Judea Magazine, No. 4.6
Hebron Etzion
_______ Bloc Betar Jerusalem
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"Rebuilding Jewish Life in Judea, Israel"
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JUDEA ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE Vol.4, No.6 Kislev-Tevet 5757/Nov-Dec 1996
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Contents:
* In Memoriam: Eta and Ephraim Tzur / In the Wake of Tragedy
* A Thousand Kisses in Hebron / Hebron: Now and Forever / Hebron at
Hanukkah
* Book Review: My Glorious Brothers
* Intelligence Report
* A Desecration of the Truth
* Future Development in the Jerusalem Region
* Gush Etzion Celebrates 30 Years of Jewish Renewal
* Open Letter to the Guests of the "Uncle from Palestine"
* Release Soldiers Lacking Motivation
* Another Jewish Soul Returns Home
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IN MEMORIAM
Ita Tzur, 42, and her son Ephraim, 12, gunned down by Arab
murderers near Beit El on 11 December 1996, just because they
were Jews.
* * *
IN THE WAKE OF TRAGEDY
Sima Kadmon
Attending the funeral of Ita and Ephraim Tzur were the Prime
Minister, Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of
Education, and Minister of National Infrastructure. When did we ever see
such a gathering of government ministers after previous attacks?
* * *
At the Shiva (7-day mourning open house) in Beit El, three Labor
party leaders came to offer their condolences to the family - Ehud Barak,
Haim Ramon, and Uzi Baram. Yaakov Katz, the manager of Arutz 7 Radio
where Yoel Tzur [Ita's husband and Ephraim's father] is executive
director, spoke first. "Together with us today are Labor party people,
people who have given their lives, souls and strength to the Jewish
people, each in his own way. There are times when the unity that is
always present comes forth. We all serve in the same army and live for
the same purpose."
He went on: "One hundred years ago there were 25,000 Jews in the
Land. Not a single one of them believed that within 100 years there
would be nearly 5 million here. Twenty-eight years ago there wasn't a
single Jew in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. In four years, with the
construction here now, there will be more than 300,000."
(Excerpted from _Maariv Shabbat_, 20 Dec 96, p. 6.)
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A THOUSAND KISSES IN HEBRON
Meir Uziel
[Editor's Note: The author is a veteran newspaper columnist. These
are excerpts from a 3-page feature story that appeared together with
photos of smiling, young women and children who live in Hebron.]
One day my newspaper published a list of the names of all the Jews
living in Hebron. They, their wives and children, their widows and
orphans. I looked at the list and said to myself: Why don't I drive over
and give each one a kiss? So I got up at 6 a.m. and drove off.
I'm sitting in one of the rooms of a stone house in Hebron, writing.
It's evening, there was a magnificent sunset, I kissed almost everyone.
I did all I could. I knelt down scores of times to babies in strollers.
I spent a beautiful day in a beautiful city among such beautiful people.
What do you want to say to those in Israel who wish you ill?, I
asked Rivka Liebowitz, 16 1/2. "They can believe what they want, but
they should let me have my beliefs," she replied, "just like they always
say. Democracy, individual rights, freedom of speech -- I allow them to
speak however they want and to live however they want, so they should let
me live how I want."
But it's not a matter of speech. They take actions to hurt you.
Have you ever seen a Peace Now demonstration in Hebron? "Yes." Do you
know what they want to do? "To throw me out of here, what a question,
and that saddens me. These are people that talk about peace, peace with
the whole world; let them come make peace with me, I'm their sister.
They say, you only make peace with your enemies. Since they already see
me as an emeny, they should come make peace with me."
Earlier I was sitting on a bench outside, writing. Naomi Baruchi
from Efrat is sitting next to me. "I came here because my doctor told me
to rest a bit at my parents'," she said. Your parents live here? "Yes,
Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Isaac, Leah."
