Media Releases December 2005

DECEMBER 2005

VOTE “”KADIMA”” TO DESTROY ISRAEL

LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM
Thursday, December 1, 2005
Dear Friends,

Ariel Sharon has “”successfully” expelled 9,000 fellow Jewish citizens from their homes, synagogues, farms, businesses, and communities in Gush Katif (Gaza.) 75% of income-earners are unemployed to date! Families are forced to continue making payments on houses the government demolished! None of the evacuated farmers have been compensated and none has received land to cultivate! The withdrawal has left the lives of many families in shambles. Some youths ended up in closed psychiatric wards as a result of emotional trauma!

In this connection, I would like you to read this Jerusalem Post Editorial of November 27, 2005:
“”Unsettled””

On the eve of disengagement, a massive government public relations campaign maintained that “”there is a solution for each evacuee.”” Today, more than 100 days after nearly 9,000 Israelis were uprooted, it emerges that there is no solution for many of the evacuees, and indeed there never was.

Many Israelis are indifferent, if not downright hostile to the plight of these fellow citizens. The daily Hatzofeh newspaper recently found a novel way of gauging sentiment by launching a fictional initiative to house evacuees in Tel Aviv. Its make-believe real-estate office, it reported, was inundated with antagonistic responses, hotly opposing the introduction of personas-non-grata into the city.

Families whose world literally came crashing down must somehow cope in this atmosphere of apathy and worse. It need hardly be stressed that officialdom’s failure does not distinguish between those who pulled up stakes prior to the deadline and those who stayed put to the last minute.

According to the Government Employment Service, 1,990 of Gush Katif’s former residents – 75 percent of the income-earners – are unemployed to date. There’s no unemployment office at any of the large evacuee concentrations, including at the fiberglass mobile-home camp in Nitzan. Job offers are scant and the few available are often at minimum wage.

None of the evacuated farmers has yet been compensated and none has received land to cultivate. There hasn’t even been remuneration for the hothouses purchased via the World Bank to offer employment to local Palestinians. The World Bank argues that since these hothouses were looted (by Palestinians) there’s no obligation to reimburse Israeli farmers who kept their part of the bargain.

In the meantime families eat up the advances on their overall compensation packages, providing such advances were paid. Many families now realize that at this rate they won’t have enough money to replace lost homes even with much smaller and inferior accommodations.

Besides having nothing to live on, they must also pay rent for temporary housing, which means further deductions from the compensation package. If that weren’t enough, the mortgages for their demolished homes, as well as insurance premiums for razed structures, are deducted regularly from the compensation each family is due. Thus families – whether or not they cooperated with the disengagement authorities – are forced to continue making payments on houses the government demolished.

The least the government can do is pick up the tab or amend the relevant legal regulations.

As things stand now, over 35% of the evacuees are still without even interim housing. They reside in hotels (from which they are also sometimes threatened with eviction), tents or youth hostels.

The Education Ministry does not finance kindergartens for those evacuees still in hotels, hostels and tents. Many school-aged youngsters in these sites still aren’t in regular classroom frameworks either. Presumably the government is not deliberately trying to punish these children, or to punish their parents through them. But the reality is bitter.

An immediate concern is the inability of the families to reach their possessions, still locked up in containers. They cannot recover these containers (for which they must also pay rent) until they have a home for all their belongings. This means they are unable to merely unpack some of the items therein and many do not have any of their own winter clothing.

The withdrawal left the lives of many families in shambles. Some youths even ended up in closed psychiatric wards as a result of emotional trauma. They didn’t have it coming. Our society can ill afford to look upon such tragedies with equanimity.

This was not how disengagement was supposed to turn out. The lot of these citizens, who bore the brunt of years of terrorism before they lost everything this summer, should appall everyone, opponents and supporters of disengagement alike. This is not a matter of political orientation but one of plain decency. Only in a heartless society would such governmental incompetence or indifference, and the plight it spawns, be allowed to persist.
* * *
How did Ariel Sharon achieve these “”successes”? By feeding lies to the Israeli voters at election time and thereafter! By ignoring any pretense of democratic principles! By making himself a virtual dictator! By turning Israel into a banana republic, the policies of which are strongly influenced, if not determined, by the U.S. State Department.

The Results of Sharon’s Abandonment of Gaza:

1. Radical Islam proclaims that it was its terror war against Israel which achieved this enormous victory. The lesson the Arab terrorist learned is that terror pays, and that increasing terror will further the Islamic goal of world domination.

2. Violent clashes over Gaza land amongst the Arabs themselves have resulted in Arab fatalities. Senior PA officials admit that local families and militia men have illegally seized many lands that were evacuated last August. Chairman of the PA’s Land Authority, Frieh Abu Medin admits: “”All the PA committees which were formed to administer the evacuated territories have failed in assuming their responsibilities.””

3. Hizbullah has become emboldened, with the help and encouragement of Syria and Iran, to attack the north of Israel.

4. Attacks on Jews in Judea and Samaria have greatly increased since the expulsion. IDF top brass have warned Knesset Committees repeatedly that the planning of terror attacks and planting of bombs have continued and increased steadily since the Gaza withdrawal.

5. Ariel Sharon has given into pressure from U.S. Secretary of State Rice to erase controls on the Gaza border. This has led to more weapons being smuggled into Gaza and into Israel, greatly increasing the likelihood of more terrorism.

Read more about this issue in the following article from today’s Jerusalem Post:
The Fruit of Mendacity by EVELYN GORDON
As Haaretz columnist Akiva Eldar aptly noted on Monday, Ariel Sharon currently appears poised to become the first person ever elected precisely because nobody believes a word he says. Although Sharon continually pledges allegiance to the road-map peace plan, most of his supporters do not really believe that he intends to negotiate a final-status deal with the Palestinians, which is the plan’s key provision; if they did, they would almost certainly not vote for him. Similarly, though Sharon has repeatedly vowed not to carry out another unilateral withdrawal, most of his supporters plan to vote for him because they do expect him to unilaterally withdraw from more of the West Bank.

And this is precisely what makes the prospect of a Sharon victory so frightening: By rewarding Sharon’s dishonesty rather than penalizing it, Israeli voters would send the message that not only do they not object to being told lies, they actually want and expect their leaders to lie to them.

Lying to the electorate has been the Israeli political norm for the last 13 years, ever since Yitzhak Rabin’s victory in 1992. Rabin campaigned on a pledge to try to make peace with Israel’s Arab neighbors, but consistently stressed two red lines: He would not negotiate with the PLO, and he would not cede the Golan Heights. And many centrists voted for him precisely because of these promises. Yet little more than a year after taking office, he signed the Oslo Accord with the PLO. And not long after that, he offered the entire Golan to Syria – an offer that failed only due to Hafez Assad’s intransigence.

Then, as if this were not enough, he introduced an even greater corruption of the democratic process: To secure Knesset approval of the Oslo-2 accord in 1995, he bribed two MKs elected on the right-wing Tsomet ticket to give him the two final votes that he needed. He did this by offering them a ministry and deputy ministry – complete with attendant financial perks, from higher salary and pension to free mail and telephone service – even though this was illegal at the time. To get around that problem, he retroactively amended the law that prohibited such political bribery.

