September 1996
September 1, 1996 Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu:
September 8, 1996 Peres’ Continued Hypocrisy –
Netanyahu’s Temporary(?) Cave-In
September 12, 1996 Jewish Nationalism is Alive and Well
September 17, 1996 Hebron Revisited
September 18, 1996 A Call For Leadership
September 25, 1996 What Kind of “Peace” Do We Have with Egypt?
September 26, 1996 “You Gave Them the Guns which Kill Our
Children”
September 26, 1996 Arab Rioting – A Forerunner of Things
to Come in Hebron
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September 1, 1996
Honorable Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister of the State of Israel
Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu:
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow is a duly
registered Amutah since 1993, and is as its name
suggests, devoted to the betterment of the State
of Israel. It is a grass roots women’s movement,
although we have many men among our members. We
have Chapters throughout Israel, but also have many
Chapters in America and Canada, including Los Angeles,
Toronto, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Silver Springs,
Miami Beach, New York, Teaneck, Detroit and Norfolk.
Our members are both secular and religious, housewives
and professionals, mothers, wives and daughters; all
our members have a common bond, their love, devotion
and concern for Israel.
We have worked for more than three
years, literally day and night, against what we
believed to be the disastrous policies of the Rabin-
Peres Government. During the recent election, even
though our organization is a-political, our members
were among your stalwart supporters, and made every
effort to see that you were elected.
We felt then, and feel today, that the
Oslo Accords are immoral and represent a real and
actual threat to Jewish survival. We believe these
Accords were signed without the approval and consent
of the Jewish People, and that the large majority of
the Jewish vote you obtained in the past election,
reflects this opposition to Oslo.
Nevertheless, we urge you not to go back
on the standards you have previously announced, and
which the People of Israel have applauded. You must
continue to be firm on the basic requirement of
reciprocity which you yourself have set as a
precondition for Arafat and his adherents. Your
insistence on their full compliance before considering
any claims of Israel’s further obligations is not only
fair, but is in accordance with recognized basic contract
law.
Mr. Peres acknowledges, in a jibe at
you in the news today, that you are under inordinate
pressure,(presumably from America, the Europeans,
Mubarak, and the Labor-Meretz people and the media
itself), to move away from your requirement of
reciprocity beforehand, and to meet with Arafat and
to shake his “murderous” hand.
No matter the weight of pragmatic
considerations which you feel force a concession on
your part to meet with Arafat at this time, your
following Peres’ lead in shaking Arafat’s bloody hand
is simply out of the question, and crosses the red
line which leads directly to the destruction of
Jewish morality. Such a handshake would be most
traumatic, and have an adverse affect on the many
thousands of us who worked so hard to elect you.
Their confidence in you would be shaken beyond
repair, and would put your following in an utter
state of disarray.
The only ones who will rejoice will be
the Peres-Meretz clan, who will rightfully gloat
“Peres and Netanyahu are indistinguishable with regard
to accepting Arafat, and all he stood and stands for,
past, present and future.”
We need a leadership that has the
strength and courage to take positions that are
morally right in accordance with our prophetic
tradition. We must be able to count on you for such
inspirational Jewish leadership. Please do not
disappoint us.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, September 8, 1996.
Peres’ Continued Hypocrisy –
Netanyahu’s Temporary(?) Cave-In
If anyone wishes to know why Shimon
Peres is not trusted, loved or respected by the Jewish
populace generally, look no further than the type of
public statements he has been making of late.
Incredulously claiming he represents 50% of the Israel
electorate, (which includes practically the entire Arab
vote), he has acted independently of the government in
conducting his own foreign relations, meeting with Arafat
and his Norwegian supporters, and King Hussein of Morocco.
His conduct can not be described in any other way but as
audacious, disloyal and disruptive. Peres continually
attempts to force Netanyahu’s hand to follow his own
failed policies, which Jewish voters had emphatically
rejected. Aided by a media hostile to the new
leadership, he conducts open warfare on Netanyahu. In
those instances where Netanyahu’s actions are not
condemned outright, Peres explains that Netanyahu is
merely copying or carrying out prior policies originated
by Peres.
What one clearly perceives in Peres’ conduct
is not the expected actions of the opposition leader, which
he is. In contradistinction to the conduct of Bob Dole in
the present U.S. Presidential race, Peres has invented a
new set of rules of behavior. Whereas Dole wisely but
natuarally, gives his all out support to President Clinton
concerning the U.S. attack on Iraq, Peres incredulously sides
with Arafat, the self-proclaimed enemy of Israel, in Arafat’s
various disputes with Netanyahu. It is readily apparent that
Peres’ first loyalty is to Peres, justifying his past
actions with Arafat; never is there a pronouncement by
Peres of his loyalty to the Jewish People and their
Jewish Heritage.
Unfortunately, there is a brazenness,
and incapability of respecting the “Will” of the Jewish People
on the part of Peres. He treats us all as if we are simpletons,
incapable of seeing what he conceives to be the needs of Israel.
Peres ignores all facts and proof which clearly demonstrate that
his policies have failed; that these policies had no chance of
bringing peace, especially relying on the murderer Arafat
as his “peace partner”. Therefore when Peres was called
upon by the “friendly” media to give his views on why it
was necessary for Netanyahu to meet directly with
Arafat, Peres came up with another of his classical
hypocricies: “it is time for some courage and decency.
