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members standing arm-in-arm with Bnei
Akiva members and kippah-wearing “orange
people” (those that fought against the Gaza
disengagement and are part of the settler
movement). Being part of such a wide
coalition, with arms that reach into almost
every sector of Israeli society, can be
intoxicating: suddenly we find ourselves part
of a group that is becoming a force to be
reckoned with. So how can we be so sure that
this is really a good idea? How can we make “Orange” settler protesting Gaza disengagement
sure that we don’t lose who we are as part of
this process?

The first step in creating this coalition as a coalition that could bring groups together without
compromising the groups themselves was defining its central goals and areas of agreement. The
key here is that Zionism is at the base of what brings these groups together. The coalition could
have been broader if Zionism was omitted (it could then have included the left-wing
environmentalists and the more extreme religious Jews, for example). However, it was important
that Zionism be central to the coalition since Zionism is at the heart of our opposition – Zionism
as a movement whose members actively work towards creating a just and moral society that
embodies Jewish culture in Israel. It is clear that we cannot actively strive for a moral society of
our own, as Jews, without a physical land to establish it on. This was why Herzl suggested the
establishment of the JNF – so that the pennies collected in the blue boxes by every Jew around the
world could be used to buy land that every Jew could safely live on and self-govern.

What does a Zionist struggle against land privatization look like?

We (the blue shirts) are now acting as part of a coalition that reflects the Zionist spectrum when
it comes to viewing what Israel should be. We have very deep disagreements about Israel’s ideal
character with the right-wing Zionists that are part of our coalition. However, we recognize that
we are uniting here primarily against the capitalists – people with no vision for Israel (or
anywhere else) – people looking to make as much money as possible in their short lives, with
little regard for the nature of Israeli society or its future. Yesterday, I heard a Likud proponent of
the reform say on the radio something like “we’ve all been waiting to dismantle the JNF for 61
years, and now is our chance.” These capitalists view our Zionist institutions, built up by the
hard-earned zlotys, rubles, prutot, pesos, and cents of the Jewish people over a century as a
fantastic opportunity for a real estate windfall, and they are positioning themselves in the right
place to profit.

As much as I disagree with the settlers’ views, I recognize that they believe in what they are
doing as part of actively living out their Zionist vision for Israel (albeit a racist hagshama path in
my eyes). The idea of this coalition is that we want to halt the land reform together, so that we
can later argue amongst ourselves about the nature of Israel as part of a Zionist disagreement,