A Political Friday on the Horizon

Looks like we may be able to make it to the demonstration in the Golan Heights on Friday after all! Our nephew's Bar Mitzva party is going to be on Saturday and the demonstration is on Friday.

It's a huge deal for us here, frankly. I am not sure which of my family members are reading my blog, but I know that for some of them, the fact that we will be going to this demonstration is heartbreaking. You see, we will be calling for the government of Israel to launch peace talks with Syria. Such peace talks, in all likelihood, will involve discussions and at some point, if peace is achieved, implementation of an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. ID's older brother lives there with his wife and four children. It's been their home ever since 1979. They live in a beautiful flourishing kibbutz there, which they have literally built with their own hands. They have turned their hill there from a barren pile of rocks and thorny weed into a gorgeous green and prosperous kibbutz, where social ideals still reign. Their four children were born there. Their oldest daughter is in her early twenties, their youngest is a teenager. For these kids, that is their home and there is no other. Should they be made to leave, it will literally devastate their lives. Unlike the settlers in the West Bank, they are not oppressing any local population. They live a peaceful life there, growing apples, cherries and cows and tending to their gardens and landscaping.

So, you see, we will not be telling them about going to this demonstration. For us to be supporting peace talks with Syria, in essence supporting a withdrawal from the Golan Heights would be too painful to discuss probably. I hope the kids won't talk too much, as we will be seeing them on the weekend, sigh. It won't be a happy demonstration for us, in that respect. The price to be paid is too close to home in this case.

And yet, we still believe whole heartedly, that as beautiful as the Golan is, and as admirable as the kibbutzim there are, preventing the next war with Lebanon is what really counts. I truly believe that a peace agreement with Syria is the only way to solve the Lebanon problem for Israel. Moreover, I believe that entering negotiations with Syria, in good faith on both sides, might be the only way to prevent the war currently looking on the regional horizon. Everyone talking about a war with Lebanon again, maybe in the summer. They're talking like it's inevitable, based on declaration constantly made by the heads of Hezbulla. I truly believe that negotiations with Syria may be the only thing that can stop this.

I confess, I don't care much for hummus in Damascus. A warm and mutually hospitable peace is not my agenda. Frankly, between my family's well being and hummus, I opt for the first. But this isn't what negotiations and peace with Syria is about. It's about stabilizing the region, in particularly defusing the threat by the HA. It will affect more than the north too. It will be a blow to extremists all over the region, showing them that Syria is leaving the "Axis of Evil" and joining forces with the moderates. It may pave the way later on for negotiations with the Hammas as well.

In short, this is about preventing war. Now and later. It's about preventing more soldiers and civilians from being killed in pointless wars, this year and in future years. That is the only thing that is worth uprooting people from their homes, if it comes down to that.

And it may not even come to that. Negotiations are just that - we can discuss the future of the settlers and the settlements. Negotiations in themselves will be a stabilizing factor, and as such should be entered into as soon as feasibly possible. Hope to be reporting from the demonstration on the weekend.