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| THINK-ISRAEL |
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TO: Mr. Howard Rieger
President of United Jewish Communities [UJC],
the Jewish Federation network in North America,
May 15, 2006
As you know, several months ago I resigned from the Board of Trustees, and from the position of recording secretary of the Jewish Federation of Greater Clifton-Passaic,
to protest UJC's refusal to initiate a campaign fund dedicated exclusively to helping the expelled Jews of Gaza and northern Samariaand
to express my outrage at the silence of the leaders of the Jewish Federation system in the aftermath of the sickening police brutality by the Israeli military and police against the innocent, defenseless protestors at Amona.
This letter will be read by more than 25,000 people, including hundreds of representatives of Jewish and non-Jewish organizations and media in the U.S. and Israel. Later this week, it will appear in Think-Israel.org, a magazine-blog that focuses on analytic commentary and opinion pieces concerning the Jewish State.
Below, I am including portions of the email you had sent me more than three months ago.
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-----Original Message-----
"buddy, i have responded to you on many occasions regarding your
concerns. i am not heartless. read many of the comments which i have
made publically [sic] on this subject. on the impact that dislocation
has on individuals. and i have visited many of those who are now
living in the sinai and feel genuine concern for their plight.
i do believe that in the end, that the priority must be the rule of
law. that many of those who found themselves without assistance after
having to be uprooted, also refused to engage with the system which
was offering compensation. similarly, when one confronts
authorities...even in america...there are consequences to such
actions.
i feel for anyone who has to be put in such positions. but in free
societies, there are still hard choices to make. apparently, israel's
government came to the conclusion that while they believed that jews
had the right to live anywhere within greater israel, that the
sacrafice [sic] that had to be made to sustain such populations was in
the end not sustainable. not an easy decision on either side."
"buddy, the issues you are focused on are emotional. they are sad.
but there is a jewish state called israel. imperfect as it is, it is
ours. and while you are feeling diminished by the decisions that they
have made in re what is sustainable and what is not, i feel the need
to understand the anguish on both sides. and provocations from either
direction must be understood.
let calmer views prevail. israel has enough enemies throughout the
world. we have to close the circle and support each other. the
decision to provoke, from either side, will only drag us down.
finally, i hope that your decision in respect to your communal
involvment [sic] will not be judged in the heat of the moment. if we
can't count on each other, on whom can we count?"
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After all that has transpired during the past nine months, I must sadly answer you: "Mr. Rieger, yes, you are heartless with regard to the Jews who live and lived in Judea, Samaria and Gaza." It is wonderful that you feel a level of concern for the expelled Jews. Unfortunately, your concern has not been translated into action.
When you speak of Amona: How dare you, Mr. Rieger, speak ill
against the victims of the police and military brutality at Amona!
Their basic rights of living in a civil society were abrogated --
taken from them. Their lives were turned upside-down. Haven't you seen
any of the videos? (For example,
http://msmedia.a7.org:82/arutz7/eng-video/06/mar/perm/amona-arutz7.wmv)
I am extremely sorry to have to write this, but the UJC (the Jewish Federation network) is not really a friend of Israel's Jews -- quite the contrary, the UJC has all too often used Israel as a tool to extract money from well-meaning American and Canadian Jews whose only connection to Israel is through their pledges.
During the past four months, since my resignation from my local Federation (on principle), I have learned of some of the ugly reality with regard to the control imposed upon the Jewish State -- about her users, abusers, deniers and corrupters -- and about a tiny portion of our fellow Jews, who are among the most influential and/or wealthy of our People, who are encouraging, with fervor, the destruction of our Jewish Homeland. Included among the influential members of this group of Jews are: M. J. Rosenberg, Seymour Reich, Rabbi Eric Yoffe, Rabbi David Saperstein, James Wolfensohn, Abe Foxman, Thomas Friedman and Malcolm Hoenlein. Included among the wealthiest/most influential of this group of American and Canadian Jews who have close ties to Israel's economy, and who allegedly have massive amounts of personal funds invested in Israel and in its leadership, and who, allegedly, stand to gain from the events in the Middle East; especially, the further expulsion of Jews to the Negev. They are: Ron Lauder, Bruce Rappaport (Swiss-Israeli), S. Daniel Abraham, Mort Zuckerman, Sam Halpern, Joseph Wilf, Edgar Bronfman, Charles Bronfman, Matthew Bronfman, James Tisch and Haim Saban.
Mr. Rieger, Israel finds herself in the most perilous situation of her 58-year existence. And, the government's ethnic cleansing plan ("convergence") may bring about the annihilation of the Jewish State! The extremely optimistic figure of $11 billion (U.S.) is projected by the Israeli Government to pay for the upheaval of a minimum of 60,000 Jews from their homes and the lives they have been leading in Judea and Samaria. In an April 2006 interview with Sever Plotzker of Yediot Aharonot, Israel's top central banker and former senior official at the International Monetary Fund, Stanley Fischer, said he thought it was possible that a "disengagement" from Judea & Samaria envisaged by Olmert could cost $25 billion (U.S.).
Where will Israel get that kind of money? Where will she get the other billions of $$ required to effectively fight her Arab enemies and operate her country. In addition, if Israel gives up Judea and Samaria, the Arabs will control Israel's water supply
The 9,000 Jews who were expelled from their homes in Gaza and northern Samaria are still suffering tremendously, almost nine months after their expulsions.
The unemployment rate, among those who lost their jobs as a result of their expulsion, is 70%. The overall unemployment rate, among all expellees of working age, is 50%.
