Judea Magazine, No. 5.6
Hebron Etzion
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"Rebuilding Jewish Life in Judea, Israel"
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JUDEA ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE Vol.5, No.6 Heshvan-Kislev 5758/Nov-Dec 1997
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Contents:
* Judea Under the Knife - Hanukkah 1997
* Professor Branover for President
* Getting High in Hebron
* Interview with MK Gideon Ezra
* U.S. Aid to the Palestinian Authority
* Adorable Children of Death
* Mukhtar Breaks Hand of Arab Youth Who Stole from Efrat
* A Sheep Among 70 Wolves
* The Etzion Bloc Keeps Growing
* Mount of G-D - A poem
* Following the Flocks - Miro Cohen of Tekoa
* Terror Victim's Daughter Marries
* Our Friends in Oregon
* Clinton Aide Makes Aliya
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JUDEA UNDER THE KNIFE - HANUKKAH 1997
Imagine looking out the window of a city bus just after sundown and
seeing Hanukkah candles lit in window after window, even in the stores.
This is how Jerusalem looks during Hanukkah. Ironically, on the holiday
celebrating freedom and triumph, a nationalist Jewish government is
debating the handing over of additional areas of the Land of Israel to
the control of the Palestinian Authority, a hostile military dictatorship
in the local Arab pattern (as in Syria and Iraq).
While a substantial minority of Israeli public opinion is ready to
cancel the Oslo agreements immediately, the government has chosen to work
within the Oslo framework, tying any further transfers of territory to
Arab fulfillment of Oslo, starting with the end of teaching hate for Jews
in Arab schools. (No Jewish school teaches hate for Arabs.) A local
journalist tried to track down a transcript of any speech by Arafat in
Arabic talking about peace with Israel. There were none. He only says
it in English for the West, not in Arabic to his own people.
It was Jewish hero Natan Sharansky, now Minister of Industry and
leader of a 7-seat party in the ruling Knesset coalition, who pressed for
a full cabinet discussion of Israel's interests in Judea and Samaria.
The discussion has taken weeks and groups of ministers took helicopter
tours of various areas, as maps are drawn up designed to give away pieces
of Israel in the name of peace.
The discussion about percentages -- whether single or double digits
-- is misleading. First of all, today 98 percent of the Arab population
of Judea and Samaria live in areas under Palestinian Authority control.
Half of the territory of Judea and Samaria is barely inhabited (Judean
Desert, South Hebron Hills, parts of northern Samaria), so the 30 percent
of the territory that the Arabs already control is really 60 percent of
the populated areas, and they're talking about more. They're also
talking about giving away presently uninhabited areas of the Land of
Israel -- the birthright of my children and Jews everywhere. I'm for not
ruling over another people, but my soul rebels against transferring
unpopulated areas of the Land to foreign rule.
The Israeli elections in 1996 brought in a new government that is
changing the parameters of the discussion. They are discussing maps
which show security interests (control of the commanding mountain ridge)
and national interests such as control of water aquifers, new Jewish
towns and villages, and historic and holy sites. The leaders of the
previous government had verbally agreed to give away 97 percent of Judea
and Samaria. They seemed not to have recognized any security or national
interests.
I drive past Har Homa every day on my way to work in Jerusalem. The
construction of a new neighborhood of Jerusalem on Har Homa is a national
barometer. I see the heavy earth-moving equipment at work every day,
without pause. It's true that the Arabs are building as fast as they can
to lay claim to more and more land, especially around Jerusalem. It is
also true that privately-funded building is going on in many of the new
Jewish towns and villages in Judea and Samaria. It is not happening as
fast as we would like, but the four-year freeze has been lifted and you
can see the results in the field. Tekoa has a new neighborhood under
construction that overlooks Tekoa Canyon and the Judean Desert, and we
hear reports of renewed building in other places.
While many are concerned about further one-sided concessions to the
Arabs, we are well aware that opposing the government so strongly that it
falls, bringing new elections, could put this renewed building at risk.
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PROFESSOR BRANOVER FOR PRESIDENT
Hagi Ben-Artzi
On 16 February 1998, the Knesset will elect the next President of
Israel. Professor Yermiyahu Branover has agreed to be a candidate to
succeed President Ezer Weizman. His candidacy is supported by those who
believe that the President of the State of Israel should be someone able
to articulate a strong Jewish identity.
Prof. Branover was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1931, to a Jewish family
distant from Judaism. After Latvia was conquered and absorbed into the
USSR, Branover pursued an academic career in physics and engineering in
Moscow and Leningrad, specializing in the properties of fluid metals in
magnetic fields. Through his pioneering work in this new field he earned
an international reputation as a first-rank physicist, publishing over
250 scientific papers, 27 monographs and books, registering 18 patents,
and organizing 8 international conferences.