In the Avraham Avinu quarter I met Tehila Nathanson, 18, from Shilo
in Samaria, doing National Service here. "I love Hebron," she says. You
wanted to come here? "Sure. I requested it." At the Cave of the
Patriarchs I met two women soldiers, Ziva and Shira, and asked each
separately how it was to serve in Hebron. "Great." How did you get to
Hebron? "After a year in the army you can request where you want to be
posted, so I asked for Hebron."
I entered a number of apartments in 3 and 4 story buildings designed
for families with 10 or more children. In another neighborhood, Tel
Rumeida, I visited trailers. It's an embarrassment that after 10 years
the residents are still not allowed to build here.
I visited Elyakim Haetzni in Kiryat Arba, alongside Hebron. I told
him, one of the surprising things here is how close you live to the homes
of the Arabs. If this has already lasted for 20 years, it's much
stronger than what people think.
"Sure," he replied. "We have excellent relations with the Arabs.
They've always been good. But the organized political will of the Arabs
is not open to change, and it doesn't want us here. These are two
separate things. I once thought that if we could make numerous
connections between normal people, the overall network would come around.
But the result is that you can make nearly 100 percent true connections
and then someone can come along and sever them with a knife. I saw how
this happened during the intifada. Communications were cut, not
relationships; we're friends by phone."
"We told Netanyahu two months ago that most of the Arab residents of
Hebron don't want Arafat in the city. An officer in Fatah told me: 'We
don't want him. We're a whole group of age 30+ that made the intifada,
and what did we accomplish? To get a government of thieves and
murderers? And economic difficulties? Where are the good old days when
we lived here like brothers?' He offered to say this directly to the
military governor so I called him. He answered me: 'Save your time. I
see 100 like him every day.' But the public doesn't know about this.
The Israeli media ignore anything that's pro-Jewish. I'm always reminded
of the children's game of stone, paper, and scissors. The paper always
covers the stone. You can build and build and it can all be destroyed
because of paper. I saw this in Yamit."
What do you think will be?, I asked Naomi Frankel in her home in
Kiryat Arba. Frankel, one of the most important writers in Israel, was
once part of the political left. "Reality doesn't favor the left," she
answered, "even demographically. Every family here [in Kiryat Arba-
Hebron) has 8-9-10 children. It's the same in the ultra-Orthodox sector.
The leftists have two children and a dog. The children were born to take
care of the dog. Afterwards, they don't stay in Israel. Bar or bat
mitzvah means travel abroad. They are educated to emigrate from Israel.
Paris is a goal; New York is a goal."
I returned to Hebron about 4 p.m. and stood opposite Beit Hadassah,
where a tractor was preparing a garden. Anat Cohen explained to me:
"Non-religious supporters of the National Religious Party decided to make
a garden here and spell out in flowers: 'We love you, Hebron.'"
Late in the evening, I sat with a group in Hebron and someone asked
how my day was. I answered, "A quiet, wonderful day; there's so much
tranquility here." Then she translates for me what she hears from the
loudspeakers of the nearby mosques, what sounds like Eastern background
music to my ears: "This land is the land of the Muslim people. We must
cleanse it. Our flag must rule here."
Before leaving I gave one last collective kiss, to cover anyone I
might have missed. You can ask in Hebron -- I kissed them all.
(_Maariv Weekend_, 22 Nov 96, pp. 50-53)
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HEBRON -- NOW AND FOREVER
Hebron is in the news constantly lately. Why should anyone care
about this small backwater place on the edge of civilization? It is not
so clear to me why anyone else should care, but I do know why Jews care,
and that is because the first Jew and most of his family are buried here
-- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebeccah and Leah. It turns out that
thousands of Christians also care, and for the same reason.
On Succot, the Feast of Tabernacles, over a thousand Christian
Zionists visited Hebron together with some members of the Women In Green
(a grassroots activist group bound by a shared love and concern for
Israel) who acted as their hosts and guides. We drove from Jerusalem in
a long convoy passing Bethlehem and the Etzion Bloc on the way, until we
reached Hebron, a trip of 30 minutes.
