August 1998
August 4, 1998 Change of Stations for Women In Green Hour
August 5, 1998 Accomplices To Murder - J'Accuse
August 7, 1998 Only In Israel Is There An Achmed Tibi!
August 16, 1998 Arutz 7 Talks
August 21, 1998 Tisha B'av In Jerusalem, 5758
August 23, 1998 We Must Get Angry
August 24, 1998 Mordechai, The Minister of Appeasement, Must Go!
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Jerusalem, August 4, 1998
Change of Stations on FM for Women In Green Hour
NEWS FLASH
The Women In Green hour in English will be heard on 98.7 FM
beginning this Wednesday, August 5, 1998 at 9 P.M. (21:00).
It will not be heard on 97.1 in Jerusalem, nor
97.3 FM outside of Jerusalem, as it had been, up to now.
So tune in 98.7 FM this Wednesday, August 5, 1998 at 21:00 for
an exciting show entitled:
"The Soul of Israel: The Temple Mount"
Ruth Matar, hostess
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Jerusalem, August 5, 1998
Accomplices To Murder - J'Accuse
Two of our finest Jewish youth were mercilessly gunned
down by Arabs on a road leading to the yishuv of Yitzhar.
The news reports by a Media which generally is
unsympathetic, uncaring and callous when it comes to
such pioneering Jews, labeled these dead young Jews as
"settlers"; thus, by deliberately designating them as
such, and fully aware that the PLO has declared war on
"settlers", the Media thereby lessens the horrendous
nature of the crime, and shifts responsibility for their
death from the murderers, to the ones who were murdered.
Most Arabs in Israel and in Judea and Samaria, will
silently rejoice and take pride in these murders. Hardly
anyone of prominence will condemn these heartless
murders, and even if such a voice emerges, it usually
will accompany the "remorse" with an explanation that
such deaths occur because the Jews were remiss in some
form or fashion. Certainly Arafat, the terrorist peace-
partner, and his supporters, will typically not raise
their voices in protest. Neither will our fellow Jews in
Peace Now, Gush Shalom or the Rabbis For Human Rights
utter any criticism of the murderers, nor of the Arabs.
Their immoral, disloyal and circular reasoning explains
that since there is no peace, such things will continue
to occur.
Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin, the architects of
Oslo, who provided the guns which predictably wound up in
the hands of the murderers of these young men,
inexplicably will not be blamed for these murders.
Moreover, as is their usual behavior, both of these
initiators of the murderous Oslo "peace process" will
not attend the funerals of these young men, nor pay any
"Shiva" call to the bereaved. They will continue not to
feel "responsible", and perhaps, out of justifiable fear
for their own safety, they will, as usual, not console
those close relatives who are in mourning. They will go
on prattling about the need for Jews to make further
sacrifices for a non-existent and non-foreseeable peace
with the Arabs.
And what will our present Government do? After
making the official announcement of deploring this
heinous act, it will go right on feeling compelled to
continue these farcical "negotiations" for further
withdrawals" of historical Jewish land. Such
withdrawals, it is well known by everyone, will not
satisfy Arafat nor the PLO nor other Arabs, who both on
their television, and in their schools, teach their youth
virulent hostility against Israel and its Jews.
Sadly the murders in Yitzhar are the
forerunners of many more such murders of Jews by Arabs.
No further negotiations should be had with Arafat, until
as a minimum, Arafat publicly and vigorously condemns
such murders in Arabic, and turns over the murderers for
trial. There is much more than that which has to be
done by Arafat, before we can believe peace is his true
objective. But these first steps are a minimal pre-
requisite.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, August 7, 1998
Only In Israel Is There An Achmed Tibi!
The phenomenon of Achmed Tibi is peculiar only to
Israel. Tibi is employed by Arafat as his chief
spokesman, while being at the same time a citizen of
Israel. It is an unparalleled situation. It is undisputed
that this Israeli citizen has repeatedly shown that his
sole loyalty is to Arafat and the Palestinian Authority,
and not to the Jewish State of Israel. That he is a
"Fifth Column" in our midst, cannot be seriously disputed.
Yet the masochistic Israeli Media gives him free and frequent
access to the Israeli air waves, which affords him the
opportunity to spew his venom on Israel and the Jewish People.
