August 2004
August 1, 2004 Clarification Re the Bush Vs. Kerry Issue
August 4, 2004 In The Service of the Almighty
August 5, 2004 So, What's Good for the Jews?
August 8, 2004 Sharon's Abandonment of Bible as Basis for Claim to Holy Land
August 12, 2004 U.S. State Dept.'s Antagonism to Jews and Israel
August 13, 2004 Another Tack: 'How do you know?'
August 14, 2004 An Appeal To Continue With Oleg
August 15, 2004 Gaza - Security Wise and Historically Part of Israel
August 17, 2004 Upcoming Activities
August 19, 2004 Sharon fails another democratic test
August 22, 2004 Dwelling in Denial
August 22, 2004 Column One: Willful blindness in Gaza
August 22, 2004 Grandson of Mahatma Ghandi
August 25, 2004 Letter from Gush Katif
August 27, 2004 Tali Fahima Imprisoned - Peres and Beilin Aren't?
August 30, 2004 We should have but One Fear
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August 1, 2004
CLARIFICATION RE THE BUSH VS. KERRY ISSUE
Last week an article "Bush is No Friend of Israel" was sent out to
the Women in Green email list. The article was written by Michael
Levi Matar. Michael is Ruth Matar's husband and Nadia Matar's
father-in-law. Michael is also Women in Green's Volunteer Office
Administrator. For the past years, he, like the rest of the Women
in Green volunteer staff, has been devoting his entire time and
effort for the survival of Israel, and for a better future for our
children in the Jewish State of Israel.
We have been working together as a group for eleven years,
miraculously agreeing on the different issues and paths of
actions. Unfortunately, on the important Bush-Kerry issue, and
probably for the first time in Women in Green's history, we find
ourselves bitterly disagreeing. Michael represents a tiny fringe
minority opinion within the Women in Green Movement that
believes Bush is worse then Kerry.
We could not prevent Michael from sending out his article and
expressing his opinions. From the masses of replies we
received, more than we have ever received in the past to any one
article, we understand that the great majority of Women in
Green's email readers and supporters do not agree with him.
The following email represents the overall sentiment expressed
in these replies:
"AS AN AMERICAN AND WELL VERSED IN POLITICS AND VERY
INVOLVED WITH ISRAEL (INCLUDING BEING A DONOR TO
WOMEN IN GREEN), BUSH MAY NOT BE THE END ALL, BUT THE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY AS IT IS TODAY AND SENATOR KERRY
COULD BE THE END ALL FOR ISRAEL'S FUTURE."
This exactly expresses the way the majority of Women in Green
feel about the Bush-Kerry controversy.
With Love for Israel,
Ruth and Nadia Matar
Co-Leaders of Women in Green
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August 4, 2004
In The Service of the Almighty
The values expressed in the Bible have been the essential source
of inspiration and guidance for all American Presidents since the
founding of this glorious democracy. The Founding Fathers of
America were well versed in the Bible, and lived by its precepts.
It is hoped that the present candidates for the U.S. presidency,
both John Kerry and President George W. Bush, will continue in
this same American tradition.
It is vital however, that whoever is elected President of the United
States in November 2004 will act strictly in accordance with the
Will of G-d, as expressed in His Bible. The person to be elected
has the opportunity to serve G-d, in order to make the lives of
Americans, and indirectly all of us, economically, materially and
spiritually better.
The President to be elected would be wise to follow the time
tested wisdom revealed in the Book of Books. It is vital that the
President strictly adheres to the Judeo-Christian ethical and
moral values set forth in the Bible.
But it is imperative that such an American President explicitly
obeys the Will of G-d with regard to the Holy Land of Israel.
There can be no two-state solution. That Saudi concept is not in
accordance with what the Bible explicitly states over and over
again. The Bible clearly states that the Holy Land of Israel
belongs exclusively to the Jewish People. "The Land that I gave
to Abraham and to Isaac, I will give to you [Jacob]; and to your
offspring after you I will give the Land." (Genesis 35:12)
It is in America's interest to obey the Will of G-d. There is ample
reward to those who follow and live in accordance with the
Bible's precepts. It is our prayer that the future President of the
United States of America rejects the "Road Map" Plan. Instead,
he must courageously act and take a new path which fulfills the
Word of G-d as is written in the Bible.
All of us must realize that we are at our best when we are in the
service of the Almighty!
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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August 5, 2004
SO, WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE JEWS?
LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM
Thursday, August 5, 2004
Dear Friends,
I have gotten a number of emails from you, asking me why I am
so interested (a few unfriendly emails used the word obsessed) in
the outcome of the American Presidential Election.
I am an American Jewish citizen - and proud of it - and therefore
it is very important to me, and many other Jews, who will lead
America in the next four years.
Jews worldwide are passionately interested in the survival of
Israel, and the possibility of their Jewish brethren being able to
return to their Biblical Homeland, especially after the horrendous
Holocaust of Jewish Europe. Anti-Semitism in the Arab world
has long been rampant, even after the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Unfortunately, anti-Semitism in Europe and other countries in the
world, has again surfaced, like a cancer after a short remission
period.
America has proven itself to be the only reliable friend of the
Jewish People. It has often been in the forefront, to defend Israel
against the new anti-Semitic onslaught. This has been done not
just by beautiful words, but by effective action. The whole world,
led by the Arab countries, may vote sanctions against Israel in
the United Nations General Assembly, but all these nations are
impotent against the veto of the United States in the United
Nations Security Council.
Jewish interest in American presidential elections goes way
back. Ephraim Kishon, Israel's bestselling humorist, wrote this
satirical essay in 1964, after the election of Lyndon Johnson as
president. Barry Goldwater was the candidate who ran against
Johnson. I think that you will find this satire quite relevant to the
present situation. Enjoy! Have a good laugh! (Or, at least a small
chuckle!)
***
Satirical Essay by Ephraim Kishon
"Well, sir, so justice triumphed after all."
"Lyndon Johnson was elected President of the United States with
an enormous majority, while Goldwater suffered an abject defeat.
He got just 39 per cent of the vote, only slightly more than Mapai
[Israeli Labor Party. -- R.M.] at the last election here."
"What a flop!"
"Indeed. Though we, as a people, don't have to be sorry.
President Johnson is a loyal friend of our country, while Barry
Goldwater always kept aloof of Israel, perhaps because of his
Jewish grandfather."
"That makes sense, psychology-wise. Really, how lucky we are
that LBJ won."
"I'm not so sure, sir. Quite possibly Johnson, whose friendship
for Israel is quite well known, will now have to be somewhat
severe towards us, so as to prove that the Jewish vote has no
influence on his policy line."
"Good Lord!"
"So it's really a pity that they elected Johnson. As I understand it
now, Goldwater would have been better for the Jews because he
is against them."
"Exactly. Though, had Goldwater made a gesture towards us,
they might well have said that he is doing it because of his
Jewish grandfather and then he would have had to prove his
outspokenly anti-Israel feelings, in order to set the record right.
President Johnson, on the other hand, cannot harden his attitude
toward us, lest he be accused that his friendship towards Israel
was opportunistic, a trick for attracting the Jewish vote."
"So, Johnson is to be preferred after all?"
"I don't know. Goldwater is still nearer to us, because of his
Jewish grandfather."
"A pity Johnson had no such grandfather."
"God forbid! So that he, too, should be against us?"
"I confess. I'm a little mixed-up, sir. Couldn't you tell me in plain
words what's good for the Jews?"
***
With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth Matar
P.S. I would be most interested to know your reactions to
Ephraim Kishon's satirical essay.
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August 8, 2004
Sharon's Abandonment of the Bible As The Main Basis For Our
Claim To This Holy Land
The Sharon Government has divorced itself completely from its
Biblical roots by proposing its Disengagement Plan to abandon
that part of the Promised Land described in the Bible as the Gaza
area. The consequences of such action by this Government has
widespread negative implications for Israel. Without its Biblical
foundations, and G-d's Promise to the Jewish People, Sharon's
actions deprive Israel of its claim to this Holy Land. It is in
defiance of the Will of G-d as set forth in the Bible and must be
resisted by every citizen of Israel who cares about Jewish
Religion and Jewish tradition. Ariel Sharon's Government should
be ousted, and Mr. Sharon should be retired to his farm in the
Negev to live out his remaining days on this earth.
Moreover, Sharon is to be denounced for his passivity with
regard to the U.S. State Department's actions concerning further
building in Maale Adumim and the new neighborhood between
that important community and Jerusalem that was scheduled to
be built. In effect, Sharon is acquiescing to the demands of the
Saudi Arabians who are dictating the policies that the U.S. State
Department religiously follows.
Prime Minister Sharon is shortsighted. He has abandoned the
traditional Jewish religious ties that Israel has to its Holy Land for
what he believes to be military reasons. Being a completely
secular Jew, the Bible, and its traditional teachings mean nothing
to him. But it still has a great deal of meaning for the majority of
the Jewish People. It is as if he is making military decisions on a
battlefield, and even then many military people and Ministers are
vigorously opposed to his strategy of abandoning Gaza. He has
completely ignored the Jewish religion, its history and ancient
Heritage. He is not worthy of carrying on the tradition of Moses,
King David and other renowned past Jewish leaders.