These Christian Zionists did not have to be convinced of the
Jewishness of Hebron, for they could quote the exact chapter and verse
where Abraham purchased the Cave of Machpela in Hebron as a burial site
for his family, and they knew that King David had ruled there too. As a
matter of fact, Jews had lived in Hebron from biblical times up until the
Arab massacre of the Jews in 1929, after which they were forced to leave
by the British who then ruled the country. From 1948 until 1967, when
Hebron was liberated during the Six-Day War, no Jew was allowed even to
enter the city by order of the Jordanian authorities who occupied Hebron
during those years.
We stood outside the Cave of Machpela and listened to Jan Willem
Vanderhoeven, the head of the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem which
organized the event, as he spoke of the importance of Hebron to the
Jewish people and of the Christian Zionist commitment to the Jewish
people and their homeland. They then performed a beautiful play in which
David was crowned king of Israel and the group sang joyful and
inspirational songs of the God of Israel.
I consider it to have been a privilege to be a part of this
pilgrimage to one of Judaism's most holy sites. The Christian Embassy
and the Christian Zionists bring love and resolve to the never-ending
struggle for the defense of Israel, as it is written: "Behold, he who
keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalms 121:4).
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HEBRON AT HANUKKAH
On the fifth day of Hanukkah, seven busloads of the Women In Green
and their families made their way to the city of the Jewish patriarchs
and matriarchs for their third annual Hanukkah happening.
There were tours of the reclaimed Jewish areas of Hebron including
the Avraham Avinu quarter, Beit Hadassah, Beit Shneerson, Beit Hason and
Tel Rumeidah. Our young guide Adina, a resident of Hebron, was asked if
she and her neighbors were worried about being forced to leave Hebron if
the IDF withdraws from large sections of the town. She answered that
nobody thought that this would happen now, but in the future, after the
inevitable terrorist attacks on the community, the Israeli government
could claim that it was no longer able to defend the Jewish residents and
force them to leave their homes.
Some of us visited the Jewish Cemetery near Tel Rumeidah, which had
been closed to Jewish burial even after it was reclaimed in the Six-Day
War, until Sarah Nachshon insisted on burying her baby there (see _Judea
Magazine_, vol. 3, no. 1). Here lie buried the victims of the Arab
massacre of 1929 and other slain victims of more recent Arab terror.
There were lectures about Hebron - past, present and future - at the
Avraham Avinu Synagogue, which had been desecrated by the Jordanians
during their occupation of the city and then rebuilt after Jews returned
to Hebron. A movie about Hebron was continuously shown throughout the
day at Beit Hadassah, formerly a hospital which now houses several
families and a museum in memory of those Jews who were murdered in 1929.
For the children there was a puppet show and a balloon man making balloon
hats and animals at the Gutnick Visitors Center.
At sundown, we lit the sixth light of Hanukkah outside the Cave of
Machpela to commemorate the victory of the Maccabees over Greek
domination and for the right of Jews to live as Jews in the Land of
Israel.
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Book Review:
MY GLORIOUS BROTHERS
"...a handful of Jewish farmers in Palestine rose against the
Syrian-Greek conquerors who had occupied their land. For three decades,
they carried on a struggle which, in terms of resistance and liberation,
has almost no parallel in human history. In a sense, it was the first
modern struggle for freedom....This tale...I have tried to retell here,
considering that in these troubled and bitter times there is both a need
for and a value in recalling the ancient consistency of mankind.
Whatever is good in the telling, I owe to the people who march through
these pages, those wonderful people of old who, out of their religion,
their way of life, and their love for their land, forged that splendid
maxim -- that resistance to tyranny is the truest obedience to God."