In short, Rabin viewed chicanery and bribery as perfectly acceptable means of implementing one’s political program. But thanks to Yigal Amir, nobody will ever know whether the electorate agreed: By assassinating Rabin, Amir effectively denied Israelis the chance to express their opinion of Rabin’s behavior at the polls.

Ehud Barak also violated one of his key campaign pledges. Like Rabin, he campaigned on a promise to make peace, but also like Rabin, he had a red line that he reiterated over and over: He would not divide Jerusalem. And, again like Rabin, he received many votes from centrists who were reassured by this promise. Yet a little over a year after being elected, he, too, blithely violated his pledge, offering Yasser Arafat half of Jerusalem, including much of the Old City and the Temple Mount. Only Arafat’s intransigence kept this offer from being implemented. But nobody will ever know what Israelis really thought of Barak’s deceit either: The recently launched intifada overshadowed everything else in the 2001 campaign.

THEN, FINALLY, there was Sharon. The central issue of the 2003 campaign was Amram Mitzna’s proposal for a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. Sharon campaigned vigorously against this idea, and the public rewarded him with a landslide victory. Yet less than a year later, Sharon turned around and adopted the very program that he devoted his campaign to trashing.

Then, adding insult to injury, he submitted the disengagement to a referendum of Likud members (i.e. the people who made him a prime ministerial candidate) and promised to abide by the results. Yet when the party membership decisively rejected the plan, he promptly reneged on that promise as well.

Sharon’s broken promises over disengagement inevitably undermined his credibility. But now, in a display of true political genius, he is trying to turn this lack of credibility from a liability into an asset. Essentially, he is winking at the voters and saying: Vote for me because you know that I am lying. Vote for me because you know that I will do the opposite of what I say – but by not saying it, I can also steal votes from the credulous, and thereby win more seats than I could by telling the truth. And so far, this approach seems to be working: Initial polls show Sharon’s new party getting more seats than either Likud or Labor, thereby positioning him to form the next government.

Four months are an eternity in Israeli political life, so by election day some urgent new development may well have made this issue irrelevant, just as Palestinian violence erased all other concerns in 2001. But for now, it looks as if the upcoming election will primarily be a referendum on Sharon’s performance as prime minister. Thus voters are faced with a simple choice: They can say, loudly and clearly, that they are tired of being fed lies; that they want politicians to tell the truth about their intentions and thereby allow them to make a real choice about the country’s future. Or, by reelecting Sharon, they can declare that not only is being lied to perfectly fine, but they actually prefer it to being told the truth.

In that case, two things are certain. First, no Israeli politician will ever again consider honesty a viable policy; anyone who values integrity will understand that he does not belong in politics and quit.

As a result, Israeli politics will become even more dishonest, corrupt and debased than they already are.

And second, Israelis will deserve every bit of it.
* * *
Sharon plans to abandon Biblical Judea and Samaria with its 250,000 Jewish inhabitants to the Islamic terrorist enemy, just as he abandoned Biblical Gaza. He therefore formed a new Party which he named “”KADIMA””, (a Hebrew word which means “”forward.””)

Sharon’s original choice for the name of his new Party was “”National Responsibility””. Even Sharon with his colossal arrogance, must have realized that most people would not agree that expelling 9,000 Jews from their homes and leaving them destitute, is an act of national responsibility.

If Sharon’s new party, KADIMA, is triumphant, G-d forbid, on the election date of March 28, 2006, he will go FORWARD with the destruction of Israel as a Jewish State. His renewed alliance with Shimon Peres, the architect of the treasonous Oslo Accords, will make such a tragedy a certainty.

Let us pray that the Master of the Universe will remove the blinkers from the eyes of the Israeli Voters, so that this evil, corrupt, mendacious Prime Minister will not be reelected to impose further suffering on the Jewish People, and further destruction on the Land of Israel.

With Blessings and Love for Israel,

Ruth Matar
=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
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*******************

December 2, 2005
The Upcoming Elections
The threat of the combined Sharon-Peres Kadima Party winning the next election, must bring about a decided change in the outlook of the individual existing so-called nationalistic parties. As was proven in the last election in 2003, the vast majority of this nation has a nationalistic orientation! We must find a way in which this nationalistic viewpoint of the Israeli electorate is able to be expressed at the ballot box.

The threat of the success of the Kadima Party is quite real. The Kadima Party has the “”left”” oriented media, to wit: the press, radio and television at its beck and call. The media will certainly be active to unfairly distort the news to favor Sharon’s Party in the election. The only solution seems to be that the nationalistic parties unite and present a common slate. It will only redound to the benefit of Israel, which should be the ultimate goal of everyone concerned, whether they be religious or non-religious.

The present danger is directed not only against the religious. The Jewish State is threatened with its very existence. The Sharon-Peres threat goes to the very core of Israel’s existence as a Jewish State. The Council of Sages must take this into account and revise its thinking accordingly. We need the Haredi population to be counted as well among those whose orientation is nationalistic.

The details of how this is to be worked out are not the first priority. What is essential is that it be started at once to work at uniting and to recognize the danger. A common slate of nationalistic oriented individuals is both mandatory and crucial. The various parties involved must rethink their desired objectives, and do everything necessary to facilitate their winning the upcoming election. They cannot do it without taking this action to unify this nation. We are in eminent danger, and must at all costs, prevent the election of the Sharon-Peres slate.

A Jewish State, for all the Jewish People must be the objective. This ancient People can not allow the destruction of what they yearned for over 2000 years.
Jerusalem, December 2, 2005 Ruth and Nadia Matar
=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:michael@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

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December 5, 2005
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
1) Women in Green call upon all to join a solidarity visit to the sit-in for the Gush Katif and Northern Shomron expellees. The Slonim family from Kedumim, together with Gush Katif and Northern Shomron expellees, have set up a protest tent next to the Jerusalem Supreme Court (on the corner across from the Foreign Ministry) to decry the cruel and criminal abandonment of the expellees by the Sharon government. We will meet at the tent, tomorrow, TUESDAY, December 6th, 2005 at 10:00am. Bring green hats.

2) Join our Women in Green weekly chizuk walking tour to Hebron, Wednesday, December 7th, 2005. Leaving Jerusalem Central Bus Station on the 9:30 Egged bus (#160 to Hebron) Return bus leaves Hebron at 1:20. For details, please call Anita – 050-5777254.
Jerusalem, December 5, 2005 Ruth And Nadia Matar
=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:michael@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

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DOES SHARON INTEND TO ABANDON GUSH ETZION?

LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM
Thursday, December 8, 2005

Dear Friends,

What has happened since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon confiscated the
Jewish land of Gush Katif and expelled its owners?

1. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon allowed U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice to dictate Israel’s terms of surrender to the
“”Palestinians””. He agreed to the following concessions which have
proven to be extremely dangerous to Israel’s security:

He permitted the opening of the Rafah Crossing from Egypt into Gaza,
which facilitated the
smuggling of weapons and explosives. The only access Israel will have
will be a video-link a few kilometers away from the border post, that
will allow the Israelis, albeit, ineffectively, to monitor the
borders. Even the PA acknowledges that at least fifteen Hamas
terrorists crossed into Gaza unchecked at the Rafah terminal in just
the first week.

