19 Years Later: Going Back to Gaza? Of Course We Are!

BS”D

August 15, 2024

GOING BACK TO GAZA IN MIND, HEART & ON THE GROUND

In Mind – believing in the possibility b’poel mamash and ignoring the naysayers; In our Hearts – with achdus – unity and love for one another – ahavas Yisroel; and, finally, On the Ground – going back, even better BECAUSE, WHY NOT!

Three years ago in 2021, our organization, Crown Heights Women for the Safety and Integrity of Israel marked the 16^th anniversary of the egregious Expulsion from Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron with an on-line event timed to coincide with the actual week on the Jewish calendar when in 2005 on the day after Tisha B’Av, the State of Israel unpardonably forced our fellow Jews, over 80,000 people living there, to leave.

Today in 2024, there is no question that GOING BACK to GAZA is key to the security and welfare of not just the South and Coast but also the entire State of Israel too.

Restoring the Gush Katif communities that flourished there for decades until 19 tragedy-laden years ago and building new ones using the master plan Tzedek L’Otef – See: עצומה – צדק לעוטף has prepared will best guarantee true peace for the future. The proposal will also preserve and honor the memory of those who were savagely murdered al kiddush HaShem and taken hostage on October 7^th by Hamas and its allies and will also remember the thousands of Jewish victims murdered likewise in terrorist attacks and the many thousands more wounded by the evil PLO/PA/Hamas conglomerate. Finally, going back to Gaza will demonstrate that our brave soldiers and reservists who fell in battle saving and protecting the Jewish People did not die in vain.

We call on Prime Minister Netanyahu to heed the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s directives that he gave under the banner of Shleimus HaAretz that preserve the Land of Israel’s territorial integrity to thereby protect Jewish lives – Pikuach Nefesh.

We urge the Prime Minister to instruct his representatives to convey the Rebbe’s words, summarized* below at the Doha Summit that opens today in Qatar:

To assert the Jewish People’s divine right to the entire Land of Israel including Gaza, Judea and Samaria and all of Jerusalem.
To stand strong and reject simplistic solutions for peace. No ceasefire can be signed before the State of Israel has achieved all of its military objectives about which the Rebbe insisted must be free of political or diplomatic considerations and be decided solely by military experts.
To demand our hostages be freed at once; there can be no discussion of releasing convicted terrorists beforehand, let alone setting free the Nukhba barbarians who perpetrated their savage pogrom on October 7^th!
The negotiating team must relay in the firmest of terms that attacks on Israel will be met with overwhelming force; that the State of Israel will not hesitate to use preemptive strike; and, that the war against Hamas is not over until Israel’s enemies have surrendered unconditionally and are proven unable to regroup and ever pose another threat.
There will be no capitulation to international pressure that would appoint oversight and management in Gaza to any party other than the State of Israel.

The Rebbe said: “In Gaza, absolute security and full control must be maintained without any form of capitulation. Gaza [azza in Hebrew] implies taking a strong and courageous stance.” See: “Full Security Control In Gaza”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqm1Nac6_b0

The Lubavitcher Rebbe supported full Jewish settlement throughout the Land of Israel and particularly in the areas liberated in the Six Day War – Judea, Samaria, Gaza, Jerusalem – as the key to true peace. Doing so shows we truly believe in our right to dwell there.

There is nothing to be ashamed of in saying and doing so – because whether we “settle a few isolated places or establish a presence along the entire border and throughout all the territories, IN BOTH CASES, the international “uproar” will be to the exact same degree.” – the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Motzei Shabbos, Lech Lecha 1977

Below are replays from our Gush Katif event in 2021 as well as video from this year’s annual gathering we held in honor of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s day of passing, Gimmel Tammuz.

PART I – Gush Katif – https://youtu.be/wjGVv-fwWQA

Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice president of Igud HaRabbonim presented an excellent Halachic and hashkafic look at going back to Gaza, emphasizing Jewish Law’s imperative to do so in order to protect Jewish lives and ultimately even those of the enemy who, the Lubavitcher Rebbe firmly believed, will lay down their weapons when they see Israel is up and ready to strike first.

Joining us from Gush Katif was Laurence Beziz project coordinator for Merkaz Katif, The Gush Katif Heritage Center who shared her story and told us about the wonderful work Merkaz Katif was accomplishing, especially in the realm of fostering National Responsibility to one another.

Avner Franklin is the English-speaking tour guide for the Gush Katif Museum in Jerusalem. Avner filled us in on the Museum’s important role in keeping the memory and significance of Gush Katif alive in the public’s mind. Visiting the Museum should be included on everyone’s agenda when traveling to Jerusalem.

Daniella Weiss and Lital-Mamrosh Slonim, spoke to us this year on Gimmel Tammuz to explain practically how to renew and rebuild a Jewish Gaza: See: Tomorrow’s Gaza – Nachala: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytEE5oGJY4U

PART II – Identity in the Land of Israel – https://youtu.be/m1BlKEHesw8

Because a Disengagement doesn’t happen in a vacuum, we feel, as so many others do, that one of the main factors enabling the reckless decision to disengage from Gaza was the disconnect from Jewish and National Identity.

Pointedly, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who often addressed this topic, was unequivocal in referring to Israel not as the Medina but only as either Eretz Yisroel or Eretz Yisroel HaKodesh.

Rabbi Michoel Seligson, a well-known Chabad scholar, opened this segment of the program on Identity with a talk from the Rebbe explaining that states come and go but the Land of Israel is an eternal and unchanging entity that will always belong to the Jewish People.

Needless to say, the confusion clouding Israel’s Identity has also had a direct impact on Israel’s Arab communities. As much as the Oslo Accords and the Expulsion dramatically altered Jewish lives, Arab lives under the PA and Hamas rule have also been radically changed.

It’s well-known that many, many Arabs employed by Jewish farmers and other industries in Gush Katif were distraught when the Expulsion was announced and begged their employers not to leave.

They correctly foresaw that independence under the PA and subsequently Hamas would hardly materialize into the boon for them that it was promised to be; instead Gaza has become their nightmare with no end in sight. A recent video of a young Arab man in Gaza screaming to the world that “before you save us from the Jews, SAVE US FROM HAMAS!” could not be more telling.

In our opinion, everyone benefits from living under Israeli sovereignty. Without a doubt Going Back to Gaza will not only ensure Jews’ safety but will also bring renewed prosperity and personal safety to the Arabs who either move on or who, after careful vetting, remain.

Assaf Gibor, was our next guest speaker for this long overdue discussion. An award-winning Israeli journalist with close ties to the Arab community in Gaza and elsewhere in Israel shared with us his first-hand understanding of what the Arab community is thinking and truly wants.

Gaza March – Returning Home. Independence Day May 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB8MELK0Q9s

*With permission from MAKE PEACE, A Strategic Guide for Achieving Lasting Peace, by Rabbi Elisha Pearl, published by YONAH PRESS