In the wake of recent confrontations between the Israel Defense Forces and residents of Yitzhar, I’ve been asked: “What are the red lines beyond which the settlement movement will not go in defending its position?”
The answer is straightforward: Our red line is lifting a hand in violence against another Jew — whether it be a soldier, policeman or anyone else. Our red line is calling on soldiers to disobey orders.
Those are our red lines.
So how are we responding to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s bulldozing tactics, which have destroyed any legitimacy his plans might have held?
We’ve set up a protest camp near the Prime Minister’s Office. It’s the centerpiece of a determined opposition against Sharon’s immoral transfer plan.
Our demand is that the citizens of Israel decide what to do about the disengagement plan, that it be put to a democratic vote — either by means of a referendum, or through national elections.
The camp will close up only when this goal has been accomplished.
Given the opportunity to speak with the citizens of Israel to clarify the issues, we have no doubt that the majority will vote against disengagement. Moves critical to Israel’s future that threaten the very fabric of society should only be taken with the clear approval of a majority of Israelis.
Were anyone to suggest a transfer of Arabs from the tiniest of villages for the most important of security reasons, there would be an immense outcry, shaking the very heavens.
But those who consider themselves the guardians of human rights seem to exempt Jews in Judea, Samaria and Gaza from their patronage.
I’ve called the Evacuation and Compensation Law immoral. Let me explain why.
This draconian law was pushed through the Knesset using Stalin-like methods. It provides for refusing compensation to any Jews who protest being uprooted from their homes; it calls for three years’ imprisonment for anyone who remains in his or her home once the evacuation call has been made.
This law is immoral, first and foremost, because it attempts to legalize a crime that should never be repeated: the expulsion of Jews from their homes.
It is part of the Israeli tragedy that not one member of the left has risen up to protest against this shocking infringement of human rights, who has shouted, “Yes, I am in favor of disengagement, but not in this undemocratic manner.”
Were such a cry to be heard, it might help prevent the upcoming upheaval in the very firmament of our society.
It is against this irresponsible disregard for human rights that I have called for civil disobedience. Many thousands, throughout Israel and abroad, Jews and non-Jews, have expressed solidarity and support. Thousands in Israel have already pledged their commitment to the Council of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. They have pledged to physically and determinedly resist any attempt to evacuate Jews from Gush Katif or Northern Samaria — and pay the price of going to jail for their resistance.
Only in this way, it seems, will the government comprehend the gravity of its actions.
I have no qualms about going to jail for the sake of this pivotal issue in our people’s history. Furthermore, it is my fervent prayer that the huge response I’ve received will manifest itself further in a similar decision among those who, in their hearts, believe in the rightness of our cause.
It is not by accident that I refrain from calling on soldiers to disobey orders in this matter.
I recognize such action would be too heavy a price to exact from Israeli
society.
Still, it is over-simplistic to believe that my instructions, or the instructions of the Yesha Council, can be the deciding factor in the minds of young men and women serving in the Israel Defense Forces.
It is their conscience, and their conscience alone, which we will see play out should they be called upon to force Jews from their homes.
It is my opinion that thousands of soldiers will not find it within themselves to be partners in this endeavor. The damage Sharon and his government will have inflicted on Israeli society by placing them in this untenable position will require decades to repair.
Nonviolent civil protest against immoral actions on the part of our government is the democratic right of all those privileged enough to live in a democratic country. It is this right that I fully intend to exercise. And I will continue in my call for others to take their place by my side.
One thing, and one thing alone, can prevent mass arrests, a crippling of the IDF and divisive chaos within Israeli society: letting the people decide.
Should the majority of the citizens of Israel decide on unilateral withdrawal — without an agreement between Israel and its Arab foes in sight, without any pretense of peace — we will protest in order to provide history with that essential, educational tool; but the entire nature of the protest will be different.
Pinchas Wallerstein is chairman of the Binyamin Regional Council and a leader of The Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. This column previously appeared in The Jerusalem Post.
TWO VIEWS:
Militant right-wingers taking an anti-Zionist, anti-democratic stance