Disengagement Engagement

I took part this morning in a "roundtable discussion" focused on the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a transcript of which will appear in the Intermountain Jewish News next month. There were four of us, two "from the Left" and two "from the Right."

I think it went okay. I did my best to speak to the immorality of ethnic cleansing through forced expulsion and the misguided nature of offering concessions in exchange for Nothing. It wasn't confrontational, and most of the participants seemed to genuinely care more about Israel than about being right. That part was nice; there was lots more common ground than I had expected. But that made it boring for The Husband, who had driven me to Denver, and was expecting to see sparks fly. (We had 6 or 8 inches of snow here last night, so he drove, freeing me to concentrate on worrying.)

I'm a writer, not a speaker; we'll just have to wait and see how evident that is in the edited transcript.

Oh, and this photographer was walking around the table, taking photos the entire two hours! I'm not very good at that, either.

* * * * * *

A rabbi in Israel told me this morning that Shin Bet agents are infiltrating the settlements, to pose as "settlers" (or settler-supporters). It is said that when the Expulsion begins, they will open fire on the soldiers... setting in motion a massacre, G-d Forbid. Completely outrageous, but is it any more outrageous than Sharon conceding the settlements to a Palestinian regime that neither rejects terrorism nor disarms the terrorists?

And DEBKA says that an announcement of Osama bin Laden's death has appeared on a close aide's "credible website," sparking a storm of controversy . . . If he is dead, then he should rot in hell.

That's all I know, or care to know, for the time being. I'm exhausted. I'm going to close the curtains on the snow, and go to bed with a good book.

Good Shabbos, everyone. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ... and Israeli President Moshe Katsav ... during a visit to the Hall of Names at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem Thursday, April 28, 2005.

Putin is on a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, the first such visit by a Kremlin leader. (AP Photo/David Blumenfeld/Pool)

Comments

[elliot]

"There were four of us, two "from the Left" and two "from the Right."" Please, please, tell us that you were one of the two from "the right" :-)