Tibi now has been called upon by this Media to
justify why Arafat has blatantly failed to condemn the
ambush and murder of two Jews in Yitzhar. It is
reported that the U.S. and Netanyahu have sought Arafat's
public condemnation. (Apparently, they are ready to concede
that he do so only in English, even though it would be far more
effective in Arabic.) Arafat refuses! So much for the
peaceful intentions of this immoral and unchangeable
terrorist, who has been posing as a "peace-partner",
resurrected by Beilin & Co.inexplicably, despite such
refusal by Arafat, the Oslo negotiations continue,
whereby the Jews are being called upon to give up
further large portions of their Promised Land.
Notwithstanding, and incredulously, Tibi states
on Israeli radio, without any fear of adverse
repercussions, that there is no need for Arafat to
personally condemn these murders. After all, Tibi
labelled those murdered as "settlers", and thus, by
implication, their heinous killing was not to be judged
by the usual moral standards. The concept of Israel
being the Biblical Homeland of the Jews, and that their
being entitled to live peacefully anywhere therein, is
totally rejected by this Israeli Arab citizen.
Unfortunately, there are Peace Now Jews who also
reject Zionism and their Jewish Heritage. This type of
Jew, although a vocal minority, has a disproportionate
and unfair amount of control of the Media, which allows
Tibi to frequently vent his anti-Israel spleen whenever
he is called upon to explain away the most recent Arab
atrocity against the Jews. Tibi's message is indistinguishable
from that of Israel's enemies Syria, and Iraq. It is the usual
Arab illusory claims showing hatred of the Jewish State of
Israel. In any other Country he would be recognized for
what he is, an enemy of the People and the State.
The pretext that Israel's democracy requires
giving Tibi a forum to destroy the Jewish State is
preposterous. If he were engaged in similar activities
against democratic America, while being an American
citizen living in that Country, he would no doubt be
jailed. When will Israel come to its senses and protect
itself from Achmed Tibi and his cohorts?
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, August 16, 1998
Arutz 7 Talks
Here included are two programs (last week's and today's)
The following is the text of last Sunday's program by Nadia Matar, the
chairperson of Women for Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), on Arutz
7. Nadia speaks every Sunday after the 12:00 noon newscast. Self-Pity?
Shalom to all our listeners!
This is Nadia Matar speaking -
Last Motzei Shabbat (Saturday night), Tisha be-Av night, a great
event took place, which of course received no media coverage
whatsoever since it was of a much too Jewish character. I am
referring to the reading of Megillat Eikhah (the Book of
Lamentations) on Agron Street in Jerusalem, opposite the American
Consulate, followed by a mass march around the walls of the Old City
to the Western Wall. The event, which was sponsored by Women in
Green, Professors for a Strong Israel, Zo Artzenu, and Our Jerusalem,
was quite a success, and about ten thousand people participated in
the march. Since there were no broadcasts on Arutz 7 during the Nine
Days, I want to share with you my thoughts about Tisha be-Av:
About two weeks ago an article by a person named Amotz Asa-El
appeared in the Jerusalem Post. Among other comments, he describes
our behavior on Tisha be-Av, mourning practices, as "indulging in
self-pitying lamentations," as if the mourning in its entirety is the
weeping of self-pity, and nothing beyond this. A Jew who describes
Tisha be-Av in this manner obviously reveals total ignorance of and
even alienation from the significance of this powerful day. Mourning
is not self-pity, but is much more than this: when we mourn on this
day we must also learn lessons for our own lives. We must remember
why we are mourning, and then attempt to prevent additional tragedies
from befalling our people.
Rabbi Judah Leib Maimon Fishman, of blessed memory, describes this
well in his book Midei Hodesh be-Hodsho [Each Month in Its Time]. He
writes (and I quote):
We mourn in the month of Av for the destruction of the nation and the
land, but we forget the fundamental trouble that preceded and caused
these destructions. On Tisha be-Av "it was decreed that our
forefathers would not enter Eretz Israel." This decree was issued
because the people of the wilderness generation did not want to know
the worth of the Land that had been promised to them from on high, and
they slandered the Land. Our rabbis commentated on the verse "and the
people wept that night" (Numbers 14:1): That night was Tisha be-Av
eve. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: You weeped for
nothing, and I will establish for you a weeping for generations. Exile
was not decreed for them because they had made a Golden Calf, but
rather because they despised the Pleasant Land and slandered the Land
(end of quote).
