Nurit Greenger
09-09-2009
With his recent call, from the Los Angeles Times pages, to boycott Israel—so Israel can save herself from herself—Israeli Professor Neve Gordon, teaching at Ben Gurion University, touched a very sensitive nerve in me and in many others. For years this Israeli citizen Gordon walked a marginal seditious line and with his call to boycott Israel he crossed the line monumentally.
This call to boycott Israel not only by a citizen, but also an educator, raised the question: how many more Gordon like live in Israel and teach the young generation of Israel to undermine their own homeland’s existence?
The only glue to hold a nation together is its nationalism and patriotism; when these two go out the window, so does the nation!
Israel is a democratic country with freedom of expression for everyone even if the opinions expressed are unacceptable to some or many. However, even freedom of expression has its limitation before it turns venomous and borders treason.
Theodore Herzl, the Father of Zionism, core idea was: “The nations in whose midst Jews live are all either covertly or openly anti-Semitic. Let the sovereignty be granted us over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation; the rest we shall manage for ourselves.” And that portion of the globe is the Ancient Land of Israel.
Unfortunately the Arabs did not like and accept the Birth of the State of Israel. The country does not have the luxury to see how far its Arab enemies can push the blade until no blood is left. Freedom of speech in a democracy is a wonderful citizen’s right but it has boundaries, especially when 5Million Jewish lives are at stake. When I criticize American policy it will not affect America's survival because America is not on the Arab and international community butcher's block; Israel is. Each move Israel makes is magnified 1Million times by its enemies and adversaries. No one significant wants to see the U.S destroyed or has a claim to one inch of its land. If the U.S is attacked, few A-bombs will solve the matter in few hours. This is not the case for Israel. People like Professor Neve Gordon are the Jewish 5th column of Israel; they do not differ from Israel's worst Jihadist enemies and are disrespectful of the spiritual and historical meaning of this piece of land to those who cherish it and made it their homeland. For them the Land of Israel is simply a piece of real estate that has no meaning. Therefore, giving some of it or all of it to the Arabs will not matter, even though the catastrophic existential end result will affect them as well.
The ‘progressive’, post Zionism movement in Israel is most unfortunate phenomenon. Post Zionism? Has the Jewish people’s historical, religious and legal right to their homeland in the Land of Israel ended? I do not think so! But the ‘progressive’, post Zionism movement does and we can no longer allow it.
Another anti Israel, shameful display is the void of the national flag; it is not flying over public buildings and learning institutes roof tops and it is not seen in schools’ classrooms. The symbol of Israel’s sovereignty is absent from all the appropriate places.
Within few generations look what happened in Israel! From patriotism 101 to anti Israel 101!
My perplexed mind is asking Israelis like Gordon this: if they see Israel in such skewed view, why don’t they go live elsewhere and leave the land to those who love Israel and want to see the best for her, mostly see it survive?
It is becoming rather clear that Israel’s internal issues pose a much greater existential threat than Iran, Hezbollah or Hamas.
What should be done?
Since no one will protect Israel, we, Jews, must protect our own. We now have to put Zionist troops on another major battle zone to fight and win and the matter is urgent!
In a country that is literally fighting for its existence, in a country where its Arab 5th column is growing by leaps and bounds, in the only country that Jews can call it their home and can defend themselves, there is no room for Jewish 5th column. There is no room for post Zionism; the Zionistic movement is far from has completed its work. In fact, we must bring Zionism back to center stage and make it a strong movement again.
The LA Times cannot be stopped from its habitual publication of anti-Israel articles. We, the Jewish community at large, must go after and stop Jews and Israelis who freely spew venomous hatred against the Jewish State in the media. We must make them a pariah. We need to yank the enemy within.
I was born in Israel few months before Israel declared her independence. Everyone I grew up with or I know now are proud of our Homeland, no matter what! We cannot sell out Israel! We cannot sell out our Judaism!
One effective reply to the anti-Zionist camp is to set up a center for Zionist studies, which unfortunately does not exist in Israeli academia. This center would help dispel the lies disseminated by people like Gordon.
The right Key Donors to learning institutes like BGU could light the fire by demanding the university confronts this "National Life Saving" issue. It is time for all of us to exercise some "academic freedom" of our own — in choosing which of Israel's academic institutions we wish to support. The beginning of curing anti-Israelianism is to redirect benefactors’ funds from Israeli learning institutes that hire people like Gordon and redirect it to learning institutes that carry strong Zionism sentiments such as Ariel University, the Jerusalem College of Technology and Sami Shamoon College of Engineering in the Negev.
At the end, if we hold our fight long enough, we may see the axis turning, the blue and white flag flies everywhere, Zionism will no longer be equated with racism and Israel be called an Apartheid state. Nothing ventured nothing gained; let us really try.
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