Together with his academic work, Prof. Branover came into contact
with the Habad hasidim who operated underground in those years in the
USSR to spread Jewish education, awakening in him the wish to deepen his
Jewish knowledge. Although such study was forbidden in Russia, for 15
years he waged a stubborn fight for the right to learn Hebrew and
Judaism. He first requested to immigrate to Israel in the 1950s but for
15 years met not only total refusal but KGB harassment and arrest. In
1972 he became the first Soviet scientist to immigrate from the USSR to
Israel.
Upon his arrival, Prof. Branover opened a research center at Ben-
Gurion University in Beersheva to continue his scientific work. At the
same time, he increased his activities on behalf of Jewish education,
giving hundreds of lectures and writing books explaining his outlook as a
believing scientist, one who saw the harmony between Torah and science.
In addition, he began assisting new immigrant scientists from the
immigration wave of the 1970s to find suitable work in their fields.
With other scientists he helped found the Shamir organization to initiate
and develop economically viable projects for immigrant scientists. In
light of his work, he was asked by then Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to
head the interministerial committee on the employment of immigrant
scientists, which he continues to do.
Professor Branover articulates and symbolizes the best in the Jewish
people today -- a combination of Torah and education, science and
economics, Zionism and aliya, and dedication to national objectives. All
of this is done with modesty, as one of the people -- as expressed in his
connections and dialogue with different levels and groups -- scientists
and students, veteran Israelis and new immigrants, religious and secular.
If there is anyone who expresses Jewish identity in its broadest and
deepest sense, it is Prof. Branover, who by personal example can
broadcast this to Israeli society and help it to return to Jewish and
Zionist values, without which we have no existence.
(From _Jewish Leadership_ Newsletter, No. 19, Kislev-December 1997)
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GETTING HIGH IN HEBRON
On a chilly Saturday night in January 1998, hundreds (if not
thousands) of people poured into the Gutnick Center next to the Maarat
HaMachpela (Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron for a concert of Shlomo
Carlebach music. Early on it became obvious that the hall was much too
small for the numbers that showed up, and the organizers apologized for
not expecting so many people.
For thirty years before his untimely death in 1995, Reb Shlomo
reached out to lost Jewish souls through his music and helped bring many
back to their roots. His music is still helping Jews to discover their
Jewish souls. Three young Jewish women, who had never observed Shabbat
before came to celebrate a "Carlebach Shabbat" in Hebron with hundreds of
others on the day before the concert. They came because of the magic of
Shlomo's music, which still lives on even after his death.
As the Ben-Zion Solomon and Sons band began to play, the crowd
(mostly teens and young adults with a sprinkling of "older" fans) began
to sway, jump, and clap to the sounds. Someone commented that these kids
came to Hebron to get high without drugs -- on the music of Shlomo
Carlebach and on the air of the holy city of Hebron -- the city of our
ancestral Jewish mothers and fathers.
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INTERVIEW WITH MK GIDEON EZRA
Former Deputy Director of the General Security Services (GSS)
Michael Tuchfeld
MK Gideon Ezra believes that Prime Minister Netanyahu is smart
enough to overcome the current political minefields in which he finds
himself. In his view, Bibi is lucky, and who is better able to walk
through minefields unscathed than someone with luck.
"We now have to begin negotiations with the Palestinians on a
permanent settlement. We need to understand that the moment we executed
those withdrawals, the Palestinians received everything that was possible
to receive and now they have to agree to things that are impossible for
them. If we give them everything and don't give them Jerusalem, it is as
if we gave them nothing. If we give them everything except the Etzion
Bloc, it's as if we gave nothing. If we give them everything but don't
give them the right of return, it's as if we gave nothing. It's the same
with regard to a Palestinian state. Therefore, we have to say that we're
ready to go to an overall agreement.
"Even Rabin, of blessed memory, would be facing the same problems
today. I don't know of a single country that would allow yesterday's
terrorists to enter their territory with weapons and even give them
autonomy. Today we see the danger in this more and more.
"I have a formulation that I've suggested to the prime minister. In
those areas where there is no fear for the security of the state --
permit them. Permit them to work, to sleep in Israel, prisoner visits,
prisoner releases if it doesn't endanger security.
"But not a state with an army and not with a border that is not
under Israeli supervision. I have no problem with all the rest. You can
call it what you want and they can call it what they want.
"They say that there's a new Middle East. Look what's happening in
Egypt. Look what's happening in Iraq. These are our neighbors. What
can we do?
