How long can people occupy a land? How long can innocent civilians live under difficult conditions? How much blood must be shed until we realize that this is simply not working? It has been 50 years since the 6 Day War… yet the dreaded occupation goes on and on. I say “Dayenu” – Enough is Enough! We must end the occupation now and forever! I agree with 99% of what “Peace Now” says; no more war, no more stealing land, no more violence against women and children and no more occupation! The only thing I disagree with – it’s really just one word of what “Peace Now” says – that the word “Arab” needs to changed with the word “Jew”.
Here’s the change: No more Arabs occupying Jewish land. No more Arab settlements. No more Arabs preventing Jews from praying at the burial places of Yosef, Yehoshua Ben-Nun, Pinchas, Elazar and Itamar. No more Jews building walls around Kever Rachel and the Mount of Olives.
For 50 years many Jews have lived in fear in many parts of Israel. While it’s true that hundreds of thousands have defied danger by building homes all across Yehuda and Shomron, many more Israelis are so fearful, they won’t even drive to cities like Ariel. Every town in Yehuda and Shomron and most towns in the Negev, Galilee, Jordan Valley and the Golan Heights have 24/7 security. The time has come for Jews to stop being afraid to live in their own land and this can only be done by ending the occupation… the occupation of Arabs on Jewish land!
Actually, without even trying, things are heading in this direction. According to recent studies by Birzeit University in Ramallah (founded 1975) and An-Najah National University in Shechem (founded 1977), over 70% of Arabs, between the ages of 18-40, living in Yehuda and Shomron, want to permanently move out of Israel. I believe that it is our job to help these young people achieve their dreams by assisting them in any way possible – even with generous funds – to start their life in a new place. Why must we insist on occupying them? If they want to leave, let them go and prosper! As you know, over 95% of the terror attacks against Jews are from Arabs in exactly this age bracket; 18-40… so if 70% want to leave, Wadaea’an Iilaa Al’Abad! (Translation: Goodbye forever!)
By the way, please don’t think that this article is being written in a sarcastic way. That is not my intention at all. I really believe that the Arabs are occupiers. They are occupying large amounts of land in the Galilee, huge amounts in the Negev and enormous amounts in Yehuda and Shomron. This occupation prevents Jews from using these fields for agriculture, stops the growth of many towns and drains the Israeli economy from tremendous resources in both money and manpower just to provide security. Who needs this “dreaded occupation”, as leaders of the Left always say? Does the world love us because we allow the Arabs to occupy our Land?
Our Father in Heaven gave us a gift 50 years ago. The city of Jerusalem was united! All lands west of the Jordan – which contains 93% of the places mentioned in the Bible – were liberated! Syria was defeated and the Golan Heights was returned! (Could you imagine what would be going on there – right now - if they had the Golan??) What Israel needed to do at that exact moment was establish full Israeli law over every inch of those holy lands. Instead, we let the Arabs grow and prosper and occupy more land each day. The Arab occupying force gained strength, became much more violent and made life difficult for millions of people. The time has come for all this to end.
As we celebrate 50 years since the Six Day War, with all the wonderful things that came with it, the time has come to correct one major mistake. We need to end the occupation. Please email this article to all my buddies in Berkeley and Columbia Universities. Tell them that they have finally convinced me. Call Yariv Oppenheimer of Peace Now and Jeremy Ben-Ami of J Street and tell them that a miracle has occurred; Shmuel Sackett has agreed to end the occupation. It’s over. No more war, no more bloodshed. The horrible 50 year occupation must end now. Shalom.
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