SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: RELIGIOUS ZIONISM VS. THE STATE

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TAGS: IS KMDR MEDIA REACTION REPORT GAZA DISENGAGEMENT
SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: RELIGIOUS ZIONISM VS. THE STATE
OF ISRAEL: RECENT MEDIA COMMENTARY ON DISENGAGEMENT PART 3


1. Summary: With disengagement slated to begin less than two
weeks from now, it seems most Gaza settlers have grasped that, be
it voluntarily or by force, they will soon be effectively
"disengaged" from their Gaza Strip homes. The goal, therefore,
of the anti-disengagement campaign has shifted from preventing or
postponing disengagement for as long as possible to attempting to
searing negative memories of this exercise into the Israeli
national psyche as a way to head off the next disengagement.
Analysis of the activists' efforts has occupied the majority of
editorial column space in recent weeks. Leading opinion makers
weigh in on the efficacy of right-wing demonstrations; the
legitimacy of the security sector's actions to control said
demonstrations; and the rabbis of the far right who encourage and
"incite" them. Logistical preparations for removal of goods and
people, PA and Israeli coordination efforts, and "day after"
scenarios have also been highlighted. End Summary.

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Gaza: Closed for Business
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2. Several leading opinion makers declared July 14 as "the day
disengagement began." This characterization owes to Prime
Minister Sharon's decree that the Gaza Strip would henceforth be
closed to all non-residents. Shimon Shiffer of mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Ahronot writes on July 14, "The decision to
close the Gaza Strip has many shades of significance, some far
reaching: it would not be an overstatement to say that the
central significance is that Israeli democracy is prepared to
deal with those who want to rise up and force it to do what they
want....The closure order issued yesterday by Sharon put an end
to the planned parliamentary tricks to thwart the evacuation,
could stop the denial process nurtured by the hard core of Gush
Katif settlers. That's it, the die has been cast..." Yaron
London, in Yediot Ahronot, describes the Gaza closure on July 14
as not "unprecedented" though usually utilized against the other
"political camp." He writes, "Declaring an area a closed
military zone to those who are not permanent residents is a
practice that is frequently employed toward Palestinians and left
wing demonstrators. When the closure orders were used against the
latter, the excuse was that it was necessary to maintain public
order. Usually it was not the demonstrators who were disrupting
order, but those against whom they came to protest, but the
military authorities did not get too deep into the question of
who was responsible for the clashes. They expelled those who
wished to exercise their right to speak up, the same right now
cited by those who oppose disengagement."


3. The far-right, represented by Hagai Hubermann in nationalist,
Orthodox Hatzofe, concurs that July 14th is a turning point on
the road to disengagement, although the conclusions he draws from
this quickly diverge from those of the mainstream media. On July
14 he writes, "The battle for Gush Katif began yesterday, there
is no question about that. A bit early, not according to the
original timetable of the uprooting opponents, with the
government employing the element of surprise-but these facts must
not make us weak. We can win. It will be a tough battle, not a
simple one, against hostile forces, against an imperious and
dictatorial government. Opponents of uprooting will have to
recruit enormous forces to meet the difficult task whose
definition is hard to actually utter: to defeat the IDF. Bring
the Israel Defense Forces to its knees."

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The Limits to Dissent
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4. Anti-disengagement activists, galvanized primarily by the
Settlers Council composed of heads of local councils in the
territories, have rallied in large numbers in recent weeks, first
in Kfar Maimon, then in Sderot and Ofakim with more gatherings in
the works. Leading media have closely followed their every move,
with commentary spanning the spectrum from left to right- some
authors emphasize the vital role of freedom of speech and
movement within a democracy, while others decry the
demonstrations as lawless and a drain on security sector
resources and personnel. Deputy Managing Editor and columnist
Caroline B. Glick wrote in conservative, independent Jerusalem
Post on July 22, "When a democratic government adopts an immoral
policy, it is the duty of its loyal citizens, through acts of
protest and civil disobedience, to hold up a mirror to their
leaders and fellow citizens to force them to contend with the
implications of their policies." Yael Gwurtz writes in Yediot
Ahronot on July 25, referring to the events in Kfar Maimon, "In
the moment of truth, the leadership of the disengagement
opponents was revealed as being capable of preventing the threat
to democracy that it had fueled for many months with its own
hands...The Settlers Council received credit from the
public...only due to the fact that it proved its ability to
control the masses that it brought to demonstrate...."