Thus did Howard Fast write in _My Glorious Brothers_, his story of
the Maccabees (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1948). The story of
the struggle for Jewish freedom, told so beautifully by this acclaimed
author through the eyes of Simon, the sole surviving Maccabee, never
really ended. After the Maccabees defeated the Greeks they were to face
another occupation, that of the Romans. The Romans did not march in with
their armies to do battle with the Jews, having learned the lesson of
fierce Jewish resistance to and defeat of Greek rule, but rather sent in
emissaries to make a deal with the Jews -- until such time as they could
be defeated militarily.
Howard Fast was writing in 1948, at the time of modern Israel's
struggle for independence, and of course one could not help but draw a
comparison between those times and the days of the Maccabees -- in both
cases a small Jewish army fought bravely against a vast enemy. The
ancient enemy eventually realized that the Jews could not be defeated by
a head-on attack and so changed tactics to that of negotiations, waiting
until the time when Jewish resolve grew weak enough to bring about their
defeat.
A veteran of the Maccabean wars warns Simon, "...between Jew and
Rome, there is no peace and compromise." That night Simon dreamed, "And
there was no Jew. As if I stood on a high rock, overlooking the whole
land, and wherever I turned my eyes there was no Jew, only a whisper as
if many voices said, 'We are rid of them, rid of them.'"
Simon was full of fear for the future of Israel, and yet he was
hopeful knowing that the spirit of the Maccabees would live on. "...but
not so soon would it be forgotten in Israel -- and among the nokri [non-
Jews] too -- that there were five sons of the old man, the Adon
Mattathias."
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INTELLIGENCE REPORT
Nadav Haetzni
The Palestinians are not fulfilling most of their obligations. They
have not confiscated weapons nor arrested terrorists. When they do make
arrests and report on long prison sentences for Hamas and Jihad
terrorists, many of these walk around free or enjoy 5-star quarters.
The Palestinian security services have, since the tunnel incident,
displayed a new element, of hostility and lack of trust. They are
amassing many heavy weapons and operate a wide network of anti-Israeli
espionage. All this is with the objective of preparing for the next
military conflict against the IDF. All of these facts are well-known to
the IDF leadership. (_Maariv_, 13 Dec 96, p. 2)
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A DESECRATION OF THE TRUTH
Charles Krauthammer
As fighting raged in the streets of the West Bank and Gaza late last
month, Israel's opening of the now infamous Jerusalem tunnel was
denounced from Turtle Bay to Timbuktu as a desecration of the Islamic
holy sites in Jerusalem. It took nearly a week and fully 70 dead before
the truth began to trickle out: the charge was a lie.
This tunnel, which is in fact part of an archaeological excavation,
does not impinge on any Islamic holy places. It does not threaten any
mosques. The only religious site it does touch is Judaism's holiest
shrine, the Western Wall. The excavation had been open for eight years.
It needed another gate to allow more visitors.
Yet for days at the beginning of the crisis, the American press
echoed the falsehood. The Western media were simply taken in by a lie --
an easily provable lie -- put out by the PLO and the Arab League. At
Arafat's urging, the League issued within 48 hours of the tunnel's
opening a declaration calling the tunnel "part of an Israeli Zionist plot
to destroy the Aqsa mosque [and] set up the Temple of Solomon."
This charge would be hilarious if it weren't so grievous. There are
about as many Israelis who want to tear down Aqsa and build the Temple as
there are Americans who believe they've flown on UFOs. Secular Jews view
the idea of rebuilding the Temple as loony; religious Jews, as
sacrilegious. (Only God can rebuild the Temple.)
And yet, during the "tunnel" riots, there were incidents of murder
and sacrilege. One occurred in Nablus, an Arab town under PLO control.
There is in Nablus a Jewish religious site, Joseph's Tomb. Under the
PLO-Israeli peace accords, it remained a tiny enclave peopled by devout
Jews and, for protection, a few Israeli soldiers. On Sept. 26, it was
attacked by a Palestinian mob throwing firebombs. Six Israelis were
killed. Many prayer books were burned.