Sharon is not the man the electorate thought him to be. He does
not possess the necessary vision, and courage to stand up to
those who would denigrate the historical State of Israel and its
eternal relationship to the G-d of Israel.
Would that members of his Likud Party realize the danger he is
causing to the Jewish People, and to the continued existence of
their own Likud Party. That he contemplates having Shimon
Peres as his Foreign Minister clearly demonstrates this lack of
vision, and his betrayal of the People who elected him. It was
Peres who was responsible for giving away Jericho, which is a
vital part of the Holy Land. The electorate rejected Peres and all
that he stands for in the last election. To bring Peres back, is an
indication of the callous and shallow nature of Sharon, and to
what depths he will sink in order to stay in power.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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August 12, 2004
THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT'S ANTAGONISM TOWARDS THE
JEWS AND ISRAEL
LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Dear Friends,
The U.S. State Department has a long history of antagonism
towards the Jews and Israel. Often it has successfully promoted
a separate agenda than that of the elected government.
The PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) is certainly everything but
a pro-Israel media outlet. However, it produced a report and
subsequent video called "America and the Holocaust - Deceit and
Indifference". This is an account of the horrible activities of the
U.S. State Department, their lies and indifference to the
Holocaust, and their intentional stone walling and withholding
information while they knew that thousands of Jews were being
killed in the Death Camps.
Six million Jews were killed in the Death Camps. Even then the
State Department tried to prevent the establishment of a final
refuge for the pitiful remnant of survivors who tried to make their
way to Israel. The Arabist State Department intended to vote
against the rebirth of Israel in the General Assembly, and were
prevented from doing so by virtually last minute instructions
from President Harry Truman himself.
In November of 1966, Yehuda Avner, a veteran Israeli diplomat,
was asked to personally deliver a letter to former U.S. President
Harry Truman from Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. This is a
verbatim excerpt from their conversation (Jerusalem Post,
August 3, 2004, "A Walk With Harry Truman"):
"... Truman began to speak about his own State Department as if
it was a hostile power:
"'Those State Department fellows were always trying to put it
over on me about Palestine, telling me that I really didn't
understand what was going on there, that I ought to leave it to
experts. Some were anti-Semitic, I'm sorry to say. Dealing with
them was as rough as a cob. They didn't want instant recognition
of statehood.
"I had my own second thoughts, too. But I'd made my
commitment to Dr. Weizmann. AND MY ATTITUDE WAS THAT AS
LONG AS I'M PRESIDENT, I'D SEE TO IT THAT I MADE POLICY,
NOT THE SECOND OR THIRD ECHELONS AT THE STATE
DEPARTMENT. [Emphasis is mine. --R. M.]
"So, on the day the Jewish state was declared, I gave those
officials about 30 minutes notice. And then, exactly 11 minutes
after the proclamation of independence, I had my press secretary,
Charlie Ross, issue the announcement that the United States
recognizes Israel.'"
And ever since that fateful vote at the United Nations, the State
Department has waged an unremitting war against the Jews and
Israel. The State Department has always had a separate agenda
towards Israel. The Middle Eastern desk employs many so-called
Arabists. Many of these are people whose parents were
Ambassadors in Arab States, who were brought up there.
The following are examples of U.S. Secretaries of State who were,
to say the least, antagonistic toward the Jewish State of Israel:
Thurgood Marshall, John Foster Dulles, Henry Kissinger, James
Baker, Colin Powell and others.
And even today, after the horror of the 9/11 terror attack, the U.S.
State Department continues its long history of covering up the
misdeeds of Saudi Arabia and its sponsorship of worldwide
terror.
Let us not forget the Jewish graduates of State Department
indoctrination: Martin Indyk, Sandy Berger, Aaron Miller, Dennis
Ross, and Daniel Kurtzer. (Former Secretary of State James
Baker of "F*** the Jews" inelegantly in private, called them his
"Jew-boys".) It seems that the State Department believes that it
is easier to do the Jews in if you use other Jews to do the dirty
deed!
One of the best byproducts of my weekly Letter from Jerusalem
is the emails and faxes I receive from all over the world. Internet
is an incredibly effective invention for rapid dissemination of
what's happening!
I was shocked to receive the following fax from one of my email
friends. The fax was very brief: "Dear Ruth, you probably heard
by now that Martin Indyk is going to be a Senior Foreign Advisor
to John Kerry, should he win the election."
Let me tell you about Martin Indyk and his relationship and
dealings with Israel! Indyk was appointed as Ambassador to
Israel by President Bill Clinton. Clinton then used Indyk as his
point man to push through a game plan to re-partition Israel.
Indyk's background: He was born in 1951 in London, England.
He was raised and educated in Australia. According to the New
York Times of September 23, 2000, he was an intelligence agent
in Australia, and served as Deputy Director of Australia's
Intelligence for the Middle East. (He may also have been working
for British Intelligence.) He was brought to the U.S., given instant
citizenship, and made Ambassador to Israel in 1995. Middle East
experts, who knew that Indyk had a separate questionable
agenda towards Israel, were not allowed to testify. He was the
first Jew to serve as the American ambassador to Israel.
Indyk became the most objectionable and provocative
Ambassador that any country, let alone Israel, had to put up with.
He did not even attend Israel's Independence Day celebrations,
which was intended as a big insult and polished his image as an
Arabist working for the Arab nations. (He said that he had a
previous appointment).
He was recalled by the United States from his position as
Ambassador when Netanyahu became Prime Minister in 1996,
and sent back for his second stint in the year 2000.
In February of the year 2000, Martin Indyk showed his true colors
and his animosity toward Israel, as he tried to buy Israeli Arab
votes with U.S. Embassy funds for a referendum on whether
Israel should give the Golan to Syria, in order to advance the
"peace process".
Knesset Member Uzi Landau, (now a Minister in the Sharon
Government) wrote the following letter to President Clinton in
this regard. Uzi Landau did not mention the American
Ambassador by name, but, the Ambassador was Martin Indyk!
***
President Bill Clinton February 14, 2000
The White House
Dear President Clinton,
I would like to draw your attention to a matter of grave concern
that threatens to cast a shadow over the special relationship
between Israel and the United States, which we all hold so dear.
The following headline appeared in Yediot Ahronot, Israel's most
widely-read newspaper, on February 11: "U.S Embassy Tries to
Mobilize Arab Support in the Referendum". According to the
article, senior U.S. Embassy officials have of late conducted a
series of meetings with Israeli Arab leaders.
The express aim of these meetings, according to the report, is to
pressure Arab leaders to produce a large turnout among their
constituency in the event that a referendum is held regarding the
future of the Golan Heights, as the Arab vote could prove
decisive. In addition, the report states that the U.S. diplomats
promised to arrange financial assistance to back information
campaigns that will be undertaken by Israeli Arab groups for this
purpose. In response, the U.S. Embassy spokesman did not deny
this information.
If the information in the article is accurate, this would constitute
an unprecedented and intolerable act of gross interference in
Israel's internal affairs. I can not emphasize enough the severity
of this act, which demonstrates blatant disregard for the most
elementary norms of accepted international behavior between
states and nations. For over fifty years, the U.S.-lsrael
relationship has been based on intimate ties of friendship and
mutual trust. There can be no greater blow to a friendship, be it
between two people or two nations, than a breach of faith. I pray
this is not the case.
Accordingly, I request that you immediately instruct the American
Ambassador to Israel and the U.S. Consul-General in Jerusalem,
as well as all American diplomats posted to Israel, to investigate
this matter, and if it turns out to be true, to refrain forthwith from
any and all such activity. I would also like to request that the
Secretary of State reiterate publicly America's commitment to
refrain from interfering in Israel's internal decision-making
process.
The people of Israel may have to face troubling and fateful
decisions in the months and years ahead. We have the right to
expect that our closest friends and allies will allow us to make
such decisions by ourselves.
Sincerely,
Uzi Landau, Member of Knesset
***
Subsequently, in the same year, September of 2000, American
ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, was charged with
mishandling security information by using a laptop computer
considered insecure. He was then recalled from his position as
Ambassador to Israel.
Will Martin Indyk's questionable past as the United States
Ambassador to Israel make John Kerry somewhat hesitant about
making him his Senior Advisor on Israel Issues?
Another State Department man, Sandy Berger, served as
Clinton's Deputy National Security Advisor. He was also
certainly not a friend of Israel. Sandy Berger told an audience at
Tel Aviv University: "[The current violence in the territories] "IS
BOTH THE CURSE AND THE BLESSING OF THE ISRAELI-
PALESTINIAN CONFLICT."
Interestingly enough, Sandy Berger who until recently served as
one of John Kerry's Senior Advisors, was also accused of
mishandling security information. He was caught stuffing 50
highly classified papers into his pants. This, of course,
"inadvertently". (Needless to say, Sandy Berger is no longer one
of the top advisors of Presidential Candidate John Kerry.)
