Giving Blood, Unclenching the Fist

This is the danger period. The patient was carefully poked and prodded, prepped. Staff was on hand to ensure the foreign objects were carefully inserted, that the blood of the body was removed from its location. Now the fist can unclench, the staff turns away and let natural clotting do its work.

The antiseptic metaphor ends here. There is nothing sanitary or manageable like a blood donation with the Gaza and West Bank withdrawals. The "safe" part of the Gaza withdrawal is almost complete, and, barring any last-minute idiocy on the part of the settlers or their "helpers" in Homesh or Sa-Nur, civilians should be out of harms way, at least in terms of their former, to be razed, homes.

Now the way is clear for the ugliness to begin. The lootings by Israeli soldiers. The terrorist tactics our Jewish youth learned so well from their Palestinian brethren. Today they stopped just short of being shot, just short of burning a man in his bulldozer.

In a few weeks, we will see just how little control the Palestinian Authority has over the people it purports to rule. It would be too easy a publicity stunt, for example, for the Iranian-backed terrorists that already have the 'hearts and minds' of many Gazans to stage an invasion of the already-vacated territory, claim it as their victory. Check out Hamas' celebration of their "military" victory.

The reality is that Sharon will not move back in. The U.N. will not support us. The PA will appeal to the world organizations for support, and Hamas, Islamic Jihad and their ilk will have more to crow about on their web sites of lies. Lies that their leaders have been burning into minds to young and malleable to discern from even a relative truth. Look past the boy's flag. Look to the blood, flames and hate painted on his wall.

If the settler movement wanted to ensure that the withdrawal fulfill the prophecy they preached, they need to continue to urge their children into danger, into lines of fire they would never dream of sending themselves. If they want to ensure that Israel gets what small, temporary advantage this withdrawal brings, they should leash their dogs of war; make their children go back to their yeshivot, back to learning about the less imperialist aspects of god and country. There will be plenty of time for them to scold 'I told you so' to whichever government follows in Sharon's downfall. There may even be a time for them to return to Kfar Darom a third time, to move Atzmona yet again, from where it has yet to root.

The relaxed fist can clench again in violence, contract in involuntary and painful spasms, or allow fresh blood to bathe its tissues. In the spirit of this blog, I look forward to a more peaceful border despite reality, a stronger Israeli society as a result of this disengagement. Most of all I hope the tears of fear and rage shed by the children evicted from the only homes they knew be replaced with smiles as they are welcomed into their new homes by new (and old) neighbors.