I've given up on protests and demonstrations. There are two basic reasons one protests. One form of protest is to demonstrate publicly that you disassociate yourself from the evil. You set yourself aside in protest to show that you don't identify with it. Another form of protest is an attempt to convince the other side to change its ways. And so, protesting against government policies is a waste of time. Why? Because there is no need for me to show that I disassociate with Ohlmert's policies. That's obvious already. And I know that no form of protest will cause the government to change an iota from continuing on their path. Even if five million Jews donned orange ribbons, they will be oblivious to it. 

Unfortunately, the national-religious camp for years has been nothing more than a "protest movement". This is derived from the fact that they never aspired to rule, never went for all the marbles. And so they protest. They incorrectly assume that if the other side sees enough orange, it will change its ways. What the national-religoius camp fails to realize, in their naivet�, is that the other side has a very clear "hashkafa", one that completely contradicts ours. They seek to create a state like all the others. They don't have "redemption" on their minds, nor do they believe in "restoring the Judges" or in the value of Eretz Yisrael. Most importantly, they could not care less about "pubic opinion."

That fact is, that our protests only play into their hands. Our protests serve as nothing more than a card to show their partners, the Arabs and Americans, how brave they are for carrying out their policies despite the "extremists". Slogans of the Yesha Council, that "Ohlmert is bad for the Jews" offer no new initiative, and only serve Ohlmert's interests, giving him votes from the competing Meretz party. The "Ohlmert is bad for the Jews" campaign influenced the leftists vote even more than the Meretz-backed campaign, "Leftists Maniacs."

And so enough protesting. They are not interested in what we have to say. They are the "doers". They destroy and evict, and don't wait for orders from the Yesha Council. As the saying goes, "The parade goes by and the dogs bark" � we must stop barking and start our own parade.

The time has come to initiate and not just react in protest. There is no reason to consider their opinions or laws. We must stop complaining, and start to take action, to lead. Enough putting out fires. We must define our goal: a proud Jewish state in the land of Israel, run by Torah values. All the Jews who believe in this must be recruited and mobilized to action. Then a specific program should be designed, explaining stage by stage how we can turn this dream into a reality. With God's help we will succeed�.