"The GSS acts today within different circumstances. There is a big
difference between a situation where you operate in the land and the
government is in your hands, and between a situation where you transfer
the land to the rule of others. If there is an escaping car or
terrorist, you depend on a second authority that doesn't honor its
agreements. The GSS has a big problem. Blue and white [Israeli]
intelligence information is the most important information in every
situation. Despite the difficulties in relations between Israel and the
Palestinians, I nevertheless believe that the GSS succeeds in supplying
information.
* * *
Q: Did you know about the recruitment and work of [agent
provocateur] Avishai Raviv?
A: No, I worked solely in the Arab sector and fortunately knew
nothing about "Champagne" [Raviv's code name].
Q: What do you think about how he was activated?
A: Scandalous. Every day new facts are coming out. I don't
understand how they allowed such things to happen.
(From _Makor Rishon_ Weekend, 21 Nov 97, p. 7)
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U.S. AID TO THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
Zev Sharon
Most members of the U.S. Congress have doubts not only about the
Oslo agreements, but see Arafat as an international criminal who should
be brought to justice. One Democratic congressman even announced that
"it was unacceptable that American taxpayers pay out of their pockets to
support the gang of criminals of the PLO."
The U.S. government agreed to give the Palestinian Authority $500
million and has already transferred some $300 million. In order to
transfer the other $200 million, the President requires Congressional
approval.
According to experts from the Ariel Institute who were invited to
testify before Congress, since the Oslo agreements the standard of living
of the Palestinians has fallen by half. If in 1986 the per capita GNP of
the Arabs in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza stood at $3,500 (compared with
$8,000 in Israel), at the end of 1997 this figure had declined to $1,800
(compared with an increase for Israel to $17,000).
Two reasons lay behind this decline in the Arab standard of living:
the intifada and the corruption in the Palestinian Authority. An
official document of the British Intelligence service's war on terrorism
division states that Arafat and his ruling circle own property valued at
$10 billion. Whereas in the other totalitarian Arab countries the rulers
take for themselves a 35-40 percent share of the national wealth, with
Arafat the level is close to 80 percent.
Prof. Eliahu Kanovsky of Bar-Ilan University, a world-renowned
expert on Middle Eastern economics, explained that there was no
connection between the peace process and the economic situation in the
area. He explained that only a democratic country with a free economy
can succeed economically.
(From _Makor Rishon, Weekend, 7 Nov 97, p. 18)
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ADORABLE CHILDREN OF DEATH
Palestinian Authority television, set up with U.S. aid money,
vividly shows what that society is teaching their children today. An
adorable six-year-old girl sings: "I am a daughter of Palestine; I never
soften. In my right hand - the Koran; in my left - a knife. I persevere
on my way."
Lovely young teenage girls all dressed in white are seen dancing
with automatic rifles at a school pageant. Groups of young boys drill in
combat fatigues. A children's TV quiz show asks students to identify the
heroic attackers and the details of famous Arab terrorist massacres of
Jewish civilians.
Maps in Palestinian Authority schools do not show Israel or even the
"green line." They show only Palestine -- from the river to the sea.
The children sing of Acre, Jaffa, Lod, Ramle, the Galilee, the Negev, and
Jerusalem.
See for yourself what the Arabs teach their children through
Palestinian Authority TV. A 15-minute video entitled "Peace - Without
the PLO Covenant: What's on Palestinian TV?" is available from Peace for
Generations (Shalom LeDorot), 8 Eliash St, P.O. Box 2265, Jerusalem, Tel.
972-2-5300123; Fax 972-2-6257121, email: shalom@topoffice.com. For video
orders and questions in North America, please email Fern at:
yoffie1818@aol.com.
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MUKHTAR BREAKS HAND OF ARAB YOUTH WHO STOLE FROM EFRAT
In early December, an Efrat resident was moving into a new home and
hired the services of Arab laborers from the adjacent Arab village of
Wadi Nis, many of whose residents work in Efrat. After completing the
moving job, it was learned that one of the movers had stolen about $6,000
worth of jewelry from the family.
The family made it known to the Arab village leaders that they
expected the stolen jewelry to be returned. The village mukhtar
(headman), who feared that a deterioration in relations with nearby Efrat
would have bad ramifications for his community, held a public trial for
the youth, who admitted to the theft. The mukhtar broke the thief's hand
in view of the village residents and banned the youth from ever working
in Efrat again. The youth was taken for medical care to set his
fractured hand.
