By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
May 11, 2005
All Americans who care for Israel have duty to prevent the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from uprooting Jews from parts of the land rightfully theirs from a biblical and historical perspective, one US official said this week.
New York City Assemblyman Dov Hikind told WorldNetDaily Tuesday that he plans to bring a large group of like-minded Americans next month to live for three days in southern Gaza's Katic Bloc in a show of solidarity with the area's Jewish residents.
In March, Hikind brought a group of 40 Americans for a brief, but widely publicized visit to Jewish Gaza.
Hikind told WND that the March trip "was just shocking to everyone who went. To see the beauty of the place, to feel the difficulty and pain of the residents who did nothing wrong and are now forced to just abandon their homes and lives."
"More Americans need to experience the area, and once they do, they will understand why the withdrawal is disastrous."
In his interview with the popular Internet news site, Hikind said, "Israel is making the gravest mistake by giving up Gaza. It is the duty of every American who cares about the Jewish state to do something about this tragic decision."
Evangelical Christians have emerged as Israel's greatest ally in the West, but many of their leaders feel it is not the place of non-Israelis to criticize Israeli government decisions.
Sharon, however, admitted in a pre-Passover interview that had current realities been different - a situation that many feel the tens of millions of Western evangelicals can affect - there would be no need to withdraw from Gaza and northern Samaria.
For Americans, Hikind explained, the issue should also be linked to the global war on Islamic terror.
"Anyone who wants us to win the war on terror has to be against this plan. The terrorists are already hailing the withdrawal as a victory and have already announced they will take over the area to continue attacks until all of Israel is destroyed. Terrorists around the world are going to be encouraged that their tactics work since it got Israel to leave Gaza."
Meanwhile, those Israelis faithful to the Land of Israel are not sitting idly by waiting on their foreign friends, but are preparing to take widespread action against the coming evacuation.
The anti-retreat leadership decided in a meeting in Jerusalem Monday to completely shut down the city of Tel Aviv next Monday as a test case for the effectiveness of their strategy.
That feat will be achieved by blocking highways into the city with slow-moving traffic and demonstrations.
A pamphlet distributed during the Jerusalem meeting noted the real battle would begin the day Sharon seals off Samaria and Gaza, but stressed all anti-retreat activity must be non-violent in nature.
When the government denies vehicular access to those areas slated for evacuation, activists should set out on foot to join their besieged Jewish brethren, the pamphlet stated.
It listed the supplies each activist should carry in order to survive for four days on foot, as well as those items needed for a short stay in prison should the security forces make good on the government's threat of mass arrests.