Enough with cynicism.”
This comment, after Netanyahu had capitulated to the
inordinate pressure which Peres admits had been brought
upon the Israel Government by many forces for such a
direct meeting! For Peres to use the words “decency”
and “cynicism” in this context is indeed ludicrous.
Arafat is justifiably considered as evil incarnate by
many decent people, who still adhere to traditional
Biblical concepts of right and wrong; that the kind of
murder of Jews which Arafat has been engaged in over
many years, is clearly immoral. Arafat’s ability to
lie, cheat, and his continued unwillingness to disavow
his major immoral conduct, is ignored by Peres and
considered by him to be totally irrelevant. Peres dealt
closely with Arafat; he not only shook his “bloody” hand
with a broad smile, but actually publicly embraced him.
It is this same Peres who walked hand in hand with him,
who now tells us “Enough with cynicism” and virtually
applauds Netanyahu for finally coming around to see that he,
Peres, was right after all. Peres caps it all off with this
audacious and mind-boggling comment that “even in
politics, one must have the courage to speak the truth.”
Coming from a man whose career behavior has been plagued
by actions of deceit and skullduggery, especially toward
the Jewish People, this typically inapplicable platitudinous
statement rings hollow indeed.
And what is that “truth” as reported
in the media? Peres’ insistence that Netanyahu ” must
stand up and ask for forgiveness from him and Rabin and
admit he was wrong … that it was necessary to meet
Arafat?” The sad fact is that Peres has never stood up
and asked for forgiveness for the loss or maiming of
thousands of Jewish lives that have directly resulted
from his choice of Arafat as his “peace partner.” That
in turning over large tracts of historically Jewish land
to Arafat in Jericho, Shchem, Bethlehem and now Arafat’s
demand for Hebron, the Biblical moral admonition of the
Prophet Elijah the Tishbite is directly in point. The
Prophet could be talking to Arafat when Elijah said :
“Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? (Kings I
21:19) Yet Peres is exultant that Netanyahu has finally
followed in his master Peres’ hallowed footsteps, and
has seen the necessity, as he did, of embracing Arafat.
How sad that Peres, who has jettisoned his Jewish
Heritage overboard, and has totally abandoned the
eternal truths and morality of Judaism, finds it
essential that Netanyahu joins him in this moral crime.
Having said all this about Peres, it is
nevertheless appropriate to express grave disappointment
in Prime Minister Netanyahu having caved into the pressure
requiring him to meet with Arafat, and shake the hand which
is bloodstained with the murders of Jews. Whatever the extent
of the pressures put upon him by outside forces to meet now
with this PLO leader, that he did not insist prior to
such meeting that Arafat complies with all of the
obligations he undertook in the agreements Peres reached
with the PLO, did not demonstrate the moral courage and
strength expected of a dynamic Jewish leader. What
emerged from such an Arafat-Netanyahu meeting, was the
impression that pressures on Netanyahu yield positive
results in behalf of Arafat and his followers.
But what indeed of Netanyahu? He
certainly disappoints when he bowed to the admittedly
considerable pressure of foreign Governments and met
prematurely with Arafat before Arafat fulfilled the Arabs
obligations under Oslo. What a sad day for his followers
who hoped for a visionary, who had the strength and courage
to do the right thing in the face of his many potent
adversaries both within and without. He has inherited an Oslo
which was undemocratically foisted upon the Jewish
People by Peres and Beilin, without the Jewish People’s prior
consent for them to take such a disastrous course of action.
Forced to accept the foul deeds of the previous Government as
an existing reality, Netanyahu is virtually in a box
that Peres has created. Netanyahu says he reached his
decision to meet Arafat at this time prior to his
departure to the States without any U. S pressure
whatsoever. Alongside of these published remarks is a
headline which screams out at us that Secretary of State
Christopher “is pushing for regular talks of Netanyahu
with Arafat”. Careful Mr Prime Minister! Your word and
honesty are extremely important. Our Jewish People
public must have the necessary trust in you and in what
you say. Otherwise, in this regard, they will put you
in the category of “no better than Peres.”
Ruth Matar
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Jerusalem, September 12, 1996
Jewish Nationalism is Alive and Well
The pronouncement by Shimon Peres that he
is happy that the national camp is dead in Israel, is a
bit premature. True the Maccabees are literally dead.
True King David and King Solomon are literally dead.
True the heroes that fell in the 1948, 1967 and 1973
wars are not here to tell us what they were fighting
for then, and for whom. But the spirit of these Jewish
heroes is very much alive today, even if Mr. Peres
would have it otherwise. Yes, Jewish nationalism still
has some meaning and content, even though it seems to
be irrelevant to Shimon Peres, and his poodle Yossi
Beilin.
The fact of the matter is that one of
the greatest sources of Jewish Nationalism is Judaism
itself, and that is why Mr. Peres has been conducting
outright psychological warfare against this religion.
His New Middle East has no place in it for a vibrant
and meaningful Jewish State, and so his solemn
announcement that Jewish nationalism has disappeared is
merely just his way of saying that such an absence of
Jewish nationalism is absolutely necessary for his
“Utopia” to work.
