August 1, 2007
Israel Office
SHATIL
Message From Larry Garber
In 1974, when I was a student at the Hebrew University, I would occasionally visit friends studying at a yeshiva in Gush Etzion, 20 minutes south of Jerusalem. In those more innocent times, I did not consider the political implications of my travels beyond the Green Line.
During subsequent visits to Israel over the next 30 years, I consciously sought to avoid traveling to settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. My rationale was political, although adhering to principle was simplified by the realities of my social circles, which did not include many Israelis living beyond the Green Line. And, for the five years that I was posted in Israel as a US Government official, there was an implicit diplomatic discouragement of my spending time in the settlements.
Last month, a colleague suggested that I join the NIF study tour on the day that they visited Ofra, a West Bank settlement near Ramallah. I hesitated at first, but soon realized that I could not sanction the visit as part of a NIF activity, but decline to participate personally.
Despite my misgivings, I was wise to have joined. I did not necessarily learn anything specifically new from our host, Yisrael Harel, formerly the head of the West Bank/Gaza Settlements Council; indeed, I have long appreciated reading Harel’s weekly column in Haaretz, even as I often disagree with his views. Rather, observing the normalcy of middle class life in Ofra reminded me of the profound challenges that Israel will face when, to save the country’s democracy from the harmful consequences of the continued occupation of the West Bank, the Government orders the evacuation of long-standing settlements such as Ofra.
I appreciate that it is easier and intellectually more satisfying to refer to the settlements as illegal and to assume that a strong Israeli leader, perhaps reinforced by pressure from a determined US president, can simply wish away the effects of a 40-year policy to settle the West Bank. Sadly and realistically, there are too many facts on the ground. Thus, those who care about the future of Israeli democracy must consider not only the demographic threat posed by the continued occupation, but also the consequences of a disillusioned, angry and armed population of settlers who, at the appropriate time, must be evacuated from their homes in the West Bank.
A recent production, Motti Lerner’s Pangs of the Messiah emphasized these points. The play, which was written in 1986(!) and updated for its English language premier at Theater J in Washington, DC, describes the divisions that result within the settler community as they contemplate a response to a peace treaty requiring their evacuation. The play’s tragic ending is a prophecy we ignore at our peril.
In this week’s NIF News, we report on proposed new legislation in the Knesset which would require JNF land to be sold to “Jews only,” and the fierce opposition to the racist nature of the legislation. We also report on a ruling by the Supreme Court to dismantle immediately a 41-kilometer wall in the West Bank following a petition by a NIF grantee. SHATIL highlights a conference marking the one-year anniversary of the second Lebanon War and a day at the Knesset focusing on the Bedouin. |
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