The PA’s border controls are a joke and both terrorists and weapons
are passing freely with no one interfering effectively. Neither the
Egyptian security forces nor the European Union observers are going to
risk any confrontations for the purpose of saving Israeli lives!

Yuval Shteinitz, who heads the influential Knesset Foreign Affairs and
Defense committee, has severely criticized Egypt for supporting terror
against Israel, with the Israel Egypt border becoming a paradise for
terrorists and criminals alike. In his words, “”There is a deliberate
effort on the part of the Egyptians to turn the Sinai Peninsula into a
paradise for smuggling weapons into Israel and the Gaza Strip.””

2. Fifty-three families of the former northern Gaza communities of
Nisanit and Elei Sinai are living in the temporary housing complex of
Carmiya, located between Gaza and Ashkelon. On December 3rd the Arab
terrorists attacked the former Jewish residents of Gaza with Kassam
rockets. The Jews complained that their homes in Gaza were built with
reinforced roofs. And each house had a shelter. However, here in
Carmiya their flimsy dwellings had no protection whatsoever.
Miraculously nobody was killed.

3. Remember how Sharon said that his Disengagement Plan from Gaza was
necessary to make a separation between Jews and Arabs. However, he
continues to relax restrictions on Gaza Arabs. He just allowed an
additional 2,000 workers to cross daily from Gaza into Israel. 2,000
merchants are also permitted to cross every day. The current daily
total of Gaza Arabs allowed to enter Israel from Gaza now stands at
10,000! Sharon calling the expulsion of Jews from Gaza disengagement
from the Arabs, is just another big deception on his part.

By the way, the total of PA workers allowed into Israel from Judea and
Samaria is now 28,500! It is entirely possible that with so many
Arabs coming in from Gaza, Judea and Samaria, there might be
terrorists amongst them.

4. In the horrific bombing of the Sharon Mall in Netanya on Monday,
December 5, 2005, five people were killed and many people were
seriously injured. The horror of this terror attack is best understood
by the question asked by the five year old son of one of the victims;
“”But who is going to be my mommy now?””

Sharon was elected Prime Minister in a landslide victory in February
of 2001. He was reelected in 2003, when he ran against Labor’s Amram
Mitzna, who ran on a platform of unilateral disengagement from Gaza.
Before the election Sharon scoffed at Mitzna’s plan, but soon after
the election he made a 180 degree turn and adopted his rival’s ideas.
In both elections Sharon stressed that he alone could provide security
for the Israeli people. However, during the years of Sharon as Prime
Minister, from 2001 to the present, there have been more than double
the number of casualties than during the Oslo years.

Netanya has unfortunately experienced many terror attacks during
Sharon’s tenure. There have been eight such attacks, with a total of
45 dead and hundreds wounded.

But wait a minute! Sharon thinks he had a “”brilliant”” idea. He
decided to put a security fence around certain parts of Israel. The
city of Netanya, for instance, is now completely enclosed by such a
fence. Shouldn’t that security fence have protected that little boy’s
mother on her shopping trip to the mall?

But, dear friends, this is not the Berlin Wall, guarded along its
entire length by an army. This is a wall which can be tunneled under
and climbed over. You can also for a few hundred shekels get an
Israeli Arab, sympathetic to the Jihad cause, to drive you through the
checkpoints of the security fence. Easy as pie!

But unfortunately, the fences which have been built by Ariel Sharon at
astronomical costs do not prevent terror attacks.

It is believed that the suicide bomber who struck in Netanya this week
came through one of the crossing points in the wall.

And now Ariel Sharon is going to provide the same “”protection”” to the
Jewish communities of Gush Etzion. Some communities will have a fence
and some won’t. What are the reasons behind his decisions? Nobody
knows.

Ariel Sharon often reminds those gullible settlers about the April 24,
2004 letter where President George W. Bush promised him to protect the
“”Jewish settlement blocs””, in any future negotiations. More lies from
Israel’s Prime Minister! Bush has subsequently stated that all final
borders must be agreed to by the Arabs.

The Gush Etzion fence will not be a Green Line fence, but a fence
encircling these communities, thus creating a veritable ghetto fence.
Fenced into such a ghetto, the Jewish residents will have no ability
to deter attackers or to pursue those who shoot at them from outside
the fence.

The beginning of the construction of the fence around Gush Etzion is
imminent. Some of the residents are seriously discussing putting a
stop to the construction by lying down in front of Sharon’s
bulldozers.

Gush Etzion is part of Biblical Judea. It is located on the southern
border of Jerusalem, at most a fifteen minute car ride away. Sharon’s
plan would ghettoize the Jewish communities in the region and
effectively transform Gush Etzion into a second Gush Katif— fenced
in communities with no ability to expand. It would be surrounded by
hostile Arabs and the left would agitate for the expulsion of Jews
from Judea “”for their own safety.””

The columnist Carolyn Glick wrote a brilliant analysis of this issue
in the October 14, 2005 issue of the Jerusalem Post, entitled ‘Battle
for the Settlement Blocs.’ I am reproducing her article here in its
entirety.

* * *

Battle for ‘settlement blocs’

When the Sharon government decided to expel all Jews from Gaza, their
communities’ physical isolation and the fact that they were fenced-in
and thus geographically limited, eased the work of the evacuation
forces both during the planning and implementation of their mass
expulsion.

Today for residents of Judea and Samaria as well as for those on the
Left who seek their uprooting, the successful expulsion of Gazan Jews
has raised a number of questions regarding the government’s plans for
erecting the security fence around communities in the areas. On the
one hand, residents of settlements not included in the fence route
contend with the fact that from the perspective of the political Left
– including the Sharon-Peres government and the Supreme Court – Israel
is less than likely to demand the inclusion of their communities
within the borders of sovereign Israel in any future peace deal with
the Palestinians. For those whose communities are included in the
fence route, the question becomes what the route of the planned fence
says about the government’s intention to enable their growth and
prosperity and to guarantee their security.

When addressing non-leftist audiences, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
loudly extols his commitment to the preservation of what he refers to
as “”settlement blocs”” in Judea and Samaria. Sharon ostentatiously
points to the letter he received from US President George W. Bush in
April 2004 where the subject of Israel’s final borders is vaguely
discussed. The letter is presented as a sort of trophy meant to prove
Sharon’s Zionist bona fides to the majority of Israelis who
categorically reject the return to Israel’s indefensible frontiers
along the 1949 armistice lines. Yet beyond his evocations of
non-existent American guarantees and vague declarations of fealty to
Israel’s right to our ancestral lands in Judea and Samaria, Sharon has
never specifically delineated what he means when he refers to
settlement blocs.

Given Sharon’s silence on the subject, the best way to test his
intentions is to visit the proposed route of the security fence in
Gush Etzion – one of the settlement blocs that Sharon insists will
always remain part of Israel. Work on the security fence around Gush
Etzion, located just south of Jerusalem, is scheduled to begin
immediately after the High Holy Days.

Three disturbing conclusions arise from a survey of the proposed
route. First, in spite of Sharon’s protestations to the contrary, the
route of the fence shows that he has no intention of preserving the
entire settlement bloc. Many of the communities inside of the Gush
Etzion Regional Council – like Karmei Tzur in the south and Nokdim and
Tekoa in the east – are excluded from the fence route. Aside from
that, the route gives priority to Arab property rights over both
Jewish property rights and the security needs of the 50,000 Israelis
who live in the area. The following examples illustrate this
disturbing truth.