Does the State Department give their people a special course in
filching secret information from their own government?
Why does Kerry unfailingly pick State Department enemies of
Israel as his Senior Advisors? Will Martin Indyk meet the same
fate as Sandy Berger?
I just realized that I forgot to mention one of the Diplomats who
are actively antagonistic towards the State in Israel, Assistant
Secretary of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, William
Joseph Burns.
In May of 2003, Assistant Secretary of State William Burns came
to Israel and secretly met with a coterie of Israeli doves and
Palestinian Ministers and officials under the banner of "Peace
Now" at the U.S. Consulate in West Jerusalem. This secret
discussion was about the "Road Map".
The following is a quote from Jinsa Report #332, dated May 12,
2003:
"No one was supposed to know that according to the minutes,
Burns stated his view that 'THE COMMON SENSE OF ALL
PEOPLES WILL OVERRIDE THE CONSERVATIVE AND
CHRISTIAN VIEWPOINTS ONCE THEY SEE THE ROAD MAP'S
POTENTIAL'. [Emphasis is mine. -- R. M.] He told the anti-
Government group to continue with their political activities 'as
new peace attempts reflects the people's will and will result in
fundamental changes'. We think everyone should know,
particularly the White House, that an American official is actively
undermining Prime Minister Sharon, the landslide winner of the
last election, by encouraging the landslide losers. WE THINK
EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW THAT MR. BURNS THINKS THE
VIEWS OF AMERICAN CONSERVATIVES AND CHRISTIANS WILL
BE OVERRIDDEN BY PEOPLE WITH 'COMMON SENSE',
IMPLYING THAT TWO OF THE STRONGEST GROUPS OF
SUPPORTERS OF BOTH ISRAEL AND PRESIDENT BUSH HAVE
NONE... We are offended by Mr. Burns' behavior. Not least by his
apparent belief that his behavior matters less if it remains 'off the
record'."
Thus we have two examples of State Department personnel,
former Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk and Assistant
Secretary of State William Burns, who are exhibiting their own
antagonism toward Israel, without White House sanction.
Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, in addition, shows
arrogant disdain for both American Conservatives and
Christians, strong supporters of both Israel and President Bush.
Assistant Secretary of State came to Israel on August 3 to
pressure Israel with regard to building 600 homes in Maaleh
Adumim, a city with 28,000 inhabitants, which is only 10 minutes
drive from Jerusalem. I am not claiming here that President
George W. Bush is free of blame in this continued pressure on
Israel. Every American Administration since the rebirth of Israel
has put pressure on Israel for their own geo-political reasons. As
it is said: "Countries have no friends, only interests".
Successive Israeli Prime Ministers have tried to withstand this
American pressure with varying degrees of success. I blame
Israeli Prime Minister Sharon just as much as George W. Bush for
the current situation. When Arik Sharon defended his people, he
was a hero and he was loved by his people. Sadly, Sharon, as a
politician, has emerged as a leftist, dedicated to repartitioning the
Land of Israel. He wants to de-Judaize Israel by transferring
Jews out of their homes, schools, synagogues, farms, factories,
businesses and ever their graves. He's starting with the 8,000
Jewish men, women and children in Gaza and intends to continue
with the so-called outposts in Judea and Samaria.
Does anybody in his right mind believe that President George W.
Bush is enthusiastic about the present tense relationship
between the U.S. and Israel, especially before a closely fought
election?
I firmly believe that Ariel Sharon has misled President Bush into
thinking that the majority of the Israeli People agree with the
policies of wholesale retreat in the face of Arab terror, and of
repartitioning the Land of Israel. This is absolute misinformation
fostered by Ariel Sharon, Shimon Peres and the rest of the Oslo
Architects, Israeli leftist media, American and Israeli liberal
"intellectuals", and the "Analysts" of the U.S. State Department.
Do you want to know the real feelings of the Israeli People?
Then consider the 200,000 strong Human Chain holding hands on
the 90 kilometer distance from Gaza to the Western Wall. Jews
from all around the world flew in for the day to join this Human
Chain. This was the most inspiring event I have ever taken part
in! This Human Chain expressed the real feelings of the Jewish
People - the pundits who sit on their backsides and pontificate
don't have a clue!
We hope and pray that President George W. Bush will, like
President Truman, decide that he himself should decide on
foreign policy toward Israel, "not the second or third echelons at
the State Department".
Finally, George W. Bush may not be the best possible President
for Israel. However, the reality is that the choice is between Bush
and Kerry. If Kerry becomes President and Teresa Heinz Kerry his
First Lady, it may well be Israel that is told to "shove it." The
danger signs are all there. John Kerry seems to be choosing
Senior Advisors on Israeli Issues who have a track record of
antagonism toward Israel.
With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth Matar
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August 13, 2004
Another Tack: 'How do you know?'
by SARAH HONIG
THE JERUSALEM POST - August 5, 2004
Why does small, uniquely beleaguered Israel achieve so much
more?
When my daughter was six years old, she once demanded to
know where her beloved grandmother went after she died. "To
heaven," I replied.
"How do you know?" came the merciless follow-up question.
"That's where people's souls go," I exasperatedly sought to
extricate myself. But then came the clincher: "How do you know?
Did a dead person ever come back to say so?"
I recalled that exchange a few days ago when viewing clips from
official PA television, compliments of the Palestinian Media
Watch.
Two personable preteen schoolgirls were discussing shuhada
(martyrdom) in deadly earnestness, praising the virtues of the
paradise guaranteed them if they explosively terminate their
earthly existence in the holy mission of killing Jews. The proudly
approving adult moderator asked encouraging leading questions
in a serene studio setting. Children phoning in chimed cheerfully
and extolled self-destruction and the pleasures of the reward
awaiting them in the hereafter. No participant came close to
asking what my kid had asked at a much younger age.
That in a nutshell is the yawning cultural chasm between us and
those whose raison d'etre is our annihilation. Any talk of
concessions and compromise with them is senseless wishful
thinking, if not life-threatening delusion.
Even if Palestinian grown-ups would, for various expediencies,
ever opt to temporarily exploit our "confidence-building
gestures" and unilateral pullbacks, their progeny wouldn't be
placidly reconciled to our continued existence. In all likelihood
it'll indoctrinate its own offspring and transmit hate via the
societal genetic code.
PATV specializes in song clips passionately praising those who
have already blown themselves up or youngsters leaving letters
to their parents before undertaking pretend-suicide bombing
missions themselves. One need only watch this frightening fare
to realize that terror isn't the result of PA inability to control
renegades. The PA actively sponsors, recruits, and trains the
next generation of mindless murderers.
NEW FILM footage from Arafatland's summer camps show 10-
year-olds forced to jump through flaming hoops. They crawl
under barbed wire, learn to toss grenades, drill roadside
ambushing maneuvers, practice attacking Jewish drivers,
flinging them brutally to the ground and stomping them, while
yelling in collective hysteria: "This is what'll be done to the
enemy."
After such bloodcurdling diversions, the campers participate in a
"graduation" ceremony. They march to the podium, salute, and
are handed diplomas. Brainwashing is never more effective than
at a young age. It cannot be imagined that any of these underage
trainees could shed what was inculcated into them and become
peace-loving folk who'll broad-mindedly tolerate Jewish
neighbors (even if the latter all cower behind the Green Line).
Worse yet, this purposely promoted mass-psychosis isn't limited
only to the territories immediately adjacent to our homes in this
narrow oddly shaped state, where no center of habitation is too
distant from the juvenile pre-programmed human guided
missiles.
German police recently raided a mosque in Frankfurt and
confiscated videos imported from oil-rich Gulf states in which
children enthusiastically act out the beheading of American Nick
Berg - down to the most gruesome detail.
These were shown to small fry in religious instruction classes.
They're a hit all over the Muslim world, including in its new
European outposts.
This bloodlust appears too widespread to be simplistically
ascribed to Jewish oppressors who drive desperate Palestinians
to the ultimate extreme.
Those who slander Israel with much alacrity, both at home and
abroad, would do well to ponder the UN's Human Development
Index (calculated on the basis of such factors as life expectancy,
adult literacy, income, and women's status). Israel, despite its
objective tribulations, emerges as the 22nd best place to live
from a list of 177 states. All the Arab countries feature far below
us.
The PA occupies 102nd place, ahead of our free and independent
neighbors Syria (106) and Egypt (120), who lose no opportunity to
denigrate Israel but can hardly blame their backwardness on
"Zionist occupation." The plain fact is that the Palestinians'
association with awful Israel leaves them considerably better off
than their counterparts in all too many Arab lands.
If any freethinkers remain in the Arab world, they ought to ask
themselves where their national energies flow and why a small,
uniquely beleaguered state like Israel achieves so much more.
Resorting to facile excuses from the tendentious and tattered
anti-imperialist lexicon is a cop-out.
