September 2000
September 6, 2000 A Poem
September 9, 2000 General Meir Dagan on Terror Attacks
September 11, 2000 Excerpts from Interview with Leah Rabin
September 11, 2000 Lost Souls
September 14, 2000 Support Alik Ron
September 18, 2000 Timidity and Shortsightedness
September 24, 2000 Barak is Playing "Footsy" With the Public
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Jerusalem, September 6, 2000
The following is an excerpt of a letter to Nadia Matar written by
Professor Vera Schwarcz, Chair, History Department of Wesleyan
University in Connecticut, USA:
Friday, Menachem Av 17 (August 18, 2000)
Dear Nadia,
We marched alongside you in the history-making Tisha B'Av walk. You
were such a great inspiration to me that I wrote the enclosed poem
during the fast day that followed.
I am a China historian and also a poet. Mostly, I am grateful to be
part of the generation that you have zechut to lead in the defense of
Yerushalaim and Eretz Israel. May all your efforts be crowned with
success!
Vera Schwarcz
"Woe, The Crown Is Fallen"
(For Nadia Matar)
Not only candles light up a wall,
a woman too.
Imagine a city of darkness.
Imagine wrath and foolishness
stronger than dynamite,
shattering stone to dust.
Imagine the woman in a green baseball cap,
not a queen, not a judge.
Not a prophetess like Hulda who preached
on hurried steps of the Temple, when we had one.
Imagine a mother
whose son holds the flashlight
so she may voice our dread:
"Orphans we were, Oh!"
"No father."
"Woe, the crown is fallen!"
Imagine now the woman, our Miriam--
the megaphone is her tambourine.
One hundred fifty thousand women
and men and children follow her
as she circles the Old City
like a bride her groom.
One woman determined
to shake earth and heaven:
"Take back Zion to your womb of compassion."
"Build up the walls of Jerusalem."
She now guards the walls,
the one in a green baseball cap.
Megaphone silent.
A tired daughter's hand in hers.
Midnight reveals the fallen crown
safe on her sweaty brow.
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Jerusalem, September 9, 2000
The following interview appeared in Hebrew in the
Yerushalayim newspaper. The English translation is
brought to you as a public service by Women in Green.
Yerushalayim,
September 1, 2000, p. 17
Meir Dagan, General (mil.) and one of the experts on terror in Israel:
"In the Meantime We Are Successful in Frustrating Terror Attacks. I Am
Not Certain that Tomorrow We Will Be Successful"
Meir Dagan, the former Advisor on Terrorism to Barak and to Netanyahu,
is worried * "The transfer of territories in Jerusalem to the control
of the Palestinian Authority will be a mistake that we will regret,"
he warns * "When they will have the possibility of choosing between a
confrontation with Israel and a confrontation with the Hamas, they
will always prefer a confrontation with Israel" * "If Arafat will
vanish one fine day, I am not fully confident that the Palestinian
Authority will continue to hold onto the sources of power" Itiel Ben
Hayyim
Dagan: "Placing security responsibility on the Palestinians in
Jerusalem is a mistake. We will have no access to the area, and for
them it will be convenient to conduct a [terror] activity and to get
away. Now imagine to yourself that this reality will occur tomorrow in
the capital."
"In the current reality of Jerusalem, when the willingness of the
Palestinian Authority to fight terror is conditional upon progress in
the diplomatic process, to transfer territories in Jerusalem to its
control will be a mistake that we will regret," maintains this week
Gen. (mil.) Meir Dagan, the no. 1 advisor in Israel on terrorism,
formerly alongside the former Chief of the General Staff Ehud Barak
and the former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. According to Dagan,
the warnings about possible terrorist attacks in Jerusalem do not
surprise him, and he is convinced that any progress in the
negotiations will only aggravate the situation. "Placing security
responsibility on the Palestinians in an area of Jewish population
that is the second largest in the country, is, in my eyes, a mistake.
We will have no access to the area, and for them it will be
convenient to conduct a [terror] activity and to get away on the
shortest timetable. The latest example of Mahmoud Abu Hanoud proves
this. He fled the short distance to Shechem, and he was already far
from the hands of Israel. Now imagine to yourself that this reality
will occur tomorrow in Jerusalem."
Is this possible?
