A Living Memory, and One to Continue to Fight For

Yehudit Tayar

This time of the year is a time of National remembrance. Historically the month of Av has always been a time of regret, longing, soul searching and prayer. The destruction of our Holy Temples in Jerusalem, the murder and expulsion of our Nation from our Land has always been commemorated this time of the year, when so many tragedies throughout our history took place.

Our generation has additional heartbreaking reasons for mourning because the expulsion of our families and destruction of thriving, beautiful communities in Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron also took place this time of the year.

To be honest, the tragedy is also so enormous and so widespread due to the surrealistic fact that still today, after five years, some of our Nation refuses to admit that not only was this a horrific decision for us, personally, but for the entire country.

It is five years since the destruction of Gush Katif and four years since the second Lebanese War. How can anyone deny the connection? How can anyone ignore the fact that for the past four years in "Hamastan" we have a young man – Gilad Schalit - who is hidden away in order to torture us and to try to force concessions that would cost more precious innocent lives. The apathy of the world that does not insist that the Red Cross be allowed to visit Gilad, while weeping for the invented misery of the residents of Gaza (hasn’t everyone seen the pictures of the newly opened mall in Gaza?), should teach us to take care of our own and not depend on the intervention of the rest of the world in our behalf.

Each time I travel to one of the refugee camps down south to be with my friends who were brutally ripped out of their lives I only find productive independent lives that have been turned into dependent, jobless refugees by a government of Israel who callously promised, "A solution for each resident".

How many missiles, terror attacks, and military operations have taken place since we abandoned Gush Katif which has been turned into a safe haven for terror and horror?

To be honest, I still believe that we will return home - yes home - to the sand dunes of Gush Katif to rebuild the glory of our communities, our synagogues and hot houses. I believe that we will go back just as we went back to the mountains of Judea and Samaria, the Golan Heights and the Jordan Valley. I believe this not only because of the pain, grief and longing for what we had there but for practical reasons, because if we are not there it is dangerous for the existence of our Nation and people.

It is finally time to stop the pretences of having any "partners in peace". There are not even any partners for mutual peaceful co-existence unless the other side realizes that if they do not let us live they will pay an enormous price for their aggression.

The duplicity and double standards of the world should finally teach the leaders of our government that they must prioritize their decisions first and foremost for the good of the people of Israel and not for other ulterior motives.

There is talk about other "painful concessions" that must be given up in order to proceed with the "Piece Process", yes in all honesty we know that this process of giving up parts of our Land is merely another step to appease and will only whet the appetite of our enemies who will continue to use these areas to attack us from.

It is high time that the world Jewry wake up to the fact that appeasement and concessions is not only the immediate problem for us who live here in our Land. Wake up brothers and sisters and really sincerely review the history of territorial concessions since Oslo and even before. Those of our Nation who fell into the popular myth that the violence directed against Israel is because of our aggression and “occupation” only need to open a book recording the history of the establishment of the State of Israel, in order to see the truth.

The battles which took place here at the birth of our State were a direct result of the refusal of the Arab world to recognize the right of the Jewish people to live here in our Land. The violence that erupted against the Jews in Eretz Yisrael did not wait for the UN decision of partition.

The violent waves of terror against the Jewish communities in Eretz Yisrael erupted in the 1920's and 1930's long before the declaration of the State of Israel and certainly long before a single Jew resettled in Judea or Samaria. What was the excuse then - that we were occupiers and had conquered the "poor Moslems?" Oh please - enough lies, enough guilt trips. The violence directed against us is collective violence and it is the pathetic reaction to this violence that we MUST prevent.

Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, the Jordan Valley, are not different in the eyes of those who wish to destroy us and our State. It is not a secret since they repeat it time after time and declare openly that they (I am referring to the heads of the PLO who are supposedly our partners in this so-called agreement) will "Never recognize Israel as the Jewish State, Israel is Israeli and not Jewish".

What are the Jews of America waiting for while the president of the United States gives the PLO all of the diplomatic status of a recognized country while the PLO has never recognized Israel as a Jewish State and continues to incite violence against us?

Where are the Jews of the world while the UN continues to attack Israel alone amongst all of the radical racist murderous countries in the world? When the world declares, in their actions and deeds, that Israel can no longer defend itself, as was the case in the recent flotilla incursion and subsequent calls for the total removal of the imposed Gaza naval blockade, what they are saying, in essence, is that Israel no longer maintains the right to defend its own citizens. And we’re not talking about Beit El, Shilo or Gush Etzion anymore. We’re talking about Tel Aviv, Haifa and Ra’anana.

If there was a decision, G-d forbid, by Israel to concede Jerusalem, Judea Samaria and the Jordan Valley to the PLO would this resolve the issue and would we be allowed to live in "peaceful co-existence" (note that I don't even pretend to use the term peace) with our neighbors? Would the world suddenly accept the right of Israel to exist and live safely?

We all know the answer because we have lived through this reality before and even when Israel is attacked and innocent lives are taken only because we are Jewish, we are still blamed by the world. We left Southern Lebanon with the false promises of peace and world acceptance and in return, were besieged by missiles and world condemnation when we finally defended ourselves. We then left Gaza under the same false pretenses and a and got thousands of rockets and charges of war crimes when we went back in to root out the terrorists.

Don't forget that during the darkest days of our national history, while our families were hunted down and murdered NO ONE lifted a finger. The British who were given a mandate in Palestine in order to establish a national homeland for the Jewish people did all that they could to prevent this.

The most recent Tourist Maps of the Palestinian Authority do not note one Jewish city in all of Israel or as they call it "Palestine". Would this change if we make more concessions?

We, the Jewish people have an enormous responsibility. We must always go forward and build, remember our history and protect our future. Not only the future of we Jews who are blessed to live here, to fight here to protect our Land, and to cling to the soil of our homeland, but for all of the Jews wherever they are. We wait for the Jewish people to recognize our eternal rights to this Land of ours and fight with us for our common future.

We, in our generation, were blessed to turn empty sand dunes into blossoming communities only to witness their destruction. We, in our generation have added more grief and heartbreak to this season of mourning for what had been our glorious past.

We, however, are people of faith and we believe in continuing forward and fighting for what we KNOW must be done in our Land. We must continue to settle, build, develop and never forget the lessons from our far history or from five years ago. That destruction must not only be remedied, it MUST NEVER BE REPEATED.

Each time we build a new playground, school, synagogue or home, we are making a statement to the world. Not only is this our land but a statement against appeasing the growing plague which is radical Islam. Each new road, each new family that moves into a community sends a strong, clear message that we returned to our biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria and we have no intensions of leaving.

Because, as we know from past history, more land given over to our enemies will merely lead to more violence and more condemnation on the world stage. And that is a mistake we cannot afford to make again.

Yehudit Tayar is a veteran spokesperson for the Jewish pioneers in YESHA and has lived in Bet Horon in the Benjamin Region of the Shomron with her family for over thirty years.

One Israel Fund has established a new building fund. Proceeds from this fund will be used to respond to the ever-growing needs of the communities of YESHA once the building freeze is lifted in September. To find out more about ways you can help, contact us at www.oneisraelfund.org or call 516.239.9202.