Fwd: Petition against missionizing Jews

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Yeshayahu Hollander <yeshol@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 3:57 PM
Subject: Petition against missionizing Jews

Shalom Friends,

Please sign a new petition to strengthen the Israeli Law against attempts to convert Jews to Xtianity.

The first Item - whch must be filled in - is the signers full name,

the second may be skipped,

the third - must be filled in - is the city of residence of the signer,

the fourth may be skipped,

and to sign one clicks on the red stamp

 

There are said to be over 100 Xtian groups in Israel, the great majority of which engage in attempts at missionizing.

 

Please forward this to your mailingl list!

 

Yeshayahu Hollander

The link to the petition is:
http://www.atzuma.co.il/petition/meiryad/1

Rabbi Grylak's letter to the President

POINT OF VIEW - Rabbi Moshe Grylak Mishpacha Issue 243
15 Teves  5769
January 21, 2009

Through an impressive, wide-reaching propaganda campaign, they have succeeded in implanting in the minds of many people around the world the false idea that this land was inhabited for generations by a Palestinian nation, and that one day a band of unidentified refugees from Europe came along and expelled this nation from its ancestral land

Dear Mr. President,

I would like to begin by congratulating you on your entry into America's highest office. On this great day in your life, you have become not only the president of the greatest of the world powers, the blessed United States of America, but also the leader of the entire free world. This places tremendous responsibility on your shoulders, a fact of which you are surely aware. And I, a simple Jew from Eretz Yisrael, extend my blessing that the Almighty King of the Universe should help protect you from pride and despair, grant you the wisdom to do what is correct and just, and make you an instrument for carrying out His Will —just as you expressed it in the beautiful, wise words you wrote in the note you hid between the stones of the Western Wall on your visit to Jerusalem.

As you enter your position, I would like to draw your attention to an important truth that apparently, with all due respect, you are not aware of. About a week ago, you made an announcement to the world that I would like to discuss — with your permission, of course. You announced, Mr. President, that you will start working to make peace in the Middle East immediately upon beginning your term as president In your opinion, every president of the United States for the past thirty years has failed at this important task for the simple reason that he neglected the Israel-Arab problem in the early days of his presidency. To your way of thinking, all his beautiful plans were dashed upon the rocks of the absurd reality that prevails in the Middle East, merely because there wasn't enough time to implement them. And you have informed the whole world that this is one of the important tasks you intend to deal with right away.

With all due appreciation for your desire to establish absolute peace between the Arabs and us, I am sorry to say you are bound to fail at this task, just like all your predecessors. Therefore it would be better not even to bother with absolute peace, but rather to put all your efforts into lowering the flames of conflict between us and our bitter enemies via interim arrangements, ceasefire agreements, cooling-off periods, and the like. Not absolute peace — that you'll never achieve. I'm no maven in global politics. I don't have your enormous negotiating talents.  But I do have a deep understanding of our lot here in Eretz Yisrael and an awareness of the  far-reaching roots of this unresolved conflict. And on that basis I can assure you that the peace we all hope for does not depend on any political process whatsoever. Nor does it depend on your sincere determination to do your utmost to achieve this important goal.

Allow me to enumerate my reasons for this categorical statement. First of all, the Arab agenda today is to promote the notion that the "Palestinians" are the ones who were ejected from their homeland. They have rewritten the history of this land in the most astounding way. Through an impressive, wide-reaching propaganda campaign, they have succeeded in implanting in the minds of many people around the world the false idea that this land was inhabited for generations by a Palestinian nation, and that one day a band of unidentified refugees from Europe came along and expelled this nation from its ancestral land.

A year ago, I took part in a conference between a group of Israelis and two Arab-Israeli professors with moderate political views. I asked these professors, "Are you familiar with Jewish history?" and they replied that they had no interest in that topic, because it had nothing to do with our bone of contention, which was this land. Perhaps, they said, there were a few shards of some old synagogue lying about somewhere in the country, but nothing more. This land had always belonged to them, they claimed, and we'd invaded it, just like the Crusaders of medieval times. And these two fellows belong to the "moderate" sector of Israel's Arab population.

And so, Mr. President, as long as the Arabs cling to this version of the "truth," they will never compromise and give up their great dream of casting us into the sea, or giving us all to the US as a present. They may retreat tactically for a little while, knowing our military power, but the whole time they'll be waiting to realize their aspirations. And, Mr. President, there is no difference between moderates and zealots other than in the tactics they use to achieve their desired goal of destroying us, G-d forbid.