"Of course this is possible. You make possible operative convenience
for the terrorist organizations to use the Jerusalem area as a
springboard for the entire State of Israel, and certainly for
Jerusalem." The main danger, Dagan argues, consists of the nests of
terrorists that will be established close to the western part of the
city. "In the past we have already encountered the attempt to
establish cells within Jerusalem, that was based on the knowledge
that the passage between Israel and Jerusalem is open and is hardly
under control and command," Dagan says. "We still recall the role of
the hideout apartments of the Hamas in Jerusalem, and this was when
Jerusalem is under our control. Imagine to yourself what will happen
in a reality in which the Palestinians are in control there. The
terrorists will be able to be less careful, especially when they are
immune to pursuit."
It is convenient for everyone that the terrorist attack did not take
place"
Presently, incidentally, Dagan is studying painting and sculpture for
the second year at Tel Aviv University. "Art is my balance between
the military world and real life," he says, "but I am not closing the
door to the possibility of a political career." Dagan proposes not
belittling the recent Palestinian terrorist organizing activities.
"We are not dealing with simple people," he argues. "We are involved
with people who definitely learn from their mistakes, who conduct a
situation assessment, and who know how to utilize breaches the moment
they are placed before them. To create such a reality with our own
hands, I think that this is a mistake. I think that this is an
error."
How much power does the Authority have to prevent terror?
"I am convinced that if the Authority were to really want, it has a
great deal of power. The problem is that we are speaking of a
situation in which the Authority must act against members of its
people, against brothers of the same religion, and its willingness to
implement these activities is very limited. The Hamas is not
necessarily perceived by them at present at the same level of threat
as we perceive it. They regard it as a political threat, but, in my
assessment, they control it. When they will have the possibility of
choosing between a confrontation with Israel and a confrontation with
the Hamas, they will always prefer a confrontation with Israel."
This means that the reality in which busses blow up in Jerusalem is
liable to return?
"People start out from the assumption as if the Hamas ceased
conducting terrorist attacks. This is not correct. The Hamas never
stopped trying to conduct attacks. What happened is that the security
forces, headed by the GSS, are engaged in activity that integrates
intelligence and operational activity, that made it very difficult
for these organizations to carry out their schemes. "If you listen
very carefully, you hear from time to time that some or other groups
are arrested. It is convenient for everyone that the terrorist attack
did not take place, and then the public lives with a sensation as if
there are no attempts. What, did we forget the explosions in Tiberias
and in Haifa, and other attempts? At present the security services
succeed in frustrating these attempts. I do not say that tomorrow
this will not happen. But to assume that the Hamas has resolved not
to conduct attacks is a statement that is not backed by any truth.
The truth is that the security forces succeeded in frustrating most
of their attempts. Such attempts also were in the Jerusalem area, and
I assume that the people who were arrested did not come in order to
visit Rabin's grave."
"I don't understand the roots of Barak's position"
Dagan argues that only absolute separation and the closing of all the
transit points between us and the Palestinians will prevent Jerusalem
from becoming a second Belfast. "Any partition in Jerusalem that
establishes borders within the city essentially turns the subject of
separation into an empty letter," he states. "I want to mention that
Prime Minister Ehud Barak himself spoke about separation. The moment
that you cut within Jerusalem, but do not intend to erect fences or
gates, this means that there is no separation. And then you create an
impossible situation in daily life. A situation of an intolerable
reality, a reality of friction, from which in my opinion no good will
come. We have to start out from the working assumption that the
terrorist threats against the State of Israel, from within the
Palestinian Authority, are not about to cease. This is for the simple
reason that the Hamas is not a sort of small extremist organization,
it rather constitutes a very considerable sector among the
Palestinian public. In such a reality, this threat exists and will
exist in the future as well. If you create a reality in which there
are no boundaries in Jerusalem and the population is controlled in
part by the Palestinian Authority, you increase the chances of
terror."
Is it possible to reach any separation within Jerusalem?
"The separation must be done outside the bounds of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem in its entirety must remain under Israeli sovereignty." One
of the last positions filled by Dagan before his retirement from the
IDF was advisor to Chief of the General Staff Ehud Barak on intifada
affairs in '92-'93, and in '99 he was the head of the Branch for
Combating Terror in the Prime Minister's Bureau. This may possibly be
the reason why Dagan refrains from directing personal criticism at
the Prime Minister, and makes do with indicating the latter's
strategic errors. "I agreed with Barak concerning the problematic
nature of the Oslo accords, I do not agree with him now," he says. "I
admit that I do not succeed in understanding the roots of Barak's
position at present. The only interpretation that I can give to this
is the desire to arrive at an agreement, and to seemingly end the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But in my opinion, the technical
signing of a paper in which someone will say that the conflict has
ended does not have much validity."
