Tuesday, August 23, 2005

From one oleh(immigrant) to another

By Zev Forman

Around the same day that the people living in Jewish settlements in Gaza lost their homes, my summer job ended. Now, I don’t want to make an outright comparison between my loss of work with the loss suffered by the people living in those areas, but…

I knew that come the middle of August I would be out of a job; but I am single and mobile. Most of the people in Gush Katif have lived there for thirty some odd years and had created a nice government subsidized life for themselves. They had family, community and a beach view that was completely unobstructed by world opinion.

The only similarity between these people and myself is that we both now live within the Jewish State of Israel - for better and worse.

As I have talked (not acted) about getting a job this week, I have noticed “help wanted” signs all over the place. There are government agencies specifically available to help me to get me a job, and to make my life easier overall. There are also a number of organizations like the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel (AACI) and Hadassah’s Merkaz Hamagshimim, which exist only to make the impossible task of immigrating to a new country just a bit simpler. I have to believe that with a bit of effort mixed with a little imagination that I will soon be gainfully employed.

In the spirit of all of those people who are trying to make my own move here easier, I want to be among the first to welcome the people of Gush Katif to Israel. I know that many of them have been citizens of Israel for a long time, but it is really nice to have them - well, most of them - living inside Israel proper.

Seeing so many people here to help me made me so happy. And, even though these people have been sucking at the teat of government subsidies for thirty plus years, I am certain that these re-settled patriots will find great opportunities inside a more cohesive Israel.

Now, you might be saying, “Zev, I saw these people, and I don’t think they view this as an opportunity. They commandeered the memory of the Holocaust and threw horrible things, like rocks and chemicals, at Israeli soldiers and police.”

You are right.

It does appear that there are those who do not think they can go on without sponging off of the government. There are those who would prefer to keep their unobstructed beach view. These are people with orange stars on their shirts and their hands in the air and holed up in synagogues. These are people who have put land before the safety of Israeli soldiers and in front of God. They have made a small strip of beach front property more important than peace.

My message to them, from one oleh to another, is simple. You are so lucky that you can now live in a Jewish state. Despite your shouts and incitement, those were not Nazis, Cossacks or even Americans removing you from your homes and synagogues. These were Jews evicting Jews. And, it seems, this allowed for more empathy than you may have expected with these Jewish soldiers and police who carried out their weighty task with tears in their eyes and you embraced in their arms – so long as you were willing to return the embrace.

Immigrating to a new country is hardly an easy thing. Israel, however, tries to make it a bit easier. I would like to say to our new trans-green line olim(immigrants), bruchim habaim(welcome) and behatzlecha(good luck)!

Zev Forman is a recent oleh to Israel. Since his movin’ on up he has been studying in the two-year long, intensive government regulated course to become a tour guide. Asides from his passion for geography he is a mean cook, wine connoisseur and keeps a soft spot for the ladies at all times. He’s one god damned, smooth cat and a BMF besides.

5 Comments:

At 8:27 AM, Blogger mrhawaiianshirt said...

Zev,
Power too you for getting to the heart of the matter. As a you are a new oleh I would like to extend my own, personal welcome to you and invite you to my house for dinner this Friday night.

Kudos to Ari for allowing such a talented 2nd party to post. He can come too.

 
At 1:40 PM, Blogger Rachel said...

'tiz true, Zev iz a great cook. I vair the chocolate ribbon as a political statement. Let dem eat chocolate!
Play Cry Wolf Game today.
http://www.crywolfgame.com/CryWolfGateKeeper/

 
At 7:37 PM, Blogger jinan said...

Zev, seems to me you're so blinded by your own ideas that you can't be objective anymore. You castigate the settlers and basicall call them selfish. Shame on you! Do you suppose that these people love their county any less than you do?
Perhaps the disengagement is the right thing to do. And if it is, it shouldn't polarize and pit you against each other. Your sense of rectitude should not make you the judge of others. Instead you should be magnanimous, and comfort those who suffered loss because it couldn't be helped!

 
At 8:33 PM, Blogger Asi & Edo said...

dear jinan,
i am along time reader third timecommenter of this blog and i just wanna ask you:
magnanimous? i s taht the magnum of humoses? cause i love humos!
please tell me where i can make a purchase and i will credit you with numerous orange ribbons i took of signs all over the negev.
yours truly,
scum

 
At 12:29 PM, Blogger Stefanella said...

Love the posting, love your writing style and your wit...Very cool...

 

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