The true measure of human development is that there's no mind
control in our midst, that dissent and debate are integral to
Jewish tradition, that in over three millennia of Jewish history no
tyranny could take root among us, that no one can turn our kids
into homicidal automatons, that our little girls don't dream of
dying, that they don't believe everything they hear (not even from
their mothers), and that they insistently inquire "How do you
know?"
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August 14, 2004
An Appeal To Continue With Oleg
We have a serious problem which needs immediate attention.
Several years ago we arranged with a gifted cartoonist, Oleg, to
draw weekly cartoons for us for which we would pay him. Oleg
agreed to draw 5 cartoons each month for Women in Green
exclusively. We would then have these cartoons published as
Ads each Friday in the Jerusalem Post, both the local and
international editions of that newspaper.
The leaders of Women in Green realized early on that Oleg was a
valuable asset for our organization. That expressing ideas by
way of a cartoon was far more effective than even the most
incisive, well reasoned and logical articles that we had been
sending out to our supporters. Accordingly, we willingly bore the
expenses involved for several years of payment to Oleg for the
cartoons, and the payments to the Jerusalem Post for the Ads in
question.
The combined sum of the expenses involved amounted to in
excess of $50,000. each year, even though both Oleg and the
Jerusalem Post reduced their usual rates which then became
quite reasonable. We tried covering the costs involved by
charging $1,000. for anyone who wished to be a sponsor of the
weekly cartoon, but that was an idea that was not successful.
We used these cartoons as effective tools to deliver the message
of our devotion to Israel. We send these cartoons to each and
every member of the United States Senate and House of
Representatives, the local and international media, and each
member of the Legislature of Israel, the Knesset. In addition, we
have also been sending out these Oleg Cartoons to the
thousands of our members, friends and supporters who make up
our extensive email list.
It has become abundantly clear that we need your financial help
in order to continue with Oleg, and placing his cartoons as Ads in
the Jerusalem Post. If you are concerned about the future of
Israel and its well being, it is necessary to make use of this
valuable way of influencing the media, the U.S. Congress, and the
Israeli Knesset.
Hopefully, you will be more than generous in your response to
this appeal. Make your checks payable to the Central Fund For
Israel, and send it to Central Fund For Israel, 980 Avenue of the
Americas, 3rd Floor, New York, N.Y., 10018. On the lower left
hand corner of your check, tell the Central Fund it is for Women
in Green - Oleg appeal. The Central Fund is IRS approved and
you can list same on your income tax returns if you live in or are
a citizen of the United States.
May you and your family be blessed in the upcoming New Year
and have many opportunities to serve the Almighty.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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August 15, 2004
GAZA SECURITY WISE AND HISTORICALLY PART OF ISRAEL
By Yoram Ettinger
1. REDUCING TERRORIST PLATFORM. Israel's re-control of Gaza
(given up in 1993) would REDUCE hate education (engine of
homicide bombing), recruitment and training of terrorism,
terrorist maneuverability, manufacturing and smuggling of
terrorist equipment. General Earle G. Wheeler, former Chairman
of the Joint C-O-S: "The occupation of Gaza by Israel would
reduce the hostile border by a factor of five, and eliminate a
source for raids and training of [Palestinian terrorists]...The strip
serves as a salient for introduction of subversion and terrorism.
Its retention would be to Israel's military advantage…Gaza
provides a salient into Israel…" (Memo to Defense Secretary
McNamara, June 29, 1967. General Wheeler's analysis is doubly
relevant in 2004, with a less predictable globe, with a more
threatening Mideast, with a more horrific terrorism, with each
area ceded by Israel to the PLO/PA since 1993 - becoming a
platform for terrorism, and with the PLO/PA establishing itself as
a systematic violent violator of all commitments made since 1993.
2. JEWISH EXPULSION FROM GAZA dates back to the Romans
(61 CE), Crusaders, Napoleon (1799), Ottoman Empire, British
Mandate (due to the 1917 bombing), Arab anti-Jewish pogroms
(1929) and Egypt's occupation of Gaza in 1948 (destroying the
Jewish Kfar Darom, the birth place of Rabbi Eliezer Ben Yitzhak,
the 2nd century contemporary of the icon, Rabbi Akiva). Each
time, Jews returned to reconstruct Jewish presence.
3. JEWISH PRESENCE IN GAZA DATES BACK TO BIBLICAL
TIMES: Abraham the Patriarch was punished for giving away Grar
to the Philistines (near Dir Al-Balakh in today's Gaza); Joshua
15:47 ("This is the land of the tribe of Judah…Ashdod…Gaza…");
Judges 1:18 ("The tribe of Judah took over Gaza, Ashqelon and
Ekron"); Kings A:5:4 ("and King Solomon controlled the area
from the River…up to Gaza"); Kings A:18:7 (King Hezekiah re-
occupied Gaza); Maccabees A:13:43 (Prof. Abraham Kahana's
interpretation states that Gaza was re-taken by the Maccabees in
96 BC); Kadmoniyot 13:13:3 (King Alexander Yanai-Janaeus took
over Gaza); Giorgio Gucci the traveler from Florence documented
the 1384 Jewish production of wine in Gaza; Jewish presence
was also documented by Bertandon de la Brocquiere in 1432,
Benjamin of Tudela and Meshullam of Voltera in 1481, Felix Fabri
in 1483, and George Sandys in 1611; Gaza was the home town of
Rabbi Israel Najara, the author of the 16th century hymn "Yah
Ribbon Olam"; "Land of Israel and Southern Syria Travel Log",
1921 p.104 ("Jewish families lived in Gaza, during the 14th-17th
centuries, next to the government office buildings"); p. 99 ('in
1884, Sepharadic Jews re-established Jewish presence in Gaza");
P.49 (In 1921 there were a few Jewish families in Gaza and Beer-
Sheba).
4. A nation's fortune depends on the collective memory of its
individual components, which is the foundation of national
security and national history, without which there is no future.
The geographic cradle of Jewish history/memory centers in
Judea, Samaria and Gaza, and not in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Netanya.
Disengagement from Gaza and northern Samaria amounts to
severing Jewish nationhood from significant components of its
memory/history, which could deteriorate into disengagement
from the future.
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August 17, 2004
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
1) WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 18, 2004
SAY THANK YOU TO THE BORDER POLICEMEN AND SOLDIERS
AT THE CHECKPOINTS-
We leave -with our own cars- the Inbal (Laromme) Hotel at
9:30am. For those who need a seat in the car-convoy- please call
Anita- 050-5-777-254. You can email us letters to the soldiers and
we will deliver them- for more details, please read further:
Details:
Last week, an Arab suicide bomber was caught by our IDF
soldiers and border policemen at the Kalandya checkpoint. The
terrorist was on his way to blow himself up in one of Israel's
major cities. The alertness of the soldiers prevented the terrorist
from entering and thus he blew himself up close to the
checkpoint, wounding several border policemen.
Once again it was proven to all of us what important work our
dear soldiers and border policemen do at the checkpoints- often
endangering their lives to protect the citizens of Israel. Despite
that, the extreme leftist women of Machsomwatch continue to
harass our soldiers daily, inciting the Arabs against the IDF and
thus helping the Arab enemy in its war against Israel.
In the last few weeks, different articles have been published in
the local and international media, besmirching our soldiers at the
checkpoints and accusing them of all sorts of violent behaviors
against so-called "innocent" Arab civilians.
Women in Green has found out that most of those stories are
distorted and do not represent what really happened. One blatant
example is the Channel 2 news report of a few weeks ago,
showing a soldier at the A-Ram checkpoint brutally beating and
arresting an Arab. The report only mentioned how cruel that
soldier was.
Women in Green met that soldier and we found out what really
happened: An Arab man came along and wanted to enter into
Jerusalem. He carried many bags. The soldiers asked him to
open his bags so he could check them. The Arab refused. Then
he reluctantly agreed and opened one bag. Then the Arab
proceeded to pull out from one of his bags a screwdriver and
tried to stab the soldier with it.
Luckily the soldier managed to overtake the Arab and announced
to him that he was under arrest. The Arab resisted arrest. We all
know how security personnel must deal with criminals who resist
arrest: one throws them on the floor, put their arm behind their
back and handcuff them. That is exactly what the soldier was
doing. But, at the very moment that he started arresting the Arab
who a few seconds before had tried to stab him, the
Machsomwatch extremists showed up with journalists and video
cameras- as if it was all planned ahead as a provocation- and
started filming the poor soldier arresting that Arab. No word
about the fact that the Arab had tried to kill the soldier. On the
contrary, the Arab later filed a complaint with the police against
that soldier saying he had tried to stab him (!) and the
Machsomwatch leftists backed up his false testimony even
though they had not been there. The soldier awaits trial now and
does not know what is going to be.
It is a must to show our soldiers and border policemen how much
we appreciate their work!
Women in Green will go on WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 18,
to the Kalandya, A-Ram and other checkpoints in the Jerusalem
area- giving the soldiers treats, cold drinks and a lot of TLC
(tender, love and care)- thanking them for protecting us all.
