הפעם לדוברי אנגלית בלבד English Speakers Only

Tue Feb 5 09:01:54 PST 2008

* unsubscribe info -- see below *
 *רוצה להימחק מרשימת התפוצה? ראה בסוף*
*באופן חריג המייל הזה מופיע באנגלית בלבד בגלל הנושא, דוברת עברית להתראות
בפעם הבאה*
**

*WHAT RABBI WEINREB DOES NOT KNOW...*

****

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, the chief non-honorary officer of the largest
Orthodox Jewish group in the USA (the OU - Orthodox Union), recently gave a
revealing interview shedding light on his organization's policies toward
Israel: *www.jewishactivistnetwork.com*

The OU's Israel policies first became an issue when the OU failed to come
out against the unprecedented  forced deportation of the 9000 Jews of Gush
Katif.  These policies remain a central issue because if the OU and like
bodies maintain them, the joint US-Israel plan to establish an Islamist
terror state a mere bike ride away from Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, and Ben-Gurion
airport, is practically assured.  *It is urgent for all of us to convince
Rabbi Weinreb and his like-minded colleagues to rethink these policies
quickly. It seems they have not yet internalized that  the following
political chain is going to determine whether Israel is still here in  5
years time:*

**

* Israel's continued survival depends -- among other factors -- on its
ability to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea and
Samaria.  This is because this Palestinian state will be a terror state, of
course, located just a bike-ride away from Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, and Israel's
sole international airport.   It will be yet a fourth major threat on Israel
-- in addition to Gaza in the South, Hizbullah in the North, and nuclear
Iran. But it will be far more serious than either Gaza's threat on the
southern town of Sderot or Hizbullah's threat to Israel's northern towns
during the Second Lebanon War: Protecting thousands of people in Israel's
sparsely populated South and North from bombardment has been a terrible
financial drain, but protecting *millions* in Israel's densely populated
central region  which is right next to the planned Palestinian state is
simply unaffordable. *This is why a Palestinian state is an existential risk
for Israel.*  If this were not enough, the new terror state -- as recently
acknowledged by Tony Blair -- is also expected to rain rockets onto
Ben-Gurion airport. And since Israel is isolated from all surrounding
states,  her economy is totally dependent on that airport.

* Preventing the establishment of the proposed new terror state requires
Israel to rapidly persuade the American administration not to support
establishment of such a state.

* Israel desperately needs the OU and similar American Jewish organizations
to urge Washington and Congress not to support establishment of the
Palestinian terror state. These organizations' involvement in fact counts
two-fold -- because the level of American Jewish opposition to a Palestinian
state is the upper bound for the level of involvement of the powerful
neo-Conservative and evangelical camps.

The heart of the American Jewish (wo)man in the street, by the way, is in
the right place: the 2007 AJC poll of American Jews clearly showed that
there is no longer a majority supporting Palestinian statehood.  *The
problem is at the leadership level*.  So, this brings us directly to the
Orthodox Union and to  Rabbi Weinreb who, within the OU, is supposed to be
leading the struggle against establishment of a new Palestinian terror
state.  Why then is he not doing so?

Here is an analysis of the 4 arguments which Rabbi Weinreb uses in the
interview to justify NOT taking part in the struggle to prevent
establishment of a Palestinian terror state:

1. "Jerusalem is enough...."

The OU (like haredi Agudath Israel) has taken an explicit position against
dividing Jerusalem.  That ought to be enough, says Rabbi Weinreb.  But a
Palestinian state is also on the table--not just Jerusalem.  Forcible
deportation of 80,000 Jews, termed a crime against humanity by Nobel Prize
laureate Prof. Israel Aumann -- is also on the table--not just Jerusalem.  Can
6 million Israeli Jews all squeeze into a single city--Jerusalem--if the
Palestinian state idea explodes onto all of Israel's big cities as the Gaza
idea has exploded all over Sderot?  If not, then how can the OU speak out *
only* about Jerusalem, implying that the rest of the Annapolis deal
-- chiefly the notion of a new Palestinian terror state -- is OK?

b. "The democratic process in Israel is enough..."

Rabbi Weinreb insists that defeating the proposal to establish a new
terrorist state just a bike-ride away from Israel's population centers
should be dealt with through the democratic process in Israel.  But the
'democratic process' has no role in Israel when territorial concessions are
on the table.  For example -- and this is not the only example -- when the
Israel Government initiated an official referendum on the disastrous Gush
Katif deportation plan, to be held in the 300,000-member ruling Likud party,
the joint plan, although approved both in Jerusalen and in Washington, was
voted down by a defiant Likud public. But the disastrous plan proceeded
anyway; the voice of the people was unabashedly ignored.  Rabbi Weinreb does
not understand the ground-down nature of Israel's democracy and its
inability to overcome longstanding, massive Arab and European infusions of
support for the Palestinian "cause". His reliance on the Israeli democratic
process in this connection is a terrible error in judgement.

c. "How can we possibly lobby the US Congress against the Israeli
government?"