The great crisis will erupt upon Arafat's death"
What is your position in the debate concerning the Temple Mount?
"It does not appear to me to be rational to transfer control, the
sovereignty over the Temple Mount, to the Palestinian Authority. For
the moment I am disregarding the national, religious, and symbolic
aspects of this matter. What are you doing, actually? You are placing
the border between us and the Palestinian Authority in one of the
most sensitive spots for the Jewish people - you place it centimeters
from the Western Wall. Now, you create with your own hands a point of
friction, that the moment something happens is likely to lead to
bloodshed, that you know how it starts but you do not know how it
will end. "Where do you establish that the founding rock of our
existence or of theirs begins or ends? Where is the boundary? At one
stone, or perhaps two meters from the second stone? We heard the head
of the Israeli Islamic Movement, who said that the Western Wall
belongs to the Muslims, and this is only an example. We must also not
forget that we too have extremists. We will produce a burning fuse
that no one knows when it will explode." In the past, Dagan assessed
that the great crisis between us and the Palestinians would erupt
after the death of Yasser Arafat. This week, he says: "The question
is, how he goes. If he goes with a bullet in the head, this is one
scenario, and if he falls ill and in the meantime a leadership that
will come in his place will begin to take shape, this is another
scenario. "According to all indicators, Arafat is refraining from
appointing a successor for himself. He did not build anyone who was
marked by him as a potential successor. Part of their organizational
structure results from the method of divide and rule, so that there
will not be a situation in which one individual will concentrate too
much power. If Arafat will vanish one fine day, I am not fully
confident that the Palestinian Authority will continue to hold onto
the sources of power. And it is not certain that the aspiration of
whoever will enter these centers will be a secure peace."
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Jerusalem, September 11, 2000
Following are some excerpts of Leah Rabin's interview.
The translation into English has been brought to you as a
public service by Women in Green.
Yediot Ahronot, September 8, 2000
Ha-Mussaf le-Shabbat, p. 2
Seven Years to the Oslo Accords
* Leah Rabin Speaks "Yitzhak Would Never Compromise on the Temple
Mount," by Simah Kadmon
(excerpts)
Question by Simah Kadmon:
In the end, Rabin as well would have come to Camp David. What
bothers you about Barak, the timing?
Leah Rabin: "Yitzhak would not have come to Camp David under such
conditions. It is inconceivable that he would come to Camp David for
a discussion with Arafat regarding the conclusion of the conflict,
when he barely speaks with him. This is simply not logical. And I am
also surprised by the willingness for concessions. The willingness to
make concessions in Jerusalem. Barak constantly stresses how much his
heart is with the settlers, how greatly he understands them, while on
the other hand, he is ready for such concessions? I read that they
are willing to give us sovereignty over the Jewish Quarter. I hear
that maybe they will allow us to pray at the Western Wall. Tell me,
is this believable?"
Q: You say that Rabin was not prepared for such a possibility in
Jerusalem?
Leah Rabin: "I say that Yitzhak would surely turn over in his
grave." [...]
"Yitzhak would never compromise on the Temple Mount, nor on the Old
City," she says. "This was taboo. He was born in Jerusalem. He fought
in '48 and saw the battle for the Old City. He saw it fall and its
people go into captivity. How they left it divided. This was
traumatic for him. "Over the years we would travel to Jerusalem with
the children and look at the Old City from the other side. He did not
overcome this trauma, and he never ceased being grateful that in '67
he was the Chief of the General Staff who liberated it. "In Yitzhak's
conception, Jerusalem was sanctified. Not religiously, but
historically-nationally. Jerusalem is history, it is survival, it is
cohesiveness, it is hope. I remember the day on which the
paratroopers reached the Wall in the Six Day War. We lived in Zahalah
at the time. A Holocaust survivor lived across from me. Every few
minutes she would knock on the door and ask: 'Have we already reached
the Wall? Has the army already reached the Wall?' In the evening I
left the house. The neighbor was standing at the corner. She took
hold of my hand. 'We were as dreamers,' she said, 'we were as
dreamers' [a reference to Psalms 126 - trans.].
Leah Rabin weeps. This is something strange: she is a strong woman.