(Israel Internet News Service (IINS), 21 December 1997)
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A SHEEP AMONG 70 WOLVES
Meir Gutnik, the multimillionaire from New York and cousin of the
billionaire Yosef Yitzhak Gutnik from Melbourne, was in Israel with his
family for Sukkot.
Q: Why do you think you have the right to involve yourself in what
happens in Israel since you don't live here and won't have to face the
consequences?
A: That's a serious point, but nevertheless I believe that all Jews
are part of one people and responsible for one another. Therefore, every
Jew has the right to be involved in what happens here.
The Jewish people are like a sheep among 70 wolves. The Almighty
has always intervened to save the poor sheep. But never once in the
history of the Jewish people did the sheep go to the enemy and say, "Take
a piece from me." Today this is happening before our eyes.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe ruled that, according to the Shulchan Aruch,
we do not have the right to give away the territory of the Land of
Israel.
(From Mali Nafha, _Makor Rishon_ Yoman, 22 Oct 97, pp. 4-5)
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THE ETZION BLOC KEEPS GROWING
The chief engineer of the Etzion Bloc Regional Council reports on
anticipated development in area villages:
Alon Shvut - Infrastructure work for the new southern neighborhood
is progressing.
Elazar - The current wave of newcomers has brought the population up
to 140 families. Construction of 31 apartments is to begin soon.
Carmei Tsur - Lots will soon be prepared for a new western
neighborhood of 40 homes.
Migdal Oz - A plan has been prepared by the Ministry of Industry and
Commerce to build a technological park east of the kibbutz.
Tekoa - Construction of the new elementary school has begun.
Construction of 90 homes in the new eastern neighborhood continues.
(From _Gushpanka_, No. 69, Nov 97, p. 15)_
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MOUNT OF G-D
Miriam Lockhart
No longer do we sit on the ash heap,
But we are even still below,
Standing victoriously in the place of defeat,
Yet, no longer wailing our sorrow.
The golden dome shines triumphant,
Stronghold of Ishmael,
Symbol of the enemy, defiant,
Guarded zealously by Israel.
The Arabs strenuously object,
To any form of Jewish prayer.
For, after all, the Jew is a reject,
Placed afar from divine care.
They cling to Islamic arrogance,
But their fear is quite tangible;
Could there really be some significance
In the return of the children of Israel?
At the gate a Jewish soldier stands guard;
To him it is simply no matter.
Holy mountain of Israel's G-d?
"No longer," he mocks with laughter.
I turn away in tears of heartbreak
The Temple was built for Your sake,
In accordance to Your Word.
Shock lines a tourist's face.
"We need a miracle!" he mumbles.
Tears sting my eyes in disgrace;
His words, my spirit humbles.
I feel like tearing my clothes in pain,
My heart continues to weep,
While my spirit consigns herself again,
To sit, as before, on the ash heap.
* * *
We received this poem with the following letter:
B"H
Dear sir:
Yes, I see your magazine is a wonderful medium for telling the story of
the people who have re-settled the Land. I live in Mitzpeh Yericho. I
do not know if you accept poetry, but this is one of my favorite ways of
expressing my story. I am sending you one that I wrote after a startling
experience at the Temple Mount. If you find it suitable, I would be
honored to share the pages of the story of the return of the Jewish
People, as was foretold centuries ago.
Sincerely, Miriam Lockhart
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FOLLOWING THE FLOCKS -- MIRO COHEN OF TEKOA
Fruit, the sea, and flocks of sheep -- these are some of the
pictures a childhood on the island of Djerba in Tunisia that come back to
Tekoa resident Miro Cohen. "I've been following the flocks since age 3,"
says Miro, who absorbed much of his love of sheep and nature from his
grandfather. "Grandfather had orchards, grew vegetables, and had
extensive grazing lands for sheep and cows."
With the establishment of the State of Israel, Muslim extremism even
reached the island of Djerba. "Grandfather argued with the workers and
once during an argument a worker took out a knife and blinded him in one
eye. My grandfather, who was a tall, strong man, hit the worker with a
stick and killed him. That same night he gathered up the family and
everything that we could carry and took a boat to Tunis, leaving most of
our property behind." From Tunis the family continued to Marseille,
France, and after a few months reached Israel, straight to a temporary
camp in Yavniel.
"By age 6 I went with my father's shepherds," Miro continues. "I
would go out with them, smoke with them and ride on horses. Already at
that young age I began to speak Arabic with them. One person who had a
strong influence on me was Amos Arahonson, the founder of the "Hebrew
Shepherd," the first group of Jewish shepherds. Amos, an officer in
Moshe Dayan's commando unit, had his own large flock.
