We were invited, Nadia Matar and myself, to the annual week of politics at the Kibbutzim Seminar in Tel Aviv and we came, we must admit, with more than a few misgivings. It is a nice idea, education for democracy. Speakers of all shades of the political rainbow are invited to the event and the students move among the various lectures.
As noted, we had more than a few concerns as we came to the place: Will people come to hear us? Will they listen? Will we be provoked by people of the radical Left? Will our language be considered appropriate to the place?
Everyone was welcomed by a huge sign on the roof on which is written: "We will not forget the 4th of November, 1995" (the day of Rabin's murder, ed.) and that made us realize just where we were...
The organization was excellent. They waited for us, accompanied us to the lecture room, where we found a few students already waiting for us. We relaxed. There would be an audience after all. As we were dealing with arranging the technical preparations, the digital projector and didactic aids for the lecture, we noticed from the corner of our eyes that the room was becoming increasingly full. And if that was not enough, even when there were no more empty seats, the flow of students entering did not stop. At that point there were not enough chairs. More and more students came in, sat on the floor and even overflowed into the hallway. It was tense.
We do not apologize. We believe in our right to the Land through the strength of the Divine promise.
The subject that we chose for our joint lecture: "The two state solution – passé."
We do not apologize. We are "mitnachalot" (in English it translates "settlers" but the Hebrew word means "inheritors of the Land", although the media and left have given it derogatory, temporary associations). We believe in our right to the Land through the strength of the Divine promise.
Nadia opens, aided by maps presenting a historical, geographical and archaeological survey, and presents her earrings, which are a copy of a coin from the 2nd century Bar Kochba era, another of the endless proofs of continual Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. Total quiet reigns during the entire lecture. It turns out that it is difficult to argue with well-established data.
After Nadia explained to those present why there must not and will not be two states, I moved on to the phase where the answer is given to the question "If not two states, then what?" And I explained the political initiative that we have been leading in recent years throughout Israel – the push for sovereignty.
The subject was surveyed from the point of view of values, history, security, economy, demographics and its international implications, based on the axiom stating that the Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel according to the Bible, that same Bible that most of the world recognizes and accepts.
One of the main questions dealt with the status of the Arabs, and here I presented the listeners with five different options that have been raised, written about and discussed by intellectuals who deal with the political philosophy of the Right. We ended our talk by presenting a film about the subject of sovereignty that included a summary of the things we spoke of, as well as quotes from some of the central political figures who support the vision of sovereignty.
Our lecture raised more than a few questions and arguments, which were conducted politely and respectfully. Many people approached us and thanked us for the lecture and the forthrightness. A few even thanked us for expressing their thoughts in a place where the most "radically" right thing that had been heard until then was the voice of Yesh Atid, and spokesmen from the political center.
We parted from them leaving behind us many issues of the Sovereignty Journal that were grabbed as if they were rolls fresh from the oven.
On the way back to the Judean mountain ridge we prayed that more and more educational and academic institutions would open their doors to us and invite us to speak there - including the religious ones…