And I want to ask, my listeners: If what the ten spies did - and they
were the people's leaders, they returned from scouting the land and
reported of the giants that they had seen there, and that they were
as grasshoppers in their eyes, thereby causing the demoralization of
the entire people - if only the slandering of the Land by these
leaders-spies, who did not yet live in the Land - if only their
slander of the Land was already a sufficient reason for such a severe
punishment of exile and destruction, then I ask: How much more so is
this to be the fate of the People of Israel whose leaders do not
speak evil, but willingly hand over parts of the promised land of
Israel to non-Jews, to enemies.
We, who have already received back this land in '48 and in '67, as a
present from the Holy One, blessed be He - and not as in the period
of the spies, who were still in the wilderness - we, who actually
live in this land, what awaits us when our leaders handed over, and
are still willing to hand over, portions of the homeland.
This is the lesson that I learn from Tisha be-Av: this land was
promised to us, and if we are forbidden even to speak evil of it,
then how much more so are we forbidden to give it over to non-Jews.
The fact that we also remember on Tisha be-Av another event that
occurred on the same day, the destruction of Beitar, Bar Kokhba, and
his valiant soldiers who rebelled against Rome, must teach us to
follow in their footsteps and fight for our land without waiting for
wonders and miracles, to actively fight on behalf of our wonderful
Land.
And therefore we marched that night around the walls of Jerusalem.
This symbolism of encircling someone or something is, for me,
symbolic of love and ownership. The bride circles the groom under the
wedding canopy; we, by our marching, expressed our love of Jerusalem,
and especially our ownership of the city. We marched around the
walls, ten thousand strong, and thereby said to the entire world:
Jerusalem is not the capital of the three religions, united Jerusalem
is the eternal capital of the Jewish people, and only of the Jewish
people; we will guard it, fight for it, and not let anyone touch it.
No, my listeners, the mourning laws of Tisha be-Av are not self-pity,
they are a clear and militant declaration that the Jewish people and
the Land of Israel are connected by an eternal bond.
Shlomo Leibman, may the Lord avenge him, and Harel Ben-Nun, may the
Lord avenge him, were murdered by the Arabs, who seek to break this
bond, they were murdered as they were going around the settlement of
Yizhar on their guard duty - a circuit of love for and ownership of
the place, the homeland.
We mourn their deaths, but not by self-pity, rather by action and
building, and the promise to the murdered that we will continue our
possession of this land, and that we will not follow leaders who
slander the Land by their willingness to hand it over to non-Jews.
Have a good week, and let us not forget our struggle for the release
of Jonathan Pollard and for our MIAs: Ron Arad, Zechariah Baumel,
Yehudah Katz, and Tzvi Feldman.
* * *
The following is the text of today's program by Nadia Matar, the
chairperson of Women for Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), on Arutz
7. Nadia speaks every Sunday after the 12:00 noon newscast. The Sacred
Eurovision
Shalom to all our listeners!
This is Nadia Matar speaking -
I don't know, dear listeners, if you are aware of the fact that they
are very worried in the Israel Broadcasting Authority. I want to read
to you a passage that appeared in Ma'ariv, page 13, last Monday:
"Great Concern over the Eurovision" - I quote:
Great concern was recently expressed in the Israel Broadcasting
Authority for the fate of the Eurovision, which is supposed to be held
in Jerusalem at the end of May '99. The reason: in the estimation of
professional bodies, Arafat plans to officially proclaim the
establishment of a Palestinian state in the beginning of that month,
apparently on May 4, 1999. In recent weeks several quiet discussions
have been held in the Broadcasting Authority on this issue, in which
serious fears were raised that the proclamation of a Palestinian state
a few days before the planned broadcast of the song contest is likely
to result in the collapse of the entire project.
The concern in the Broadcasting Authority is that the proclamation of
a Palestinian state will lead to immediate Israeli reprisal actions -
possibly the annexation of extensive territories in Judea, Samaria,
and Gaza - and an international crisis of major dimensions, which may
possibly also lead to riots in the territories. In such a situation,
they think in the Broadcasting Authority that most of the European
representatives will cancel their coming (end of quote).
