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A Final Appeal to US Jewry from the besieged Jews in Gush Katif.

IMRA: The reference in the note to abandonment by security authorities was apparently written before it was revealed that a major terrorist attack in  the area was thwarted today]

About 40,000 Israeli soldiers and police have been expelling Jews from their homes and preparing to destroy their communities in the Gaza Strip. The plans of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon includes the destruction of all synagogues and yeshivot in the Gaza Strip, destroying a 3,000 year Jewish legacy in the area -- all this against the will of the majority of the Jewish people in Israel. The army has brought in U.S. platforms and equipment for the expulsion of the Jews and the destruction of the homes and synagogues. They include armored bulldozers, such as the D-9 from Caterpillar, and other equipment to ensure the destruction of Jewish life in the land of Israel. The idea that American taxpayer money is being used to destroy Jewish life is both immoral as well as unconscionable. Looking out from our front window in the beach front community of Kfar Yam in Gush Katif, we can already see the preparations for the destruction of Neveh Dekalim, the largest Jewish community and a center of Torah in the area. The army has abandoned us to ensure our expulsion and only the grace of G-d has prevented any Arab attack. Indeed, this evening two attempts by suicide bombers to attack Shirat Hayam were foiled at the last minute! The young and old in the surviving communities of Kfar Yam and neighboring Shirat Hayam, Kfar Darom and Netzarim are praying to G-d constantly to avert this disaster, but we need your help!  We appeal to Jews everywhere to stop this massive destruction of synagogues, homes and yeshivot -- an effort financed by the United States. Never has the United States paid for the destruction of Jewish communities and the expulsion of their residents. Although Sharo has initiated this process, President Bush has pressed the prime minister to complete the expulsion of Jews regardless of the cost, including the establishment of a terrorist state along the eastern Mediterranean. Sixty years after the Holocaust, the United States cannot lend its hand to the destruction of Jewish life -- particularly in Eretz Yisrael -- regardless of where this decision lies. This is an issue that must be brought to the immediate attention of members of the House and Senate. The hour is late, but your voice can still help save Gush Katif. We, here in Israel, are fighting this evil decree daily as hundreds of thousands of people are demonstrating and seeking to physically stop the destruction in the Gaza Strip, but it is not enough. The issue is not only an Israeli one. The fate of Jews in the land of Israel affects Jews all over the world and the idea that so-called peace means the expulsion of Jews is an idea that we have fought against for thousands of years -- whether in Spain, Germany, England or North Africa. The idea that "peace" can only come through the expulsion of Jews and destruction of their communities is one that must be fought now, before the same question is presented in Brussels, Paris, London or New York. Jews in the Diaspora: stand up and be counted! The Jewish people are in danger and the obligation to act is on each and every one of us. Your voice is much more powerful than you imagine. Call your congressmen and senators immediately and demand that they represent you in stopping this evil decree. Night has fallen on Kfar Yam and the latest word is that tomorrow morning the army and police will come in their U.S.-supplied armored bulldozers, jeeps, armored personnel carriers and cages and expel us from Gush Katif forever. We can still stop this. Help us.

This Is How We Will Cancel the Decree

This is it. We've come to the bottom line of the struggle. If some supernatural miracle does not occur in the next week, then we must organize and act, to bring about, with our own hands, the natural miracle that, with God's help, will result in the cancellation of the deportation decree. To put it simply: anyone who thoroughly understands the situation knows that we have the power to stop the deportation plan. We have a tremendous, determined, and believing public. Moreover, a considerable part, if not the majority, of IDF soldiers identify with us and know that it is forbidden for them to participate in the plan to deport Jews and hand over parts of our biblical homeland to the Arab enemy. IDF soldiers are just waiting, to see determination and steadfastness on our part, for them to shed their uniforms and join the army of Eretz Israel loyalists. The miracle to which we aspire is to convince the hundreds of thousands of Eretz Israel loyalists that this is really within our power, and that they will leave their homes and join the various activities to stop the NEGA plan (the Hebrew word nega, meaning plague, is an acronym for nesigah - withdrawal, gerush - deportation, akirah - uprooting) of Sharon and the band of Oslo criminals surrounding him.

 I speak with very many people who are in pain because of the situation and want to act, but don't know what to do. There are no clear directives. There is no straightforward leadership that will say what to do in the coming two weeks. Moetzet Yesha (the Council of Jewish Settlements in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza) is organizing nice grandiose productions, and it will undoubtedly go down in history as the organizer of extremely successful happenings, but these protests are not at all enough to cancel the decree. According to Sharon's malicious plan, as was publicized in the media, on August 15 thousands of officers will come to the doors of the residents of Gush Katif and they will inform them that from that moment they are there illegally, and that they have two days to get out. Whoever does not leave will be forcibly deported beginning on August 17. There are rumors that from that date on food will not be allowed into Gush Katif. Moreover, there is information that Sharon's government will also take steps against the settlers of Gush Katif and Samaria that it would never dare to take against the murderous Arab enemy, such as shutting off water and electricity - don't even mention telephones and cell phones. Obviously, there will be a total blackout. This must enrage all of us, and motivate us to act with greater intensity to frustrate the criminal plan of the Sharon government. After many conversations with activists from the entire country, it is clear to all that there is no single magic remedy that will cancel the plan. The forces of the racist deportation must be take by surprise, and driven mad. Action must be taken simultaneously, and on different levels, throughout the country. The motto for the war against the Sharon plan is: chaos throughout the entire country.