During all the hours that we talked, she did not shed a tear, not
even once. Not when we talked about her husband Yitzhak, not when we
talked about her illness. Only when she recalled those words by her
neighbor, more than 30 years ago, did she begin to cry. I told her
this. "Yes," she said, "that moment was moving. 'The Temple Mount is
in our hands' [stated by Motta Gur at the time - trans.]. Now they
are trying to take it from us? Occupied territory? Yitzhak always
said that we would not return all the occupied territories. There are
territories that we will not return. He would not give up the Old
City and the Temple Mount. He hoped that in a correct and good
relationship with the Palestinians, they would understand what
Jerusalem is for us, and they would moderate their demands."
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Jerusalem, September 11, 2000
Lost Souls
A fair evaluation of the present leadership in Israel, that is Barak,
and Beilin, and most of the others who wield positions of power, clearly
reveals that they are divorced from their roots in this their homeland,
and in their ties to, and observance of traditional Judaism. Not only
that, they lack any pride whatsoever in being Jews, and in their
prestigious Jewish Heritage. Since the media, the Courts, and the Army
in Israel, are tightly controlled by this minority, Jews in the Diaspora
and the world in general, are not duly apprised of the fact that these
present spokesman for Israel, do not in truth represent the opinions of
a majority of Jews in this Land.
Add to this potpourri the fact that the present negotiations being
conducted with Arafat and his People, are being conducted in a highly
undemocratic fashion, and are unabashedly dictatorial. Barak has
neither the support of the Knesset, nor the Jewish People in Israel, for
the unprecedented concessions he is trying to jam down the throats of
the Jewish People with regard to the Temple Mount, Jerusalem and other
vital parts of the Land of Israel.
The sad aspect of this sordid picture is that these leaders do not
realize the inevitable consequences of their arbitrary actions. While
Jerusalem has long been the spiritual center of Judaism and the Jewish
People for over three thousand years, Barak, Beilin and the like, no
longer have strong ties with Judaism and the God of Israel. Their
decision-making disregards completely the love and historical ties of
the Jews to their Biblical homeland, and is solely based on practical
considerations. The result of their actions would go a long way to cut
the bonds, which Jews feel for each other, and destroy and dismantle the
attachment to Israel, which Jews everywhere naturally feel.
The Jewish People are the only People on this earth who have survived as
a minority after being forcibly dispersed from their Land two thousand
years ago. Moreover, the only reason for such survival was the common
bond Jews had with each other, arising out of their religion and their
common past in the Land of Israel. In their prayers Jews have always
turned toward Jerusalem wherever they were located; they constantly
longed to return to their Promised Land.
Barak and Beilin are prepared to change all that. They would cede parts
of the holy Temple Mount and Jerusalem (always an integral part of the
Jewish People) to the murderer Arafat. By doing this, they corrode the
spiritual basis of their ancestral past. At the same time, they destroy
the unity and common bond, which heretofore held the Jewish People
together. Barak and Beilin ignore the eternal message of the Prophets
of Israel, and instead, would replace their moral message with the
practicalities of the moment. Will the People of Israel unite in time to
rid themselves of this looming catastrophe? Barak and Beilin do not
believe they have the will or capacity to do so. But then, these
leaders have long ago lost the faith which has caused the survival of
the Jewish People these thousands of years.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, September 14, 2000
Support Alik Ron
Alik Ron is the Police Commander in charge of the Northern District.
He was in charge over the last few days of the arrest of over 45
Israeli Arabs from the Islamic movement who had planned to attack
Israeli targets. Alik Ron also called for the investigation of the
Arab MK Muhammad Barrake- accusing him of inciting the Israeli Arabs
against Israel.
But, surprise surprise, instead of attacking the Islamic movement and
praising Alik Ron for having brought out the truth, the Israeli
press and radio have started attacking Alik Ron! They obviously
cannot handle the disturbing thought that we have a fifth column
within our midst: the Israeli Arabs and their representatives in the
Knesset. Anybody who reminds them of that will be verbally attacked
and besmirched. Listening to Kol Yisrael has become unbearable. They
give an open microphone to any Arab who wishes to curse Alik Ron and
even have the chutzpa to demand his resignation.
Anyway, it is crucial to show our support to Alik Ron. Take 5 minutes
out of your busy schedule and fax him some words of support and
strength reminding him that most of Am Yisrael is with him.
His fax is 06-6509399
Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, September 18, 2000
Timidity and Shortsightedness
The latest stabbing by young Arabs of Jewish residents of Neve Yaacov in
Jerusalem is the certain forerunner of greater tragedies throughout the
country in the future, unless our Jewish leadership musters up the
necessary courage to take appropriate, swift, and decisive action. Ehud
Barak has been ominously silent throughout these and similar
developments, and by his patent inaction and "looking away", should be
held fully responsible for these and future tragedies.