What can I tell you.... At first I thought this was a joke, maybe the
Purim issue.... But no - this is what occupies the people in the
Broadcasting Authority. Not that a Palestinian state may threaten the
continued existence of the State of Israel. No, Arafat's proclamation
is liable to upset the sacred Eurovision. And this would not, Heaven
forbid, be Arafat's fault, but rather that of Israel. The concern in
the Broadcasting Authority is not with an attack by Arafat or with
the proclamation itself, but rather from immediate Israeli reprisal
actions - the annexation of territories, Heaven forbid, that will
lead to an international crisis, and possibly also riots in the
territories. In other words, for the people of the Broadcasting
Authority, Israel is already to blame for the riots that will erupt
after Arafat's proclamation.
This tragicomic story, unfortunately, constitutes a consistent
mentality in the Broadcasting Authority, the mentality that we
encounter in the leftist camp. Blindness to what is happening, the
inability to distinguish between primary and secondary issues, and,
mainly, this arrogant attitude as if this entire conflict with Arafat
has nothing to do with them, since, as is written in the article, the
fear is that there will be riots in the territories. And really - who
cares what happens to those extremist settlers who constantly bother
us, the enlightened leftists. Actually, because of the settlers and
their pieces of land in the territories, we can't maintain a normal
way of life, and now we are even liable, horror of horrors, to lose
the Eurovision.... This is a real tragedy.
We encounter an identical line of thought among the Israelis who are
depicted in a Ma'ariv article from last week: "The Salt of the Earth
Is Leaving Israel." The article, which evoked a wide response,
describes the phenomenon of the leaving of Israel by many
nonreligious, leftist young couples, who, in a single word, claim
that since Netanyahu's victory, "they stole the country from them."
Many articles were written in response to this report. For example,
Ben Dror Yemini, in Mekor Rishon, portrays these young people as
"spoiled ones who think that the country is their private affair.
They are capable of telling us stories about 'democracy and the rule
of law,'" Yemini says, "but on condition that the government will be
theirs and only theirs."
Amnon Shomron writes in the same vein in Ma'ariv (and I quote):
The present government, which is composed of a collection of minority
groups, constitutes a challenge to a large public that for years
regards itself as the cultural and political lighthouse of the State
of Israel, and when something doesn't go like clockwork, and
democratic life, whose name they wave around so frequently, acts
differently from their expectations, it breaks all the rules (end of
quote).
In other words, those who responded to the article focused on the
same point: that these young people are leaving Israel because the
left has lost its power in the country, and they don't want to live
in a country that has too much Yiddishkeit. I certainly agree with
this conclusion, but I merely want to add another dimension to the
analysis of this phenomenon of ideological leaving of the Land, a
more profound dimension. I want to ask a question that is generally
raised by the left when there is some wild growth in the national
camp. In this instance, however, we are not talking about wild
growths, but rather about a general phenomenon in the leftist camp:
this is a question of education and culture. What education was
received by these young people who are now packing their bags and
leaving Israel, not for economic reasons, but because they don't feel
as if they belong here? Who were the teachers of these young people?
Who were their heroes when they were children? Why don't they feel
this fierce love for our Land? Why don't they respond like the
settlers of Yizhar, the settlers of Drom Har Hevron (the southern
Hebron hill country), or the religious-national public as a whole
who, despite terror, despite the mourning and the difficulty, do not
pack their bags, to the contrary - they seize hold of our Land even
more firmly.
This article is proof, as far as I am concerned, that the
nonreligious state education in Israel is not capable of inculcating
love of the homeland and the motivation to contend with the
difficulties inherent in our life here in the state of the Jews. When
you receive at home, in the school, and on the state television the
message that what is important is the Eurovision, Michael Jackson,
and other meaningless values to be found in the world at large, then
it's not surprising that you prefer to live in Amsterdam.
Consequently, the struggle over the continued existence of the Jewish
people in Eretz Israel is not conducted solely in the Knesset, but
mainly in the home of each one of us, in the education that we
transmit to our children.
We in the national camp raise our children for love of the people of
Israel, the Torah of Israel, and the Land of Israel. And slowly,
slowly, when their fellows from the left will assimilate in
Amsterdam, our children will take control of the leadership here in
Israel and will ensure that the State of Israel will remain a proud
and strong Jewish-Zionist state.
Have a good week, and let us not forget to continue our struggle for
the release of our brother Jonathan Pollard and for the return of our
MIAs: Ron Arad, Zechariah Baumel, Yehudah Katz, and Tzvi Feldman.