5. Amnon Dankner, Editor-in-Chief of popular, pluralist Maariv,
distills the conflict down to the issue of protest and resistance
versus attempting to subvert the law. He writes on August 1,
"The real debate that is being waged today -- with anger that is
no less noisy than the debate over disengagement itself --
pertains to the boundaries of protest and the resistance to
disengagement and evacuation. The definition itself already
demarcates a clear boundary: Protest -- yes. Resistance -- yes,
to a certain degree. An attempt to thwart [disengagement] --
no...." Expressing fatigue with the anti-disengagement movement,
Nahum Barnea writes in Yediot Ahronot on August 1, "Enough
already, really. Enough already of the daily threats to turn the
country upside down; enough already of the announcements about
marches into the Gaza Strip, be they single pronged, dual-pronged
or triple-pronged. There hasn't been an attempt so blatant, so
impudent since Mussolini's march on Rome in 1922, to change, by
pedestrian means, the legal decisions made by the head of
state..."


6. Editor in Chief Lutfi Mashour of the independent, moderate
Arabic-language newspaper A-Sennara comments on the preferential
treatment Jewish protestors receive as compared to their Arab
compatriots. He writes on July 22, "If the protestors were
Arabs, then how many martyrs would have been fallen from the
reaction of the police, security and the politicians??! In the
October 2000 events, hundreds protested in much more peaceful
ways than today's settlers protestors, and ended up with 13
martyrs, while here, we have 40,000 violent protestors who went
back safely to their homes without so much as a scratch..."

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Freedom of Movement? Depends Which Bus You Are On
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7. While thousands of disengagement opponents gathered in Kfar
Maimon for the July 19 - 20 protests, many others did not reach
their destination, since their buses were halted en route by
Israeli security authorities. As demonstrations grow in size and
strength, Israeli political leadership and the security
establishment appear to be taking no unnecessary chances,
evidenced by the precautionary closure of the Gaza strip to all
non-residents. Some opinion makers, such as Ofer Shelah of
Yediot Ahronot, comment that such actions are undemocratic. He
writes on July 19,"There is no justification for restricting the
freedom of movement of thousands of people, when there is no
proof that all of them plan to use violence, to block traffic or
any other act that could justify preventive action....This was
political stupidity, but that is not the main point.
Disengagement was approved by a cabinet decision and a Knesset
vote. The executive authorities must do their best to carry it
out. [...]If somebody organizes a demonstration without a
permit, the law contains enough authority to punish them. But
from this to preventing people trying to go from Kiryat Shmona to
Netivot to attend a march, the distance is long." Uri Orbach's
concurring opinion is stated more forcefully in Yediot Ahronot.
"The great danger to democracy is actually being voiced now by
the intellectual riffraff that is pitting the state and its
institutions against the demonstrators, in the name of the law,
of course. With such liberals, democracy really doesn't need
enemies."

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Rabbi or Rabble Rouser?
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8. Vigorous debate between the secular and religious publics has
always been a prominent part of Israeli culture and politics.
Surrounding the issue of disengagement, however, the debate has
grown contentious. Several leading rabbis have not only
encouraged their followers to disobey orders, they have
distributed instructional guides to facilitate disobedience.
This problem has been particularly pronounced among religious
soldiers participating in the "hesder yeshiva" program, an
arrangement between the IDF and religious students, which allows
them to fulfill a shortened period of military service while also
pursuing their studies. As Yossi Yehoshua explains in Yediot
Ahronot on July 18, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon of the Hesder yeshiva
Elon Moreh, has distributed a guide for IDF soldiers, which
explains how to avoid carrying out the evacuation order. It
instructs the soldiers what to say to commanders who ask them to
take part in the evacuation, suggesting that the soldiers refrain
from saying that they are disobeying orders, "but rather that
they are unable to carry out the order: `When asked `so do you
refuse?' answer: `I do not refuse, I demand not to be forced to
carry out an order that contradicts the Torah I have studied, the
education I have been given and my Jewish morality.'"


9. Anat Gov of Yediot Ahronot expounds on this issue on July 19.
"In Hebrew, there are two meanings to the word rav [rabbi]. One
is an adjective that means: Teacher, well-versed, wise,
important, scholarly and learned. The other is a verb that
means: Chastising, rabble-rousing, agitating, challenging,
fighting, provoking, quarreling, struggling and inciting. Which
of these two meanings is more suitable for the former chief
rabbis, Rabbi Shapira and Rabbi Eliyahu, who ruled last weekend
that religious soldiers should refuse to serve at Gush Katif
roadblocks? ...Now, at the very time when we are in the greatest
need of spiritual and moral authority, one that will behave
responsibly, in order to help us get through this crisis safely,
then in a place where there are so many rabbis-not a single one
endeavors to be a rav, a true rabbi." Amnon Dankner and Dan
Margalit of Maariv reiterate this criticism of Jewish religious
leaders. They write on July 14, "Whether it be because embers
of extremism burn in their hearts or because they are being
dragged in the wake of the extremist section of the public they
head, one thing is eminently clear: except for a few of them
(rabbis),they incite their followers to do everything that is
wrong....And so, with criminal irresponsibility, with arrogance
and a poisonous tongue, too large a part of the rabbis of the
national-religious public speak evil...."

