Major-General Gershon Hacohen
צילום: דובר צה"ל
Kfar Etzion refuses to allow boycott on IDF general
Right-wing elements pressure religious kibbutz's field school to cancel participation of Major-General Gershon Hacohen, who commanded Gush Katif evacuation, in event discussing King David's work; after general decides not to attend, Kfar Etzion calls off event altogether
The field school at the Kfar Etzion settlement recently initiated an event on King David, which was to be attended by public figures, intellectuals and religious officials who would tell of their special connection to the Bible's greatest king.
One of the people invited to speak at the event was Major-General Gershon Hacohen, commander of the military colleges. After learning of his invitation, right-wing elements began pressuring the event's organizers to cancel Hacohen's participation, as the latter had led the evacuation division during the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
Rabbi Shalom Wolpe of the SOS Israel organization distributed an email calling on the public to telephone Kfar Etzion resident Hanan Porat and pressure him not to attend the event in protest of Hacohen's invitation. The email even included Porat's private phone number.
Wolpe urged the public to "explain to the honorable Rabbi Porat the pain and desecration of God that will take place if that expelling general is welcomed with honor while we who were expelled are being humiliated to the core."
Hacohen is the son of a family of religious Zionist rabbis. Before the pullout, many settlers expected him to revolt and refuse to take part in the evacuation, but he eventually decided to implement the government decision.
After hearing of the row sparked by his invitation, the general decided to cancel his participation in the planned event. As a result, the Kibbutz Kfar Etzion Field School decided to call off the event altogether.
"After releasing the event's program, the field school received a large number of protests for inviting an officer who took part in the evacuation of Gush Katif's Jews to speak at the school," said the school's principal, Yaron Rosenthal.
"They threatened to 'blow up the event' and to boycott the Kfar Etzion Field School's activities. After Major-General Hacohen learned of the commotion he announced that he would not take part in the event, and we decided to call it off."
'Kfar Etzion won't tolerate boycotts'
"We at the Kfar Etzion Field School highly regard the hundreds of soldiers guarding the settlements and routes we tour, although they don’t agree with our presence in Judea and Samaria, and therefore we cannot accept any boycotts and threats against officers who carried out orders, as difficult and painful as they may be.
"This is what we won't conduct a plan which an IDF general is prevented from attending, due to the fact that we don't engage in political questions related to the future of the Judea and Samaria territories and do not engage in boycotts, but only in an attempt to introduce the Land of Israel to the people of Israel.
"We appeal to all ends of the political and religious spectrum. This is the road we have taken throughout the years and we will continue to walk along this road in the future as well," said Rosenthal in a bid to explain the motives behind the decision to call off the event.
He went on to link the incident to the event's theme. "David was given the opportunity to hurt Saul, who pursued him in a bid to kill him, but he refused to hurt him and even mourned over him after his death in the Gilboa battle.
"We, who follow in David's footsteps in the land of Judea every day – from his youth in Bethlehem and in the Judea Desert, through his enthronement in Hebron and to his death in Jerusalem in the City of David – must try and walk in David's footsteps also in terms of the people's unity."
"Therefore," explained Rosenthal, "it was decided to reject with disgust the undemocratic attempts to boycott an IDF officer, who served the homeland all his life. We are aware of the fact that the polarization in the nation taking place before our eyes will not determine our fate, and we must do everything to prevent the establishment of two states for one people, a reality created about 50 years after King David's kingship."
'I'm only protesting the crime'
Mazal Hania, who was uprooted from Gush Katif and led the battle against Hacohen's participation in the event, told Ynet of her motives.
"I'm not fighting against people and their views. I can convince and talk, but I won't touch one hair off Hacohen's head and I won't hurt his family members as well. I am protesting the crime he committed, and as far as I'm concerned, Hacohen represents the crime.
"Our war is against the legitimization given to the person who expelled us from our home. I am sure any person who was hurt or whose family was hurt will not forgive the one who caused him harm so fast."
As for the school's decision to call off the entire event, Hania said this was the organizers' private consideration on how to respond.
According to Hania, former Meretz Chairman Yossi Sarid, "who used difficult and painful names against us settlers," was also scheduled to take part in the event. She added, howeverm that she did not expect the people of Gush Katif to invite a person who played such a central role in the evacuation.
"I feel close to the people of Kfar Eztion, I have a dialogue with them, they are settlers like me and I did not expect them to bring a person who expelled me from my home," she said, concluding that she wishes the people of Israel better days.
Efrat Weiss contributed to this report