The community of Bat Ayin does not have a security fence. Distinct
from the other communities in Gush Etzion, Bat Ayin was conceived and
developed along the view that its best guarantee of security and
prosperity is for its land to be settled sparsely along the wide
expanse of the Judean hills rather than densely and in a limited
geographical area.

This view has enabled the community to grow and secure itself rather
well. Yet, the route of the security fence will artificially wreck Bat
Ayin’s ability to protect itself. The planned route places the fence
no more than a couple of dozen meters outside the houses of the
community’s residents on the incline separating their homes from the
wadi below. The route excludes the hilltop immediately across the
valley from Bat Ayin and so puts the homes of the residents within
assault rifle range of terrorists. Fenced into their community, the
residents will have no ability to deter attackers or to pursue those
who shoot from outside the fence.

Aside from that, the land that is set to be placed on “”the Arab side””
of the fence includes 400 dunams of privately owned Jewish land bought
for Gush Etzion by the JNF in the early 1940s. As well, thousands of
dunams of state land, cultivated by the JNF, is set to be transferred
to “”the Arab side.”” The effective mass seizure of these lands is
justified by the government as a way of ensuring that the residents of
the small Arab village of Jabah (which is controlled by Hamas), will
be able to cultivate a few dozen dunams of olive groves.

Today Gush Etzion is connected to sovereign Israel by Route 367 which
connects it to the center of the country, and by Highway 60 which
connects it to Jerusalem. Route 367 today runs south of Jabah.

The plans for the security fence involve investing some NIS 100
million in order to move Route 367 to Jabah’s north. This is to be
accomplished in order to connect Jabah to the Arab village Beit Tzurif
(which is also controlled by Hamas), and to leave both villages out of
the fence route. The new road will be located on a narrow mountain
ridge beneath Jabah and all motorists traveling along the road will
immediately be exposed targets for any terrorist wishing to shoot a
Jew from the village.

As Daniel Winston from Bat Ayin puts it, “”We’ll be like fish in a
barrel.”” As to Highway 60, across from the northern entrance to Efrat
is a hilltop that controls the highway. The route of the security
fence is set to transfer control over the top of this hill to the
Palestinians. As a result, anyone entering Efrat from Highway 60 will
be exposed to attack.

Last month Gush Etzion’s Regional Council sent a letter to the Civil
Administration in Judea and Samaria laying out the residents’ concerns
regarding the proposed route of the fence. The response they received
in a letter dated September 20 from the Civil Administration’s legal
adviser was as revealing as it was alarming.

“”The goal of the security fence is to prevent penetration into these
communities, and is not being designed to prevent shooting at the
communities,”” the legal adviser noted. But the sad truth is that the
current route does not simply prevent shooting attacks, it invites
them.

When residents of Kibbutz Kfar Etzion – the original community in Gush
Etzion, which was built in the 1930s, destroyed by the Jordanian
Legion in the War of Independence and then rebuilt in 1967 – were
given the details of the proposed route of the fence, they published a
declaration on September 24 where they stated, “”The proposed route of
the separation fence around the communities of Gush Etzion is a
terrible solution that harms both Jews and Arabs. As a result we are
relinquishing it and ask to substitute it with alternative security
methods that are being planned for communities in Judea and Samaria.””

Following Kfar Etzion’s declaration, the heads of the regional and
local councils of Gush Etzion, Beitar Illit and Efrat met this week
and published their own statement. There they announced they are
“”demanding that the Minister of Defense not conduct any work on the
route of the security fence until the debate between the area
residents and the security establishment has been completed.””

In addition to the government’s approved fence route, the
ultra-leftist Council for Peace and Security, which is financed by the
European Union and the New Israel Fund and headed by Major Gen. (res.)
Danny Rothschild, has its own proposed route for the security fence
around Gush Etzion.

The council’s route is relevant because on several occasions in the
past, the council has petitioned the Supreme Court and demanded
changes in the government’s route. Its past petitions have been warmly
received by the politicized court that has adopted its routes in spite
the IDF’s strenuous assertions that they endanger Israel’s security.
The court has defended its decisions by adopting the council’s view
that Palestinian property rights should be given priority over
Israel’s security and Jewish property rights.

In the council’s proposed route, the security fence would surround
Efrat on the east and west effectively turning it into a ghetto.
Indeed, the route would ghettoize all the Jewish communities in the
region and connect them to one another by narrow corridors,
transferring all the outlying areas to Arab control. In spite of the
vast differences in geography and topography, the council’s route
would effectively transform Gush Etzion, on the southern border of
Jerusalem, into a second Gush Katif – fenced-in communities with no
ability to expand.

Shaul Goldstein, the head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council,
believes that the residents must try to cooperate with the IDF and the
government in an effort to change the proposed route of the fence. In
his view, if Gush Etzion follows the line set out by residents of Kfar
Etzion and rejects the fence completely, the result will be to dry up
industry, investment and tourism in the region. Goldstein also fears
that in the absence of the fence, prospective new residents will opt
not to move to the area and current residents will opt to move away
out of fear that the area will be uprooted in the future.

At the same time, Goldstein believes that if the government does not
change the proposed route of the fence, Gush Etzion will have no
choice other than to reject the fence in its entirety because of the
security threats that emanate from the current route. In such a
scenario, the residents of Gush Etzion will be forced to fight a
political battle against the widespread assumption that all areas not
located within the route of the fence will eventually be transferred –
Judenrein – to Palestinian control.

Whatever happens in the coming weeks and months, the dispute over Gush
Etzion’s fence will have long-term significance for the future of
Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria as well as in east Jerusalem
and the Golan Heights. As the battle unfolds three things will become
clear. First, the Sharon-Peres government’s attitude towards the fence
route will clarify what the government’s actual intentions are in
terms of preserving and enabling the security and prosperity for
Sharon’s so-called “”settlement blocs”” in Judea and Samaria.

Second, the IDF’s stance regarding the fence route and its
willingness, as the statutory body responsible for ensuring Israel’s
security, to stand up to the Supreme Court in defense of Israel’s
right to defensible borders (which necessarily must be beyond the
indefensible 1949 armistice lines), will establish a precedent for the
long-term dispute over all Israeli claims to sovereignty in Judea and
Samaria.

Finally, in the wake of the complete failure of the leadership of the
Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza to prevent the
destruction of the communities in Gaza and northern Samaria this
summer, the political strength of these leaders vis-a-vis the
government and state on the one hand and the public on the other is
again about to be tested. No matter how the battle pans out, its
results will form the basis for all future battles regarding Israel’s
sovereign borders.

* * *

Dear friends, this is a cry for help. Use your “”people power”” to
convince President Bush, and your Senators and Congressmen, that
permitting an Islamic takeover of the Holy Land and Jerusalem will not
bring blessings on the United States by the G-d of Israel. Neither
will abandoning Israel insure our vote for them in the next election.

My “”email friend””, Maureen Metcalf, says that the greatest problem is
indifference.

Maureen is 100% correct. To overcome such indifference, invite
friends and acquaintances, both those who care about the Holy Land and
those who are presently indifferent, to view the DVD “”IN THE FACE OF
TERROR””. Encourage discussion afterwards. If you are successful,
suggest that they have similar meetings in their own home. This is a
good way to spread the word.

