Diaspora. In Israel, the
Jews have built a magnificent military and a reputable scientific
establishment. All of these efforts were made so that Jews would no
longer be a public nuisance in countries around the world.
With the story of the disputed house in Hebron, it is hard to hear
the claim of endangering public order from the Civil Administration,
which is subordinate to Israel´s security establishment. Indeed, one
who cannot impose civil order in a place where Jews buy land and
houses legally cannot possibly protect the Jews´ right to live in
Jerusalem.
Most of Hebron´s Arab residents have accepted the fact that Jews live
alongside and amongst them. Once they internalized the fact that Jews
will not allow another massacre in Hebron, as was the case during the
1929 riots, they came to the correct conclusion that the reality of
life is stronger than any unrestrained incitement. This is a fact
that the State Prosecutor´s office and the Civil Administration have
yet to understand: the people of Israel have returned to Judea and
Samaria forever to build and be rebuilt.
The struggle over the disputed house is not between the Jewish
settlers and the so-called Palestinians in Hebron. It is an internal
struggle between the Jewish majority in Israel, connected to their
national heritage, and a minority group that believes it can change
the course of Jewish history. This minority wants only a small
country, within the 1967 borders, a pet to a cruel and alienated
world.
Passover is the holiday of freedom; a noble expression of our desire
for freedom and liberation from the yoke of foreigners. Hopefully,
this Passover, we will again be released from the yoke of slavery and
bondage that we place on ourselves, due to humility and a sense of
national inferiority.
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