This is the Middle Eastern equivalent of a mob of whites torching a
black church, killing parishoners and burning its holy objects. Yet,
while the tunnel received enormous coverage complete with diagrams, the
desecration at Joseph's Tomb, if reportd at all, merited at most a few
sentences. A similar Palestinian attempt to firebomb Judaism's third
holiest shrine, Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, received in the major
American press no mention at all, save one in the New York Times -- in a
picture caption on page 12!
One can debate the merits of the Jerusalem tunnel. But whatever
one's view, it is hard to have a debate when one cannot get the facts
straight. And one cannot get the facts straight because of the double
standard in Middle East coverage that impugns Israel's every move and
patronizes Palestinians with endless free passes.
(From _Time Magazine_, 14 Oct 96, p. 104)
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FUTURE DEVELOPMENT IN THE JERUSALEM REGION
Yaakov Ron
Director, Jerusalem Region, Settlement Department
World Zionist Organization
Our prime objective is to double and triple the Jewish population in
the Etzion Bloc region by the year 2005, including Efrat, Betar, and the
rural villages. If we act intelligently and correctly, we will succeed.
There are three basic things that bring people out from the center
of the country to live here -- quality of life; education, which is at a
high level in the region; and employment opportunities.
(Interview with Yaakov Ron, _Gushpanka_ No. 61, Dec 96, pp. 8-9)
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GUSH ETZION CELEBRATES 30 YEARS OF JEWISH RENEWAL
For 3,000 years the strategic hilltops of Judea have vibrated with
the footsteps of our forefathers in the heart of the historic homeland of
the Jewish people. From the period of the Patriarchs to the Bar Kochba
revolt, the tribe of Judah, prophets, kings, Maccabees, Jewish freedom-
fighters, scholars, saints and thriving Jewish communities have all left
their mark in these Judean Hills.
Modern-day Israel fought four battles to return to and rebuild Gush
Etzion (the Etzion Bloc). Gush Etzion, captured by the Arabs in 1948,
was liberated 19 years later in 1967 by the Israeli army, and its sons
finally returned home.
Today, 30 years later, both native Israelis and new immigrants live
in the 14 communities of Gush Etzion, the southern gate to Jerusalem.
The Gush Etzion Regional Council provides various services to these
communities including emergency medical and rescue care, social welfare
programs, education facilities, immigrant absorption, parks, playgrounds,
libraries, religious activities, senior citizens' programs, day care,
community center activities, security and safety.
The Regional Council has under its jurisdiction: 14 nursery schools,
23 kindergartens, three elementary schools, a high school, a yeshiva of
higher education (Hesder), a teachers training program, two field
schools, and a regional cultural center.
All 14 communities have industries which provide employment for its
residents. There are more than 35 different industries including: a
Judaica art center, agriculture, computer programming, water technology,
kitchenware, carpentry, halakhic technology development, mushroom and
dairy farms, graphic art, landscaping, building and printing companies,
military industry, tourism, and a transportation company.
Gush Etzion continues to protect the southern approaches to
Jerusalem. Its residents are proud to have been granted the privilege of
settling and rebuilding this part of the historic heartland of Israel for
future generations of the Jewish people.
The Gush Etzion Foundation was established in September 1995 by the
Regional Council to coordinate regional efforts to locate private funding
in order to assist many worthwhile projects designed to build a strong
Jewish presence in Judea. It is registered as a non-profit organization
in Israel and is affiliated in the U.S. with the "One Israel Fund/Yesha
Heartland Campaign," a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
For more information, please contact Shani Simkowitz at
etzion@tchelet.co.il.
* * *
THE COMMUNITIES OF GUSH ETZION - 1996
Name Type Founded Population
--------------------------------------------------
Kfar Etzion Kibbutz 1967 509
Har Gilo Village 1968 340
Alon Shvut Village 1970 1,788
Rosh Tzurim Kibbutz 1970 277
Elazar Village 1975 454
Tekoa Village 1977 811
Migdal Oz Kibbutz 1977 269
Ma'ale Amos Village 1981 328
Neve Daniel Village 1982 582
El David Village 1982 331
Metzad Village 1984 317
Carmei Tzur Village 1985 309
Kedar Village 1985 221
Bat Ayin Village 1989 357
Also in our area are the new cities of Efrat and Betar.
