Wednesday, February 08, 2006
2/08/2006 02:18:00 AM | 
Posted by
JoeSettler
Perhaps the length of time it takes a void to get filled is determined by the quality of what was lost.
So while nature abhors a vacuum, it isn’t always clear who is able to fill it. Certainly many try, but the more qualitative the loss the more difficult it is to displace the void it left behind.
A few personae have begun to become more influential, more central, and/or more visible in Israeli, Jewish rightwing circles. And these are the ones to watch.
Are they the filling that void?
I don’t know. Time will tell, but I think for some the potential is there.
The first is Mordechai Lavie of Radio Kol Chai.
Mordechai is the solitary voice of reason on our captive and occupied radio waves.
Always asking the right questions, unafraid to challenge basic assumptions, and ready to interview the most challenging of people (politely too, I must add), he makes his point, his points are right, and he wins.
Truly I’m surprised the establishment haven’t yet found a reason to take him off the air already. Of course he may still be below their radar since he is speaking on a ‘fringe’ radio station. They’re wrong.
Next is Moshe Feiglin. Here is a man with potential, with vision, with ideals, a man unafraid to say that right is right and wrong is wrong. Moshe is someone who’s proven that he is willing to stand on the front lines and pay the price for what he believes in.
Moshe is someone our youth can and do look up to. Here is a leader that the youth are willing to rally behind.
But here is the million dollar question. When will Moshe realize that our youth do look up to him as a potential leader and will he then fully maximize his true potential and theirs?
Baruch Marzel. After today, Kahane would be proud. A thousand cops (with helicopters) show up to stop you and your 5 cars, and the Arabs are in a tizzy like we haven’t seen since, well, Kahane.
While other right-wing leaders may say that the ‘rule of law’ in Israel in Israel is used, abused and one day they’ll prove it and bring justice to light, you certainly did that today.
Unfortunately like Kahane, too many of your more visible followers come across as disturbing, but as Kahane once said, 'Who else would be willing to be the first to jump over a police barricade?'
Your non-violent confrontational style (at least today’s) got the message out, and perhaps the youth will learn that tactics like yours today can sometime be much more effective than a head-on assault.
I hope so.
And then there is Avry Ran. An unintended leader if ever there was one.
Unintentionally leading by personal example (the best way), Avry lives by his values and his love for the people and land of Israel. In a way like Shlomo Carlebach, he walks his own path and others simply follow what they know to be right and true. Unlike Reb Shlomo, I hope he gets appreciated by the masses while he can still guide his legacy.
And who can forget the firebrand Nadia Matar. No doubt a leader in ad-hoc protests and someone who does what she sets out to do, Nadia doesn’t rest in fighting her uphill battles.
Are they effective? Yes, no, and I really don’t know.
Nadia is both tireless and fearless. And she is one of the few people that can actually inspire adults to go out and stand on a street corner or in field after a long hard day. That says something in of itself.
Finally there are the youth leaders on the front lines. I (perhaps) don’t know their names, and even if they are making some strategic or tactical mistakes along the way they are leading and learning and fighting for Am Yisrael.
That leadership will arise here is of no question, who it will be remains to be seen.
Watch these names.
So while nature abhors a vacuum, it isn’t always clear who is able to fill it. Certainly many try, but the more qualitative the loss the more difficult it is to displace the void it left behind.
A few personae have begun to become more influential, more central, and/or more visible in Israeli, Jewish rightwing circles. And these are the ones to watch.
Are they the filling that void?
I don’t know. Time will tell, but I think for some the potential is there.
The first is Mordechai Lavie of Radio Kol Chai.
Mordechai is the solitary voice of reason on our captive and occupied radio waves.
Always asking the right questions, unafraid to challenge basic assumptions, and ready to interview the most challenging of people (politely too, I must add), he makes his point, his points are right, and he wins.
Truly I’m surprised the establishment haven’t yet found a reason to take him off the air already. Of course he may still be below their radar since he is speaking on a ‘fringe’ radio station. They’re wrong.
Next is Moshe Feiglin. Here is a man with potential, with vision, with ideals, a man unafraid to say that right is right and wrong is wrong. Moshe is someone who’s proven that he is willing to stand on the front lines and pay the price for what he believes in.
Moshe is someone our youth can and do look up to. Here is a leader that the youth are willing to rally behind.
