The Settlers of Yesha
by Jonathan Quince
Wednesday, September 15, 2004 05:06:41
A hearty “לשנה טובה” to all of my Jewish friends. May the coming year be one of material steps towards a true and just peace; I do hope that such corruptions and appeasement of evil as I speak against herein may be relegated to the chronicles of history and left, thus, to years past. Yet it is unfortunate that today, on the eve of your High Holidays, certain events (and the views of some who should know better) are troublesome enough to compel me in writing this little reflection on history.
I was born in this life to a land built by settlers. That land, of course, is the United States of America. Now, for those who do not know me, I should disclaim that I am not born a Jew; but for a number of reasons, I feel a great kinship to the peoples of a different land, another land that was also built by settlers and freed through warfare from the shackles of British colonialism. That land, of course, is the modern State of Israel; and I would like to focus for a moment on the brave souls who built that state in the most impossible of circumstances.
They left the lands of their births and moved to a worthless strip of land, a land that nobody wanted. They populated a territory previously inhabited only by nomadic tribes and impoverished vagabonds. They sowed the desert with their sweat and their blood; and from the desert, they made green things grow.
Living as we do in the comfort of Western nations, we must see these Zionists as simply being crazy and masochistic. Many of them were educated. All were hard-working, able-bodied, and courageous. Had they so chosen, they could have had comfortable lives in other countries. Instead, they chose to spill their toil on the harsh sands of the desert in order to build a country of their own.
They did it for love. They did it for loyalty. They did it for a concept called Zionism: The idea that after millennia of wandering and persecution, the Jews should resurrect their ancient nation and take command of their own destiny. They came as “settlers” to a barren wasteland; they drained the swamp and irrigated the desert; and in the space of a few generations, with little help but violent interference from others, they transformed it into a modern paradise.
Barely a half-century later, the world has its eye on another group of Jewish “settlers”. Time has passed, and they are not the same people as the “settlers” of yore; but they share one fundamental commitment: The belief that historically and politically Jewish land should be inhabited by Jews. And like the original Zionists, the “settlers” of Yesha put their lives on the line to back up that commitment. In contrast to people who sit in Europe or America and talk about a Jewish homeland, they are out there yielding forth the ultimate sacrifices to make it a reality.
Like the Zionists of the twentieth century, these “settlers” have come home only to be met opprobrium and murderous rage. They have suffered the insults of the world at large and the attacks of their barbarous neighbors. Great are their losses, and few are their rewards. Yet for them, the ultimate reward is not one of wealth or of glory before a world that would rather see them dead. Rather, they take solace and strength in the principles that drive their existence.
The premises are simple. Every square inch of Eretz Yisrael belongs to the Jews, whether by historical connection or modern right or both. Whether a Jew builds a home in Tel Aviv or he builds it a few miles outside the 1949 ceasefire lines, he has a right to exist there; indeed, many parts of Yesha were inhabited by the settlers of just a few decades ago before they were forced out in the heat of the War of Independence. Even the simplest understanding of history should suffice to prove that the “settlers” of Yesha have a moral and spiritual sameness to the settlers of Mandate Palestine. And thus, if the “settlers” of Yesha are damned, so damned is the State of Israel itself.
Condemnation of the “settlers” of Yesha is condemnation of the Zionist enterprise.
Condemnation of the “settlers” of Yesha is condemnation of the modern State of Israel, of its history, its founding, and its very right to exist.
Condemnation of the “settlers” of Yesha is condemnation of the covenant of Abraham, of the legacy of King David, of the war for survival fought by the likes of Menachem Begin and David Ben-Gurion.
Expulsion of Jews from their homes is the job of a German Nazi like me — not the job of Ariel Sharon, a Jew, a General, and a lifelong Zionist. What has happened, Arik? What corruption hath been wrought on your watch? Pray ye tell; the world of the watchful wants to know.
No other nation in the respective histories of Earth or mankind would give “back” land won under such circumstances. No other nation would use its military to expel its own people from their homes to give their land over to a people with whom the nation is actively at war. The history of right and wrong in this matter is far too intricate for the scope of a simple bit of rhetoric such as this; but one fact remains clear to any but the most ignorant: The modern State of Israel was born in blood and fire, not in a frenzy of pitiful ass-kissing and apologies. And the State of Israel cannot be sustained by this policy of ultimate appeasement, a policy that makes Neville Chamberlain appear the proud bearer of Justice's sword by comparison.
Now, nobody is going to listen to a cranky old Gentile like me. I'm just a naïf with too much idealism and far too much knowledge of history for his own good. So I'll just slip back into my comfy American home and go back to deciding which eye I want to gouge out at the polls this November.
On a less serious note, have a listen to the International Zionist Cabal's Voicemail Message and read up on some September 11 Advice. Keep your spirit up!