Daily we hear and read about the Palestinian Authority's hostility and
hatred towards Jews and Israel. They persist in this approach in their
world wide propaganda and at the UN, but also in their radio and
television broadcasts to the Arab population. We know that this
hostility and hatred is presently being taught to Arab youngsters in
the Arab school system. There they teach that Israel has no right to
exist. It certainly does not exist in any map of the area from which
they learn. Yet we ignore these unpleasant and disturbing facts, and
continue on with the illusory "peace process" notwithstanding. The
illogical rationale given to us is that "we have no other alternative."
Daily we read of the treasonous activity of Arab Members of the Knesset,
and their murderous incitement of their fellow Arabs to spill Jewish
blood. Yet a vocal minority of "liberal" Jews spring to the defense of
these Arabs, led by some in our own Media, and especially writers in
HaAretz. They attempt to whitewash the traitorous actions of these
Knesset Members by ludicrously claiming it to be an integral part of
their" fundamental right of free speech."
When we finally hear the courageous voice of Alik Ron, the Police
Commander of the Northern District, it is like a breath of fresh air.
He arrested 45 Israeli Arabs who planned to attack targets in Israel,
and urges the investigation of an Arab MK who is actively engaged in
inciting Israeli Arabs to shed Jewish blood. The Israeli press and
radio, however, attack not these Arabs, nor their uncritical Arab
communities in which they live, but, amazingly, only Alik Ron. What is
distasteful is that no one in this present Government, which depends on
the Arab vote for its survival, and certainly not Ehud Barak, has either
the courage or the proper perspective to come out publicly in support of
Police Commander Ron.
It is shortsighted and timid of this Barak Government to continue to
bury its head in the sand, and to cast a blind eye to the acts of
violence, incitement, espionage, and traitorous activity of a large
segment of the Arab population. In failing to deal with this problem,
Barak is patently and seriously remiss.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, September 24, 2000
Barak is Playing "Footsy" With the Public
It is quite unusual for a country's media to completely ignore a
potentially big story. Some eight months ago, in a "scathing" State
Comptroller's Report, Justice Goldberg revealed severe campaign
discrepancies, particularly with regard to the illegal use of the NPOs
in the election of Ehud Barak. The Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein
had little choice, and swiftly ordered an investigation into the charges
of the State Comptroller. Since then our media has been atypically
silent with regard to the ensuing long delay of the investigation by the
Police. In particular, the delay in investigating Barak's role in this
patent election fraud, was more than strange.
The Prime Minister's brother-in-law, who heads a prestigious law firm in
Tel Aviv, was finally called in for questioning concerning this matter
by the Police Fraud Squad, more than eight months later. "Cohen did not
agree to answer questions and was unable to supply satisfactory
explanations as to why he remained silent," a police spokesperson was
quoted as saying, after Barak's "confidant" was questioned.
The headline of the Jerusalem Post reporting the event is descriptive of
what occurred. "PM's brother-in-law refuses to talk to the Fraud Squad."
After the Police questioning of Cohen, no attempt was made by him to
clarify or to explain to the media the reasons for his refusal to answer
questions. The Public would feel that Barak, because of his close and
intimate relationship with his brother-in-law, would naturally have
known and consented to what Cohen was engaged in concerning the NPOs.
Without a reasonable explanation exonerating Barak, the strong suspicion
would remain of Barak's deep involvement in this crime.
All who are familiar with this matter know of Barak's flat denial that
he had any knowledge whatsoever of the fraudulent and illegal use of the
NPOs in his election campaign. It was obvious that Cohen was a key
player, and that truthful answers to police questions would reveal the
degree of personal involvement of Barak in the matter. Therefore, Cohen
remaining silent, under the circumstances, naturally has deep
significance.
Unfortunately, the Prime Minister's record for truthfulness is little
better than his idol, U.S. President Bill Clinton. However, the
ramifications of his having lied to the public about his illegal
involvement in this fraudulent use of the NPOs are so great that it
requires full disclosure by all involved. His brother-in-law continuing
to remain silent, while perfectly legal, leaves the public with the
impression that Barak was involved. If indeed he was, Barak would be
required to step down as Prime Minister as he would have obtained his
election through fraudulent means. Under these circumstances, Cohen had
a duty to reveal to the public, and the public has the right to know the
truth of Barak's involvement in this sordid affair. We are involved here
with the honesty and integrity of the Prime Minister of Israel. We can
not tolerate Barak being anything but open, frank, and truthful with us.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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