The most striking thing about the tent city built in Sacher Park is the cleanliness. This garden is well known to me, I have seen it in bloom and in its decline, and I know how dirty it can be during and after events. "Look how clean," my wife told me, and although she had an interest, she was right. Not a bottle, a flyer or a bag were lounging on the grass surface.
I thought it was right that we did that we arrived in a family ensemble. Immediately after the Knesset passed the law to abolish the reasonableness cause, we felt it was the right thing to do, and we took the children to Sacher Park. Not to shout. Don't argue. Just meeting people and listening. The surprising cleanliness was undoubtedly an encouraging signal. Is anyone really thinking about giving up on these Israelis?
Sacher Garden. "I could hug everyone there,"
Well, what do you think? My wife asks me, as we walk between flag-bearing marchers and children's activity tents. Well, what do I really think? I ask myself. The current struggle does not cross my family. He crosses me myself.
In both camps there is real pain and fear that I identify with, feel and do not doubt. The problem is that both camps also have deep foundations of mistrust. In some places it has already crystallized into pure hatred. There I cannot be a part, neither of these nor of these.
Different shirts, one flag for all
Well, what do you think? She insists. I could hug everyone there. Along the garden paths people walk in a variety of shirts and prints, but almost all with the same flag. Maybe I'm naïve, but there's no energy of anger or disappointment in the air. The result was predictable, and no one was so naïve. There is pain of course. And concern. And some fatigue.
Police force vis-à-vis the masses of demonstrators in Jerusalem,
Alongside the path stand individual representatives of dialogue movements and distribute flowers and invitations to the discourse. Here and there small circles around government supporters who came to talk. But they are too few, and too small. I take note with regret that this does not seem to be the great hour of the "Let's Talk" people.
In the general public, some details remain of them. In the Knesset, they are an endangered species. And right now, right now, these are the people Israel needs most on the front lines of the crisis.
Hey, it's me!
Throughout the heated debate, interesting voices were often heard saying something like: "Hey, it's me!! You know me. How can you suspect me, your good friend, of intending to trample on rights? You know I'm just as much a Democrat and a liberal as you are."
Aerial view of the tent city in Sacher Park in Jerusalem, photo: Reuters
Demonstration in Jerusalem, photo: AP
My good friend Ariel Horowitz wrote nice things along these lines here at Israel Hayom. But Horowitz does not sit in the government, or even on the coalition benches. And from there, and not from Ariel's piano or keyboard, there have been too many voices in recent months that have made no effort to inspire trust. Or just relax. To convince that the legislative face is indeed in the direction of a life of freedom and freedom. And that the Likud movement is still a liberal party. She and the coalition she formed.
This is a time of healing, and the responsibility lies with the government. Since the law has passed, this is the moment for the generosity of winners. Once it entered the statute book, the ground was pulled from under the traditional claim that right-wing votes are worth less. Now it is no longer important to find out how we got this far. We're there, and pretty shocked. Now is the time for healing, for leadership that is committed to healing and has an idea of how to do it. Spoiler alert: "Internalize!" statements are not the direction. The healing can only be carried out by people who are also able to remain silent and listen, and not just to justify and silence.
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