"At school age I would get up early in the morning, bring cans of
milk to the dairy, and help my mother milk the cows. From there I would
go to school. As soon as I returned home I would grab a horse or donkey
and go out to the farmers with their flocks."
After army service Miro began to manage his own flocks, first at
Kibbutz Maale Gilboa and then at Alumim. From there he went to the
Vulcani Institute to manage their experimental flock, and at the same
time helped Ariel Sharon with his large flock at his farm in the northern
Negev. After a few years, a group of ten families from the Mercaz Harav
Yeshiva in Jerusalem wanted to establish a new Jewish village near Yatir,
and asked Miro to join them. The flock had an additional role to play,
in helping to guard the forests in the area. "We had many fights with
the Bedouin who spread into the forest." Once he was stabbed by an Arab,
and the matter was settled only after the local notables agreed to pay
5,000 Jordanian dinars in compensation. Later the Cohen family came to
Tekoa to establish a new flock at the invitation of the local residents.
The period of the intifada hurt the sheep-raising business. Prices
dropped and his Arab neighbors repeatedly stole his flocks and those of
his neighbors, the last time just a few months ago. But Miro will renew
his flock yet again. "It's very hard to stop," he admits.
(From _Gushpanka_, No. 69, Nov 97, p. 12-13)_
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TERROR VICTIM'S DAUGHTER MARRIES
On May 17, 1994, Margalit Shochat and Raphael Yaeri were shot to
death by Hamas terrorists near the Jewish community of Beit Haggai, in
the Southern Hebron Hills. Margalit's daughter, Yael, was critically
injured in the attack and transported to the trauma center of Hadassah
Hospital in Ein Kerem. (See _Judea Magazine_ 2.3.)
Yesterday, Yael's dream came true. She was married to Yossi Chadad,
28, of Ashkelon. With hundreds of guests in attendance, Sephardic Chief
Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron performed the wedding service.
Two weeks after being injured, Yael opened her eyes in what doctors
called a "medical miracle." After one month she got out of bed.
Since then, Yael has undergone many painful orthopedic and plastic
surgical procedures and the long road of therapy. Due to the gunshot
wounds to her face, she required extensive reconstructive surgery.
Eventually, she also returned to her university studies.
Yael and her family came to Israel from Holland in 1991. Yesterday,
following her wedding ceremony, she said, "This is my answer to the
terrorists who killed my mother."
(IINS News, 23 December 1997)
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OUR FRIENDS IN OREGON
A few miles from the Nike Shoe complex in Beaverton, Oregon, a group
of Christian Zionists meets to pray for Israel and especially for Tekoa.
Pastor George Dikeman, head of one of the largest churches in the
Portland area, came to Tekoa in Fall 1997 and contacts have continued
ever since between Tekoans and a group of new friends who share our
dreams for the restoration of a Jewish nation in the Land of Israel.
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CLINTON AIDE MAKES ALIYA
Yitzhak Ben-Horin
Jim Loftus has been at President Bill Clinton's side since April
1992. During the election year of 1996 he was away from home for 310
days, traveling with Clinton from city to city. He flew with the
Clintons to bring Chelsea to Stanford University and went on vacation
with them in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
At age 35, he has already worked for the White House 5 years and
loves his job as head of the advance teams for all presidential visits,
but these days he's packing his bags, taking leave of the White House,
and coming to live in Tel Aviv.
His friends think he's crazy. What does an Irish Catholic from
Boston have to do with Israel? The answer: a love story. Her name is
Oriela Ben-Zvi, an Israeli working in the U.S. After knowing each other
for two years and her return to Israel, Jim decided to leave the White
House and follow her.
"I plan to do nothing else but learn Hebrew for the first few
months. I'm coming with the intention of putting down roots in Israel
forever."
"To come to Israel is first of all to be back again with Oriela,"
says Jim, "and also to be in a country with history and politics that
interest me."
"I saw everything there is to see in America. It's a wonderful
country and I love it, but it has turned into one big shopping center.
I'm not Jewish, but I understand the meaning of being in a country where
all the street signs are in Hebrew. I've been in many countries and on
every continent except Antarctica, and Israel is vital, inspirational,
and beautiful. The people are very involved in what's happening. I'm
drawn by the action that occurs in this special land."
(From _Maariv_ Shabbat, 7 Nov 97, p. 21)
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JUDEA Magazine is a bi-monthly electronic magazine produced and
transmitted from Judea, Israel, specializing in stories about the rebirth
of Jewish life in a tiny and unique corner of civilization. Mail address:
Judea Magazine, Yael and Mark Ami-El, Editors; Tekoa; D.N. North Judea,
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