Since their propaganda is so effective, and so many people are convinced that it is just as they say — that the State of Israel was born in sin — it is only right that you,as president of a country where the Bible is the Book of Books, should refresh your biblical knowledge a bit and familiarize yourself with the historical facts before you sit down to deal with this painful and convoluted subject. The facts are that the "Palestinian nation" is a fiction, a Muslim fiction whose one and only purpose is the conquest of Eretz Yisrael. Mr. President, when  the Palestinian delegates come to the Oval Office, please ask them first off, "What is the origin of your people's name?" The historical fact they would like to conceal is that when the Romans conquered Eretz Yisrael, as part of their act of conquest they gave the land a new name, Provincia Palestina, after the Philistines who lived in the cities along Israel's southern coast. They were a red-haired tribe who came to Eretz Yisrael from Europe and disappeared from the region about 1,600 years before the birth of Mohammed. There is no connection between the Arabs, who originated in the Arabian Peninsula, and the Philistines — no genetic connection, nor a religious one, nor a cultural, historic, or geographical connection. What we have here is Arabs, not Philistines. The Romans might just as well have dubbed this land Provincia Hollandia. Would that turn the Arabs living in this land into Dutchmen?

Before beginning any negotiations, Mr. President, please ask your Palestinian visitors to present some historical documentation — a historical map, or the testimony of an academically recognized historian who will show you where the State of Palestine was located and indicate when in human history this state existed, or when there was ever a country called Palestine. When in human history has there been a "nation" called the Palestinian people? Ask them, please: Who are you? Where do you come from? What is your connection to the land of Israel? Even the Koran refers to this country as the "land of Israel"! There is British documentation from the Mandate period, Turkish documentation from the Ottoman period, documentation from every occupation of Eretz Yisrael, and in none of these historical records is there any mention of a Palestinian people or a Palestinian state.

Mr. President, I could give you a long list of questions that ought to be posed to Mr. Abbas or whoever the delegates might be who come before you. But I must be brief. At any rate, I would suggest that before any negotiations regarding the "legitimate rights" of the Palestinian entity, you at least read a book by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. In his travel journal, Innocents Abroad, he devotes many chapters to his tour of the Holy Land in 1867. He says not a word about any Palestinians dwelling in flourishing towns or villages. No. He saw nothing but a wasteland, a place of swamps, cholera, malaria, and barren deserts. "We did not see a soul during the entire journey," Twain writes. "Everywhere we went there was no tree or shrub." I would also recommend From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters, in particular the chapter that discusses the Palestinian fiction and its inventors. Ask your "Palestinian" guests about it.

This doesn't mean we have no obligation to allow the masses of Arabs residing in Eretz Yisrael to live respectably. But as long as we're sitting down to talk with them about "legitimate rights" to the land itself, there can be no peace, and no amount of political talent will change that.

However, Mr. President, there is a deeper truth, a more fundamental reason peace will not come to this land through human efforts: The fight over this land is not a struggle for rights on the political or military plane. Perhaps some sort of solution may be found on this plane. But you must understand that what is unfolding in this country is not a war between Israelis and Palestinians, but the continuation of the ancient struggle between Yitzchak and Yishmael. Palestinians and Israelis are merely the facade of something truer and deeper. It is a war that neither you nor anyone else can settle. It is a spiritual, mystical war that depends upon the Redemption of Israel, and through it the Redemption of all humanity. Maybe one of your Jewish advisers has access to the source material and can provide you with the data on this subject: its essence, how it will end, and what can be done to end it.

I will end as I began, with my best wishes that you merit the blessing of the Master of the Universe in themomentous task that Providence has placed on your shoulders.


FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Without
HaKadosh Baruch
Hu, one can't
even cross the
threshold of one's
house.
With Him, one
can split the sea
(Rabbi Mordechai
Melchovitz)

Jonathan Pollard - Have every stone really been left unturned?

bs"d

 I strongly disagree that Pollards team left every stone unturned.

The Pollard campaign have consistently and stubbornly refused to speak out for our entitlement of all of Eretz Yisroel and against a Palestinian State and neither have they expressed strong disapproval of American and Israeli financial (USAID) and political support for "moderate" Fatah whose ideology is not that different than Hamas.