But here is the million dollar question. When will Moshe realize that our youth do look up to him as a potential leader and will he then fully maximize his true potential and theirs?
Baruch Marzel. After today, Kahane would be proud. A thousand cops (with helicopters) show up to stop you and your 5 cars, and the Arabs are in a tizzy like we haven’t seen since, well, Kahane.
While other right-wing leaders may say that the ‘rule of law’ in Israel in Israel is used, abused and one day they’ll prove it and bring justice to light, you certainly did that today.
Unfortunately like Kahane, too many of your more visible followers come across as disturbing, but as Kahane once said, 'Who else would be willing to be the first to jump over a police barricade?'
Your non-violent confrontational style (at least today’s) got the message out, and perhaps the youth will learn that tactics like yours today can sometime be much more effective than a head-on assault.
I hope so.
And then there is Avry Ran. An unintended leader if ever there was one.
Unintentionally leading by personal example (the best way), Avry lives by his values and his love for the people and land of Israel. In a way like Shlomo Carlebach, he walks his own path and others simply follow what they know to be right and true. Unlike Reb Shlomo, I hope he gets appreciated by the masses while he can still guide his legacy.
And who can forget the firebrand Nadia Matar. No doubt a leader in ad-hoc protests and someone who does what she sets out to do, Nadia doesn’t rest in fighting her uphill battles.
Are they effective? Yes, no, and I really don’t know.
Nadia is both tireless and fearless. And she is one of the few people that can actually inspire adults to go out and stand on a street corner or in field after a long hard day. That says something in of itself.
Finally there are the youth leaders on the front lines. I (perhaps) don’t know their names, and even if they are making some strategic or tactical mistakes along the way they are leading and learning and fighting for Am Yisrael.
That leadership will arise here is of no question, who it will be remains to be seen.
Watch these names.
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15 comments:
I don't think that this is a finished piece yet. I am weighing adding in a few more people.
In the meantime, here is an interesting article to read (I had planned to write something similar, but who has the time?).
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=5997
No question about it. He's good, and I think he actually would be good for Israel.
I modified the post, so now it says "Israeli, Jewish rightwing circles", so that it is more clear as to which societal circles I meant to include.
Also, while some of the people on my list are involved in politics, I wouldn't consider them politicians as much as I would activists.
Joe,
We will follow non hypocrites... We will follow those leaders that will get arrested and bashed.. we in affect dont really need leaders.. we youth have so much expirience that everything is just so mutual.. a road blocking requires no plans.. everyone just knows to show up and what to do.
Marzel's move was brilliant!! he just earned himself a few thousand votes.
I'll need to watch the names, I work in an asylum
Elchonon,
That's exactly where you are wrong. The youth do need leaders, strategists and tacticians.
The most likely path that everything is following is severe escalation (because Olmert and the government will escalate it that way).
That the government now realizes that settlers are no longer easy pickings is a mixed blessing.
The next step is alternative actions that won't help escalate the violence to deadly levels, but will be much more effective in blocking the evil moves this government wants to take.
Amona, like GK could have been prevented (IMHO) if someone on the ground (on our side) was actually coordinating things properly.
No one is, so Amona was no different than Kfar Maimon, except for the violence.
I will talk to you more about this offline.
anonymous: I'm sure you think you're one of the workers in your asylum, perhaps you even think you are one of the doctors, maybe even a world famous one.
re feiglin,
his last piece on arutz was offensive and stupid: he referred to the"shame of gush katif" how DARE he !! and, he referenced the term "christian love".
With all due respect, these people - as much as I hope they will become our future leaders - are considered 'on the fringe.' The question is: what will cause the 'average Israeli' to realize that giving in to pressure is actually increasing the chance for terrorism?
Dear JoeSettler,
You seem to be a more or less reasonable duude. So let's look at all of your "picks":
1) Feiglin. Nope... he has demonstrated that he has no vision and farsight to be a capable leader by staying in Likud even when there were about 1000 indications that was the wrong thing to do. Sorry, he is not capable of being a good leader.
2) Matar. She's good at what she does but I don't think she has it in her to raise the masses of support even among settlers. She's destined to remain a fringe activist, I think.
3) Marzel. Good guy. But again.. marginal... unable to gather mass support the way Kahane did. I believe he won't pass the electoral barrier this time either.