We call upon all who cannot be there with us that morning, to
send us by email or fax (972-2-930-9148) letters of support to our
soldiers in Hebrew or easy English. We will personally hand them
over to the soldiers. Please keep your letters short and to the
point. Soldiers do not have a lot of time to read them.
2) BOMBARD THE MINISTERS WITH FAXES AND PHONE CALLS
DEMANDING:
"DO NOT GIVE THE ARABS GUNS AGAIN!!!"
Women in Green has been shocked to hear that Sharon's
government intends on repeating the criminal mistakes of Oslo
and once again wants to give guns to the murderous Palestinian
Authority. The first time this was done, over 1500 Jews were
murdered and tens of thousands were wounded. We cannot allow
this to happen again! A father of seven was murdered by a PA
policeman with guns that had been supplied.
Phone, fax and email minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz tel: 972-3-
697-66-63
fax: 972-3-697-62-18
email : sar@mod.gov.il
3) WOMEN IN GREEN URGE ALL TO BUY PRODUCTS OF JUDEA-
SAMARIA AND GAZA
The following is an item from the Arutz 7 news report:
news@IsraelNationalNews.com>
GUSH SHALOM IN THE SERVICE OF THE NATIONALIST CAMP
The extreme left-wing Gush Shalom organization is busy. [...]
Possibly most important is its continued campaign to dry up the
economic sources of the Jewish communities in Judea,Samaria
and Gaza. "A penny to the settlements is a penny against peace,"
reads its website, above a listing of all made-in-Yesha products.
The organization asks that readers print the list, distribute it to
friends and relatives, hang it on neighborhood message boards,
and browse it while shopping - so that they will know what
products to make sure not to buy.
Interestingly, those who are interested in actually strengthening
the communities and specifically buying these products will also
find the list of interest. It can be found at:
gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boyceng.htm.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Women in Green call upon all to print out the list, cut all the leftist
pro-Arab propaganda written on the top, hang it in your
community centers, distribute it to friends and make sure to urge
everybody to buy the products from Judea, Samaria and Gaza-
Israel's Biblical Heartland! You can also send an email to Gush
Shalom and thank them for doing the research and work of
finding all the hundreds of products made in Yesha. It used to be
that the left accused the settlers of being "parasites". Gush
Shalom list of hundreds of products proves that the Jews in
Yesha are one of the most productive sectors in Israel!
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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August 19, 2004
Sharon fails another democratic test
By Aaron Lerner Aug 19, 2004
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon failed once again to receive the support
of his party for his position tonight when close to 60% (843 vs. 612)
of the Likud Party Convention voted for Minister without Portfolio
Uzi Landau's proposal against allowing the Labor Party into the
coalition.
It should be noted that the members of the Likud Party Convention
were elected by the Likud rank and file when membership rolls were
bloated by a large number of temporary members bought in by various
"vote contractors" - most of whom were working for the Sharon team -
so the composition of the Convention has a built in bias in favor of
Sharon as compared to the composition of the current Likud membership
that no longer includes the temporary members (who did not continue
paying party dues).
The vote took place after the Likud's internal court ordered that a
vote be held despite the insistence of Mr. Sharon's team that the
Likud Party Convention should not meet. The Sharon team then failed
in their move to make the vote an open vote so that voters could be
pressured.
Prime Minister Sharon lost his last democratic test in the Likud when
he called for a referendum of Likud members over his "disengagement"
plan.While Sharon promised to honor the result of the referendum (he
made the promise when polls indicated he would win) he opted to break
his promise after he was trounced in the referendum.
Mr. Sharon's first failure to receive the party's support for his
policies took place on May 12, 2003, when the Likud Central Committee
rejected a Palestinian state by around the same ratio.
In all three instances Ariel Sharon relied on his son, Omri, to play
a central role in getting the support of the Likud for his position.
It should be noted that Mr. Sharon's victory over Netanyahu in the
Likud primaries was in no way an endorsement of Sharon's position
regarding a Palestinian state but instead, as some politicians who
supported Sharon while opposing a Palestinian state openly said for
the record, a reflection of their assessment of Netanyahu.
While there is a clear indication of the position of the majority of
the Likud party membership regarding a Palestinian state and retreat,
it appears that this will not deter retreat proponents - both
politicians and reporters - from labeling those who hold the view of
the majority of the Likud members "radicals", "extremists", "fringe"
and "rebels."
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(It should be noted that the vote although internally a Likud vote,
with regard to the Disengagement Plan of Sharon, it represents the
majority view in Israel, as witnessed by the over 200,000 that
participated in the human chain from Gush Katif to the Western Wall
in Jerusalem on July 25,2004.)
*******************************************************
August 22, 2004
Dwelling in Denial
By Prof. Paul Eidelberg
While Ariel Sharon and his colleagues dither about
"disengagement," and thus dwell in denial, the enemy from which
the prime minister wants to distance Israel is accumulating long-
range missiles. What is the nature of this denial? To answer this
question I turn first to the recently deceased Edward Said, an
Arab professor at Columbia University. Said admitted that "The
Arab world is a sink of corruption and mediocrity and the most
appalling and murderous tyrannies." Said did not dwell in denial.
Contrast Israel's ruling elites.
These elites refuse to take the murderous tyranny of the Arab
world seriously, a world steeped in hatred of Jews and Israel.
Devoid of Jewish pride, they long to "negotiate" with a tyranny
called the "Palestinian Authority," which uses Arab children as
human bombs to kill Jews.
The denial in which Israel's political and intellectual elites dwell is
pathological. This pathology is fostered by the moral neutrality of
contemporary education. Politicians like Ariel Sharon and
Shimon Peres persist in the mindless policy of surrendering
Jewish land to Arab terrorists primarily because Israeli
universities are silent about the monstrous evil that animates the
Arab world. They speak of the Arab-Israel conflict which, in fact,
is nothing less than an Islamic war against Jews, Judaism, and
the Jewish state. And to further obscure the implacable nature of
this "conflict," Israeli universities have imported factitious
programs in "conflict resolution." Political scientists see no evil,
hear no evil, and speak no evil, and politicians inhale this
immoral atmosphere.
Denying the enormity of evil, they refuse to take the relentless
hatred of Arabs seriously. Accordingly, Israeli political scientists
have never formulated, and prime ministers have never pursued,
a national strategy commensurate with the tyrannical and
bellicose nature of Israel's enemies.
Wandering in the make-believe world of "peaceful coexistence,"
no Israeli government has ever taken the ideological offensive
against the Arab world described by professor Said, who, by the
way, despised Jews and Israel. To expose the malignant nature
of Islamdom would not be "politically correct," especially in the
academic atmosphere of cultural relativism.
Seven centuries ago, the Arab historian Ibn Khaldun wrote that
Arabs are a savage people: "Savagery has become their
character and nature," which means that the horror of bloodshed
and therefore the sanctity of human life is foreign to Islam. How
diametrically opposed to Judaism! For the Jew, the sanctity of
human life derives from the Torah concept of man's creation of
the image of God. That verse in the Torah speaks to us of free
will and simultaneously teaches us the idea of the human
community. Contrast Islam's affinity to fatalism, its division of
mankind into "believers" and non-believers," and its treatment of
"non-believers" as subhuman.
While Islamic fatalism facilitates or reinforces Islamic tyranny,
Islam's contempt for "infidels" encourages Islamic savagery. No
wonder jihad is a basic Islamic principle, and no wonder Islam is
the world's seed bed of terrorism! Armed with weapons of mass
destruction, Islam is the most dangerous enemy of mankind.
Such weapons may soon be in the hands of the Palestinian
Arabs. Dwelling in the denial of evil can only lead to disaster. It
took 9/11 to prompt President George W. Bush to speak of an
"axis of evil." He nonetheless obscured the identity of that evil
by referring to America's enemy as "international terrorism." Mr.
Bush dwells in and out of denial. However, thanks to the 9/11
Congressional Commission, the president has come around to
the position of Daniel Pipes who defines the enemy as "militant
Islam." Of course, the intrepid Dr. Pipes prudently distinguishes
militant Islam from Islam per se. I ask: when has Islam not been
"militant"?
One can appreciate Dr. Pipes reticence in this matter. Limiting
the enemy to militant Islam orIslamism") has not saved him from
the charge of "racism." But what shall we say of Israel's political
leaders, its judicial leaders, and its intellectual leaders? They
dwell in denial of the evil confronting their country, an evil born
or magnified in the Quran, whose almost every page consigns
"infidels" to hell? What shall we say of Israeli non-believers who,
despite the overwhelming power of the IDF, have allowed the
disciples of Muhammad to stain the streets of Jerusalem with
Jewish blood? What shall we say of a prime minister anxious to
sign an agreement with these Janus-faced murderers in order to
co-author the fiction of a non-bellicose Palestinian state?
We look in vain for a political leader with courage enough to say
that signing agreements with Arabs may be "politically correct,"
but hardly conducive to peace. Does not Egypt, in violation of its
peace treaty with Israel, supply arms to terrorists in Gaza, while
its government-controlled media spew Nazi-inspired hatred of
Jews and thus prepare Arabs for the final war against the Jewish
state? Even Israel's peace treaty with Jordan has not prevented
the "moderate" King Abdullah from stoking the fires of the
intifada, thereby encouraging Arabs to hasten Israel's politicide.