I would not put the total blame on a political leader in Israel such as Livni who failed to ask Bush for clemency.   There is a reason she and her fellow politicians didn't speak out.  They don't want to admit that their current policies in promoting a Palestinian State is supporting terror threatening Israel just like it did in the past when Jonathan Pollard attempted single handedly to do something about it.

The problem goes much deeper than simplyLivni's betrayal of Jonathan Pollard.  It is about American Foreign Policy who is in cahoots with the Government of Israel in betraying the Nation of Israel by their willingness to give away our birthright thereby endangering Israel, and the entire world.

This in my opinion is what is keeping Jonathan Pollard in Jail.

When Pollard will defend his decision to transfer intelligence that was rightfully due Israel and necessary to protect Israel from a terrorist regime, then perhaps G-d will perform miracles on his behalf.

Apologies on the part of Pollard are said in return for the hope of freedom but is it truly heartfelt or morally justified?

Yes, sometimes it appears that the truth seems to make matters worse.  Moshe Rabbeinu asked G-d "Lama Haraeosa?"  Why did you make things worse for the Jews when I approached Pharoh?  Pharoh after all intensified the suffering of the Jews.

Yet, G-d replies, Just witness the great miracles of redemption that is about to happen!

Saturday, January 03, 2009 Shemittah Rediscovered

Jonathan Pollard - Why isn't America expressing remorse?

22 January 2009  J4JPnew January 21, 2009

Why was the Pollard clemency bid dismissed?

Clarification for Congressmen: Israel Wants a Palestinian State but do the Jews or do Bible believers? Mishpacha Magazine "Dear Mr. President" by Rabbi Moshe Grylak Editor in Chief

bs"d

Dear David Bedein and Rabbi Stein, amv"sh

This is in response to Rabbi Stein's question "Which Congressmen are against a 2 State Solution" and David Bedein's  response that AIPAC has instructed all Congressmen that Israel wants a 2 State Solution thereby confusing them.

My comments are as follows:

AIPAC does not represent authentic Judaism. That is why it has become so imperative of the major Orthodox Jewish organizations with offices in Washington such as Agudath Yisroel, Young Israel, OU and Chabad International to make matters clear with a statement that the majority of  Torah Believing Jews are against a Palestinian State and that Fatah and Hamas  have the same goals.   Fatah wishes to achieve it's goal of Israel's destruction via diplomacy and Hamas is upfront.

I was pleasantly surprised to read a letter to the newly elect President Obama  by Rabbi Moshe Grylak, Editor in Chief of Mishpacha Magazine, that clarifies the authentic Jewish position that Eretz Yisroel is our land and any claim by the Palestinians to the Land of Israel is fiction.  If you can, please read the whole article. Rabbi Grylak wrote on Page 10-11 Issue 243

"...And Mr. President, there is no difference between moderates and zealots other than in the tactics they use to achieve their desired goal of destroying us, G-d forbid.

Since their propaganda is so effective, and so many people are convinced that it is just as they say - that the State of Israel was born in sin -- it is only right that you as president of a country where the Bible is the Book of Books, should refresh your biblical knowledge a bit and familiarize yourself with the historical facts before you sit down to deal with this painful and convoluted subject..."

I was pleasantly surprised  to read this in Mishpacha this past week since up to this point Rabbi Grylak will only speak out according to Daas Torah.  When the Gedoilim have been silent in speaking out against the Disengagement, Rabbi Grylak has staunchly defended them saying that the Gedoilim see a greater picture and it is not up to us layman to question their Silence.

Apparently, the Gedoilim BaTorah must be speaking out more forcefully and perhaps this is an opportune time for the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah to come out with a clear statement to correct the misconception portrayed by AIPAC that Jews are for a Palestinian State.  This statement can be followed up with a strong campaign of hundreds of thousands of caring Jews to express our yearning and desire of our birthright, the Land of Israel and the precepts and laws that are associated with the Land of Israel.

Judiasm and Zionism is synonomous even for Satmar Chassidim. Antizionism is a rejection of Judaism.  Satmar Chassidim, especially those living in the Land of Israel happen to be the strongest and staunchest supporters of Zionism in the truest sense of the word. One merely has to visit a typical class play in Satmar Bnos Yerushalyim and hear the love and devotion that these girls have for Yerushalyim Ir Hakodesh and Eretz Yisroel, Eretz HaKodesh.   Tzion is Yerushalayim and the Resting Place of Hakadosh Baruch Hu on Har Habayit.