To view the trailer of “”IN THE FACE OF TERROR”” go to
http://www.gwu.edu/~fidfc/index.htm. The DVD is produced by Ilana
Gabriel and costs $20, including shipping. To order the DVD, visit our
website www.womeningreen.org.
With Blessings and Love for Israel,

Ruth Matar

P.S. If you have not yet found the perfect Chanukkah or Christmas
present, you may want to consider our beautiful Biblical tapestries
shown on our website.

If you want to make sure to receive your tapestry before the holidays,
add an additional $7 for three day delivery.

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:michael@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

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December 14, 2005
To all our Members, Supporters, and Friends,

In a five page letter dated November 29, 2005, which we received only
recently, the office of the Attorney General of the Sharon Government has
ordered a thorough investigation into the activities of Women for Israel’s
Tomorrow (Women in Green).

We have been an Amutah since the year 1993. We are an extra-parliamentary
group which is devoted to the welfare and well-being of Israel. Our aims
and purposes are clearly set forth: to advance religious values, culture,
and education throughout Israel.

Towards this end we have worked ceaselessly to improve Israel and its
democracy. Our activities are varied, and include promoting articles which
put Israel in a favorable light. In this vein, we fax each member of the
US Congress, (both the Senate and the House of Representatives), the
foreign and local press, and the Knesset. We keep our website up to date,
(www.womeningreen.org), and continually send emails over the Internet to
keep our many supporters informed about what is occurring in Israel.

We appeal to all those who would have Israel as a “”Light onto the Nations””
to rally around our organization at this critical time. We have written to
Mr. Dan Rabin, the person who has written this letter to us, requesting a
meeting with him as soon as possible. To date we have not received his answer.

We have been very active for over twelve years, yet this is the first time
that anyone has any question whatsoever with regard to the work in which we
are engaged. The writer of this letter, in which he recommends an
investigation of our organization, has, in effect, questioned our right to
exist.

We are thus faced with the enormous expense of hiring lawyers and
accountants to prevent the possible elimination of our organization. We
desperately need your financial help at this crucial time.

Faithfully,

Ruth and Nadia Matar

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THE TRUTH REVEALED BY NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE

LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM
Thursday, December 15, 2005

Dear Friends,

The truth is finally out in the open! If Sharon is reelected, he plans to divide Jerusalem, and to give up 90% of Judea and Samaria!

Thank you NEWSWEEK Magazine for the well-researched article in your December 5, 2005 issue, entitled “”REBEL WITH A CAUSE- Sharon was in command of Likud. So why did he bolt to form a new Party?””

Thank you NEWSWEEK Magazine for supplying the answer to this question. Thank you for not just repeating the hype of Sharon’s spin doctors as to his plans, but doing your own investigation and interviews with Sharon’s advisors and political strategists, such as: Kalman Gayer, and Ehud Olmert. The question which the NEWSWEEK reporter posed to these close associates of Sharon: “”Sharon was in command of the Likud. So why did he bolt to form a new Party?””

KALMAN GAYER, Sharon’s Political Strategist, stated: “”Sharon would accept a Palestinian State in Gaza and 90% of the West Bank and a compromise on Jerusalem. Sharon wants to lay the contours of an agreement with the Palestinians by creating a Palestinian State in half of the West Bank by implementing confidence building measures.””

EHUD OLMERT, fellow Likud defector and running mate on Sharon’s new list, KADIMA, stated: “”He (Sharon) is prepared for a major accommodation in the (occupied territories) that Likud could not accept.””

According to the NEWSWEEK article, Sharon swears off further unilateral moves like the traumatic withdrawal from Gaza. However, many analysts are skeptical. They believe he wants to turn the so called security fence Israel is now building in the West Bank, into the country’s long term border– without reaching a deal with the Palestinians– and to dismantle scores of Jewish Settlements east of the fence. “”No one believes him when he says he won’t make any more unilateral moves,”” says Dan Ben-David, an economist at Tel Aviv University and a political commentator in the Israeli media. “”If Sharon wasn’t planning disengagement, why would he leave Likud?””

The bombshell of the NEWSWEEK article of Dec 5 first made headlines in Israel on last Tuesday’s evening news, many days after its publication in the US. There may be a very positive result from the publication in Israel of the NEWSWEEK report. Hopefully, there will be a public demand for Sharon to reveal his true intentions regarding the future of Israel’s borders!

When addressing non-leftist audiences Prime Minister Ariel Sharon extols his commitment to the preservation of what he refers to as “”settlement blocs”” in Judea and Samaria. Sharon continually and ad nauseam talks about the letter he received from US President, George W. Bush, in April 2004, where the subject of Israel’s final borders is vaguely discussed. Actually, George W. Bush has subsequently stated that any final borders have to be approved by the Arabs. Yet beyond Sharon’s evocations of non-existent American guarantees and vague declarations of loyalty to Israel’s right to our ancestral lands in Judea and Samaria, he has never specifically delineated what he means when he refers to the “”settlement blocs””.

It is important to study the history of the Gush Etzion bloc – one of the settlement blocs that Sharon insists will always remain part of Israel. The following information is excerpted from http://www.kfar-etzion.co.il/English_history_KE.htm .

The Gush Etzion bloc is located on the “”Path of the Patriarchs”” in the heart of the historic homeland of the Jewish people. Nestling in the Judean hills, the Etzion bloc is situated on the ancient mountain route midway between Jerusalem–the City of David, and Hebron–the city of the Patriarchs. The path between Hebron and Jerusalem is the path taken by Abraham and Isaac on their way to perform the great sacrifice.

The Bible relates that near Gush Etzion, in the Valley of Elah, David defeated Goliath. In nearby Tekoah the Prophet Amos was born. King Herod built a lavish palace-fortress in this area and called it Herodium.

The Etzion Bloc is thus surrounded by significant historical sites. This area played a central role in Jewish history for nearly 2000 years, from the period of the Patriarchs until the Bar Kochba rebellion. The tribe of Judah, Prophets and Kings, the Maccabees and other Jewish freedom fighters, all left their mark in these Judean Hills. Thriving Jewish communities flourished in the southern Judean hills during the Talmudic period and until the Muslim conquest of the Land of Israel in the 7th century. Thereafter, Jewish presence was maintained in the city of Hebron almost without interruption throughout the Middle Ages and until the 20th century. The continuous flow of Jewish pilgrims to Jerusalem and the surrounding Holy Cities of Judea serve as further evidence to an ongoing link.

The first attempt in modern times to settle this particular area was made in 1927, by a group of pious Jews from Jerusalem. Land was purchased of what is today the western side of the Gush Etzion junction (from the local Arabs by the Zichron David Company) in order to establish an agricultural settlement. A biblical name “”Migdal Eder”” (Genesis 35:21), was given to the village. During the Arab riots of 1929, Migdal Eder was abandoned and completely destroyed.

KFAR ETZION (1934-1936)

The second attempt to establish an agricultural settlement was launched by the El Har Company. It purchased considerable lands and founded a village called Kfar Etzion. This village suffered the same fate as Migdal Eder, and during the Arab riots of 1936-1939 it was abandoned and destroyed.

