We lost our homes for nothing By Nir Hasson

From Women in Green:

Dear Friends

In another 35 days there will (hopefully) be elections in Israel.

MK Arieh Eldad says it well:
Before the expulsion from Gush Katif we had enough fingers to make a human chain from Gush Katif to Jerusalem but...
we did not have enough fingers in the Knesset to vote down the expulsion plan.

Now is our chance to get our people in the Knesset:
It is clear that anyone who cares about the Land of Israel has only one choice as to whom to vote for:
the National Union (Ichud Leumi) which is the only party that proudly raises the flag of the Land of Israel and opposes the creation of a PLO State. The renewed Ichud Leumi (National Union) luckily managed to unite the national right wing parties of Ichud Leumi, Hatikva and Eretz Yisrael Shelanu so that its list is excellent.

Number 1 is Yaakov Katz (Ketzele) from Bet El, 2 is MK Uri Ariel, 3 is Prof MK Arieh Eldad, 4 is Dr Michael ben Ari, 5 is Anglo representative Uri Bank from Gush Etzion, 6 is Prof Ron Breiman from Tel Aviv, 7 is Alon Davidi from Sderot, etc...

When enemies from within and without are still planning the creation of a PLO terror State; i.e. are planning the destruction of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria as a first step to the destruction of the State of Israel as a Jewish State, it is clear that the main issue we must address in the upcoming elections is the Land of Israel, our right to all of the Land of Israel and our categorical opposition to relinquish any part of it.

The one and only party which dares to have a firm and uncompromising stand on our right to the land of Israel, the one and only party which dares oppose the creation of a PLO State, is the renewed National Union (Ichud Leumi). Therefore, it is crucial not only to vote for the National Union (Ichud Leumi) on February 10th, election day, but to also work hard in the coming month to convince as many Jews to vote for this party and get as many mandates in the Knesset.

There is lots of work ahead. Very little time. We must work hard to try and get at least ten mandates.

We know and are aware that a war is being waged in the South. But as we have written before, we fear that the Livni-Barak-Olmert government might use the war in order to hijack the elections. Therefore, in order to try and save the citizens of Israel from further qassams and Arab terror, we must make sure to bring down this leftist government who put us in this mess to begin with, and elect a proud Jewish Zionist leadership that is not scared to declare:
"The Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel! No more capitulation to the Arab enemy.

FOR ALL THOSE WHO WANT TO VOLUNTEER AND BE PART OF THE NATIONAL UNION (ICHUD LEUMI) CAMPAIGN-
PLEASE JOIN US THIS COMING MOTSAEI SHABBAT IN JERUSALEM FOR A PLANNING & WORKING MEETING (in HEBREW) WITH MK ARIEH ELDAD.
AT 8:00pm AT THE ISRAEL CENTER, KEREN HAYESOD STREET 22

Even if you can't come this Motsaei Shabbat to the meeting but are willing to help in any way, please send us by email your name, phone number and address.

About the Gaza War, here in Israel thousands of volunteers are involved in helping the South in different ways like going to the hospitals, organizing hostings of our brothers in the south, etc.
For more details : http://negevrefugeehosting.squarespace.com/

People abroad are also asking us what they can do to help Israel.

Firstly one can of course join the different pro-Israel rallies. For instance, such a rally in support of Israel's war on terror will take place in the USA:

TODAY TUESDAY JANUARY 6th at 12:30pm
ACROSS FROM THE ISRAELI CONSULATE (42nd street and Avenue)

Sponsored by Amcha Coalition for Jewish Concerns, Aish, Americans for a Safe Israel, Betar and others
For more info contact Hillary Markowitz at 914-393-8071 or Merdith Weiss at 845-642-2751.

If you can't come to that rally, there is a lot you can do from your home or work. You can be a 'shaliach", emissary for the cause of Israel. Unfortunately, the media, even in Israel, is very biased and we, the little people, can make a difference by adding our Jewish-Zionist talkbacks to articles that appear on the Internet. Here are just a few links to English websites in Israel: www.haaretz.com, www.ynetnews.com, www.jpost.com, www.jrep.com

For the international media we suggest you get in touch with http://www.honestreporting.com/ , a website monitoring Mideast anti-Israel bias. On their website they have a short video "The real story about the Gaza War". Look at it and forward it to friends.