Any antizionist activities on the part of Satmar Chassidim have more to do with commercial and political considerations rather than on the teachings of the Satmar Rebbe tz"l.  Given the reality of today, those antizionists that justify their existence based on the 3 oaths actually themselves go against the 3 oaths.

The Government of Israel does not represent Judaism or the Torah!

Congressmen have to answer to their constituencies.  If they are made aware that the Government of Israel misrepresents not only Torah Believing Jews but also millions of American citizens that makeup the Bible Belt then hopefully they will be able to distinquish between being loyal to the Government of Israel that takes its position based on American Foreign Policy and American interests rather than on Israel's own best interests.

2009/1/24 Israel Resource News Agency <media@actcom.co.il>

Nothing is clear right now.

 

AIPAC, which represents the State of Israel on the Hill, has instructed all congressman that Israel wants a Palestinian state. Even those who oppose it are now confused as to what to say in public on the matter.

 

DSBedein

This is posted on shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
 

Apologize says ZOA: Israeli & US Supporters of 2005 Gaza Withdrawal Should Apologize to Israeli Public, World Jewry, Gaza Jew

bs"d

The Teshuva Process includes 1. Vidui which means admitting ones mistake, 2. Charata  - regretting ones mistakes 3. Kabbala Al HeAtid - resolve not to repeat the mistake.

Included in those that should apologize are the major mainstream Jewish organizations that were quiet and failed and continue to fail to mobilize hundreds of thousands of Jews to SPEAK OUT against the Disengagement and for our entitlement of Eretz Yisroel and against a 2 State Solution.  This includes the Moetzet Gedolei Hatorah in Eretz Yisroel, Agudath Yisroel of America, OU, theYoung Israel and Chabad International. 

Judea and Samaria are the next KorbanChas Veshalom unless these major Jewish Organizations wake up and make a statement that admits their mistake and apologizes and resolves not to repeat the mistakes that led to this War in Gaza and then proceeds to mobilize the Nation of Israel to SPEAK OUT for our entitlement and against giving away our birthright!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sara Lehmann <saralehmann21@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Subject: Fw: ZOA: Israeli & US Supporters of 2005 Gaza Withdrawal Should Apologize to Israeli Public, World Jewry, Gaza Jew

