I'm going to try something that would ordinarily make me pull my hair out, and rend my clothes. I'm going to interpret the Bible as literally as possible. Now, according to the Bible (sorry, though, not by Chapter and Verse-I no longer have one availiable) the area of the Gaza Strip, known in Old Testament days as Philistia (thus, Palestine), was once given, by "God", to the Hebrwew tribe of Dan. It was, in effect, to be their share of the "Promised Land". Unfortunately,they could not take the country-ever. Now, the tribe of Dan has dissappearred into the ash heap of history, having been taken into captivity long ago by the Assyrrians, along with the remainder of the "Lost Ten Tribes of Israel".
In other words, the tribe of Judah-the present day nation of Israel-has no legitimate claims to this country. So, quite frankly, going by their own religion, they should get the fuck out now, in fact, should never have been there in the first place. But why quibble? They can be excused, after the 1967 war, taking the place over for the purposes of their security concerns. But where they fucked up was by moving these religous fanatic settlers in there to begin with. This has opened up a can of worms which the U.S. is now paying to take care of. To the tune, in fact, of 1.5 billion dollars or so. fair enough, it is well worth it.
So let's forget the Bible, and go by the U.N. Charter that provided for two nations, Israel and Palestine. This land, Gaza, belongs to the Palestinians. True, they have fucked up royally themselves over the years, but the facts are on paper, traceable back to a reasonable date, agreed to by the Israelis, incidentally. But the Israelis felt they had to have the land in the wake of the massive immigration of Jewish Refuseniks who began migrating to Israel from the Soviet Union beginning in the 1970's, in droves. They needed the land for them, they felt, and they needed a security presence in Gaza, the West bank, and in East Jerusalem. It didn't work out so well.
You have to wonder about any person or perople that would even want to live in an area made up of fortified communities of roughly twenty thousand people or so, surrounded by 1.5 million or so people that despise them, would gladly and gleefully jump up and down on their entrails and carcasses given the opportunity to emaciate them. But these settlers are determined that "God" has given this land to the Jews, and to this day are praying for some kind of miracle, while Jewish soldiers patiently try to remove them, unarmed,without guns, sticks, shields, or even so much as helmets, prying the settlers, sitting on the floor of the synagogue of Neve Dekkallim, locked arm in arm, resisting, and praying, and shouting, and screaming.
In addition, there have been right wing Jewish protestors who have entered the area, in defiance of government orders, to join with the settlers in their efforts to remain on the land. I will admit to some degree of sympathy for the Jewish children of these settlers. What an example their parents are setting for them. How callously they disrespect their safety by insisting they remain in such a desolate place, in such an untenable position. But that is the spectre of religous fanaticism everywhere. "God" will make all things right, according to them.
If I could have a chance to advise the Israeli Governemnt, I doubt they would listen to me, but I know what I would tell them. Let them stay in their settlements. But make sure it is clear to them, you stay at your own peril. If you remain, you will be subject to Palestinian laws. You will have to abide by their rules and regulations. You will become, to all intents and purposes, citizens of their nation-and totally at their mercy.
I bet that would settle it for most of them. They would leav, and quickly. But not all of them, of course,not the most fanatical, the most determined. They would remain convinced that "God" will protect them from the evil that might befall them. "God" has given this land to them, it is not up to them to disobey him. They would remain. Whatever befalls them, or their children, would be the will of the Lord. It is their duty to endure. And so it would go, with doubtless the same result as the destruction this attitude brought upon the Jews in the 60's C.E., when Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Temple of Herod The Great became the Wailing Wall. Incredible how such blind religous fanaticism negates even the reasoned lessons of history.
As for the U.S., who is paying for the implementation of this latest policy, we can only hope these right wing fanatics don't immigrate here, as a good many of them might. They have all ready blamed Bush, as well as Sharon, for this event. Sharon's life will be in danger from this moment forward from these people, more so than it ever was before, when he had only Arab and Muslim terrorism to contend with. Butif they come here, they might not content themselvers with targeting Bush. They might, in fact, become as much of a security problem for the people of this country as any of the most fanatical Muslim fundamentalist.