THE ETZION BLOC (1943-1948)

Additional Kibbutzim were established: Kfar Etzion in 1943, Massuot Yitzchak in 1945, Ein Tzurim in 1946, and Revadim in 1947.

The Etzion bloc, in the autumn of 1947, was composed of four Jewish settlements in various stages of development. Its total population was slightly more than 400 inhabitants. There were approximately 2,500 acres in Jewish ownership in the Etzion bloc region. The future of the Etzion bloc appeared promising in November of 1947, until the entire country became a battleground, with the Etzion bloc serving as one of the focal points of the conflict.

The new political situation demanded of the settlers of Gush Etzion to become its defenders. Defense measures took precedence over agricultural work. Mothers and children were evacuated to Jerusalem.

What transpired in the Etzion Bloc during the Israeli War of Independence were months of siege and battle. The efforts of the defenders of the Etzion Bloc were helping to save a besieged Jerusalem. The well trained and superior equipped Jordanian Legion therefore diverted its course from Jerusalem, and directed its attack on the outposts of Gush Etzion.

In May of 1948, the Arab legion, aided by the British and by a large number of local Arabs, launched a major attack on the Etzion bloc. The Etzion bloc went up in flames at the historic hour of the Declaration of the State of Israel.

The Gush Etzion bloc lay in ruins for 19 years after its conquest and destruction. However, it did remain alive in the hearts and memories of the survivors. The Etzion bloc was beyond the border and inaccessible for 19 years. The hope of returning, however, was never relinquished.

The events of the Six Day War led to the fulfillment of the dream of 19 years. On the day of the liberation of the Western Wall and the Old City of Jerusalem, Israeli forces advanced southward along the Path of the Patriarchs, toward the Etzion bloc. The Jordanian army fled from the Judean hills. The Jerusalem Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces entered the abandoned Jordanian army camp that had been constructed on the ruins of Kibbutz Kfar Etzion. Gush Etzion was liberated by the Israeli army on June 7, 1967.

The sons and daughters of the defenders of Kfar Etzion requested permission from the Israeli government to return to their liberated home. After carefully considering the political implications of settlement in the newly regained territories, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol gave his consent and blessing: “”Children, you may return home””.

On September 27, 1967, one week before the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the children of the heroic defenders of Gush Etzion returned home past Rachel’s tomb and up through the Judean hills, in the same armored car which had evacuated them in 1948.

Today the Gush Etzion bloc, together with Betar, has 50,000 residents. The area is just a short 15 minutes away from Jerusalem. It still serves, as in days of old, as a crucial security buffer for Jerusalem.
* * *
What are Sharon’s plans for the Gush Etzion bloc? Despite his silence on this subject, the best way to test his intentions is to study the proposed route of the security fence in Gush Etzion. Such a study makes it very clear that Sharon is deliberately deceiving us once again. All indications are that Sharon intends to abandon the communities of the Gush Etzion bloc, just as he abandoned the communities in Gush Katif.

For instance, incredibly, Sharon is planning to place on “”the Arab side”” of the proposed “”security fence”” 400 dunams of PRIVATELY OWNED JEWISH LAND bought for Gush Etzion by the Jewish National Fund, in the early 1940s. As well, thousands of dunams of State Land, cultivated by the Jewish National Fund is set to be transferred to “”the Arab Side””. The effective mass seizure of these lands is justified by Sharon as a way of ensuring that the residents of the small Arab village of Jabah (which is controlled by Hamas) will be able to cultivate a few dozen dunams of olive groves.

When Sharon abandoned the communities in Gush Katif, the security situation in Israel worsened considerably. The Palestinian Authority, instead of housing citizens in the Gaza communities abandoned by Israel, has turned them into training camps for armed terrorist groups. Kassam rockets are now launched FROM Gush Katif. A Hamas official told the World Tribune that the rockets were fired from former Jewish towns that have been converted into launching sites for the war against the Jewish State. Incredibly, the US State Department backs Hamas, a known terrorist organization, to be permitted to run in the next PA election. According to these terror groups, the former Gush Katif communities also act as recruitment centers for the “”People’s Army”” being funded by the Fatah.

The people whom he so cruelly threw out of their homes are fully aware that Sharon’s disengagement “”expulsion plan”” was not only harmful to them, (78% are unemployed, and living in temporary shelters), but to the State of Israel as well. Either Sharon is betraying Israel to protect the Sharon family from legal prosecution, or he has lost the ability to act with responsibility toward the Jewish People.

When our family still lived in the USA, the Rabbi of our synagogue made a remark which upset the congregation very much: “”There is no guarantee,”” our Rabbi said, “”that the third commonwealth (i.e. the Jewish State reborn in 1948), won’t be destroyed as well, if we do not obey G-d’s commandments.””

He said this in the glorious aftermath of the Six Day War, when the Israeli Government rejected G-d’s miracle of the victory over the Arab States, by giving the Arabs control over the Temple Mount, and neglecting to make Biblical Judea, Samaria, and Gaza officially part of the State of Israel.

If we permit him to do so, Ariel Sharon will certainly hasten the demise of the Third Commonwealth.

WAKE UP ISRAEL! Do not permit Sharon and his corrupt family to continue to tear apart our country. First Yamit in 1982; then Gush Katif in August 2005. Will Gush Etzion be next? And according to the NEWSWEEK report, Sharon also plans to divide Jerusalem. Sharon must not be reelected as Prime Minister of the State of Israel!

WAKE UP AMERICA! It is not in your interest to support Hamas’ inclusion in the PA election. It is not in your interest to let the entire Holy Land become one big terrorist base.

To understand the terrorist danger to America, it is helpful to view the DVD, “”IN THE FACE OF TERROR.”” To view the trailer of IN THE FACE OF TERROR go to <http://www.gwu.edu/~fidfc/index.htm>. The DVD is produced by Ilana Gabriel and costs $20, including shipping. To order the DVD, visit our website <http://www.womeningreen.org/>.
With Blessings and Love for Israel,

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December 19, 2005

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

Land of Israel Conference in Hebron!
This week WOMEN IN GREEN will participate in the Conference in Hebron- on TUESDAY
December 20th 2005 at 5 P.M. at the Gutnick Center, (Adjacent to the the Machpela Cave. We will not go to Hebron on Wednesday, as we usually do.)

Details of the Conference: Loyalists of the Land of Israel, together with the Youth for Land Of Israel, invite the public to a special Conference, which will plan a wave of New Outposts.

Title of the Conference: “”ARISE FROM THE DUST”” – NEW OUTPOSTS ARE NECESSARY !

5:00pm – coffee and cake

5:30pm – Blessings by Rabbbi Dov Lior, Rabbi of Kiryat Arba

5:40pm – Daniella Weiss, Mayor of Kedumim, “”Expansion instead of destruction””

5:50pm – Atty Elyakim Haetzni, Kiryat Arba resident:””Getting back to ourselves, as soon as possible””

6:00pm – Nehemia Weiss- representative of The Youth Of The Land Of Israel!

6:10pm – Dr. Yossef Sharvit- Bar-Ilan University & Kiryat Arba resident.

