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Uprooting Jews

Possibility of civil war becomes a reality


By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
March 04, 2005

Events this week indicated the threat of a civil war over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s “disengagement” plan might be more of a reality than many Israelis care to acknowledge.

A media circus earlier in the week over a false claim that rabbis had granted permission to open fire on non-Jewish evacuators led Wednesday to a very real religious ruling allowing Arab soldiers to kill resisting Gaza residents.

It was reported last week that the government plans to send special units made up of Arabs and anti-settler leftists to carry out the expulsion of Gaza’s Jews.

A right-wing MK accused Sharon of purposely encouraging the situation in an effort to demonize the settler movement prior to what is certain to be an emotion-filled evacuation.

Aryeh Eldad said he believed the ongoing provocation would ultimately create an atmosphere where having soldiers open fire on Jewish settlers would no longer be publicly unacceptable.

Journalists Wednesday admitted to fulfilling their role in this fiasco by inciting against disengagements opponents in order to keep their editors happy.

False claim of incitement

A Druze combat soldier serving in the Gaza Strip asked Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz Tuesday if Jewish settlers slated for forced evacuation would be permitted to open fire on non-Jewish soldiers and police officers taking part in the evacuation.

The young man had reportedly been concerned over rumors that certain rabbis had issued a religious ruling authorizing live fire on Druze and Bedouin security forces sent to rip Jews from their homes.

The alleged religious ruling had been the topic of banner headlines in Israel’s mainstream leftist media earlier in the week.

A legal advisor for the General Security Services told the Knesset Constitution Committee Tuesday that no such religious ruling existed.

Dangerous religious ruling

The mere thought that such an edict could be made, however, prompted a prominent Bedouin religious figure to issue his own ruling Wednesday allowing Arab soldiers to kill any Jew who attempted to harm them during the disengagement.

“Whoever attempts to harm Bedouin soldiers…shouldn't think they would just stand there and do nothing," Channel Two News quoted Sheikh Kamal Abu Nadi as saying.

Abu Nadi, who himself served in the IDF for 11 years, is a respected cleric whose rulings are followed by a large number of Bedouin families.

Explosive situation

Reports last month indicated the Sharon government was putting together special units made up of Arabs and anti-settler leftists to carry out the evacuation.

“I know the army is developing units like that,” Likud member Moshe Feiglin told WorldNetDaily. “They will not outright advertise that only Arabs and leftists will be acceptable, but in order to be accepted to such a unit you have to agree to take part in a unit created specifically for a political act. So it will be ensured those in such a unit agree.”

Assembling such units would eliminate the possibility of sending soldiers who have a moral problem with uprooting Jews, and who may respond by refusing orders.

It also greatly increases the possibility of an outbreak of violence, however.

The media is playing its part

Several mainstream journalists participating in an open discussion on Israel Radio Wednesday admitted the media had been played its part in fomenting a dangerous atmosphere by “seriously exaggerating” acts of incitement against Sharon’s plan.

The participants said heavy pressure to keep their editors happy with “scoops” had led to the irresponsible coverage.

Preparing the nation for civil war

Eldad told Ynet Wednesday reporters had no shortage of inflammatory stories because the Sharon government itself was making them up.

“Sharon needs the provocation,” Eldad said. “ In my opinion this is just the beginning.”

The National Union MK explained that Sharon “needed to transform those [he] once called ‘pioneers’ into enemies of the state” in order to implement his controversial plan.

Earlier in the day, Eldad spoke at a conference protesting the scheduled retreat.

He warned of an escalation in efforts to demonize the settlers in order to create an atmosphere where it will be acceptable for soldiers to open fire on those refusing to be evacuated.

Eldad believes that on the day the disengagement gets underway, the security forces will stage an explosion or other false attack supposedly targeting them in order to justify using force against the Jewish settlers.

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