World
Disengagement
Response
Local rabbis speak out
about Israeli pullout
from Gaza.
SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
StaffWriter
A
s is the case in Israel and
elsewhere around the world,
local rabbis, too, possess
varied — often passionate — views
and feelings regarding the upcom-
ing disengagement in Gaza.
Their remarks range from strong
feelings that the pullout would com-
promise the security of Israelis, to
support for the Israeli government's
decision, to deep sadness for a loss of
land that was said to be an everlast-
ing gift to the Jewish people by God.
When asked if they agree or dis-
agree with the disengagement,
here's how some of our area clergy
— of several denominations —
responded:
• "I think it is insane. I don't run the
country and I don't — and can't pos-
sibly — know all the true issues of
security and intrigue. Nobody does.
"But what is clear to me is that
we are rewarding terror. We are
demoralizing a serious segment of
our population. In doing so, we are
compromising our security. We for-
get history and are
constantly doomed
to relive it. We for-
get that the issues
that maintain the
Jewish presence are
not so much our
fighting anti-
Semitism, our sci-
Tolwin
entific gifts to the
world [which go
unheralded], our becoming trade
partners with this county or that.
Our existence depends on our
being Jews. And we are losing on all
fronts.
"We better wise up, or we will be
in worse tzores [trouble] than we are
now And if you don't believe me,
nobody would have predicted that we
would be in this mess 10 years ago.
"Why does "Palestine" need to
Judenrein? [A Nazi-era German
term for 'cleansed of Jews']? Let
them make their country and let
Jews live there? The whole thing is
a scam.
,,
— Rabbi Alen Tolwin, director, Aish
Detroit, Southfield
RESPONSE on page 57
Gm TURMOIL from page 53
been splattered with pullout news and
opinion non-stop. They follow a usual
pattern: anti-disengagement protesters
rally; Prime Minister Sharon says there
will be no delay in the evacuation; a
Qassam rocket hits a settlement;
police arrest young anti-disengagement
protestors blocking traffic and a sol-
dier refuses orders to aid in the with-
drawal.
The tension comes in all shapes and
two colors.
Orange is the color of choice for
those against the disengagement, while
blue symbolizes support for the pull-
out. People don orange t-shirts, ker-
chiefs, orange Lance Armstrong-style
bracelets, skirts, and ribbons tied to
their backpacks and cars. The blue
supporters are far less vocal, though
public opinion polls say they represent
a majority of Israelis.
By The Numbers
Many here feel the divisive issue will
spark a civil war. An 18-year-old girl
passing out blue ribbons in Jerusalem
disagrees: "The pullout isn't tearing
the country in half; the Gaza settle-
ments are a very small part of the
country."
In terms of population, Gaza settlers
are almost negligible. Roughly 9,000
settlers will be evacuated from 21 Jewish
settlements in the Gaza Strip and four
settlements in Northern Samaria.
However, these settlements occupy
almost 50 percent of the land in the
face of 1.3 million Palestinian Arabs.
Several weeks ago, an estimated
40,000 people, including Trombka, his
wife and children, along with both
babies and great grandparents, tried to
march to the main checkpoint leading
into the Gush Katif settlement bloc in
southern Gaza. Gaza has been declared
a closed militarized zone by the Israel
Defense Forces and only residents and
immediate family members can enter.
The police declared the march illegal
and blocked the marchers. Tempers
flared.
Like the Trombka family, vehement-
ly opposed to the pullout, there exist
various factions. On one side are the
Leah Stern is a reporter for Israel Broadcasting
Authority Channel One in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,
and a contributing writer for the Jerusalem Post,
Miami Herald and Detroit Jewish Nabs. Stern is acting
as a co-producer for a documentary this month on
the Gaza Disengagement scheduled to air on Al
Gore's new cable network, "Current." Stern, 25, was
born in Detroit and as an infant moved with her
family to Miami Beach.
children of religious Zionists, who are
following the lead set by their parents.
On the other are the university stu-
dents, many who are secular but
entrenched in the idealism of a cohe-
sive Jewish state.
The most populous sect is the reli-
gious right wing of the ultra-
Orthodox, known as Chassidim. They
ascribe their activism to a mix between
security concerns and the Torah. "All
these cities surrounding us are in dan-
ger," says 26-year-old Chasid, Shlomo
Katz, "because once the border moves
forward the missiles are going to come
much closer to all the cities in the
south of Israel. Hopefully, the Messiah
will reveal and we won't have such ter-
rible things happen."
Still, for all their energy, the protest-
ers gave up after the three-day protest
at Kfar Maimon became idle. They
chose civil disobedience over con-
frontation, promising to return in the
coming weeks. On Aug. 2, they gath-
ered again, this time in Sderot, in a
second attempt to march on Gush
Katif. "I believe that their still is a
chance to halt the pullout," Trombka
admits.
On The Horizon
But if the disengagement in fact goes
according to script, what will happen
afterwards? That is what's most puzzling.
Some believe that the disengage-
ment won't solve anything as many
worry that with no implemented guar-
antee of peace from the Palestinian
Authority or Hamas, Fatah and other,
terror groups, that the plan may be
fruitless.
Trombka fears for his children and
future generations.
MU these cities surrounding us are in danger, because once
the border moves forward the missiles are going to come much
closer to all the cities in the south of Israel. Hopefully, the
Messiah will reveal and we won't have such terrible things
happen.
— Chasid Shlomo Katz, 26
"The danger of disengagement is so
great precisely because it has nothing
to do with peace," he says. "Peace will
not come because of disengagement,
nor will terrorism cease. Quite the
contrary, disengagement is the greatest
reward that Palestinian terrorists could
have hoped for, and it will further wet
their appetite."
Will Israel's democracy survive this
volatile period? -What are the residents
who have yet to leave Gush Katif
going to do? Many have decided to
wait and see if the government will
actually drag them from their homes.
Trombka is planning on moving his
family to the areas soon to be evacuat-
ed in less than two weeks' time. "We
will live under the stars and sleep in
sleeping bags if we have to," he says.
"My feet are firmly rooted in the
Land of Israel. It is something that is
felt from within and I will try and
spread the- truth to all corners of the
Jewish world so that my children will
be able to raise their children in
Samaria just like I did."
❑
Answering
Israel's
Critics
The Charge
Israel's occupation of Gaza is
oppressive, causing the Palestinians
to suffer poverty, instability and
corruption — and breed terrorists.
The Answer
Israel is scheduled to completely
withdraw civilian and military per-
sonnel and installations from Gaza
over the next few months. Then
will begin a test of Palestinian lead-
ership to prove that without Israel's
presence, they can eliminate lawless
terror groups, reform their govern-
ment and meet the basic needs of
their people.
— Allan Gale, Jewish Community
Council of Metropolitan Detroit