In these days of Internet, the struggle for the Land of Israel and the survival of the State of Israel is waged not only by the IDF soldiers on the ground, but by each and one of us who can make a difference.
The ideas above of how to help are just a few examples. Please email us your ideas, too, and tell us how you and your community are involved.

With Love for Israel,

Ruth Matar - Nadia Matar - Anita Finkelstein
Women in Green

Below please find two important articles:
1) An article that appeared in Haaretz
2) A prayer for the well being of our IDF soldiers
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'We lost our homes for nothing,' says reservist from former Gaza settlement
By Nir Hasson, Haaretz.com
January 1, 2009

Three years after being evacuated from settlements in the Gaza Strip, some of the evacuees are now returning - in uniform.

Aharon Cruz, a paratroops officer, lived in Netzarim for two years before the disengagement. On Sunday, he and his unit, to which he had been recalled a mere day after his wedding last Thursday, were back at the settlement's ruins in central Gaza.

"On one hand, there's a feeling of 'what did we leave for?'" said his father, Rabbi Ze'ev Cruz. "On the other hand, there's joy that he is returning to a place he knows."

The ground operation has aroused strong feelings among the evacuees. Some see it as a first step toward returning to their former homes. But most simply want to shout "we told you so!" And the feelings are intensified among those who have sons serving in Gaza.

"It's a very difficult feeling," said Ami Shaked, former chief security officer of the Gush Katif settlement bloc, whose son is a paratrooper. "This is the first war in which my son is defending me instead of me, him."

But beyond that, "everything we said then has come true. What is happening today reopens the wounds. The thought arises that perhaps we shouldn't have given in; perhaps we should have been more insistent, ratcheted up the struggle another notch. But that's history."

Yossi Neuman, a reserve officer in Southern Command who once lived in Neve Dekalim, was called up over a week ago. His son Itai, a tank commander, called him yesterday from the ruins of Netzarim.

"It's a destructive feeling," Neuman said. "I'm here on an emergency call-up and my son is fighting for what we once had. We said missiles would haunt Ashkelon and they said we were delusional. We lost our homes and our lives for nothing, for nothing at all in exchange. And in the end, we're returning to fight there."

For many evacuees, the feelings were heightened by the news that the son of Zvika Bar-Hai - a West Bank settler who was one of the leaders of the fight against disengagement - was seriously wounded on the first day of the ground operation.

But the army's return to Netzarim was particularly emotional for former residents of that settlement. "I got text messages that said 'stop everything, we'll soon be back,'" said one, Itzik Vazana. "We're hoping for the day when we return. I think we've come a long way from the expulsion until today. We've made a big circle, and in the end, we're returning to Netzarim. Tomorrow morning we won't return to the settlement, but it's a process that will ripen slowly."

"It's a stab in the heart," added another, Eliyahu Ozen. "Today it is clear that when I lived in Netzarim, I was the country's flak jacket. Today, I live with the feeling that I did my job. Too bad they didn't want it any more."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052596.html

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Women in Green join Naomi Ragen's request for a prayer for our IDF soldiers in Gaza:

I ask all of you who receive this to say a prayer for our soldiers, that they may all return, every one of them please G-d, to the families that love them after completing their work to give security back to the people of Israel. May the only weeping be those of terrorists for themselves and their families. May it please G-d that those who bless us will be blessed, and those who curse us will be cursed.

Prayer for the IDF (Israel Defense Forces):

"He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- may He bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Forces, who stand guard over our land and the cities of our God, from the border of the Lebanon to the desert of Egypt, and from the Great Sea unto the approach of the Aravah, on the land, in the air, and on the sea.

May the Almighty cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down before them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our fighters from every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may He send blessing and success in their every endeavor.

May He lead our enemies under our soldiers' sway and may He grant them salvation and crown them with victory. And may there be fulfilled for them the verse: For it is the Lord your God, Who goes with you to battle your enemies for you to save you. " Now let us respond: Amen.

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Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green)
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