Dwelling in denial, silent about the evil permeating Islam, Israel's
ruling elites undermine the moral sensibilities and vigilance of
Jews on the one hand, and incite Arab contempt and murder on
the other. This denial, this silence, is sanctioned by Israeli law!
Two decades ago a Labor-Likud government enacted legislation
that prohibits Jews from telling the truth about the Arab ethos.
Hence no one should expect the government to declare: "Israel's
Arab enemies, like the Assassins of a thousand years ago, are
unrivaled in racism, hatred, and murder. When these Arabs kill
Jews, they feel they are killing not human beings but noxious
insects. Israel is confronted by unmitigated evil." Such a
statement, however, would make utter nonsense of Sharon's
policy of self-restraint toward Arab terrorism.
And so Israel's ruling elites continue to dwell in denial, refusing
to take the "culture of hate" seriously. While they dither about
"disengagement," Arabs accumulate more and deadlier weapons
to kill more and more Jews.
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August 22, 2004
Column One: Willful blindness in Gaza
Caroline Glick, THE JERUSALEM POST
The drumbeat of anti-Semitic and anti-American incitement
marches on in the Egyptian government-controlled press. In
recent weeks, the media in Egypt has come out with a series of
articles that, like the long and continuous stream of their
poisonous predecessors, dehumanize Jews, and criminalize both
Israel and the United States.
In one recent piece in the ruling National Democratic Party's
newspaper Al-Liwaa Al-Islami, Dr. Rif'at Sayyed Ahmad wrote a
dirge of Holocaust denial entitled "The lie about the burning of
the Jews." Like most Holocaust denials, this one argues that the
Jews made up the Holocaust in order to blackmail the world into
giving the Jews a state where they proceeded to carry out a
"holocaust" against the Arabs.
In another article, in the government's religious magazine Aqidati,
columnist Hussam Wahba penned a long blood libel against the
Jews in which he argued repeatedly that the Talmud demands
that Jews murder non-Jews wherever they are to be found. And,
of course, that Jews murder non-Jews in ritual killings to make
Passover matzot.
Less graphically, two Egyptian government magazines, Al-Ahram
Al-Arabi Weekly and Al-Ahram Weekly published articles claiming
that US concern about the genocide being carried out in the
Darfur region of Sudan is really just a ruse for Washington to
gain control over the Sudanese oil fields.
Unfortunately, if it weren't for the Middle East Media Research
Institute's painstaking translations of these articles, there would
be almost no way for us to know about the Egyptian
government's continuous campaign to hammer deep and
enduring hatred of the Jews, Israel, and the US into the hearts
and minds of the Egyptian people.
The Israeli government rarely bats an eyelash in response to
these expressions by Hosni Mubarak's media. It certainly doesn't
link Israel's willingness to treat Egypt with deference to the
cessation of this Nazi-like dehumanization of the Jewish people.
And it doesn't seem to consider that the deep and abiding hatred
for all things Jewish that is so studiously inculcated into the
Egyptian consciousness may have policy implications for the
stability of the cold war that exists between our two countries.
To the contrary, as Egyptians ingest their daily diet of venom,
Israeli generals are vigorously engaging their Egyptian
counterparts in discussions on the role that the Egyptian military
will play in a post-Israeli withdrawal Gaza.
Earlier this month a high-ranking delegation of Egyptian
generals, led by Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, was treated to
televised embraces by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and his
underlings at the Defense Ministry. Next month, our generals are
scheduled to fly to Cairo for a reciprocal visit. The aim of these
friendly parleys is to work out the Egyptian role in Gaza after an
IDF withdrawal.
Egypt's engagement of Israel is part of its two-pronged strategy
for Gaza. At the same time that it discusses altering the 1979
treaty with Israel in a manner that will allow the Egyptian military
to deploy up to 15,000 troops along the border with Israel, and
perhaps in Gaza itself, it is holding discussions with the PA,
Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad to put together a plan for what
Gaza will look like after these terrorists take full control of the
area.
Both Egyptian and Israeli sources involved in the bilateral
security talks have informed the press that Egypt has laid down
four conditions for its support for Sharon's unilateral Israeli
retreat from Gaza. These conditions involve (1) the transfer of
control over the 10-kilometer-long Gaza-Egypt border to Egypt;
(2) full Palestinian control over the Rafah border terminal with
Egypt, the PA airport in Dahaniya, and the Gaza seaport; (3) the
reopening of the "safe passage" route connecting Gaza and
Judea to enable uninhibited Palestinian travel through Israel; and
(4) an Israeli commitment not to reoccupy or attack the Gaza Strip
after an IDF withdrawal.
These demands, breathtaking in their effrontery, would endanger
the national security of Israel. Yet Mofaz did not cancel the talks,
indeed the government continues to behave as if the Egyptians
are being helpful.
Maj. General (res.) Doron Almog, who commanded the Southern
Command from 2000-03 authored an article in the current issue of
The Middle East Quarterly entitled "Tunnel Vision in Gaza."
Almog argues that transferring control over the Gaza-Egypt
border, or the so-called Philidelphi corridor to the Egyptian
military, would be disastrous not merely to the stability of Gaza,
which he claims is liable to quickly deteriorate into a "mini-
Afghanistan" as a result. The move, he writes, could well
destabilize the entire region by encouraging Egypt to abrogate
the peace treaty.
Almog writes that Egyptian "[t]olerance for smuggling and
infiltration, like anti-Israel demonstrations in Cairo and incitement
in the media, appears to be designed to relieve some of the
pressure exerted by anti-Israel public opinion in Egypt." Taking
his analysis a step further, the Egyptian government encourages
anti-Semitism and enables terrorism against Israel in order to
promote domestic stability in Egypt itself.
As Almog notes, Egypt "is an authoritarian and inefficient state
that has failed to meet even minimal goals of political and
economic reform." If they didn't have Israel to hate, the
frustration of Egyptians with the failure of their government to
enable their national advancement and promote civil liberties
would turn on the regime itself. So regime stability is dependent
on anti-Semitism and support for Palestinian terrorism.
Given this state of affairs, Almog argues that Israel must not
provide Egypt with a role in Gaza after the withdrawal. Rather, he
concludes that Israel must retain total control of the international
crossing points and border zones in Gaza even though doing so
will provide the Palestinians with a rhetorical basis for claiming
that Israel has not withdrawn. Like Hizbullah with the Sha'ba
Farms, the Palestinians will use Israeli control of the borders to
justify further terrorism emanating from Gaza itself.
Almog's view of Egypt is strengthened by the Egyptian-brokered
deal between the PA, Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad for the
post-IDF withdrawal period in Gaza. Reports of the deal vary but
they all boil down to a few common elements. Hamas, Fatah, and
Islamic Jihad will not be dismantled. Rather, they will either
continue to operate autonomously but in a coordinated manner
with the PA militias, or they will join the Palestinian army in Gaza
that Cairo is set to train. Terrorism against Israel will not cease,
but its focal point will likely move to Judea and Samaria to
provoke further Israeli retreats.
Several reports this week have claimed that Marwan Barghouti,
the head of Fatah in Judea and Samaria who is now serving six
consecutive life sentences in Israeli prison for six separate
murder convictions of Israeli citizens, has played a large role in
organizing the Egyptian-sponsored agreement. Yediot Aharonot
reported this week that Barghouti, who is in solitary confinement,
was able to conduct these negotiations with Hamas and Islamic
Jihad leaders in Damascus and Beirut through meetings he has
held in recent weeks with 48 different attorneys.
According to Ofer Lefler, the spokesman for Israel Prisons
Service, prison authorities have no legal ability to prevent
Barghouti from holding such meetings. But this is a willful
misreading of the law. According to the Prisons Service
Regulation 29(B), "if suspicion arises that a meeting between a
prisoner and his lawyer will enable the commission of a crime
that endangers the well-being or security of another person or
the security of or well-being of the public or national security, the
head of the Prisons Service or the prison warden may order the
prevention or interruption of such a meeting." Barghoutis's
actions are motivated by clear goals. He wishes to strengthen his
own position and he wishes to continue to coordinate
cooperation between Fatah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas in the
conduct of the war against Israel as he has been doing since the
planning stages for the war in the summer of 2000.
Egypt's two-pronged strategy of engaging Israel and the
terrorists in separate negotiations is also clear. Egypt wishes
through its coordination of the various terror factions to promote
relative stability in Gaza among Palestinian terrorist groups to
prevent Palestinian refugees from moving into the Sinai.
At the same time, it wishes to provide a framework for
cooperation to ensure that all terrorist factions remain directed
against Israel and only Israel to prevent destabilization of Egypt
and promote destabilization of Israel.
