By Shifra Shomron

Neve Dekalim

17 Iyar 5765/ 26 May 2005

     In response to my article “Block Those Streets” I received many kind, encouraging and supportive comments.  However, I also received a letter from a person who doesn’t approve of street blocking.  I wrote that person back, and I would like to share my response with all my readers.

     To Whom It May Concern:

     First, I would like to say that I hope you have sent a similar letter to every other group who have blocked streets or otherwise brought the country to a halt, such as: Tel-Aviv taxi drivers, the Histadrut union Ben-Gurion airport, etc….  For every single demonstration streets have to be blocked and sometimes streets are even blocked by accident.  And yet the Israeli public hasn’t filed complaints against the taxi drivers….  If you have not so complained against these groups’ protests, then I feel inclined to suggest that perhaps you are not as sympathetic to Gush Katif as you claim to be.

     The fact is, I’ve heard several stories telling about many kind drivers who cheerfully honked in support of our protestors!  Perhaps owing to the fact that these precious protestors were considerate enough to hand out refreshments to the drivers who were forced to stop….   Also, this blocking of streets didn’t appear like a thunderstorm from a sunny sky.  The event was highly publicized: eye-catching full-page advertisements in the BeSheva newspaper, notices put up throughout Israel, and Beit Leumi website postings.  The date, hour, and intention were NOT hidden from the Israeli public.

     And as for those drivers who were disgruntled and annoyed by the streets being blocked, I can only say that when Jews in Israel are cruelly being threatened to be dragged from their homes, to have the bones of their loved ones dug up, and to have their lives’ work going up in ashes, or-worse, to have it graciously handed on a silver platter to the very fiends who have been bombing them for the past five years… well, being detained for an hour or so seems to me to be a very small price to pay.

     It would be an ugly stain of the darkest and most visible kind, if that which is being threatened were to become an ugly reality and the country NOT come to a halt!

     And as for those to whom being detained for an hour or so is not just an inconvenience but rather hours of torture, I give my most heartfelt sympathies.  However, I think that the people who are truly responsible for the pain of those forced to endure street blockings are those in the government whose policy has made such action necessary.

     As for “acts of anarchy will destroy our democracy and destroy our country”, I think we all see that our democratic country is “democratically” destroying itself.  Need I bring up historical equivalents?  Ours are not acts of anarchy, but rather acts of civil disobedience, which will PREVENT our democratic country from being destroyed by external and internal enemies.

     We care about our country and our nation in a way that few, if any, other groups in Israel do.  Our campaign started with the slogan “In Love We Shall Win”.  Our projects include distributing Mishloach Manot for Purim, a Matza kit for Pesach (Passover), an amazing Human Chain and many, many peaceful demonstrations.

     To paraphrase Napoleon- “sometimes a nation must be redeemed against its’ will.”