Hoping for the best

Hoping for the best
By Peter Reuell / Daily News Staff
Tuesday, August 16, 2005

As Israeli soldiers yesterday began distributing eviction notices to Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip, MetroWest Jews were split on the pullout, with some condemning the move while others expressed a cautious hope.

The nearly 9,000 Israeli settlers living in Gaza had until midnight Sunday to leave the region under terms of the withdrawal orders approved by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Though some had evacuated by yesterday, the military estimated thousands more had remained, pledging to resist the evictions. On Wednesday, troops will begin removing settlers by force, if necessary.

At the Chabad Center of Acton, Rabbi Yosef Polter expressed disappointment at the pullout.

"You don't throw your own people out of a region they built up for 30 years," he said. "I would hope the majority (of Israelis) is against it."

Though Sharon and supporters of the pullout say it will increase security by removing the need to defend the far-flung settlements, Polter called the idea simply foolish.

"It's not likely to bring peace, but rather to increase terrorism," he said. "(The message is) they keep terrorizing and terrorizing, and eventually we say, 'OK, we'll leave.'

"What I've been saying...is we've got to pray and hope for a miracle. It's morally wrong, it's strategically wrong, it is biblically wrong. That's just the way it is."

Rabbi Laurence Bazer wasn't as quick to condemn the pullout, saying it's ultimately up to each individual to decide if they support the withdrawal.

What all Jews should support, he said, is his prayer that the events of this week do not descend into fighting between soldiers and settlers.

"My prayer is that this will go as smoothly as possible with as little confrontation between settlers and the military, who is doing their best to follow the order of the Sharon government," said Bazer, the rabbi at Temple Beth Sholom in Framingham.

What's most important now, Bazer said, is for the Palestinians to show they can govern themselves.

"I really do believe more than anything else, it is in their hands now," he said.

Rabbi Barbara Symons, of Temple Etz Chaim in Franklin, supports the pullout.

"For me, personally, I think that this is a very difficult thing, but a good thing," she said. "Israel doesn't want to be in a morally questionable place of being an occupier."

Symons called the pullout a "huge" move by Israeli government, one she hoped could lead to a lasting peace in the region.

"More than any other word, the word I would use (for it) is courageous," she said.

It was a hope shared by Jeff Foust, rabbi at Waltham's Temple Beth Israel.

Over the next several days, he said, he will watch closely in the hope that both sides, Israeli and Palestinian, are able to work together to make the pullout as smooth -- and violence-free -- as possible.

"Hopefully, it will provide a basis for the Palestinians to have some sort of stable self-rule and move forward," he said. "It will be a critical time on the Israeli side and on the Palestinian side.

"Hopefully, with God's help, it will lead to other steps that will go well. As long as there's life, you hope."

Peter Reuell can be reached at 508-626-4428, or at preuell@cnc.com.


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