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The Day After
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10. Several "day after" scenarios are also getting play in the
media, from doomsday predictions to hopes for restarting road map
negotiations. These headlines have generally taken a back seat
to the more colorful news of orange-clad protestors. Editor in
Chief Lutfi Mashour wrote in Arabic language newspaper A-Sennara
on July 1, "There is no doubt that today the Jewish Israeli
people is going through a real ordeal, which they made themselves
through their leaders and political plans through the past
decades. [...]What is happening today is a real test, and might
be the biggest and most dangerous test for the entity of the
Jewish people... In any case, the Palestinian people will have a
major influence on the development within the Jewish
society...Let us not forget how many times the Palestinians have
saved the Israeli governments!"


11. According to Ben Caspit of Maariv, the battle between
religious Zionism and the state is being redefined. On August 3
he writes, "Could it be that it's over? One of the settlers'
leaders, in a moment of openness, told me yesterday, `It is clear
that we are no longer battling about Gush Katif. The war is about
the next stage. About home. About Judea and Samaria.' The
energy is still there, but is beginning to fade." Independent,
left leaning Arabic-language Panorama appears to have adopted a
position of cautious optimism looking toward the future. Editor
in Chief Bassam Jaber writes on July 29, "The progress in the
relationship between the Israeli government and the Palestinian
Authority is reflected in the recent agreements between the two
sides, which have never been seen before... We don't want to
foresee the future, but it seems like there are good intentions
to strengthen the `calming' and open the doors also to European
and international participation in the Middle East peace
process...." Commentator Marina Rozenblit wrote in conservative
Russian-language daily Vesty (August 2):"...as the implementation
date of the disengagement plan approaches, the argument that 'it
will not happen because it can never happen' ... becomes
irrelevant.... An undercover dialog conducted between Prime
Minister Sharon's closest supporters and religious leaders of the
opposition [to disengagement] is additional evidence that
although the latter are continuing the struggle ... to express
their protests, they are actually almost reconciled with the
inevitability of [disengagement]."


12. Opinion makers have also commented on logistical
preparations for the "day after," including the future of border
crossings which were discussed by Nahum Barnea in Yediot Ahronot
on July 15. "The Israelis are convinced that the passages they
are currently building alongside the fence are a wonderful
example of a humanitarian act of charity. Instead of spending
half a day in an exhausting line in front of a soldier, instead
of waiting for a week until goods are released, the pedestrian
will wait one or two hours at the crossing -- and the freight no
longer than one day. For this purpose, Israel is investing two
billion shekels [around USD 440 million] in new, spacious,
sophisticated, and civilian crossings...."


13. Also addressed in the press: plans for a linkage, either by
road or by train, between Gaza and the West Bank; a future
airport and seaport; the fate of settler greenhouses and homes;
and security responsibility for the Philadelphi corridor between
the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Commentators have also highlighted the
cooperation and coordination efforts, or lack thereof, between
Israeli and Palestinian leaders on these issues among others.
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor wrote in Yediot
Aharonot on July 28, "Astonishingly, it turns out that Israel's
decision-makers have recently agreed to the opening of an
independent seaport and airport in the Gaza Strip. At that very
moment, the discussion about the Philadelphi route and the
Egyptian security strip evaporated, since the Palestinians will
no longer have a need to smuggle weapons in unfeasible ways
through tunnels in the Sinai; they'll be able to do so directly,
openly, and elegantly using their own planes and ships..."


14. Comment: During recent weeks anti-disengagement
demonstrators have been spotlighted in the media as they gather
in mass demonstrations, heeding the call of Jewish religious
leaders, determined to disrupt public order and infiltrate the
Gaza strip leading up to disengagement. According to many
leading opinion makers, these acts and actors are symbolic of the
larger battle being waged, that of religious Zionism vs. the
state of Israel. The outcome of this battle, unlike the outcome
of disengagement, which is now accepted as inevitable, will be
played out in the months and perhaps years to come as "day after"
scenarios play out.

KURTZER