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OPEN LETTER TO THE GUESTS OF THE "UNCLE FROM PALESTINE"
Shilo Gal
Chairman, Etzion Bloc Regional Council
A few days ago some of our local residents met with the "President,"
Uncle Yasser. Such an event becomes a natural topic for public
discussion. Who? Where? Why? And other questions that will certainly
concern both the public leadership and the individual citizen, this in
light of the reality developing before our eyes.
Only cynics, in my opinion, will claim that this meeting will bring
hearts closer and lead to peace. Interests are at play here, and as long
as we are able to supply the needs of the Palestinians, it will be
worthwhile even for the President to waste his time with a naive group
and use it for media purposes, in order to foster further divisions among
the Jewish public.
Don't forget that the President is determined to establish a
Palestinian state at our doorstep, and to this purpose he has already
proclaimed the cessation of purchases of basic needs from Israel. The
faster he can disconnect from the Israeli economy, the closer he will get
to independence.
By the way, I am in favor of meetings with the Palestinian side --
meetings for the purpose of working on specific municipal problems or
economic or other projects -- with the appropriate counterparts in the
Palestinian Authority.
But leave the Uncle from Palestine alone. The events of last "Black
September" occurred at the order, under the command, and with the support
of the Uncle.
My friends, you would better invest your free time in preparing your
villages for the next round of "events," which will no doubt occur when
your host decides it will further his interests.
(_Gushpanka_ No. 61, Dec 96, p. 3)
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RELEASE SOLDIERS LACKING MOTIVATION
We can best understand any lack of motivation in the army against
the background of the sunset of secular Zionism. It is difficult to
expect commitment from those who were not educated with a Jewish
identity, Torah, and love of the People and the Land. It's impossible to
fight without meaning.
The IDF no longer depends on the sons of the kibbutzim, as in the
past. Soldiers wearing kippot are taking their place.
Gideon the Judge released more than 90% of his army before he went
into battle, following the Torah instruction to release the fainthearted
and send them home. Better a smaller, reliable army than a larger one,
confused and lacking confidence.
Releasing soldiers lacking motivation would only improve the army.
Together with this, most of the soldiers will choose army service of
their own volition if given a free choice because the Jewish People is
basically healthy. Allowing the release of those lacking motivation will
make it clear to all just how small this vocal minority is.
(From _Jewish Leadership_ No. 1, 12 Nov 96, p. 4; _Jewish
Leadership_, Mordecai Karpel, ed., P.O. Box 209, Alon Shvut, Tel. 972-2-
9933265, Fax. 972-2-9933570)
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ANOTHER JEWISH SOUL RETURNS HOME
Shvut Am is an institute for the conversion to Judaism of young
people, most of whom are immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet
Union with intermarried parents. The stories of some of the students
reflect a miraculous journey of return for a distant Jewish soul.
In one such story, a grandfather in the Ukraine who had lived for
over 50 years as a Ukrainian peasant suddenly told one granddaughter of
his hidden Jewish past. He had singled her out because, among all his
blond grandchildren, she with her dark hair and dark eyes reminded him of
his mother.
The revelation fanned the spark in her Jewish soul, and later the
girl forced her grandfather to accompany her to the Israeli consul in
Kiev, to bare his arm and show his concentration camp number, and to tell
of his Jewish past, so she could come to Israel.
(From Haim Shapiro, "Undoubtedly Jewish," _Jerusalem Post New Year
Magazine_, 13 Sep 96)
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JUDEA Magazine is a bi-monthly electronic magazine produced and
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of Jewish life in a tiny and unique corner of civilization. Mail
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