We must also undergo a mental upheaval and realize: every policeman and soldier who consents to participate in the deportation turns himself from a brother into an enemy in the service of a corrupt dictator, who seeks to achieve the Hamas program of the deportation of Jews, the destruction of Jewish settlements, and the handing over to the enemy of portions of the homeland. And another clarification: the army commanders who tell us that they will do the job "gently and with sensitivity" are like a rapist who says that he rapes little girls "gently and with sensitivity." The following is a diverse range of ideas for action. Everyone will find here something that is most suitable for him and his family. One thing is clear. From Tisha be-Av onwards, no one stays home. Everyone, according to his abilities and character, will organize by himself or join other actions. The activities to frustrate the deportation plan fall into two categories: activities outside Gush Katif and Samaria, and activities within the endangered areas.

1) Activities outside Gush Katif and Samaria

            These activities aim to occupy a considerable portion of the deportation forces outside the region of the Katif and Samaria settlements. The following are a few examples; everyone is invited to initiate additional activities. Remember, it is inadvisable for a single body to coordinate all the activities. Don't wait for "orders from above." Each and every one of us has to be a rosh gadol, to think for himself, to organize several people and go into action.

* Joining the three marches that will set out, simultaneously, for Kisufim, Karni, and the northern Gaza Strip. The purpose of these marches is to bring thousands into Gush Katif. The IDF openly admits: if there are tens of thousands of people in Gush Katif on the deportation day, we simply will be unable to carry out the mission. Details on the marches will be forthcoming in the hebrew national papers.

* Joining all the activities around the Temple Mount, including: the Women in Green march around the Old City walls on Tisha be-Av eve; the Gush Katom procession with shofarot (ram's horns) to the Temple Mount gates, and additional actions. Here, too,look for details in the Besheva,Makor Rishon and Hatzofe newspapers.

* Road blocking throughout the country - close to home and at central intersections in the country.

* Noisy demonstrations, and even a siege of government buildings, radio and television stations, the Knesset, and the Supreme Court.

* Vocal, around the clock, protest vigils at the houses of government ministers, public figures, media people, and rabbis known to support the deportation plan. Anyone who endorses the deportation plan will not be able to go home, as if nothing is happening, and sleep with his family in peace and quiet. Five demonstrators with whistles and shofarot standing day and night opposite a public figure's house will suffice to cause total confusion.

* In Judea, Samaria, and Gaza: seizing as much state land as possible and establishing new me'ahazim (outpost settlements) everywhere.

* Anyone who feels that the above actions are too militant for him should buy whistles and posters, write on them: "Honk against the deportation of Jews," and stand at intersections, on the sidewalk or in the road, and maintain a vigil there.

* Additionally, organize prayers at the Western Wall and at every other central location in the country, such as the entrances to malls.

2) Activities within Gush Katif and northern Samaria

The purpose of these activities is to disrupt the plans of the deportation forces, to prevent them reaching their destination, to sabotage the equipment and vehicles used by them for the crime of deportation, and to ensure that the work of deportation, in each and every house, will be so traumatic and difficult, both emotionally and physically, that after one or two houses, most IDF soldiers will inform their commanders: "Commander, I cannot do this any more. I did not join the IDF to fight Jewish brothers and to hand over parts of the homeland to the enemy."  Here, as well, there are numerous things to be done, and the following are only examples:

* To encourage the residents of Gush Katif and ensure that the overwhelming majority of them remains. According to an IDF forecast (as published in this Friday's Hazofeh), 90 percent of Gush Katif residents will remain until Tisha be-Av. In the two days after Tisha be-Av, the army estimates that 40 percent of the residents of Gush Katif will leave. According to this forecast, the deportation forces will actually have to deport 50 percent of the population. We must try and persuade the residents of Gush Katif that they will gain nothing by leaving. The Yonatan Bassi Administration does not promise any decent solution. Consequently, the more residents who remain in their homes, the greater the chances of canceling the decree.

* Each settlement must decide how it will act on the deportation day. We are all against violence, but in my humble opinion, the work of deportation must be made difficult, in each and every house, by handcuffing oneself to furniture, or one to another, or by sealing doors and windows to make it difficult for the deporters to enter. This is not violence, but defense of one's home against lawbreakers who come to commit a pogrom.

* The guiding principle is simple: the more difficult that the family makes it for the deportation forces to enter the house and remove people, both emotionally and physically, the greater the chances that the deportation forces will give up. There is a vast difference between a house with a father, mother, and four children, who, as soon as there is a knock on the door, go out to the bus quietly, in tears, that is, the entire work of the deportation of that family took five minutes, and the soldiers did not have problems of conscience - and between a family that will bring in dozens of people to resolutely defend the house, and the work of deportation will take hours.

* Obviously, when the deportation forces will begin the uprooting of one or two settlements, the other Gush Katif residents will not stand by and wait for the deportation forces to come to them, but will create chaos in their sector. (Obviously, the less said here, the better.)

* In short, if we organize to create tremendous chaos on all the fronts, both within Gush Katif and Samaria and elsewhere, with God's help, we definitely have the ability to stop the implementation of this crime. Yes, protest may result in us spending some time in prison. This is the price that we are willing to pay for Eretz Israel. With God's help, when a truly Jewish government will be established in Israel, all those who were imprisoned in the struggle for Eretz Israel will be awarded marks of distinction.

"It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work; but you are not free to desist from it" (Avot 2:16)