"We as a Diaspora organization have no right at all to speak out against the
Israeli government," Rabbi Weinreb says, as if that were the OU's only
option.  It is not.

The OU can cleverly oppose the prospect of a new terror state -- by actually
*encouraging* Israel's timid government. The OU can, for example, lobby in
Congress on behalf of Foreign Minister Livni's recent comment that "Nobody
wants to see another terror state". The OU can urge Congressmen to pledge
support for Prime Minister Olmert's half-hearted promise last year to Nobel
Prize Laureate Prof. Israel Aumann, according to which the Jews of Judea and
Samaria will never be subjected to forcible deportation.  Finally, the OU
can also be vocal in its support of the official Israel government decision
according to which terror, violence, and incitement on the Palestinian side
must cease completely, before the Government even considers razing crucial
Jewish outposts in Judea and Samaria.

d. "It's not my [Rabbi Weinreb's] fault..."

Rabbi Weinreb suggests that the rank and file in the OU and in Israel rise
up and replace or overrule their political leaders.  But this process is
slow and uncertain, particularly pitted against the fast-moving terror
organizations trying to get control of the areas overlooking Israel's big
cities and airport.  The faster option, and therefore the correct option, is
for leadership to act like leaders and solve the problems facing Israel
rather than waiting for a clumsy uncoordinated army of cleaning ladies,
housewives, garbage collectors and kindergarten teachers to somehow do it
for them*.  Rabbi Weinreb must act like a leader, initiating and fostering
support in Congress and in Washington for any reasonable option for Judea
and Samaria other than establishment of a terror state next-door to Israel.
Policies for Judea and Samaria are born of two parents: the Government of
Israel, and the US Administration.  Rabbi Weinreb must work tirelessly to
influence the latter, while being tactful toward the former as only he knows
how; that is how he can and should save Israel**.*

**

If you are concerned about what you are reading here, please forward this
email to Rabbi Weinreb at execthw at ou.org and ask for his response.  Even
better, write to him politely in your own words. Yes, it has been rumored
that Rabbi Weinreb does not appreciate getting lots of e-mail. If true, this
is symptomatic of the problem.  We are at a critical time for Israel and
world Jewry.  *The Palestinians are moving very fast:  their spear-head
Hamas movement captured Gaza in a single day, and they moved a quarter of a
million people from Gaza into Egypt, also in one day. In worrying contrast,
leaders of major American Jewish organizations are still getting huffy about
the state of their inboxes**. *

**

If you are reprimanded by OU staffers for writing directly to Rabbi Weinreb,
respond immediately. Bring to their attention that just a few days ago, on
30 January, *hundreds* of Israeli citizens dialed Minister Eli Yishai's home
telephone number, late at night, regarding an issue pertaining to Judea and
Samaria.  Yishai is a senior minister with the additional responsibility of
presiding over a huge and needy political movement, Shas, with 600,000
mostly destitute voters. But Eli Yishai did not complain even once about all
the phonecalls because he -- unlike many American-Jewish leaders --
understands that the situation is grave.  Jewish leaders in the US have to
understand this as well.  It is time for them to wake up.

Susie Dym, spokeperson, *Mattot Arim*

*Mattot Arim is an Israeli grassroots organization working toward peace for
peace since 1992.  The assistance of Aryeh, Ira, Jon, Mike, Moish, Rosalie,
Sara and many others who generously provided valuable input, is gratefully
acknowledged. *

**

Please email Rabbi Weinreb at execthw at ou.org and politely express your
concern. We will be grateful if you send us a copy: to mattot.arim at gmail.com.
Finally, please forward this email to others.

Thank you very much -- from Israel.

 רוצה להימחק מהרשימה? שלח דוא "ל ריק אל mattotarim-unsubscribe at eretz.org
to unsubscribe, pls send a blank email to mattotarim-unsubscribe at eretz.org
קבלת את המייל הזה מחבר? רוצה להצטרף לרשימת התפוצה? שלח דוא"ל ריק אל
mattotarim-subscribe at eretz.org
if you got this from a friend & would like to join our distribution list,
send a blank email to mattotarim-subscribe at eretz.org
לתגובות (או לרישום ידידים הגרים בחו"ל): Comments? Or: Want yr friends in USA
etc. to join our foreign list? Contact mattot.arim at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.binhost.com/pipermail/mattotarim/attachments/20080205/9451393c/attachment.html>