A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
Jerusalem Of Orange? Not Really.

A couple of weeks ago on Cross-Currents, Rabbi Emanuel Feldman wrote:

The streets of Jerusalem are ablaze with the color orange - which has become a potent symbol of solidarity with the Jews scheduled for expulsion from Gaza. Strips of orange are cropping up everywhere: On apartment porches, on children's bookbags, on briefcases, in wrist bracelets. Orange ribbons are festooned on automobiles, on flagpoles, on tree branches, in gardens - a bumper crop.

After four days in Jerusalem in which I have been to various sections of the city, I just don't see Jerusalem as being "ablaze with the color orange."

To be sure, there are quite a few cars adorning orange ribbons. In Jerusalem, they probably outnumber those with blue ribbons in support of withdrawal by a 4-1 margin. And many people are wearing orange bracelets, or T-shirts.

Yet the majority of residents are wearing neither orange nor blue. There are a few people giving out material about the withdrawal, but not on a large scale. If someone came to Jerusalem this week and did not know about the monumental event scheduled to begin in just two weeks, they would likely find little if anything out of the ordinary. At most, there would probably be mere curiosity about the orange ribbons on some of the cars.

I am guessing that things are somewhat different from the way they were even a couple of weeks ago, when Rabbi Feldman posted. Now, many who had mixed feelings or moderate opposition about the withdrawal seem to have accepted it as a fait accompli, and are refraining from any political expression. They support the government without any excitement, and feel deep sympathy for the residents slated for evacuation, but have accepted that the political struggle for Gush Katif is over, and hope that the withdrawal is a smooth one and that the government's decision will prove to be the right one.
posted on 7/31/2005