Saying NO to Ehud Olmert, Saying NO to “Convergence” or Whatever he Calls Expulsion on Any Given Day …

To: Mr. Howard Rieger (President of United Jewish Communities [UJC], the Jewish Federation network in North America),

As you know, several months ago I resigned from the Board of Trustees, and from the position of recording secretary, of the Jewish Federation of Greater Clifton-Passaic,

to protest UJC’s refusal to initiate a campaign fund dedicated exclusively to helping the expelled Jews of Gaza and northern Samaria,
and, to express my outrage at the silence of the leaders of the Jewish Federation system in the aftermath of the sickening police brutality by the Israeli military and police against the innocent, defenseless protestors at Amona.

This letter will be seen by thousands of people, including hundreds of representatives of Jewish and non-Jewish organizations and media in the U.S. and Israel. Later this week, it will be published in Bernice Lipkin’s e-publication, www.think-israel.org, a magazine/blog that focuses on analytic commentary and opinion pieces concerning the Jewish State.

buddy, i have responded to you on many occasions regarding your concerns. i am not heartless. read many of the comments which i have made publically [sic] on this subject. on the impact that dislocation has on individuals. and i have visited many of those who are now living in the sinai and feel genuine concern for their plight.

i do believe that in the end, that the priority must be the rule of law. that many of those who found themselves without assistance after having to be uprooted, also refused to engage with the system which was offering compensation. similarly, when one confronts authorities…even in america…there are consequences to such actions.

i feel for anyone who has to be put in such positions. but in free societies, there are still hard choices to make. apparently, israel’s government came to the conclusion that while they believed that jews had the right to live anywhere within greater israel, that the sacrafice [sic] that had to be made to sustain such populations was in the end not sustainable. not an easy decision on either side.

buddy, the issues you are focused on are emotional. they are sad. but there is a jewish state called israel. imperfect as it is, it is ours. and while you are feeling diminished by the decisions that they have made in re what is sustainable and what is not, i feel the need to understand the anguish on both sides. and provocations from either direction must be understood.

let calmer views prevail. israel has enough enemies throughout the world. we have to close the circle and support each other. the decision to provoke, from either side, will only drag us down.

During the past four months, since my resignation from my local Federation (on principle), I have learned of some of the ugly reality with regard to the control imposed upon the Jewish State – about her users, abusers, deniers and corrupters about a tiny portion of our fellow Jews, who are among the most influential and/or wealthy of our People, who are encouraging, with fervor, the destruction of our Jewish Homeland. Included among the influential members of this group of Jews are: M. J. Rosenberg, Seymour Reich, Rabbi Eric Yoffe, Rabbi David Saperstein, James Wolfensohn, Abe Foxman, Thomas Friedman and Malcolm Hoenlein. Included among the wealthiest/most influential of this group of American and Canadian Jews who have close ties to Israel’s economy, and, who allegedly have massive amounts of personal funds invested in Israel and in its leadership, and, who allegedly stand to gain from the events in the Middle East; especially, the further expulsion of Jews to the Negev, are: Ron Lauder, S. Daniel Abraham, Mort Zuckerman, Bruce Rappaport (Swiss-Israeli), Sam Halpern, Joseph Wilf, Edgar Bronfman, Charles Bronfman, Matthew Bronfman, James Tisch and Haim Saban.

The unemployment rate, among those who lost their jobs as a result of the expulsion, is 70%. The overall unemployment rate, among all expellees of working age, is 50%. Hundreds of families are in severe economic straits because of the loss of income of one or more former breadwinners.

Regarding compensation: According to the Sela Administration data – 4,091 claims have been filed, but only in 2,390 cases did the Administration work through all its red tape and give a final decision (58.4%). Among businessmen, only 25.5% have reached the final decision stage, and among the farmers – only 5.1% have reached that stage!!!

Regarding housing: Only about 180 of the 9,000 expellees are in permanent housing. 118 families are still living in interim accommodations (waiting to move to temporary homes)! Of these, 68 families are still living in difficult conditions in hotel rooms and guesthouses. And, Mr. Rieger, contrary to the ×’information contained in your email, none of the refugees are living in the Sinai. Most are in Nitzan, Lachish, Yad Binyamin and the Negev (Yated and Yivol) – about 15% of the expellees are separated from their friends and neighbors from their previous communities.

The children, as reported above, are still traumatized by the dramatic change in their lives, and most likely will be for many years to come.
Despite the fragile emotional condition of many of the youth, there are 5 locations without a youth counselor and 15 sites with no building for youth activities.

All of the above conditions exist NINE MONTHS after the expulsions. And, the Israeli Government had more than 20 months to plan for the transition of these 9,000 Israeli citizens! Olmert would likely begin the new expulsions by next year, allowing the country much less time to prepare for tens of thousands of more expellees. Can you imagine how the new victims would be cared for and treated? Would you like to experience that “quality of life” change? – And, for no good rational reason. All it will do is bring genocidal terrorists of Hamas and Al-Qaeda closer to their targets!

There is no doubt that if Olmert has his way, it will happen. Guaranteed!

Most sincerely,

Buddy Macy
vegibud@aol.com

To all American recipients of this email:

Please, Please: Email, Fax and/or Call Howard Rieger, President of UJC (United Jewish Communities), Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and your local Federation leaders, and demand that they tell Olmert to ABANDON his “CONVERGENCE PLAN.”

Howard Rieger: howard.rieger@ujc.org

Phone: 212-284-6500 Fax: 212-284-6820

Malcolm Hoenlein: malcolm@conferenceofpresidents.org

Phone: 212-318-6111 Fax: 212-644-4135

Also, please call the White House Comment Line (202-456-1111) and tell President Bush to demand that Olmert abandon his “Convergence” Plan, explaining that its execution would be a major blow to America’s global fight against terror.