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Jerusalem, August 21, 1998
Tisha B'av In Jerusalem, 5758
Tisha B'Av (the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av) is a national day of
mourning for the Jewish People. It is a day when more than 250,000
Jews, secular as well as religiously observant, are drawn to the Wailing
Wall all through the evening of Tisha B'av. Mystically, it is on or about
this day that many major catastrophes occurred to the Jewish People.
The First and Second Temples, were reportedly destroyed on that day,
in separate events that were hundreds of years apart. It was the day
in the year 1290 that the Jews were expelled from England. Also on that
day, the infamous decree expelling the Jews from Spain in 1492 was
promulgated. And so forth.
Our tradition tells us that it was on this fateful day, as well, following
their exodus from Egypt, that the Jews committed the cardinal sin of
a lack of faith in the God of Israel, and their leader Moses. Instead
the Jewish People broke down in baseless weeping when they heard the report
of ten of the leaders of the Tribes of Israel, how it would be impossible
to enter the Land of Israel and take possession of it, because of the strength
and power of their enemies. Our sages tell us that the Lord told
the People of Israel at that time, that because they had no reason to wail
and bemoan their fate then, God would see to it in the future that
on this very day, which was the 9th day of Av, they would have ample reason
to mourn. And indeed throughout our long and ancient history, the
incredulous phenomenon has occurred that this particular day has been one
of repeated tragedy for the Jewish People.
Over the years, there developed a custom for those Jews who were in Jerusalem
on Tisha B'av, to walk around the walls of the Old City to the Western
Wall. Since the destruction of Jerusalem, and the First and Second
Temples, occurred in Jerusalem, what more meaningful place was there to
commemorate these tragedies by actually being here on this day?
In our day, Women In Green have been responsible for reviving on a large
scale this old "Jerusalem Custom". But the matter goes much
further than that. We live in times when the Palestinian Authority
is distorting history, and laying claim to Israel, Jerusalem and the Temple
Mount, as Arab and Muslim country; when our own People is seriously
divided, particularly between the secular and religious; and where
the world at large is unwilling to recognize that Jerusalem is the exclusive
capital of the State of Israel. The large scale observance of Tisha
B'av by the Jewish People represents a splendid and natural opportunity
to make a forceful statement on all these counts.
This past Tisha B'av, Women In Green, along with other national groups
such as Professors for a Strong Israel, Our Jerusalem and Zo Artzenu, organized
a very successful event in that regard. The evening began when over
1500 attended the traditional reading of the Biblical "Book of Lamentations"
("Eicha") in front of the American Consulate in Western Jerusalem.
The purpose of choosing that location was to highlight the fact that the
Jews had a State of Israel, and were on the Temple Mount thousands of years
ago, before there was an Arab People, or a Muslim religion; that Jerusalem
was the Jewish Capital of Israel before there was a London, a Paris, a
Moscow, and yes, long before Columbus discovered America. In that
sense, the holiday of Tisha B'av, commemorating as it does the national
tragedy of the Temples' destruction on the Temple Mount thousands of years
ago, whose memory and glory are still remembered by a large portion of
the Jewish People, boldly points up these truisms.
After the traditional reading of the Book of Lamentations, there were
a few short inspiring words of "Torah" by several members of the Knesset,
by Rabbis Yosef Mendelevitch and Shalom Gold, and by Nadia Matar.
And then the famous "Jerusalem Custom" of walking around the walls of the
Old City began. Over 10,000 participated in this silent walk
which was mainly through the eastern part of Jerusalem, passing by the
New Gate, the Damascus Gate, Herod's Gate, the Lions' Gate and ending up
at the Dung Gate, which is near the Western Wall. Since Women In
Green had obtained a Police Permit for the Walk, there was ample police
protection along the entire route, and accordingly, the evening passed
without incident.
No doubt about it, because we had applied for this Permit, we had insured
the safety of all who participated in this walk, and had invigorated this
old "Jerusalem Custom." Moreover, the fact that thousands were participating
in this Walk, and walked peacefully through essentially the eastern
part of Jerusalem, those facts on the ground would help to insure
that Jerusalem would remain undivided, and the Capital of Israel.
It would prove much more decisive than the mere espousal of eloquent words
to that effect. And to top it off, secular and religious walked peacefully
together that evening on this Walk, bound by the silent recognition that
they share the common tragedies of their long and ancient history.
