The Changing Landscapes of Israel, by our neighbour Laura Ben-David

The Changing Landscapes of Israel
From: Laura Ben-David, Neve Daniel. E-mail: laura@lbwx2.com
The landscape of Gush Etzion has changed. Its Neve Daniel landmark,the huge grey structure on the mountaintop that appears to have aflying saucer parked on top of it, was actually the shell of itslong-unfinished synagogue. It is no longer just a shell. Slated to befinished "by Rosh Hashana" almost every year since we've been here, italmost came as a shock when, seemingly overnight, the grey cement wascovered in gleaming white, and shortly before Rosh Hashana, it wasactually completed enough to hold services. The Shabbat before RoshHashana marked the inaugural prayer service in the long-awaitedsanctuary. The usual five-separate Friday night services combined intoone for this special, momentous service.
And so, the Friday night before Rosh Hashana, I made my way to the topof the mountain that is Neve Daniel. I, along with my family, andevery other family in the neighborhood, more than 1000 people in all,joined together at our new, old landmark. Even knowing what to expect,I couldn't know what I was really about to experience. It was alreadygetting dark as we turned the corner that suddenly put the shul in ourview. We were stunned to see the familiar silhouette suddenly bathedin light- from the inside! Strategically placed windows that werehardly noticed before, cast a beautiful pearly glow on the wholestructure. It was truly a sight to behold!
As we neared the synagogue, strains of "Lecho Dodi", my favorite ofthe Friday night prayers, carried to our ears from within. Thebeautiful singing emanating from the sanctuary along with the lightfrom the windows made for a truly magical experience; and all thisbefore I even made it inside the doors.
Of course the timing of the completion of our beloved synagogue wasnot lost on anyone in our deeply Zionistic community. While most ofthe uprooted families from Gush Katif still linger in uncomfortabletemporary living arrangements, their destroyed synagogues lying indesecrated ruins, we were celebrating the bittersweet dedication ofours. Unfortunately this irony could become something much more. Itseems that the landscape of Gush Etzion is about to change again- thistime, much more drastically. The change may give us something incommon with the former fenced-in lives of our brothers and sisters whowere removed from Gush Katif.
The famous, much-debated "Security Fence" is suddenly to be built inGush Etzion. "Suddenly" because though we knew it was going to bebuilt, there was never a specific timetable given nor a specificroute. Shortly before Rosh Hashana we were told that "right afterSukkot" they will begin building and only then were we told the route.And what a terrible route it is. The fence will literally cut offparts of Gush Etzion from the rest, place an unsightly fence allaround, and protect us from exactly nothing.
In fact neither us, nor the Arabs around us have anything to gain fromthis fence in the short term. For all of us it will be cutting intoproperty, cutting us off from areas, and turning the places we live ininto ghettos.
Of course the route is not a fait accompli. Many lawsuits will almostguarantee at least a variation of the planned route. But whatvariation will actually improve the situation? Currently there areclose to a quarter of Gush Etzion neighborhoods that are on the "wrongside" of the fence. South of Gush Etzion finds Hebron, one of the fourholiest cities to Jews, containing the burial place of the Patriarchsand Matriarchs of Judaism, along with neighboring Kiryat Arba where mytwo daughters go to high school (and many thousands of Jews live)which will all be on the "wrong side" of the fence. Putting them allon the "right side" of the fence will be putting thousands of theArabs who they are trying to protect Tel Aviv from on the "right side"of the fence. Yes, Tel Aviv.
One may wonder why we are fighting a fence that is presumably beingbuilt to protect us, but that is not the purpose at all. It isdesigned to protect Tel Aviv by keeping the Palestinian Arabs behindthe fence. Because of this there are those who suggest that we avoidthe feeling of living in a Gaza-like compound and ask for the fence tobe built along the Green line which does not intersect the Gush atall. Serious objections to this are that once a fence is built it canbe used all-too-easily as a future border with Israel potentiallysacrificing anything on the other side - MY side. The more immediateconcern is that a fence is a psychological border, much more so thanthe "invisible" Green line, and, as such, people will neither visitnor invest in areas beyond the fence.
Other options being discussed are TWO fences- one on the Green line(to protect Tel Aviv...) and one around the Gush Etzion communities.The second fence, which is actually being considered as an alternativeeven without the Green line fence, would criss-cross Gush Etzion,making it a scary and unsightly place to live.
None of these options are appealing. In the meantime we are relying onthe leftist-Israelis who are sure to sue the courts in support of theArabs to move the fence in their favor. For whatever its worth, atleast it will delay the building of it.
As the High Holidays came to a close this year, there have been mixedfeelings along with great turmoil of emotions among the citizens ofGush Etzion. While praying in the relative safety and security of ourbeautiful new synagogue, many of us weren't even exactly sure what weshould be praying for. We can only hope and pray that the One we werepraying to will guide us to decisions that will bring safety, securityand prosperity for the entire land of Israel.
From: Laura Ben-David, Neve Daniel. E-mail: laura@lbwx2.com