Unfortunately, what would fill the void
left if Judaism would depart from our midst was
revealed by that Israeli phenomenon, Aviv Gefen, the
effeminate, lipstick wearing “pop” singer who
purportedly has a huge following among secular Israeli
Jewish youth. That empty shell, and pagan philosopher
of the “new era” which would replace Judaism, has come
up with the sagacious advice which epitomizes Peres’
aftermath of the death of Jewish nationalism. Gefen
calls for Israeli youth to pack their bags and leave
Israel, now that we have a Prime Minister who actually
identifies with his Jewish Heritage, and his ancestral
and historical homeland in Judea and Shomron.
Gefen apparently has been forgiven by
his new admirer and friend Leah Rabin. Not long before
Yitzhak Rabin’s death, Gefen wrote a song where he
clearly depicts Rabin as a an outright drunkard. His
frank and accurate observation is now being overlooked
by Leah Rabin; after all, Gefen was singing the “Peace
Song” on the evening of Rabin’s assassination, so he
can’t be all that bad. Peres was not here in the
country at the time Gefen made his recent remarks. He
was abroad lecturing his stale vision that had been
thoroughly rejected by Jewish voters; (as he himself
was for the fifth time.) But even Peres would have been
disapproving and would have found the Gefen call to
abandon Israel a bit much. Yet Gefen is the direct
outcome of what Israel is without the controlling force
of Judaism at its center and core. It is not simple
nationalistic phrasing when our sages wrote that:
“The Land of Israel without the Torah is like a body
without a soul.” If you are deeply identified with
your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you could not,
as Peres did, sign an agreement which would give up
your ancestor’s home Hebron to the Arabs. However,
only a person who has no sense of history, and
possesses little faith, could justify his
shortsightedness by arguing that we must abandon Hebron
because the Arabs at this stage in our long history,
heavily outnumber the Hebron Jews. There are few
People on this Earth who can point with pride to the
actual burial place of their illustrious forefathers,
as can the Jews of the world. Moreover, these Jewish
giants of moral and ethical and spiritual behavior lie
buried under an imposing structure which the Jews built
more than two thousand years ago, which still stands
today in Hebron. When you have no nationalistic
feeling, you are capable of abandoning, as Peres did
via Oslo, Jericho, Shchem, Bethlehem and Hebron, and to
say what Gefen said, calling for his many fans to quit
Israel.
That is why the nationalist camp, which
prominently includes Women In Green, decided to mount a
vigil for Hebron in downtown Jerusalem to help firm up
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s view of Hebron as an ancient
Jewish City where the Jews have an historical right to
live and freely settle and to grow, without fear and
intimidation. Women In Green were there in great
numbers, giving out car stickers to the many passing
vehicles. We had produced these car stickers which
read in Hebrew: “Hebron the City of the Patriarchs, Is
ours forever” It is quite a ludicrous situation where
certain callous segments of the world community are
mounting pressure on Netanyahu to turn over large
segments of Hebron to Arab control, and thus expose the
Jewish Community once again to the extinction that the
Arabs perpetrated against it in 1929.
At the opening ceremony of the vigil
there were many prominent speakers, including former
Knesset Member HaEtzni, Knesset Members Ze’evi and Rav
Benny Alon, Author Moshe Shamir, Nadia Matar and others.
Parts of Nadia’s short talk was picked up on Israeli Television
that evening which gave her an even wider audience for
the important “nationalistic” comments she made. The
Jerusalem Post reporter who wrote up the event,
observed that of all the speakers Nadia was the most
enthusiastically received. No, Mr. Peres, Jewish
nationalism is not dead. It is alive and well in
Jerusalem, and amongst the great majority of Jews
everywhere.
Ruth Matar
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Jerusalem, September 17, 1996
MEDIA RELEASE MEDIA RELEASE
Hebron Revisited
Women In Green’s response to yesterday’s
Arab rioting in Hebron is both immediate and emphatic:
“We will not be intimidated!” Descendants of murderers
of the entire Jewish Community in 1929 will not be rewarded.
Jewish property that was stolen by Arabs as a result
of this 1929 pogrom, should not now be allowed to be occupied
by Arab stores located on this property, which endanger the
adjacent renewed Jewish Community in Hebron.
Women In Green are therefore
travelling to Hebron to conduct a fact finding tour
of this ancient Jewish City, which will clearly
demonstrate the exact nature of the dangers which the
existing Jewish Community would be exposed to if the
IDF redeploys in the area. The IDF would be
replaced by Arab police, whose known track record of
violence against Jews dates back to the British
Mandate era.
Special vehicles have been hired
for the occasion, which will allow visiting areas that
tour buses to Hebron do not cover. These cars will leave
from the LaRomme Hotel in Jerusalem, on Wednesday, September
18, 1996 at 8:30 A.M. and will return at 14:00 that afternoon.
The fact finding in Hebron will commence at 9:30 A.M. from
the Gutnick Center.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, September 18, 1996
A Call For Leadership
There is a great deal of nonsense being
bandied about these days concerning Hebron.
