Speech by Rachel Saperstein

SPEECH TO "WORLD BETAR CONVENTION"

HYATT HOTEL, JERUSALEM, JUNE 17, 2006

Erev Tov and Shavua Tov… My name is Rachel Saperstein. I am 65, a
wife, mother and grandmother. I came from New York to live in my
homeland 38 years ago. My husband and I once lived in a beautiful home
in Gush Katif. Today I am a refugee.

We were forcibly removed from our home by the State of Israel. Not by
the non-Jewish government of a foreign country but by the Jewish
government of my own homeland.

My husband lost his right arm in the Yom Kippur War. We never uttered
a word of regret. We loved our country. We were ready to sacrifice.
Our daughter was injured on a bus blown up by a suicide bomber. We
never uttered a word of regret. It was part of the price of living in
our homeland.

We moved to Gush Katif from Jerusalem and the mortars and Kassam
rockets fell on us night and day. We never complained for we knew we
were holding on to our precious land. And when my husband was shot by
a Palestinian policeman and lost part of his remaining hand, we
remained silent and proud of our privilege to give to our land.

And then we were rewarded for our bravery, for our courage. We and the
eight thousand men, women and children of Gush Katif. We who held on
to the land, we who defended our land against Arab murderers, were
forced out by Jewish soldiers and Jewish police. We were put into tiny
hotel rooms, flimsy tent cities and despicable trailers and, finally,
into cardboard houses called `caravillas'. Our possessions were locked
away in containers, often destroyed by rats. We watched our homes
razed, our synagogues burnt. We were left penniless.

Today our children cannot concentrate on their studies, our people
still weep, for we are all traumatized. Many of our men have died of
heart attacks. Within 24 hours a once vital people were turned into
the homeless and unemployed.

The government of Israel declared that we were well compensated. That
was a lie. Farmers with once thriving businesses sit and stare at
television. Promises of land remain just that… promises. The small
amounts of compensation are being eaten up each day. Mortgages on
destroyed homes are still being paid to the banks. Private people come
to give us handouts. Supermarkets donate food for the Sabbath meals.
Donations are given so that infants can receive formula and diapers.
Brides receive household gifts from caring strangers.

This is what the government of Israel, the Likud government of Israel,
did to its people. We voted the Likud government into office under
their banner of security and protecting the land. They lied to the
people of Israel.

Where were you? Where were the massive demonstrations to fight the
evil decree? We experienced the opposite of every principle of Likud,
of Menahem Begin, of Vladimir Jabotinsky, of Yosef Trumpeldor. Our
precious land was given to our deadly enemies.

Jews were pulled out of their homes. I am one of those Jews. You are
those Jews because this is your home, too. We were betrayed. You were
betrayed.

You must not allow this to happen again. Today the prime minister
promises other expulsions. You must not allow this to happen. Gush
Katif is not a place – it is a concept. It s every one of us. Gush
Katif is the symbol of courage. You must have the courage to say NO.
NEVER AGAIN.

You must never reward any politician who voted for the expulsion with
the privilege of serving in any office of the Likud.

Likud must return to its ideology. The ideology of Eretz Yisrael l'Am
Yisrael, the Land of Israel for the People of Israel.

Gush Katif must never happen again. NEVER. NEVER AGAIN.

And we will return to Gush Katif!