6:20pm – Ronen Tzafrir, Ein Harod, Media- “”Only Settlement””

6:30pm – Ana Danilov, Rehovot, Arutz 7, “”The change after the expulsion””

6:40pm – Rabbi Moshe Levinger, Founder of the renewed Hebron Community,
“”The Light Coming From The Land Of Israel!””

6:50pm – Nadia Matar, WOMEN IN GREEN “”We all must join in the struggle for the Land Of
Israel””

7:00pm – Questions from the audience

7:10pm – A guided tour of the Shalhevet (Shuk) neighborhood by Noam Arnon!
Transportation by bus:

3:45pm – Bus leaves Jerusalem Central Bus Station to Kiryat Arba

4:50pm – Ride from Kiryat Arba to Hebron (next to Leumi Bank)

8:15pm – Bus from Hebron to Jerusalem

9:00pm – Bus from Kiryat Arba to Jerusalem

Activities of the Faithful of the Holy Land of Israel & the Youth of the Land of Israel, which already have been done: Outposts on Sukkot, March to Sebastia, Weekly after Sabbath meals with our youth in Nitzan.

Activities planned in the near future:

*Many more outposts, Lighting Hanukka bonfires in more than 100 different places in the Land of Israel simultaneously.

*Demonstrations against the “”fence””, walking tours all over the Land of Israel, outside of the strangulating fences, this hopefully very large Conference

We would be happy to see you on Tuesday in Hebron & also at our different activities.

Rabbi Uziya Sharbaf – Nadia Matar 050-5500834, Yehudit Katzover 02-9961292

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CHANUKAH 2005 HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF !

LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR ( WOMEN IN GREEN ) JERUSALEM
Sunday, December 25, 2005
(The Eve of Chanukah)
Dear Friends,

This Sunday night, we are lighting the first candle of the Chanukah Holiday. What exactly is this holiday all about, besides eating potato latkes and donuts, spinning the “”dreidel””, and lighting one additional candle for eight days?

We tell our children the story of that bad wicked king, Antiochus, who captured the land of the Jews, and ordered them to give up their religion, and to worship his Greek gods. We make our children proud that a small band of courageous Jews, the Maccabees, defeated the mighty Syrian-Greek army of King Antiochus, and rededicated the Temple, which had been desecrated. And we explain to our children the reason for lighting an additional candle each day that a small vial of oil, miraculously lasted for eight days in the rededicated Jewish Temple.

The real Chanukah story is not so simple. Some years ago I interviewed a prominent Hebrew University professor of Jewish History, Isaiah Gafni, on my weekly Arutz 7 English Program.

Professor Gafni gave me invaluable background material concerning this period in Jewish History. He explained the internal conflict between the Jews who wanted to remain Jews, and the Jews who wanted to be like all the other nations, and to adopt their customs, their dress, and their religion, the Hellenists. The real battle of the Maccabees was not only against the Syrian-Greek army of Antiochus. It was also against their fellow Jews, who were willing to sell out their identity, the Holy Temple, and to allow Jerusalem to become a Greek City. All this in order to obtain for themselves “”the good life””, and to become “”enlightened citizens of the world.””

Some background history is important.

The cultural and political elites of the Jewish Community in Judea in the early 2nd Century B.C.E., that is the vast majority of the priests and nobility, drew their power and hopes for advancement from the ruling Syrian-Greek Empire. They adopted Greek culture, imitated Greek customs, and abandoned their Jewish Heritage. Some of them even went so far as to attempt to remove the marks of their circumcision.

When Antiochus IV came to power in 175 B.C.E., the brother of the reigning High Priest Onias III, a man by the name of Jason, offered the new Greek King many times the tribute that his brother paid. The office of High Priest was actually the most powerful position in Judea at that time. He also made the king an offer to establish within Jerusalem a city-state called Antiochia. He erected a gymnasium in Jerusalem, and other Greek institutions. His actions led to a strengthening of Hellenistic Culture, and to a weakening of traditional Jewish life and religious worship.

Three years later, another leader of the Hellenists, a priest named Menelaus, outdid the corrupt Jason, by offering Antiochus even greater tribute and even more Hellenizing measures.

Menelaus, in order to keep his promises to King Antiochus, plundered the Holy Jewish Temple of its gold vessels, provoking rebellion among his fellow Jews.

These policies of the corrupt High Priests, Jason and Menelaus, were the chief causes of the Jewish rebellion.

When Antiochus IV brutally suppressed this rebellion, he began an official persecution of the Jewish religion in Judea, outlawing the Sabbath, Torah studies, and circumcision. He instituted pagan idolatry in the Holy Temple all this with the advice and connivance of Menelaus and his supporters, the Jewish Hellenists.

It is probably not widely known that Antiochus did not issue anti-religious decrees against any other people than the Jews. He simply conquered many nations politically, but did not attack their religion in any way. It was only against the Jews that he instituted anti-religious decrees.

Why just against the Jews? Historians say that Antiochus IV had no intention of issuing anti-religious decrees against the Jews, but his Jewish friends and collaborators, the Hellenists, advised him to do so.

Today, Israel’s modern politicians are very much like the Hellenists of old. We have our own version of disloyal High Priests, and our own Hellenizers, the Sharons, the Peres’s , the Beilins and others.

A striking example of Sharon’s Hellenistic behavior is the sending of his personal advisor, Dov Weisslass on a secret mission to Washington, to promise U.S. Secretary Rice that Israel will give the Arabs Jewish Gaza as a down-payment on the Saudi Road Map plan. Sharon did this to take away the attention of the Israeli people from the corruption of his self and his sons.

Sharon told the Jewish People that in return for the abandonment of Biblical Gaza, President Bush was going to insure the safety and integrity of Jewish settlement blocs. Just another one of Sharon’s lies! There never was any such promise. In fact, President Bush insists that the Arabs need to approve each of Israel’s borders!

Since the disengagement from Gaza on August 15, Arab missiles continue to be fired, and specifically on Ashkelon, which was previously not within range. The Arab terrorists are trying to immobilize Israel’s most sensitive installations such as the Rothenberg power plant and an oil pipe line from Eilat. These rockets are fired regularly from the former Jewish Communities in Gaza, which Sharon destroyed and leveled in order to obtain his make believe “”peace””.

The rockets are also continually directed at army bases. The Zikim Army Base just south of Ashkelon was targeted and five Israeli soldiers were wounded in this recent attack.

Former Southern District Commander Tzvi Fogel asked on Israel Radio, “”Why can’t the IDF display the kind of determination it used in the disengagement, in its efforts to stop the rockets?””

WHY INDEED?

A brilliant analysis of Israel’s situation can be found in Caroline Glick’s December 23, 2005 op-ed article in the Jerusalem Post. I am quoting from her article verbatim:

“”Since he took office, Sharon and his advisers have portrayed the status of Israel’s relations with the US as one of unprecedented harmony. On a superficial level, this is in fact the case. But this surface tranquility masks its problematic cause. The appearance of smooth sailing in Israel’s relations with Washington is the result of the unprecedented weakness of Israel’s position in Washington.

This week Ma’ariv reported that IDF commanders are becoming increasingly disturbed by the Bush administration’s meddling in the minutiae of the operation of Israel’s passages with Gaza. The State Department consistently brushes off Israel’s growing security concerns and intervenes on the Palestinians’ behalf. This American interference not only constitutes a political blow to Israel’s sovereignty, it also manifests a military blow to Israel’s national security.