Shimon Peres is typically lying to the Knesset
when he told its members recently that Arafat has
fulfilled all the PLO’s obligations under Oslo within
the past six months, and therefore called for the IDF’s
immediate re-deployment in Hebron. Netanyahu is talking
out of both sides of his mouth telling the world that
Hebron is an ancient Jewish City and about the right of
the Jews to live there, but at the same time says that
he is bound by the prior acts of Peres re Oslo
concerning re-deploying in Hebron with some “slight
modifications.” The Hebron Jewish Community is sick
with fear and apprehension, because no positive actions
are coming forth from the Prime Minister, not even
personal words of encouragement or assurances. The
beautiful phrases he spoke before the U.S. Congress have
turned out to be empty words so far, and disappointment
and despair have replaced the high hopes that prevailed
following his election.
Interestingly enough even Peres initially
thought Hebron had a unique status compared to the other
areas he had ceded to the PLO in the Oslo “deal.” About
a year ago when Rabin and Peres had visited Hebron, they
themselves made the unsolicited observation: “The IDF
must not withdraw from Hebron, as Hebron is different
from the other cities.”
A Jewish Community had been reestablished
there after 1967, when we regained possession of this
ancient Jewish City, the home and burial place of our
Patriarchs. Although presently not a large Jewish
Community, its small numbers were a direct result of the
former Government’s inappropriate and deliberate severe
restrictions on its growth. Nevertheless, the Jewish
Community has ancient roots in Hebron; they have been
there continuously for an amazing period of almost 4,000
years, before Jewish presence in that city was
temporarily disrupted by the Arab riots of 1929. In
that Arab mayhem, in addition to the slaughter of many
innocent Jewish residents, and their expulsion from the
City, a great deal of Jewish property was wrongfully
confiscated by the Arabs.
There is overwhelming and impressive historical
proof of the deep roots and ties of the Jews with
Hebron. There are specific references in the Bible
about our forefathers living there, and that our Jewish
ancestor Abraham purchased a large burial site in
Hebron. It is recounted there specifically that not
only his wife Sarah, but he, as well as the Patriarchs
Isaac and Jacob are buried on this purchased plot, along
with the Matriarchs Rebecca and Leah. There is,
moreover, other evidence of Hebron’s ties to the Jews.
There is an imposing edifice built by King Herod over
the sites of our ancestors’ graves, dating back some
2,000 years. That building which is a prominent
architectural feature of this ancient city, predates by
many, many centuries the Arab or Moslem presence in this
ancient Biblical City. Actually more than 90% of the
present Arab population in Hebron, has immigrated into
the area from neighboring Arab countries within the last
100 years or so.
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Peres was apparently prepared to sacrifice
the present Jewish minority, and the ancient Jewish City
of Hebron itself under Oslo. It was an unparalleled act
in history of a leader of a State voluntarily abandoning
the historical rights of his People to their ancient
Land! In any other country, such a leader would be
considered a traitor, and probably be tried for treason.
But Peres’ skillful and deceptive and essentially
illegal manipulations concerning Oslo fooled and
benumbed many Jews! Taking advantage of Israel’s Jews’
spiritual and war weariness, and not acting on the basis
of the Party platform on which his Party was elected,
and without getting the necessary approval beforehand
from the Jewish People, Peres made a pact with the devil
Arafat. He thought he was divesting Israel of the
troublesome “West Bank” via Oslo. He disguised the
essence of this pact by falsely telling the Jewish
People that by virtue of the Oslo Accord he would bring
an era of peace to the Jews; such a deceptive “peace
bait” was extremely tempting to many war weary Jews.
A large majority of the Jews of Israel came
to their senses at the first opportunity offered to
them, and rejected the Peres panacea, or at least the
method he chose to reach the desired goal of peace.
Oslo, they all saw, had miserably failed; Arafat by his
chicanery and continued enmity of Israel and the Jewish
People had fooled no one. Yet Netanyahu hesitates, is
silent, and fails to spell out to his eople and to the
world at large the truth about Hebron, and the grave dangers
Jews would be exposed to there and elsewhere should Hebron
be treated as the other areas which Shimon Peres has turned
over to Arafat. Not a word is said by Netanyahu how the
Hebron Arabs have been particularly hostile to the Jews;
there is not a scintilla of proof offered or demanded
that their attitudes have changed. It is suicidal under
such circumstances to go ahead with any kind of transfer
to them of control of any area, where their track record
has been so bad. It is irresponsible of Netanyahu to
cause his main supporters such worry and concern, and it
is extremely short sighted on his part as well. He
simply can not afford to disillusion and lose his former
staunch loyal supporters by ignoring their concerns.
But the unkindest cut of all, was the
performance by the Arabs of Hebron led by their mayor
Mustafe Natshe on Monday, September 16, 1996. They
sought to open by force stores adjacent to where Jews are
living, which had been closed to avoid Arab attacks.
These stores are all located on Jewish property which was
unlawfully confiscated by the Arabs as a result of the 1929
pogrom. It is this same Arab Mayor Natshe who has previously
proclaimed that his aim is to once again forbid Jews, as Arabs
in the past have done, to pray at the tombs of their Jewish
ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Are the Arab riots in Hebron
and the Mayor’s planned restrictions on Jewish prayer,
portents of things to come?