Finally, Egypt seeks to enhance its position in the Arab world by
extending its support for global jihad from the diplomatic sphere
to direct sponsorship of terror against Israel even as it wins
plaudits for its "constructive role" from both Israel and the US.
While the impetus driving Egypt and Barghouti in their moves to
turn Gaza into a "mini-Afghanistan" are clear, Israel's policies on
the issue are incoherent yet familiar. In planning for the retreat
from Gaza today, as with the Oslo accords 11 years ago and
Israel's view of Egyptian intentions at the Suez Canal in 1973,
Israel's strategic planners are seized by wishful thinking about
the intentions of our enemies as we voluntarily abandon the
means to defend ourselves. Those earlier strategic
misconceptions based on fantasies caused us thousands of
otherwise preventable deaths. We can only hope that our leaders
and strategists will get wise to reality this time, before we are
forced to pay yet another unthinkable price for their willful
blindness to reality.
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August 22, 2004
Grandson of Mahatma Ghandi
I am shocked about you! This is the way you follow your
grandfather's example, living in the safety of that great land of the
United States of America, coming for the first time to Israel and
the Middle East, having already made up your apparently anti-
Semitic mind to criticize Israel for defending those still left of her
people?
What do you want Israel then to do in the face of such aggression
from the days of the Grand Mufti, and Palestinian leader, Amin Al
Husseini, who urged Hitler to speed up the final solution - and
Gamal Abdul Nasser who announced at the beginning of the six
day war that he was going to drive the Israeli nation into the
Mediterranean Sea, until the present-day despots - who are not
accountable even to their own people - from Arafat to Nasrallah,
and from Bashar Al-Assad to the Iranian leaders, all of whom with
the most deadly weapons of mass destruction intent, like Hitler
and Nasser, on Israel's final destruction. As even Arafat himself
once said in an interview in one of the Dutch papers: "Peace for
us means the destruction of Israel".
And now you come as a follower of your grandfather, committed
to non-violence like him and already take sides against the very
nation that up to this very day has been the victim more than any
other nation of the most despicable violence that can be
imagined.
You thus cause great shame to yourself and the memory of your
grandfather!
What do you want Israel to do? Bomb whole Arab cities like the
U.S. did with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with 250.000 dead - to
have finally peace with Japan? Or as the Allied forces did with
the cities of Germany, causing innumerable civilian deaths to win
the war with Nazi Germany? Or the way Israel does it: unlike any
other nation - with pin pricking precision taking out the chieftains
of terror one by one, if possible without civilian casualties AND
BUILDING A WALL as a non-violent way to defend herself against
cruel senseless killers and terrorists whose ways you cannot
really change with all your rhetoric, even if you will stay in
Ramallah for years to plead with them!
So you go back after your short and already disgraceful
upcoming visit here to America which fights her wars a lot more
aggressively even at this moment in Iraq and Afghanistan than
the self-critical Israelis do. Will we hear then your voice of
concern against the fence your Indian nation has been building
against Kashmir - or other nations that have erected this basic
defense themselves or will you settle down to your easy
nonviolent lifestyle in America - after having done your
despicable anti-Semitic stint here in the Middle East? May God
have mercy upon you, Mr. Arun Ghandi!
Jerusalem, August 22, 2004
Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director
International Christian Zionist Center
*******************************************************
August 25, 2004
(The letter below was somewhat edited, but written by a resident
of the
beleaguered community of Gush Katif to one of our members of
Women in
Green. Leah was very impressed with its contents and passed it
on to us.
Our Board decided to give it wider circulation.)
Dear Leah,
I feel like I'm living in two different worlds. The world of the Media
and
the world of reality here in the eye of the storm in Gush Katif. On
the one
hand these last few weeks the amount of Rockets, mortars, anti-
missle
attacks shooting etc has been endless day and night. The
unbelievable thing
is that nobody pays much attention to it! The crazy thing is even
the
people who had damage to their homes don't even get excited -
the regional
council calls the essayers for the income tax and after a pain in
the neck
run around and their trying to cheat the familiy out of getting
proper
repairs that they deserve -their house is eventually repaired and
that's
it. The family may give charity -and have a little meal of
thanksgiving .
Last week among the many booms I heard -there was one that
seemed
especially close-but I was busy with all my guests (kids) and
ignored
it. Eventually I saw army jeeps near my house and went to ask
what
happened and it turned out a mortar launched bomb exploded on
the path
entering to my neighbors house -- no damage except a deep ditch
in the path
and shrapnel spread around. It turned out her son who learns in
Torat Chaim
Yeshiva was about to leave, opened the door to walk out -
remembered that he
forgot his tefillin, walked back in to get them and boom- Ah, so
what a
gift to feel such direct miracles. There were many others here in
Netzer
this week and we didn't pay attention to them till one morning we
all got
these phone calls about having to stay in houses next half hour
as the IDF
was exploding a bomb that didn't explode that had been rocket-
launched and
landed right near someone else's front door near my
neighborhood. So the
terrorists knew they were suceeding to land them into the
community -no one
stopped them and so they just continued. Lovely. But no one
seems too
disturbed and everyone kept on a usual. Then I read and listen to
media
--and I think -are they totally nuts?--they obviously don't care if
tomorrow the rockets are launched right near Kissufim and reach
all over
southern Israel.Then I decide to stop reading again.
Then I go to an absolutely magnificent evening the youth of
Netzer Hazani
prepared for the older generation and all the adult kids married
and not.
It was a magnificent heartwarming extravaganza -in the style of
"This is
your life" telling the stories of Netzer Hazani from the start till
today
and expressing the youths's total faith in the future and love of
their
home, of their lifestyle and of Eretz Yisrael. They did it via skits
,music, fantastic movie clip they prepared of past pictures and
movies and
interviews they filmed in the last few weeks. The most beautiful
thing was
that they got all the High school age kids to take part in some
way from
the blackest Kippa types to the one with the crazy hair style who
has
temporarily (hopefully) taken off his skull-cap as part of his
rebellion
stage or whatever- it was their idea and put together solely by
them as
part of the youth's efforts to make sure none of the parents get
depressed
and give up. They also had it set up beautifully with fancy set
tables
etc. food etc. And walls of old pictures they gathered together as
well as
computer stations all over with slide shows of pictures of
different
periods in the community as well as everyone's wedding
pictures. It was all
in good taste with a healthy formula combining humor, faith,
facts and
stories. All this was done outside with tons of shooting in the
background
and no one blinking an eyelash because of the shooting.
Everyone had a
great time and felt lifted and proud.
There are also endless groups coming to visit every day. There
are people
writing asking about how they can help, about possibilities of
coming to
live here, about donating money etc etc. The youth are going out
to their
appointed cities and talking to the people there -- again wishing
them A
Good Year, asking them how things are going, what is new with
them, giving them the newly published Gush Katif Calender for a
donation
of 10 shekel- with the beautiful pictures of the views in our area,
so far
the reactions are very enthusiastic . When the youth go back to
school; the
adults will continue where they left off. Towards the upcoming
Holiday of
Succoth and then again right before the opening of the new
session of the
knessset some big activities are being planned that will again
unite the
People of Israel l in their love for the Land of Israel and show our
MK's
what the people who will elect them next time -really want to see
happen in
Israel! It will, with G-d's Help make the recent human chain look
like
small dice. Here in Gush Katif, despite the fact that the
government has
cut off all help for building and developing -it seems wherever
you go you
see people building hothouses, sorting factories, expanding their
homes ,
doing repairs. New people seem to be moving into all the
communities.
So I'm left with a choice of being in depression from the unreal
world of
the Media (no-one has yet to this day come to talk to anyone in
Gush Katif
officially about the disengagement plan -or anything connected
to it ???)
or choosing to be being excited, thankful, amazed etc for the
very
touchable real world I'm living in. The choice is simple.
Effie Eitam and family were in Netzer Hazani for Shabbat, as the
guest
"rabbi" -he spoke about the gov't and the crazy things they are
doing as
being an integral part of the Redemption , but we the people have
to know
to choose the good and not the bad with G-d's help.
We had a Circumcision here on the Sabbath for the baby of a
young couple
that had moved in here on the day after Sharon announced the
disengagement
plan (they were supposed to have moved in two weeks earlier but
house
repairs weren't ready in time). The wife is a Ger tzeddek from
Croatia and
the husband a Teimani from a religious family. They met on a
love boat
cruise. She was working as a barman (lady) and he as a security
man. They
travelled together all over the wild west as cowboys and he
learned a
profession as a nail trimmer for cows. He was only willing to
marry her if
she became Jewish - so they came to Israel and she started
learning in a
course -she became Orthodox and converted and now was only
willing to marry
him if he became religious - so no problem they married, worked
a bit
-looked around for a Yishuv -came here met Itamar who adopted
them -they
moved here. So our DR, Sodi Namir was the Circumciser and
was here with
his kids and Effie Eitam was honered with being the child's G-
dfather and
of course Maayan's mother and sister (Gentiles) came from
Croatia as well
as the Teimani side of family--In short, it was a very moving
Sabbath. A
world totally different than the atmosphere the Media tries to put
us into.