Regarding compensation: According to the Sela Administration data -- 4,091 claims have been filed, but only in 2,390 cases did the Administration work through all its red tape and give a final decision (58.4%). Among businessmen, only 25.5% have reached the final decision stage, and among the farmers -- only 5.1% have reached that stage!!!
Regarding housing: Only about 180 of the 9,000 expellees are in permanent housing. 118 families are still living in interim accommodations (waiting to move to temporary homes)! Of these, 68 families are still living in difficult conditions in hotel rooms and guesthouses. The children, as reported above, are still traumatized by the dramatic change in their lives, and most likely will be for many years to come.
And, the Israeli Government had more than 20 months to plan for the transition of these 9,000 Israeli citizens! Olmert would likely begin the new expulsions by next year, allowing the country much less time to prepare for tens of thousands more expellees. [The above information has been provided by Dror Vanunu, Director of the Gush Katif Committee and its American branch, Friends of Gush Katif, on May 14, 2006.] Can you imagine how the new victims would be cared for and treated? Would you like to experience that "quality of life" change? And, for no good rational reason. All it will do is to bring the genocidal terrorists of Hamas and Al-Qaeda closer to their targets!
As for the "security" of this new Israel, Olmert does not have a clue to what he is doing. And his new Defense Minister, Amir Peretz has literally no experience leading the military. Meanwhile, high-level leaders are calling for the military to return to Gaza to destroy the terror network built up as a result of the "disengagement" plan this past August.
Mr. Rieger: Don't you care that the same exact thing that happened in Gaza will happen in Judea and Samaria, once the 80,000 Jews are expelled; that is, Hamas and Fatah and al-Qaeda will fill in every square meter of land with terrorists and weapons. Only this time, instead of aiming for the power plant in Ashkelon, 5.59 miles away, all they will have to do is lob some rockets, grenades and Katyushas less than a quarter-mile away -- into the center of Western Jerusalem! There is no doubt that if Olmert has his way, it will happen. Guaranteed.
The political and religious Arab leaders -- Israel's enemies -- have not, and will not, change. The leaders of the PA cannot even bring themselves to lie and say, "Yes, we recognize Israel." Thank G-d that is the case; otherwise, G-d only knows how much money the terrorist murderers would have already received. Mr. Rieger, have you watched even one of the hundreds of horrific, sickening videos from the archives of the Palestinian Media Watch (www.pmw.org.il), that graphically present Israel's enemies for who they are? I know they are difficult to watch; however, they are a lot easier to face than living with the disastrous results of not understanding our enemies. Do the Jewish People a favor: Watch the following two short clips:
http://pmw.org.il/asx/PMW_Walla.asx
http://pmw.org.il/asx/PMW_Mudayris_stone_7.asx
Mr. Olmert is about to commit national suicide. The North American Jewish community must not, and will not, stand idly by while Olmert, Peres & Co. destroy our beloved Israel. I encourage you, M. J. Rosenberg, Seymour Reich, Rabbi Eric Yoffe, Rabbi David Saperstein, James Wolfensohn, Abe Foxman, Thomas Friedman, Malcolm Hoenlein, Ron Lauder, Bruce Rappaport, S. Daniel Abraham, Mort Zuckerman, Sam Halpern, Joseph Wilf, Edgar Bronfman, Charles Bronfman, Matthew Bronfman, James Tisch and Haim Saban -- with all of my might -- to urge Olmert to abandon his "Convergence" Plan. Otherwise, you and they will go down in history as the Jewish traitors who destroyed the Jewish Homeland and the Jewish People.
Most sincerely,
Buddy Macy
vegibud@aol.com
To all American recipients of this email:
Please, Please: Email, Fax and/or Call Howard Rieger, President of UJC (United Jewish Communities); Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; and your local Federation leaders, and demand that they tell Olmert to ABANDON his "CONVERGENCE" PLAN.
To reach Malcolm Hoenlein:
malcolm@conferenceofpresidents.org
Phone: 212-318-6111
Fax: 212-644-4135
To reach Howard Rieger:
howard.rieger@ujc.org
Phone:
212-284-6500
Fax: 212-284-6820
Also, please call the White House Comment Line (202-456-1111) and tell President Bush to demand that Olmert abandon his "Convergence" Plan, explaining that its execution would be a major blow to America's global fight against terror.
Finally, please call your 2 U.S. Senators and one U.S. Representative, and tell them to protest Olmert's "Convergence" Plan, explaining that its execution would be a major blow to America's global war against terror. Simply click on the following link: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt?command=congdir">, http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt?command=congdir enter your zip code and then click on, "GO." Then, click on the two Senators and one Representative to see their phone numbers, below.
To all Israeli recipients of this email:
Please call the following Shas Knesset members and demand that they tell Olmert to ABANDON his EXPULSION PLAN ("Convergence") -- a plan that is tantamount to national suicide:
[6]David Azulai 04-9815233 0505-494151
Nissim Ze'ev 02-5374319 0505-411752
Amnon Cohen 08-9230340 0505-515361
Yitzhak Cohen 08-6738063 0505-457005
Yaakov Margi 08-6420211 0544-962020
THE SURVIVAL OF ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE ARE AT STAKE!
PLEASE FORWARD THIS LETTER TO EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST(S), AND TELL THE RECIPIENTS TO EMAIL IT TO EVERYONE ON THEIRS!
Thank you very, very much.
Buddy
Contact Buddy Macy at vegibud@aol.com
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