That is why Women In Green believed it
incumbent upon the Jews to immediately respond to these Arab
threats and other foreign pressures on Netanyahu
to comply with Peres’ unjustifiable giveaway of Hebron
under Oslo. Accordingly, they traveled to Hebron on
Wednesday, September 18, 1996, in an immediate response
to the Arab riots there that past Monday, to demonstrate
in behalf of the majority of Jews in this Land their
solidarity with the brave and exposed Jewish Community
in Hebron; in addition, it was decided to conduct a
fact finding tour of Hebron, pointing out specifically
to the Netanyahu Government the many pitfalls: i.e. the
shooting down with the multitudinous weaponry in Arab
hands today as a result of Oslo, on the houses of the
Jewish Community which are all located in the lower
portions of Hebron, once IDF re-deployment would take
place. Nadia Matar appeared on radio and television
during this Hebron tour, protesting the Oslo re-deployment
from Hebron. She argued that if such re-deployment is to
take place, it should not be done until there is full
assurance for the safety and well being of the entire Jewish
Community, and its right to grow and expand, and until there
was at least full reciprocity by the PLO of its commitments
under Oslo. Such reciprocity would include but not be limited to:
the revocation of the PLO covenant ( When the PLO met
for the express purpose to amend its Charter it
appointed instead a Committee to report back within six
months recommendations for such amendments to the
Charter. Five months have elapsed since then, and
significantly no such Committee has even been
appointed.); extradition of the murderers of Jews
walking about freely in PLO controlled areas; a
cessation of the anti-Israel propaganda in PLO schools
and media; a demonstrable control of terrorist activity
in the areas previously ceded to the PLO which includes
an effective crack down on existing terrorist groups
operating in and from such areas. It was necessary to
send a message to the Netanyahu Government to be strong
and not capitulate to the callous demands of outsiders
that Israel comply with that portion of Oslo that they
say requires the Jews to turn over Hebron to Arab
control; without foolproof security for the Jewish
populace, and adequate protection of Jewish holy sites
first being worked out, there can be no turnover of any
sector of Hebron to Arab control. Such a turnover, as
presently written in the Oslo Accord, would spell
certain death to the Jewish Community in Hebron! Any re
deployment of the IDF will have Arab policemen replace
our soldiers. Unfortunately, we have a vivid experience
of Arab police dating back to the British Mandate. In
Arab riots against Jews in Jaffa, and Jerusalem, the
Arab police actually joined the rioters in murdering and
maiming innocent Jews. Even though Peres claims there
is little he can learn from history, the Jews of Hebron
are not prepared to experience a repeat performance of
the past.
However, the worrisome aspect of the whole
Hebron affair is the fear that Netanyahu will not measure
up to the needs for dynamic leadership that the present
dangerous situation calls for. What must be made known to
the Arabs of Hebron, and to the world at large, including
America, is that Netanyahu is not Peres, and that
Zionism is a vibrant factor in the Government’s policies
once again. That we Jews will not permit anyone to tell
us where we can live in Israel. That Hebron is a Jewish
Biblical City and is ours! It was ours before the Arabs
ever lived there, and it is ours in the present, and
will remain that way in the future. Rabbi Shlomo
Aviner, head of the Hesder Yeshiva Ateret Cohanim in the
Old City of Jerusalem, put it bluntly on the radio when
he emphatically stated: “We would love to have cordial
relations with all of our neighbors; but these can not
be based on a lie! The great lie that Hebron is theirs
(Arabs) cannot form a basis for understanding. ‘Have
you then murdered, and also inherited?’ They (Arabs)
slaughtered tens of innocent Jews in cold blood – which
we will never forget – and then come and claim that
Hebron is theirs?! This lie based on theft and murder,
cannot be the foundation on which to build relations of
peace. Relations of understanding and friendship in
Hebron must be predicated on the eternal truth that
Hebron is, and will always be, ours.” If only Netanyahu
would express himself as emphatically on Hebron as has
Rav Aviner, the Jews of Hebron and the great majority of
Jews who elected him, would feel much more at ease.
Ruth Matar
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Jerusalem, September 25, 1996
What Kind of “Peace” Do We Have with Egypt?
A relatively peaceful Yom Kippur has come
and gone. This is the time of year given to reflection,
and most important, a time when our thoughts should
be containing the least amount of sham and illusion.
We ought to be dealing with things as they really are.
Reality may not always be pleasant, but an awareness of
things as they really are is quite necessary, if our
future course of action is to be wise and prudent, and
disasters are to be avoided. That perception is applicable
not only to individuals, but to our nation as well. But
Yom Kippur deals not only with a review of our actions over
the past year. It encompasses the Yom Kippurs that have gone
by, and our past successes and failures relating to our
correcting our past mistakes, and bringing our decisions and
vows, to fruition. Outstanding among our memories should be
the Yom Kippur War that occurred some 23 years ago.
This was not just any other Arab War
against the Jews. It was virtually an open expression of
contempt for the God of Israel by the surrounding Arab nations
who attacked Israel at that time. The day chosen to
commence the war, clearly demonstrated the deep hatred
and contempt the Arabs had for the Jewish People, and
their religion. It is often recognized that the reason
the Arabs attacked the Jews on their holiest day of the
year was an obvious military strategic ploy. The
surface reasoning of the Arabs was not difficult to
fathom. The Jewish People would be taken completely by
surprise. They would not conceive that anyone would be
so scurrilous as to wage an attack against them on such
a God centered day of Atonement. No other nation or
nations, pagan or otherwise, had ever resorted to such
a strategy to attack Israel on Yom Kippur. The total
lack of moral and religious restraints shown by Egypt
and the Arabs against the Jews in initiating the 1973
War on Yom Kippur is one of the realities that we must
recognize when Israel devises a strategy for survival.