Tonight I am going to translate some articles on our situation
written by
Rav Yigal Kaminetzky - Young Israel want to publish them in all
their
bulletins in the US. Tomorrow a group of English speakers are
coming on
tour-and I'll be showing them around -in the morning I have
celery orders
to take to Kfar Darom and another one to our Katif marketeer.
Stuart is
going to babysit in Talmon. Today we returned Tami's twins to
Yavneh to the
other grandparents -the girls were with us for three days we had
a great
time but are dead and my house looks like the enenmy attacked.
Sunday Mia
and gang stayed over and Mia decided to paint and redecorate
the kids Toy
room in our house while we entertained all the kids at the beach
etc.
Yesterday we entertained Aviel's kids together with Tami's took
them to the
pool in groups and then to new big playground in Katif (in
memory of Hatuel
girls) -then bought them pizza for supper and took it to the big
lawn area
near the lake. Turned out Golani was having a picnic and a
ceremony there
as well so we had free entertainment of ceremony as well fun fun
fun. We
were lucky that Amichais in-laws came in from Jerusalem and
were here
taking care of his kids . Next week Maon starts school so their
problems
will be solved with G-d's help. Tomorrow night we have a
wedding as well as
Sept.1 and Sept 5. May we have only jouous occasions.
I read that article by Haetzni about Peres being responsible for
everything
including disengagement idea. Who knows? -the whole thing is
too crazy to
be anything but part of G-d's big plan and part of a sifting
process. We
can only keep up our striving and helping the large majority of
the People
of Israael express their caring and love for the Promised Land of
Israel and to thank Hashem for the privilege to witness so many
miracles
and keep up the planting and building and -. All the yeshivas and
Bible
learning groups here in Gush Katif (I think there are at least ten if
not
more) take their job of learning and being careful to carry out the
L-rd's
commandments in joy and happiness and very seriously/ We are
really
trying to be a huge force in getting G-d to be an active force for
the
People of Israel and the Land of Israel. The same is true for all
the groups who read the Psalms in most of the communities in
Gush Katif.
Also there is a bonding between the various communities in
Gush Katif -
like Netzarim to Nisanit. Kfar Darom to Rafiach Yam and others.
There are
endless charity groups and those who do righteous acts in Gush
Katif -so
that a pretty thick pamphlet is being published listing the official
ones
as there are so many. So this should, with G-d's help make the
right things
to happen -whatever they are at this stage.
Good night for now. Love, Anita
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*******************************************************
August 27, 2004
Tali Fahima Is Imprisoned, and Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin Aren't?
by Nadia Matar
Tali Fahima, an Israeli extreme leftist activist, who was arrested
about three weeks ago, is suspected of involvement in the planning of
the terrorist attack at the Kalandia checkpoint. She is the
girlfriend of the Tanzin head Zbedi, who took responsibility for
planning that attack. She is charged with maintaining close ties with
wanted terrorists from the Palestinian Authority. It is also
suspected that she was connected with the planning of the transfer of
the explosive charge to Zbedi's people.
And I want to ask: If this is true - what's all the commotion about?
What is so terrible about what she did, if she did it? The question
that must be asked is: Why is the anonymous Tali Fahima put in jail,
while her spiritual guides, Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin, did, and
continue to do, exactly the same thing, but are still at large? Tali
Fahima embraces with Zbedi? Shimon Peres recently embraced Zbedi's
commander, the arch murderer Yasser Arafat, and is ready at any
moment to embrace the terrorists Dahlan and Abu Ala!
Not to mention Yossi Beilin, who still gallivants throughout the
entire world and kisses everybody who's anybody in the terrorist
leadership of the PLO. Together they plot how to exert pressure on
Israel so that it will capitulate to the Arabs.
Tali Fahima is suspected of involvement in a terrorist attack,
because she agreed to transfer some explosive charge? In the context
of the Oslo accords, Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin transferred
thousands of weapons and ammunition to the Arab terrorists, knowing
that these weapons would be directed against Jews. The cities of
refuge that Peres and Beilin gave the murderers protected them from
Israeli punishment. The Oslo Accords also gave a green light to the
digging of tunnels between Egypt and Gaza, through which a tremendous
quantity of arms were smuggled for terror against Jews.
Consequently, Tali Fahima might be responsible for the injuring of
several Israeli Border Guard policemen (and we send them our best
wishes for a speedy and complete recovery) and the death of one Arab,
but we should not forget that Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin, the
architects of the Oslo Accords, are responsible for the murder of
more than a thousand Jews, and the injuring of tens of thousands!
Incidentally, Ariel Sharon's hands, as well, are not free of blood -
for he agreed, as part of the "disengagement" plan, to rearm the
terror agents of the PLO Evil Authority!
Tali Fahima is the fruit, the direct result of the Oslo mentality.
She negates the eternal tie of the Jewish people to the Land of
Israel. She justifies the false claims of the Arab enemy and his
murderous activity, and, in actuality, does everything in order to
aid and abet the Arab enemy in its war against the Jewish State of
Israel. Just as, in the army, not only the guard at the gate is to be
tried for a serious failing, so, too, not only Tali Fahima is to be
placed on trial, but as well also her spiritual mentors: Shimon
Peres, Yossi Beilin, and the other Oslo architects and criminals.
They must be charged with collaboration with the enemy, and the
giving of arms, ammunition, and portions of our holy homeland to the
enemy. Only by placing on trial these leading individuals will there
be a deterrence of activists on the extreme left. It will also
deter weak politicians who are in power at present from continuing to
actualize the platform of the murderous Arab foe - whose sole aim is
the expulsion of Jews from all of the Biblical Land of Israel. The
case of Tali Pahima only highlights the need to "Put the Oslo
criminals on trial!"
*******************************************************
August 30, 2004
We should have but One Fear
by Gary M. Cooperberg
In these seven weeks following the mourning of Tisha b'Av, we
read prophesies of consolation every Sabbath. The prophet
Isaiah seems to feel the pain we endure today as our own leaders
seek to remove us from parts of our own land. His words should
serve to strengthen us and
reassure us that our G-d has not abandoned us. The Creator of
the Universe will never let either our enemies, our "friends" or
even our own leaders undo the destiny He has already begun to
set into action. We were not returned to our ancient homeland in
order to give parts of it away. We are destined to repopulate and
rebuild all of our Divine inheritance. We have neither the right nor
the ability to give away our Divine obligations.
Peace is a noble goal and one which must be pursued. But we
will never achieve peace by abandoning our Jewish obligations.
To seek to uproot Jews from their homes and attempt to give
away that which was given to us by G-d will only invite Divine
Wrath upon us. Yet, despite our mistakes and suicidal
tendencies, our G-d will fulfill His prophesies.
As we watch anti-Semitism grow all over the world, and see great
nations allying themselves with the ever-growing Islamic monster
which seeks our destruction, we must understand that even this
is part of the process of redemption. It is a test, both for the
nations of the world, and for the Jewish people. For the nations it
is time to decide whether to express their faith in the Living G-d
of Creation, by standing with the Jewish State for Biblical
reasons, or fall prey to their fear of Islamic powers. For Israel, the
Jewish People, it is time to decide whether to express our faith in
the Living G-d of Creation, by returning to and holding on to all of
our Divine inheritence, or to fall prey to our fear of other powers.
This is truly the bottom line.
Peace will not come with fences. Peace will never come from
abandoning our homeland. And peace certainly will never come
as a result of denying our G-d. We are approaching the New Year
when G-d sits in judgement of all of Mankind. As we hear the
Shofar sounded each morning in the month of Elul after our
prayers, we must redouble our efforts to come close to our G-d
and defy those who would have us abandon Him.
When the Torah was given to the Jewish People on Mount Sinai,
G-d Himself sounded the great Shofar. It was an awesome alarm
which frightened all the nations of the world. At that time
everyone knew their Creator and feared Him. That recognition
and fear will return in the near future as redemption takes place.
The sounding of the Shofar every day in Elul is but preparation
for the Commandment to hear the sounding of the Shofar on
Rosh HaShannah. And the sounding of the Shofar on Rosh
HaShannah is but preparation to us all to hear the great Shofar of
redemption which is to be sounded in the near future and, once
again, will be heard around the world as nations tremble and fall.
Rather than be concerned about what the nations are saying, the
Jewish nation should be concerned about offending our Creator.
How dare any Jewish leader suggest removing Jews from any
part of Israel! If Sharon really wants peace he would do better to
suggest removing our enemies and extending Jewish presence
to all Jewish land under our control, including Gaza, Bethlehem,
Jericho and (Ramallah) Bet El. Any attempt to remove Jews from
any part of our homeland will result in tragedy and only serve to
promote terror rather than abate it. We have suffered enough. We
have made enough mistakes to learn from them. As we hear the
warning sounds of the Shofar each morning let it penetrate our
ears and enter to the depths of our Jewish souls. We should have
only One Fear. We should fear the Living G-d of Israel above all
else and stop placing ourselves and the entire world in danger by
acting against His Divine Plan.
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