I was recently thrown in jail by the Israeli "justice" system for two and a half weeks. My "crime"? I am accused of supporting non-violent civil disobedience in opposition to the ethnic cleaning of the Jews of Gaza and to demand that the expulsion plan be decided on democratically by the People of Israel. Never mind that thousands of other Israelis who have actually blocked roads were not punished at all. It is unfortunate that the law is different if you are religious and right-wing.



I received fantastic support from many people while I was in jail, but the amazing success of the road-blockings has also caused some disgruntled people to complain.



"It Won't Help"



A favorite claim of the opponents of Gush Katif is to say that it "won't help". That all the facts prove the exact opposite doesn't faze these know-it-alls. Crime reporter Buki Naeh, of Yediot Acharonot (Israel's largest newspaper), wrote the day after the road-blockings, "When the Israeli police force wants to do something, it does it, and when it does not want to, it does not. The events of yesterday raise the suspicion that there is no chance in the world that the police will be able to fulfill the mission of the Disengagement." Israel's Chief of Police himself stated months ago that if the people "go into the streets," then there is "no way the expulsion plan can be implemented." Even the Israeli Justice system agrees. The judge who tried Shai Malka and Ariel Vengrover, the head of the movement which called for the road-blockings, stated that the two were dangerous to society because "the road-blockings are capable of stopping implementation of the Disengagement Plan." On 28 June, Ha'aretz newspaper commentator Amir Oren even wrote that, due to the opposition, the IDF was preparing for the possible cancellation of the expulsion.



Its lucky that no one told Martin Luther King and India's Gandhi that road-blockings don't help, otherwise India would never have won independence and American blacks would still be living under segregation.



But it is funny, too. How dumb can Israelis be? They have been blocking roads in Israel for decades and they don't even know it doesn't work! A few years ago, the residents of Mevaseret Tzion blocked the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway to protest the planned annexation of their city to Jerusalem ? the plan was subsequently scrapped. Two years ago the government planned to raise fees for university students, which are currently the lowest in the world. The students said they wouldn't stand for it. They blocked roads all over the country and (surprise, surprise) the government quickly backed down and trashed the fee hike. New immigrants, cab and truck drivers, farmers, lesbians and homosexuals, leftist/anarchists and Haredim - all have blocked roads across the country; and for a good reason ? it gets the job done.



The know-it-alls continue to spout their nonsense even though Ariel Sharon has made it clear that the only people who bother him are the road-blockers. Twice in the past week Sharon has publicly attacked the road-blockers. On June 23, for instance, Sharon, at wits ends from the demonstrations, shrieked that the road-blockings "could not continue" and that they were "halting regular life in Israel." Why does Sharon ignore all the 'nice' demonstrators? As a career general, he knows to spot a threat when he sees one.



A poll publicized on June 26 by the University of Haifa revealed that 20% of Israel's Jewish population - or over one million people (!) - are willing to block the roads. The Prisons Authority recently admitted it will only have 2,500 places for road-blockers by the time of the expulsion.



It "Upsets" People



Another favorite argument is that the road-blockings "upset people" and "make the people hate us." Where did they get this from, I don't know?



My friend, a programmer at a hi-tech company in Tel Aviv found just the opposite. The day after the road-blockings, his fellow employees came up to him and told him how impressed they were that the national-religious were willing to sacrifice themselves for their cause.



Of course, it may be just a coincidence that, a few days after the road-blockings, the polls showed, for the first time, that support for the Disengagement had fallen below 50%. Also following the road-blockings, Army Radio's left-wing commentator, the famous Razi Barkai, said for the first time that he does not think the expulsion plan could be implemented. Coincidence, of course.



But even if it were true that it angers some people - who cares? What kind of person gets upset when he is delayed for an hour, but doesn't bat an eyelash when 10,000 people are expelled from their homes? Does a person with such a warped value system deserve to be taken into account? It was none other than Rabbi Carlebach, the Master of Love, who said, "If you're doing something and it's not bothering anybody, it's probably not worth doing."



"What Will They Think Of Us?"



The national-religious public must stop trying to get everyone to love them. It doesn't work and it usually engenders just the opposite reaction. There is no community in Israel attacked as much as the national-religious. One need only open a Haredi or secular newspaper to see how much the national-religious are maligned.



[Part 1 of 2]