It was an extremely inspiring evening, and its organizers were rewarded
by the satisfaction that the People of Israel were temporarily unified
once again. Many pronounced the traditional Jewish phrase, "Next
Year In Jerusalem", when Women In Green, along with other groups, would
sponsor this meaningful "Tisha B'av activity" once again, and Lord be willing,
on every Tisha B'av thereafter.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, August 23, 1998
We Must Get Angry
The following is the text of today's program by Nadia Matar, the
chairperson of Women for Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), on Arutz
7. Nadia speaks every Sunday after the 12:00 noon newscast.
Shalom to all our listeners!
This is Nadia Matar speaking -
When the children of Kiryat Arba were arrested, or more accurately -
kidnapped, held, and tortured for more than a week in the
installations of the General Security Services without seeing a
lawyer or their parents, I sent a protest fax to the Prime Minister,
in which I wrote:
To the Prime Minister,
Mr. Binyamin Netanyahu,
who is in charge of the Shabak ( General Secret Sservice).
In the name of the thousands of mothers and grandmothers from our
movement, Women in Green, I address you with the demand to stop now
the inquisition against the children of Kiryat Arba. What these
children are undergoing reminds us of the tortures suffered by Jews
in anti-Semitic regimes in Europe and in Russia, and you, as
responsible for the activity of the Shabak, are a full accomplice in
this crime. The time has come for the Shabak to be concerned with the
state's security problems, such as the arrest of Arab murderers
hiding in the autonomy, and to stop its occupation with the
persecution of the Jews of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.
A few days ago I received a response to my fax from the Head of the
Prime Minister's Bureau, in which it was written:
To Nadia Matar,
Chairwoman, Women in Green,
Greetings,
I passed along your protest to the Prime Minister. And with your
permission, a personal note from me: specifically because the protest
is justified, it's a pity that you use such strong expressions as
"inquisition," "tortures," and "anti-Semitism." This makes it
difficult for readers to relate to you seriously. I relate to you
seriously only because I know you. And therefore, I'm sorry.
Sincerely, Uri Elitzur.
I want to take advantage of this program to answer Uri Elitzur. His
comment obviously sprang from good intentions but, in my opinion, he
made a great and even dangerous error. My response is based on an
article I received a few days ago by e-mail. The article is entitled:
"Are Jews Mad Enough about Pollard?," a fantastic article about
Jonathan Pollard, in which William Katzberg writes: "My conclusion:
we Jews are simply not seen (publicly) as mad enough about Pollard.
We neither show our anger nor rage about this serious miscarriage of
justice. Perhaps the most disheartening discovery we (Jews) have made
is our virtual loss of the capacity for honest, righteous rage."
"Erich Remarque, the brilliant diarist of the Hitler-driven
generation of the 1940s, observed in his book Shadows in Paradise
that maybe Jews were 'too neurasthenic' for real anger. 'Because of
that,' he wrote, 'their hatred had no stamina, it soon gave way to
resignation, and to preserve their self-respect, to 'understanding
the enemy.'"
Wow! How fitting are those words for us here in Israel. We are always
expected to react with restraint, politely, gently. Jews are murdered
in Maon, in Yitzhar, in Hebron, and what do we hear in the media?
"What the leaders are doing to prevent outbursts of rage during the
funeral." "Will the mood cool down? Will riots be prevented?" Heaven
forbid that we react a bit angrily, emotionally, with strong words,
with demonstrations.
I refuse to accept this ghetto mentality!
When pure and holy Jews are murdered and it's business as usual in
the world - I am angry! When I hear, after the murder of Rabbi
Raanan, may the Lord avenge him, that Netanyahu strongly demands of
Arafat that he apprehend the murderers - I am furious! When I see
that the government does nothing, really nothing, in response to
murder - I am furious! When I hear on the day of Rabbi Shlomo
Raanan's murder that the Prime Minister announces that we are very
close to an agreement with Arafat - I am outraged!
When I stood, two days ago, with hundreds of the inhabitants of Efrat
and Gush Etzion on the Hebron-Jerusalem main road as an honor guard
for the funeral of Rabbi Raanan - and see, to my amazement, that the
IDF permitted dozens of Arab cars and trucks to sneak in among the
cars of the Jews of Hebron and Kiryat Arba that drove after the Hevra
Kadisha (burial society) van, thus severing the continuity of the
funeral procession and dishonoring the dead - my blood boils!
