Remember.....

I try to keep my postings from dealing with political issues for all sorts of reasons that I'll spell out in the future. However, with Hanukkah over and the debate over the retreat from Gaza rendered almost academic, I thought I"d post the following quote from Simon the Hasmonean (IMacc. 15, 33-34). When Antiochus VI demanded that Simon hand over territory to the Seleucid Crown, Simon replied:

Simon gave him this reply: "We have neither taken foreign land nor seized foreign property, but only the inheritance of our fathers, which at one time had been unjustly taken by our enemies. Now that we have the opportunity, we are firmly holding the inheritance of our fathers.

Irrespective of what happens practically and what policy is adopted for the future of the Jewish State, it behooves all sides to remember that the point of departure is that noted by Simon. If he's not right, then Jews have no right to live anywhere in Eretz Yisrael.