Unfortunately, as even Arafat himself has privately
expressed, the Oslo Accord has not in any way changed
this pernicious attitude among the Arabs towards the
Jews.
Egypt was one of the foremost leaders of
the 1973 Yom Kippur attack on Israel; it was led by
Anwar Sadat, who at the time was an open and avowed
enemy of Israel. Unsuccessful, despite the sacrilegious
Yom Kippur attack, in accomplishing the
destruction of Israel through open warfare, his
realistic appraisal brought him to the conclusion that a
paper peace could probably achieve in the long run, the
same goal he sought to accomplish by joining in the 1973 War,
i.e. the destruction of Israel. Having been saved
just in time by the Americans and Europeans from Arik
Sharon’s leading a total conquest of Egypt, war was
recognized by Sadat as not being the proper tool or
means to destroy Israel. It had proven to be far too
risky.
Temporarily swallowing his pride and
hatred, he made the necessary pilgrimage to Jerusalem
and the Knesset, and as a reward he got back all of the
Sinai and more. Camp David was an accord rewarding
Egypt as a defeated aggressor. They gave up virtually
nothing, except for a promise of peace and received
under the original “land for peace” formula even the
destruction of an established Jewish “settlement” in
Yamit; the failure of the resistance to Yamit helped
Peres when he went even further and devised and
hammered through the disastrous Oslo Accord.
One of the most “make believe” fantasies
of our times is ascribing to Sadat a statesmanship whereby
Sadat suddenly saw the “light,” reversed his former hostile
outlook and intentions, and sought to make a true and lasting
peace with Israel. As part of the “wishful thinking”
phenomenon that has cursed our war weary nation, we
have attributed to Sadat motives that had no relation
to reality. If indeed our goal is to obtain a workable
peace arrangement for Israel with its neighbors, and
the Arabs who live in Israel, and in Judea and Samaria,
we must not enjoy the luxury of self-delusion.
The reality is that Sadat, and his
successor Hosni Mubarak are cut from the same cloth.
Mubarak is no different than Sadat, a true enemy of Israel;
either would have joined with any forces to destroy Israel
if it appeared that there was a reasonable chance of success.
When it is considered that Egypt is the recipient of huge
American foreign aid, and notwithstanding has openly flaunted
its peace agreement with Israel, you can begin to realize the
depth of the hostility of Egypt towards Israel. Egypt
apparently is not prevented by the U.S., despite the
billions of dollars it annually receives from
America, from its almost daily verbal and other acts
of hostility towards Israel. In its media and in the
hostile statements and threats continuously emanating
from Mubarak, Egypt has no fear of putting such aid in
jeopardy by such unwarranted and unjustified attacks.
Moreover, no one seriously points out, significantly
not even the U.S., that such attacks are in violation
of Egypt’s obligations to Israel under the terms of
Camp David.
The recent hullabaloo Egypt raised
concerning its vigorous opposition to Israel having
nuclear capability, is just another indication of the
one-sided hostility and suspicion it still maintains
towards Israel. And the continued threats it has made
of calling off a scheduled November Middle East
Economic Conference unless Israel carries out what
Egypt determines is required to be done under Oslo, is
still another grotesque showing of its usual, unchanged
Arab parochial view and unfairness when it comes to any
question concerning Israel. Egypt’s not allowing
Israel to attend purported international book fairs,
and other “conferences” in Egypt, and Mubarak refusing
to visit Israel, (except to witness the burial of Rabin)
are more of the same, and incompatible with and a violation
of the peace arrangement it entered into with Israel. The most
telling and audacious bit of news, as reported by
Reuters, was that the recent “war maneuvers” conducted
by Egypt are called by them “Badr II”. It will be
recalled that “Badr I” was the name given to the
maneuvers preceding the Egyptian Yom Kippur War attack
against Israel in 1973. The evidence is overwhelming
and all to the same effect, with regard to Egypt; the
realities are that you must continuously cast a wary
and cautious eye on this neighbor, because her actions
are extremely worrisome and contrary to the Camp David
peace treaty with Israel.
That is why it was a healthy development,
distinguishing the present Netanyahu Government from the
one that Peres led, to call in the Egyptian Ambassador to
protest the stream of hate and threats coming out of Egypt
of late, led by Mubarak himself. Mubarak has ceased to make
any pretenses that Egypt is at peace with Israel. Instead
he attempts to demean Netanyahu and Israel by accusing
Netanyahu of going back on his promises to him
concerning the Oslo Accord. He has threatened Israel
by saying that an Arab uprising, worse than the
intafada was going to break out, unless Israel gave
Hebron over to Arafat. Mubarak has never once
criticized Arafat for the undemocratic and sometimes
brutal nature of his leadership in areas which he
controls; nor has Mubarak so much as even once hinted
that the Arabs were not complying with the obligations
they undertook under Oslo as to adequately preventing
terrorism, extraditing murderers of Jews who are in
areas controlled by Arafat, nor in actuality amending
the PLO Charter of clauses which seek the destruction
of Israel.