When children are kidnapped by the Shabak and undergo a series of
tortures for a week - I am furious!
And when I am mad, I protest, I respond, I demonstrate, and yes, I
also send faxes with strong, but true, words, words that precisely
describe the situation.
A people that has lost the ability to become angry has, in fact, lost
its independence. In the Galut (exile) we were afraid to be angry, to
speak loudly. We all are familiar with the joke about the two Jews in
Europe who are about to be executed. A moment before the execution,
one of the Jews shouts that he is entitled to a cigarette before the
execution, and he demands to receive it. Then the other Jew says to
him: "Shhh ... don't make trouble! You're liable to annoy the goy!"
Since the Oslo accords, we have become Diaspora Jews who do not
become angry, and have thus exposed ourselves to humiliations,
degradations, and insults by our enemies. The soldiers of the Arafat
army spit on and curse our soldiers - and we do not respond. The
Arabs curse us, spit on us, throw stones at us, beat our children,
murder us ... all this as part of the "peace process" - and we do not
react. Our government continues to capitulate to the enemy and is
willing to hand over to him more and more territory.... The criminal
Ahmad Tibbi says that it is all right to murder settlers, and we are
silent, and do nothing to him.
Master of the Universe, what has happened to us?? We learn in
psychology that if you want others to respect you, you must first
respect yourself. A normal people, when attacked, defends itself by
raising its head and reacting, it protests, fights back, and so too
for anger and fury. Anger over injustice is healthy and desirable.
And so, dear Uri Elitzur, I certainly pray that I will not have to
send any more protest letters to you and to the Prime Minister - but
if I will have to, I'm already informing you that I will continue to
use strong words, true and justified words, words that come from the
heart, words that want to change and improve a distorted situation.
And I know that it is these words that people take seriously.
Have a good week, and let us finally become angry at the fact that
Jonathan Pollard has not yet been released and because our
MIAs: Ron Arad, Zechariah Baumel, Yehudah Katz, and Tzvi Feldman have
still not returned home.
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*******************************************************
Jerusalem, August 24, 1998
Mordechai, The Minister of Appeasement, Must Go!
The terrorist murder in Hebron late last Thursday
evening of Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan, age 63, the grandson
of the illustrious late Chief Rabbi Avraham Kook, of
blessed memory, is the latest of a series of
apparently "approved" murders of "settler" Jews by
the PLO and its Chairman Yassir Arafat. Arafat, the
Oslo "peace-partner", in each instance, has refused to
condemn such acts of violent terror and murder.
Moreover, in each instance of the murders, as in Maon,
Yitzhar, and now Hebron, the murderers have found safe
refuge in the PA adjacent areas; accordingly, the
murders remain "unsolved". There can be no greater
Arab incentive than that, for further murder of Jews
in Israel.
Yitzhak Mordechai, our Defense Minister, has been
unable to prevent these murders. He has openly been
given ample advance notice by the PLO and its
advocates, that "Jewish settlers" were legitimate
objects of murder by Arabs. Yet he did not take
sufficient precautionary action. Moreover, as usual,
Mordechai refrained from criticizing Arafat or those
PA officials who openly incited against Jews. Rather,
Minister Mordechai has been busy with his own recent
pronouncements of appeasement, which have worsened,
not improved, the current intolerable situation.
Women In Green can no longer remain silent. They
demand that the Government take immediate action to
protect its Jewish citizens, particularly in Yesha,
from this obvious Arab planned piecemeal onslaught
against Jews, whose only crime is that they wish to
live in peace in the land of their forefathers. Such
Government action in the first instance calls for the
immediate replacement of Yitzhak Mordechai as Defense
Minister. He has patently failed to provide adequate
security, and to defend Jews from such violent Arab
attacks that are frequently taking place in our
Country.
On Thursday, August 27,1998, at 9:45 A.M. (at the
end of the Shiva period for Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan),
we shall demonstrate at or near the Prime Minister's
residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem, and call for
the resignation or discharge of Defense Minister
Mordechai. We shall also demand other appropriate
Government action to be taken to prevent future Arab
attacks on innocent civilians, and to do whatever is
necessary to immediately apprehend those involved in
all these recent murders.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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