--- On Tue, 1/20/09, Judy Shapiro <jrsalem36@hotmail.com> wrote: From: Judy Shapiro <jrsalem36@hotmail.com> Subject: Fw: ZOA: Israeli & US Supporters of 2005 Gaza Withdrawal Should Apologize to Israeli Public, World Jewry, Gaza Jews To: saralehmann21@yahoo.com Cc: chai126@aol.com Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 9:02 PM I could add some local Jews who should also participate in the "apologies." to Israel, world Jewry and Gaza Jews. From: ZOA Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 2:05 PM To: ZOA Subject: ZOA: Israeli & US Supporters of 2005 Gaza Withdrawal Should Apologize to Israeli Public, World Jewry, Gaza Jews  NEWS RELEASE Zionist Organization of America Jacob & Libby Goodman ZOA House, 4 East 34th Street , New York , N.Y. 10016 (212) 481-1500     Fax: (212) 481-1515    email @ zoa.org      www . zoa . org   You are receiving this email from an opt-in mailing list. To remove yourself from this list, send a request to email@zoa.org      January 20, 2009 Contact Morton A. Klein at: 917-974-8795 or 212-481-1500 Attn:  NEWS EDITOR     Major Israeli journalist (Haaretz) also demands apology   ZOA: ISRAELI & U.S. SUPPORTERS OF 2005 GAZA WITHDRAWAL SHOULD AP OLOGIZE TO ISRAELI PUBLIC, WORLD JEWRY & GAZA JEWS   The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has called upon Members of the Knesset (MKs) and other Israeli officials, journalists and Jewish leaders who gave their support to the 2005 Gaza/northern Samaria unilateral withdrawal to apologize to the Israeli electorate, which had voted overwhelmingly against that proposal in the January 2003 elections (when then-Labor leader, Amram Mitzna, lost decisively to Likud after campaigning strongly on a platform of unilateral withdrawal), as well as to the Jewish people and the uprooted Jews of Gaza and northern Samaria, whose lives have been turned upside down. Since the unilateral retreat from Gaza, the terror groups have enjoyed a massive boost in morale and Palestinian support, Gaza has been given over to terror groups who have smuggled in huge amounts of offensive weaponry and launched thousands of rockets upon Israel, while Al Qaeda affiliates have established themselves in the territory which Hamas seized by force from Mahmoud Abbas' Fateh in 2007. Such an apology should include a public recognition that one-sided concessions and withdrawals to an unreconstructed Palestinian Authority (PA) can only lead to more violence, not peace.   In a meeting with American Jewish leaders at Blair House in Washington D. C., on April 13, 2005, before the implementation of the unilateral withdrawal, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told ZOA's President, Morton Klein , in front of 30 other American Jewish leaders, that the withdrawal would "reduce terror and give Israeli citizens the maximum level of security. It will increase security for the residents of Israel and relieve the pressure on the IDF and security forces." He also said to Klein that once Israel removes the Gaza Jewish communities and leaves Gaza, any military need to intervene in Gaza would be acted upon immediately and with overwhelming force and because of Israel's withdrawal, the whole world would then support anything we need to do. It is now clear that the very opposite has come to pass. Israel waited three years after the Gaza withdrawal and 7,000 missiles later before responding to protect its citizens, and yet the world and the United Nations, for day one, has condemned Israel repeatedly and continuously for her actions and pressured her to stop.    The following is a sampling of comments by Israeli officials who supported unilateral withdrawal, saying it would boost Israeli security and reduce terrorism:   ·         Then-Defense Minister, current Kadima MK Shaul Mofaz: "I anticipate that the level of terrorism will drop after the disengagement and after pragmatic Arab forces take control." (Israel National News , July 2, 2004); "I'm convinced that the process is necessary and correct. It will give more security to the citizens of Israel , and will reduce the burden carried by the security forces. It will extract the situation out of stagnation and will open the door to another reality, which will allow talks towards co-existence. (Speech to the Knesset, October 2004). ·         Current Likud leader, Binyamin Netanyahu: "Let there be no mistake. On the Referendum, I will support the [unilateral withdrawal] plan." (Speech to the Knesset, October 2004). ·         Likud MK Yuval Steinitz: "I think the plan, with these restrictions, is trustworthy. It's not an easy plan, but it has a good chance of improving our geo-strategic situation." (Speech to the Knesset, October 2004). ·         Then Likud MK, now Kadima MK Meir Shitreet: "Some argue that there will be a threat, threat of escaping, threat to the Negev communities. I have never heard such a ridiculous claim. (Speech to the Knesset, October 2004). ·         Labor MK Dani Yatom: "Before the withdrawal from Lebanon , the Intelligence Directorate also threatened us with Katyushas reaching Hadera and we see what actually happened. I estimate, and my estimate is just as valid as those that threaten us with horrors, that after we leave the Gaza Strip, terrorism will decrease, not increase." (Maariv , February 5, 2004). ·         Labor MK Orit Noked: "I want to believe that as a result of the eviction [of Jews] from Gaza , moderate Palestinian factions will grow stronger, terrorism will be reduced." (Speech to the Knesset, October 2004). ·         Labor MK Ofer Pines: "I want to thanks [then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the unilateral withdrawal policy] for he gives me and my wife hope that my son, when recruited, won't have to serve in Gaza Strip." (Speech to the Knesset, October 2004). ·         Meretz MK Ran Cohen: "The Disengagement [sic] is good for security. Right wing representatives spoke of Qassem rockets flying here or there. I'm telling you, if you want to spare both Sderot and Ashkelon, we have to understand that if we won't get out of [the] Gaza Strip, in two-three years, or even a year, the range [of Palestinian rockets] will extend to Ashkelon ." (Speech to the Knesset, October 2004).   Other Likud MKs, including current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, current foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Silvan Shalom and Limor Livnat also voted in favor of the unilateral withdrawal policy.   ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, "These statements which have been proved so disastrously mistaken, should not be forgotten as we contemplate the past three years of rapid security deterioration in the southern part of Israel . Whole cities like Sderot have seen a third of their population move away despairing of their safety and a normal life amid constant rockets, sirens, and life beneath ground in bunkers. Ashkelon with its vital national infrastructures has been struck repeatedly with missiles. Israel 's second largest port, Ashdod , is being hit. A missile has now reached the outskirts of Tel Aviv. About a million Israelis now lives in daily fear and insecurity from the rocket attacks that increased exponentially since the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, did not end with the so-called ceasefire of last year, and were resumed with renewed intensity prior to Israel's launching of Operation Cast Lead on December 27.   "In these circumstances, it is high time for all MKs, journalists and others, regardless of party affiliation, who supported the process of unilateral withdrawal to apologize to the Israeli electorate. They should explain that they now understand the disastrous consequences of unilateral concessions to an  unreconstructed Palestinian terror regime. They should acknowledge and apologize for the fact that implementing the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria deeply harmed the lives of the 10,000 Jewish men, women and children who were forcibly uprooted from their homes, synagogues, schools and businesses in Gaza for no gain at all and that, as a result, peace is further away than ever.   "Doing so would help restore public trust in the Knesset and the political system and be the best demonstration of  honesty and the willingness of political figures to stand accountable to the electorate for mistaken and failed policies which they advocated. We fully endorse the sentiments expressed today by the distinguished veteran journalist, Nadav Shragai in Haaretz, (the New York Times of Israel) in his piece 'just say you're sorry,' which we reproduce below:   Now, after the war and just before the election whirlwind sucks in our politicians once again, it would be appropriate for many of them to go out of their way and visit the mobile-home sites where those uprooted from Gush Katif live. This way they can tell them one small thing: I'm sorry.   Tzipi Livni, Ehud Olmert, Shaul Mofaz and Benjamin Netanyahu , the Israel Defense Forces and the police should do this - they, their agents and everyone else who initiated, implemented and aided in using force to uproot 10,000 people from their homes in Gush Katif and Northern Samaria , maliciously and without any real purpose. Everyone who saw some good in the evil of the disengagement and evil in the good of Gush Katif has turned light into darkness and darkness into light. At the very least, they are obligated to make this small apology.   This includes the judges of the High Court of Justice who did not even bother to visit Gush Katif and made do with defense experts acting on behalf of the state 'because that is the position of the court since it was founded.' The justices who ruled as they did because they automatically assumed that such a plan 'improves the security situation' because 'the evacuation reduces the desire of the Palestinians to harm the Israeli population.' It would be appropriate for the honorable justices to take a vacation day as an act of forgiveness and go down south for a close-up look at the results of their decisions.   This also includes the media, which provided a challenge for Ariel Sharon and allowed him to turn a prosperous agricultural land, a world full of communities, synagogues, yeshivas and magnificent educational institutions into piles of rubble. Also the heads of the IDF and Shin Bet security service who never spoke in public what they whispered in the backrooms, and the soldiers and policemen who dragged the pioneers of Kfar Darom and Neveh Dekalim from their houses while raining blows on the demonstrators who understood what would come.   The apology must also include everyone who painted those who warned that the rockets from Gaza would reach Sderot, Ashdod and Be'er Sheva as delusional and opponents of peace. Everyone who promised that they would 'give it to them' after the first Qassam, but in the end cried about the moral and international constraints that prevented them from doing so, and for years abandoned the south. It must include those who took the name of democracy in vain and aided Sharon in deceiving Likud members and breaking his promises to honor Likud's decisions once it became clear to Sharon that the party's members did not agree with him.   You, too, who paid almost no attention to the hundreds of thousands who tried to stop the evil, who paid no attention to those who internalized the lessons of Oslo and warned that we should not give them land and guns again. You who paid no attention to those who warned of the Hamastan state, foresaw exactly the trajectories of the rockets, and understood that this was something we gave away for free, a further disintegration of our power of deterrence and an adrenaline shot for terror.   Now rise and ask for forgiveness from those who paid the highest price, with their bodies, souls and property for your close-mindedness, arrogance and wickedness. Ask for forgiveness from the Gush Katif expellees, the noble souls who did not steal land from anyone, who made the empty dunes bloom as ambassadors of the State of Israel and who turned into the south's security buffer and absorbed over 6,000 Qassams and mortar shells with their bodies and belongings in the last years of Gush Katif.   Ask for forgiveness from those who swore to "win with love" - who believed and sowed until the very last minute; from those who did not raise a hand against the soldiers. Apologize to those who continued to enlist in the IDF and pay the ultimate price even after they were expelled from their houses, because they understood that the state - the national homeland of the Jewish people, even within limited borders - is still bigger than any mistaken and confused government.   There is no way to know if they will forgive you, but you at least need to ask."     *        *        *   The Zionist Organization of America , founded in 1897, is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States . The ZOA works to strengthen U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress about the dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-Israel bias in the media and on college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver.