Thousands participated in the 16th Annual Tisha b’Av night march around the walls of the Old City. The event is sponsored by Women for Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green). In addition, the sound of the shofar was heard at each gate of the ancient city thanks to our faithful Elazar Brandt.
Eicha was read in the park opposite the American Consulate.
Yoram Ettinger, the first speaker:
"We must learn from the leadership that was until Oslo. How to withstand the American pressure - to learn from Ben-Gurion, from Eshkol, from Golda Meir, from Shamir. We have to act as they did.
"The American public, unlike its President, stands united behind the State of Israel, as is shown by every public-opinion poll conducted in the United States in the past year and a half.
"The American Congress follows the public, and signals time after time its displeasure with the President's attitude to Israel.
"This phenomenon is consistent since 1948. All the prime ministers understood that it is possible to withstand pressure.
“In 1948 the American administration ordered Ben-Gurion to agree to the evacuation of Jerusalem, to internationalize Jerusalem, and to stop the conquest in the Negev. The American administration accompanied this pressure with a military and economic embargo.
"Ben-Gurion responded by:
* the construction of Jewish neighborhoods on the cease-fire line
* moving thousands of new immigrants to Jerusalem
* moving the government ministries from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
* building access routes to Jerusalem
* challenging the entire world
“They asked him, how does he withstand the pressure? His response was: if he were to surrender to the pressure of those opposing Israel, he would betray its supporters; and if he were to withstand the pressure, this would give added support to Israel's friends, and he relies on their power in the United States.
"In 1967 Johnson pressured Levi Eshkol that he dare not annex eastern Jerusalem, and demanded not to build beyond the Green Line. Eshkol's response: he built Ramat Eshkol and annexed east Jerusalem.
"In 1970, Nixon, with the Rogers Plan, pressed to divide Jerusalem. Golda's response was: the construction of Gilo, Ramot, Neveh Yaakov, French Hill. Nixon was angry, he was furious, but he knew that, in the long run, he has an ally on whom he could rely.
"Ben-Gurion coined the phrase: The entire world will judge the state of the Jews by its attitude to Jerusalem. If Jerusalem will not be the red line, that is not to be passed, the pressures will increase."
"It is to be hoped," Ettinger concluded his speech, "that Israel's leaders will understand that it's possible to withstand American pressure."
After this, the thousands continued the march around the walls. Rabbi Shalom Gold and
MK Prof. Aryeh Eldad spoke at Lion's Gate. MK Prof. Aryeh Eldad's speech in Hebrew can be found on the Arutz 7 (Israel National News) site in the De'ot section: http://www.inn.co.il//Articles/Article.aspx/8925
Rabbi Gold said that each one of us must give an account of his actions, not only to the generation in which he lives, but to all the generations. We are obligated to guard Eretz Israel - obligated by all the generations.
He based his words on the midrash that says:
"When the Temple was destroyed, the Holy One, blessed be He, weeps and says: My children, where are you? My kohanim (priests), where are you? My lovers, where are you? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jeremiah: Today I am like a person who has an only son, who made a wedding for him, and he died during the ceremony. Go and summon Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses from their graves, for they know how to weep. Jeremiah immediately went to the Cave of Machpelah, and said to the Patriarchs of the world: Stand, the time has come when you are summoned before the Holy One, blessed be He. They asked him: Why? He said to them, I do not know, for he feared, lest they say to him: This was [the lot] of our children in your time."
Nadia Matar, the chairperson of the Women For Israel's Tomorrow summed up the march with the emotional words:
"Now, the central issue is Eretz Israel. And, as is written in the Torah portion of Devarim: the divine command is 'Go up, take possession ... Fear not and be not dismayed.' We must stop being afraid and fearlessly declare that the Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. The Land must be closely guarded. We cannot repeat the mistakes that were made in our camp. Not another Gush Katif. Now, we are obligated to breach the fences, to strengthen the youth in the army that declares it will not take part in the expulsion order. And the freeze must be smashed by building and planting everywhere. 'We will certainly go up, and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it' (Numbers 13:30)."