4) Avri Ran. Actually, I admire him most out of all people you mentioned. But he's a role model, not a leader. And he said before, he doesn't want to be a leader.
So Dear Joe, I hate to break it to you.. but unfortunately, "the far right" does not have a CAPABLE leader today.
jj:
I may not have explained myself clear enough. This wasn't a post about leadership as much as it was about influence, importance, and filling in the void left behind by others (Arutz-7 radio for instance).
1) I disagree with you on Feiglin and staying in the Likud, but that is something we'll only know in the future, and if Feiglin finally realizes that the youth do and could look up to him.
2) Matar - Probably true, but as I said, she inspires the adults.
3) I agree, but then again, the Arabs react to him now like they did to Kahane then, and that is an indication of future importance.
4) Again I agree. Excellent role model. Accidental leader.
Overall you are right. No one has as of yet distinguished themselves as a real leader, but it will eventually happen.
Who are going to waste time listening to "leaders" that purport to be revolutionary, and then talk out of both sides of their mouth?
You can't expect anyone to willingly follow that. The settlers and those who are likeminded honestly see it as their lives are being threatened.
If I were younger, and I was looking at these leaders up and down, I'd not rally behind them either! Know why? Young people usually have their BS detectors finetuned. If they see themselves as risking their lives, to them, trust will have to be 100% or nothing.
It may not be the most expedient course of action, but then again, can you blame them?
That is what makes everyone on my list both different and interesting.
While they may differ in methodology (nor are most attempting to achieve power seats) they are not hypocrites and willingly put themselves on the front line and set examples.
joe,
i'm concerned about feiglin. in a recent piece on arutz he used the idea "shame of gush katif' which was a terrible insult to the great jews of katif. and he used the expression (l'havdil) "christian love"..what the heck do you make of that? i think there are other examples that feiglin, even with his ideals, is not suited for leadership. what do you think?
It's a difficult piece as Moshe is clearly trying to bring in a number of important messages in a short space. He makes a lot of comments that require an understanding of his ideological context to understand them better.
I don’t think he wrote as clearly as he could and should have.
I understand him that basically he feels that the people in Gush Katif should have fought back against being kicked out of their homes, and they made a mistake not doing so.
Amona was a turning point because until then the government thought it had a docile audience for its violent policies (and forced deportations is violence).
He disagrees with the Rabbis who gave the message to not fight for their homes, who, in his eyes, basically said ‘turn the other cheek’.
Nor am I comfortable with his description that they are ‘without honor’.
The GK residents made a decision that felt would prevent a civil war, which they felt was the worse of the two evils.
That the decision may have been wrong is not something that could have been known then.
Certainly the secular public looks down on the GK refugees (just read the papers that constantly call them crybabies and accuse them of trying to suck money out of the state).
Turning the other cheek is not a Jewish concept, and many believe the message of Ahavat Chinam was incorrect here, as this wasn’t an issue of Sinat Chinam as someone was coming to destroy their lives they built.
I understand that Rav Aviner believes that we must love all Jews no matter how evil they act towards us. I don’t know if he means that we should also be passive in the face of that evil, or if it is OK to hit back, while still loving the person you are defending yourself from.
The proper reaction to future deportation attempts is still being formulated. The only thing that is clear is that the government won’t find it so cheap to throw thousands of people onto the streets and destroy their lives again.
joe,
thanks for your response. i feel there is a very serious issue here with feiglin, being the high visibility guy that he is. and i hope that many will appropriately take him to task for:
totally unjustifiably "shaming" GK, they are really the heroes of israel and feiglins comment enrages me because of the suffering that the people are undergoing. like they need to hear such drek from him? no way.
and you didn't address his use of the term (l'havdil) "christian love'.
joe, i respect you passion and energy on this site. and i have no onus on feiglin. it is simply and plainly that this and some other things i've read make me in no way a fan or supporter of his. he should come out publicly and apologize for what he wrote. and i feel that the GK community should disown him. it's too much b.s. for a group of people who has struggled and suffered so much.
i also feel that the GK and all it's supporters need to make efforts to truly educate the larger israeli public about what happenned and the reality of what GK was and is. it's too important for israel and the survival of the jewish people.
i think you can play a role in
1)taking feiglin to task on those two points and
2)helping re-educate the public (religious and secular) about GK
i think the secular kibbutznik zionists should ultimately love GK because of what they did with the land.
yasher koach,
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