But there is nothing new here. Since taking office five years ago, Sharon has received Washington’s support – such as it is – by abandoning Israel’s national interests every time that they are challenged by the institutionally anti-Israel State Department. In every single dispute that has arisen over the past five years – from the Mitchell Report in 2001 to the road map in 2003 to the passages agreement Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rammed down our throats last month – Sharon has abandoned Israel’s national security interests at every turn in exchange for public declarations of support for him personally by central Bush administration figures.

Sharon has succeeded in the domestic political arena by presenting the support he has received on a personal level to the public as if it were a national achievement. Israelis have been duped into believing that the trust Sharon demands of them has actually conferred some advantage on the nation when in fact, Israel has never been weaker than it has become under his leadership.

And as with the Americans, so too with the Palestinians. Sharon’s success in basing his political fortunes on consolidating his image as a strongman has made it impossible for anyone to impugn his withdrawal from Gaza in spite of the fact that it has been a colossal disaster for Israel’s national security. The Kassam missiles that now fall on Ashkelon meet with what can effectively be considered no Israeli response. The seeding of al-Qaida cells in Gaza has been strenuously ignored. And the Hamas takeover of key Palestinian institutions has been greeted by yawns all around.””

Was King Antiochus IV such a bad guy after all? According to Professor Gafni, we have to hold the Jewish Hellenists just as responsible as Antiochus, and perhaps even more. After all, Antiochus IV was the head of the Syrian-Greek Empire, the mighty super-power of that age. Possibly, he just wanted to protect his strategic interests by subjugating the Jews. Also, Professor Gafni says the Maccabean revolt came at a most inconvenient time for Antiochus IV, as he was then at war with Egypt.

Sharon and his band of Jewish Hellenists are definitely responsible for the dangerous situation in which Israel now finds itself.

President Bush heads today’s greatest superpower. If he feels that America’s strategic interests lie with Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arabs, and is therefore willing to sacrifice the Jewish State, he is making a giant mistake. Bush should not exclude the enemies of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Islamic Jihad, Hizbullah, and Hamas from his global war on terror.

America is a Christian country. Don’t forget that the most popular graffiti in all the Arab countries remains unchanged: “”First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.”” As it goes with Israel, so will it ultimately go with the United States.

The great tragedy of Israel’s present situation, is that the War of the Maccabees continues to this very day. The Hellenist Jews, Sharon and company, have joined the Arab enemy against their Jewish brethren. Please, dear G-d, send us another Judah Maccabee!

With Blessings and Love for Israel,

Ruth Matar

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December 26, 2005

Upcoming Activities (For Chanukah)
(Because of the numerous Chanukah Events, Women In Green’s weekly trip to Hebron will not take place. It will resume on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006. )

1) CANDLE LIGHTINGS & OUTPOSTS – LIGHTING THE LAND OF ISRAEL

Women in Green has been, over the past few months, very actively involved with “”The Loyalists of the Land of Israel”” preparing for the big upcoming Chanukah event of the creation of new outposts. There will be candle lightings around the country in support of the continued effort of settling the Land of Israel.

** Tuesday evening – Dec. 27th, the 3rd night of Chanukah, around 6:00pm

Young people from throughout Eretz Yisrael will be lighting candles in close to 100 places throughout the Land of Israel in support of the outposts. We urge all our friends and members to join the lightings closest to their areas.

Partial list of the candle lightings (all around 6:00pm):

*Haifa (04-6112099),*Moreshet (Orit 052-6070117),*Mei Ami intersection-Wadi Ara (after the last exit of Road nr6-Ori 052-2296707),*Bet Shean intersection (Moria 052-8990384,Zavia 052-5802639),*Bar Ilan intersection (052-4800316),*Kedumim “”Jitt”” intersection (lighting by Sa-Nur expellees Ayelet 054-3162656), *Tapuach intersection (Sara 057-7749676),*Jerusalem (entrance to Jerusalem,across trempiada, Givat Shaul- Amichai 052-7625001),*Bilu intersection (Moshe 0523-586072),*Kissufim intersection (lighting by Gush Katif expellees-Natan 054-2215283),*Eilat (Golan 057-8800480) More candlelightings will be held in an additional 60 intersections all around the country. For details call 02-9960-775
A Message From the Groups “”Youth for the Land of Israel”” & “”Those Faithful to the Land of Israel””:

ILLUMINATING THE LAND OF ISRAEL AND CONTINUING TO BUILD Dec. 2005 – Kislev 5766

The Land of Israel faithful continue moving forward: instead of destruction,we will build!

On Chanukah, G-d willing, new outposts will be established through Judea and Samaria. On Tuesday evening, Dec. 27th, the 3rd night of Chanukah, mass candle lightings will take place on hilltops throughout Israel from the Koach & Golani junction in the north to Eilat in the south. The land will be illuminated in identification with the settlement enterprise in Yesha.

There are those who ask if this is the time to build new outposts. What significance can they have in the face of the “”tsunami”” that swept away Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron, and continues heading in the direction of Judea and Samaria? Doesn’t it make sense to be practical and work to strengthen the “”right wing”” in the coming election?

Our answer: (there are many): To change the spirit blowing over the country’s political landscape, another new spirit is needed. We know that Labor, Kadima, Shinui, and Meretz will continue with energy and determination their evil work of destroying and uprooting (G-d forbid) both settlements and Jewishness from the land. Forces within the Likud, the Mafdal and the National Union are trying to set up a legal mechanism to prevent destroying communities without a national referendum. This approach is flawed in that we can’t be satisfied with trying to throw a wrench in the machinery of destruction. We must insist on building, expanding and adding life in response to devastation and destruction. There can be no referendum on our lives and our G-d given Biblical Promised Land.

Therefore, if on Chanukah, thousands of youth and adults will ascend the hilltops and outposts proclaiming loudly and proudly that the whole of the Land of Israel is ours. Our strength will only increase in the wake of Tu B’Shevat, the holiday of the Land of Israel. We will continue to gain strength as we approach Passover, when, with G-d’s help, a new spirit will arise with a return to the Promised Land and to the life which we traditionally lived, with our heads held high with pride and devotion.

When, with G-d’s help, we succeed, then those Knesset members who have a true tie to the Land of Israel, will be strengthened. The power of the Holy Land, and the steadfastness of those who are streaming to settle it, will awaken us all. Such increased power will enable all of us to raise our voices more loudly and more deeply to insist: “”We can surely ascend and inherit it, for we can surely do it!””

We call on everyone to take part in the struggle for our continued existence in the Land of Israel. Please give moral and financial support to our wonderful youth who walk in the footsteps of Yehoshua Bin Nun and Caleb Ben Yefuneh. To assist financially for those abroad call 972-2-9960775, in Israel 02-9960775.

2) CONFERENCE BY SHALOM LEDOROT: “”THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE””

Concerned citizens are invited to attend a founding conference “”There is an alternative’ that will take place Monday, January 1st and Tuesday, January 2nd, 2006 at the Ramat Rachel Hotel in Jerusalem.

“”Come to hear and be heard””-Now is the time – for details: Shalom Ledorot 02-623-59-29,
Clal Center, Jaffa street 17, Jerusalem

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