Any impartial observer of Egypt in action
today, would caution Israel to proceed with the utmost
caution when dealing with Oslo. If Camp David
concerning relations with Egypt is any indication of
what execution of the Arab doctrine “Land for Peace”
will bring, it may well deter further concessions
concerning Oslo. Certainly, the repetition of the same
formula of an “empty” peace is not to be tolerated.
Syria has learned from Egypt that it need not make any
meaningful concessions, nor amend its hostile
attitudes, in order to wring concessions from a war
weary Israel, and a Netanyahu who has proven himself to
be subject to pressures. Arafat is not far behind,
learning well from his mentor Mubarak. Netanyahu,
beware! Peace, although a desired objective, is still
a long way off. “Land for Peace” is not a working or
successful formula, if Egypt is any indication. Rather
a realistic approach is called for, proceeding slowly
but surely, without endangering the historic Land of
Israel, or the security of its Jewish inhabitants in
the process. We must insure that today’s concessions
do not lead to tomorrow’s catastrophes.
Ruth Matar
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Jerusalem, September 26, 1996
“You Gave Them the Guns which Kill Our Children”
Shimon Peres’ grandiose claims, as
reported in the media, that the last four years under
the Peres regime have been the best thing that has
happened to the Jews in all of the 4,000 years of
Jewish history, reminds us of the insane asylum’s
classic joke. When a doctor in that institution questioned one of
the inmates as to who told him he was, as he was
claiming, Napoleon, he answered unequivocally, that God
told him so. Whereupon an inmate from the other end
of the room listening to the conversation, indignantly
replied: “I did not!”
Peres is on a roll. He is not
satisfied with his ridiculous claim that Oslo and
his pact with Arafat was the best thing that has
happened to the Jews over the past hundred years; he
claims that his feat was more important than the return of
the Jews from the four corners of the earth to their Promised
Land, the re-founding of the Jewish State, and the rebuilding of
the Land of Israel by the Jewish pioneers. Now he has
gone even futher. He cavelierly dismisses the Exodus
from Egypt, the parting of the sea the giving of the Bible
Moses, King David and King Solomon, the building of the
First and Second Temple,the Prophets, the great sages,
the writing of the Mishneh, and the Talmud, all
monumental events in Jewish history. All those events
are surpassed by the accomplishments of Shimon Peres
over the past four years in bringing Arafat and Oslo to
the Jewish People. It is not important that the Jewish
People have rejected Peres and his claims of what he
has done for them, on five different occasions.
Nor does it faze Peres that some people think of him as
a traitor,and a seller out of Zionism, and the Jewish
People. Playing God, as the man in the asylum, he feels
no need to explain or justify his actions to the Jewish
People.
Women In Green, however, are more
realistic. They know what harm Peres has done to
the Jewish People by entering into Oslo with Arafat,
the murderer and mortal enemy of the Jewish People.
In the light of the recent riots, instigated by Arafat,
where the guns that Peres gave to the PLO under Oslo
are being used to kill our soldiers and our fellow Jews,
Women In Green are holding a protest against the
results of the nightmare that Peres has created for the
Jews over the past four years. Jewish history which
Peres usually scorns, will eventually record his infamous
and deleterious actions. In the meantime. we will be
demonstrating about his outlandish claims at the
Mashbir Plaza, in downtown Jerusalem, on Friday at
9:30 A.M., on September 27, 1996, under the theme:
“You gave them the guns which kill our children.”
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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*********************************************
Jerusalem, September 26, 1996
Arab Rioting – A Forerunner of Things to Come in Hebron
The Arab rioting, that has been occurring
in many places in Jerusalem and throughout Judea and Samaria
and in the Gush Katif area, is a sad omen of things to come.
The pretext for the commencement of these riots was the
dedication of the new Hasmonean Tunnel and its official opening.
In Jerusalem there was a repeat of an attack made several years
ago at this time of the year by Arabs on Jewish worshippers at
the Western Wall. Stones were thrown from the Temple
Mount area down at worshipping Jews and the Police
reacted to this latest attack by clearing the Western
Wall of Jews, while stopping the attacks from above.
Prior to the incident, the Old City Police broke up a
large hostile group of Arabs that attempted to block the
newly dedicated entrance to the Western Wall Hasmonean
Tunnel. In Ramallah, and in Bethlehem near Rachel’s
Tomb, there was also rioting. The Ramallah episode was
the far more ominous riot, where live bullets were fired
by PLO police at IDF soldiers; this went beyond the
serious stone throwing by Arab youth in other locations.
There were seven Arabs who lost their lives when the IDF
returned fire, after Arafat’s police initiated firing at
our soldiers, in clear violation of Oslo.
The rioting started without any provocation
whatsoever, and seemed to be encouraged by a PLO
strategy which sought to bring pressure on the Netanyahu
Government to leave Hebron immediately, and as a reaction
to the pressures being brought against Arafat by
Netanyahu with regard to illegal operations of the
Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem. Ostensibly the cause
of the rioting was given as the opening of the Hasmonean
Tunnel, but that tourist attraction had little or nothing
to do with any Arab grievance, as it was predicted that
it would bring many tourists to the area, and would be
financially beneficial to Arab merchants.
Of course, as was expected, Meretz
and the Labor contingent led by former Labor Tourist
Minister Uzi Baram, who had approved and was in favor of
the whole Hasmonean Tunnel project, deplored the “untimely”
opening of this tourist attraction. He was joined in this railing
at the opposition, by none other than Jerusalem’s former
mayor Kollek, who is still nursing his severe defeat by
the electorate. Kollek also had been in favor of the “project”
but did not hesitate to put the blame on Netanyahu.
Both typically said nary a word of criticism of Arafat’s
Police who tried to kill our soldiers. And of course Shimon
Peres weighed in with his usual disloyal comments. This great
historian contributed this ludicrous observation, that Netanyahu
was now ruining the “previous four years which were the
best in all of the Jewish People’s 4,000 year history.”
What a vain and foolish man Peres is! He has taken up
the Arab line of re-writing and falsifying Jewish
History, and that is unpardonable. Our glorious history
of the Bible, Moses and his magnificent dialogue with the
Lord and his receiving the Torah for the Jewish People,
our world famous prophets, King David’s Psalms, and King
Solomon’s Proverbs, in his distorted and myopic view,
all fall into nothingness compared to the accomplishments of
Shimon Peres giving up the Promised Land to the Arabs
in the name of a false “peace.”
Just the day before, the Arabs had rioted
in Hebron itself, for a second time. Again, the reason
given was that Israel was not permitting the Arabs to
open stores adjacent to the area where the Jews resided.
Ironically these stores are located on Jewish Property
which the Arabs had seized as a result of their 1929 pogrom.
This second wave of rioting was led by Hanan Ashrawi, whose
impudence and raucous Arab partianship blinds her ability to
play a proper leadership role in behalf of her People.
What have we learned from this turn of
events? Serious as these developments are, there may be
a silver lining in what occurred. It came at a time when
Netanyahu, succumbing to intense pressures, was seriously
considering complying with Oslo as it pertains to Hebron,
with some “modifications.” As a consequence Arab armed
police would be operating within firing range of the
existing Jewish Community there, and the IDF soldiers
patrolling around the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Given the
even greater hostility of the Hebron Arabs to a Jewish
presence in that City, it does not take a great amount of
wisdom or clairvoyance to predict that a re-deployment in
Hebron at this time would lead to a serious endangerment
of Jewish women, men and children living in Hebron.
Particularly is this true when the Jews live in the
valley, and the hills surrounding them are what is
scheduled to be turned over to Arafat under Oslo.
Women In Green foresaw the problem even
prior to the dangers revealed by the Arab rioting which
took place yesterday all over Israel, including the
“territories.” Our women had predicted that the guns
that Peres was giving over to the Palestinian Authority
would one day be used against us. Arab police in the
Mandate period proved themselves completely untrustworthy
when Arabs attacked Jews, and instead of protecting the
Jews, actually joined in those Arab riots in the past.
So yesterday was merely a repeat performance by the
Arabs. There is truly nothing new under the sun.
On Friday morning, September 20, 1996, our
women delayed their preparations for the oncoming
Shabbat, because of the imminent danger the Jews of
Hebron were facing. The Cabinet was to meet that
morning and the topic of Hebron was no doubt a
matter on the agenda. In a lawful vigil outside the Prime
Minister’s office, our women in their green hats were
there to protest against the virtual abandonment of our
prized possession, the ancient Jewish City of Hebron,
and its present Jewish population It was a protest
against sheer madness, and committing national suicide.
We brought with us David Perkins, who is an expert in
sounding the Shofar, and whose Shofar blasts were
intended to awaken the Jewish souls of these
Ministers. The Shofar was a call to them to remain loyal
to Hebron as a Biblical Jewish City, and to remind them
of the Arab pogrom in 1929 which destroyed the ancient
Jewish Community which had lived there continuously for
almost 4,000 years. Nadia Matar spoke before television,
radio and press, emphasizing the danger to which this
Government would be exposing our Jews in their own Land,
in their own ancient Jewish City.
And less than a week later, the Arabs
showed us all what they are capable of with the guns Peres
had given them. No greater proof was needed with regard to
what we should be doing with regard to Hebron, and to
show us the magnitude of the danger to which we would be
exposing our Jewish brethren. When Netanyahu returns from
his brief European trip, we are hopeful that in the light of this
recent Arab rioting, and Arafat’s leading role in provoking
same, he will do what is right and proper. And what is that?
To indefinitely delay any further steps being taken with
regard to Hebron until there is first of all a complete
compliance or reciprocity by the Arabs of their basic
obligations under Oslo: No violence, riots or terror against
Jews over an extended period of time; the extraditing of Arab
murderers; the specific amendment of all of the clauses of
the PLO Charter calling for the destruction of the State of
Israel; the immediate cessation of all hostile statements
against Israel over the Palestinian controlled media, and
a complete revision of its educational texts to eliminate
all reference of hatred and dislike for the Jewish People
and the State of Israel. There are many more Arab
violations of Oslo, many more. The above mentioned could
serve as appropriate starters.
Ruth Matar