Dear Friends,

This letter of mine from Jerusalem reads like a play, a theatrical performance with a plot, with actors, and with hopefully a happy ending.

These are principal actors:

1.     PEACE NOW

Peace Now is a left-wing non-governmental organization in Israel. Its agenda is to convince the Israeli government that the only possibility to achieve peace with the Arabs is based on the formula "Israeli land for peace."

2.     BARGHOUTI

Headline in the Jerusalem Post: "Barghouti Sends Message to Peace Now on Group’s 30th Anniversary"

Jailed terrorist leader Marwan Barghouti called for a comprehensive cease-fire and affirmed his support for a two state solution in a message he sent to Israelis on the eve of Peace Now’s 30th anniversary event.

This is the same Barghouti who is still in an Israeli jail serving five life sentences for his involvement in terror attacks that killed numerous Israelis.

To attain peace now- notwithstanding what the Palestinians are saying or doing- has always required the group to almost willfully disregard the unpleasant realities of the Arab-Israeli conflict.  Its emphasis is exclusively on what Israelis should concede, as if our collective craving for peace alone can supernaturally overcome Palestinian intransigence, incitement, internal upheaval, and the culture of violence.

The Jerusalem Post editorial writer maintains that "most Israelis are reconciled to a Palestinian state."  [RM:  This is absolutely
untrue!  More than half of Israel’s Jewish and Arab populations believe that the two communities are not on good terms and that
relations are likely to deteriorate in the future, according to the annual Arab-Jewish Relations Index for 2007.]

According to the index, which assesses Jewish-Arab relations in Israel, 62 percent of the Jewish public expressed concerns that the
local Arab population would eventually engage in civil disobedience, with 64% saying they refused to enter Arab towns.

3.     YULI TAMIR

Another prominent person in the Peace Now organization is Yuli Tamir. She is, in fact, one of the founders of Peace Now. She is
presently the Education Minister in Ehud Olmert’s Kadima-led coalition government. Yuli Tamir is outspokenly anti-religious. She
has drastically cut the religious education budget.

One of the most incredible decisions of Yuli Tamir was to have her ministry approve a school text describing the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 as ‘Nakba,’ or catastrophe, for use in Israeli-Arab schools!

Yisrael Beitenu chairman Avigdor Lieberman slammed this decision of Tamir, calling it an example of the Israeli left-wing’s "political masochism."  Knesset state control chairman Zevulun Orlev commanded that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert fire Tamir immediately, which Olmert declined to do.

Yuli Tamir helped organize the first Peace Now rally in Rabin Square in 1978. Peace Now has grown over the last 30 years. It has become known particularly for its work in tracking and publicizing settlement activity.  Yuli Tamir uses this information to prevent new settlements. This work is funded by the European Union and, unfortunately, by some misguided American Jews.

4.     PASTOR JOHN HAGEE

Hagee is the President and CEO of John Hagee Ministries, which telecasts his national radio and television ministry carried in
America on 160 TV stations, fifty radio stations and eight networks including The Inspiration Network (INSP) and Trinity Broadcasting Network. The ministries can be seen and heard weekly in 99 million homes. John Hagee Ministries is in Canada on the Miracle Channel and CTS and can be seen in Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and is in most third world nations.

He is also the president and CEO of Global Evangelism Television, which telecasts his radio and television ministry. Hagee has received numerous honors and accolades from national Jewish organizations for his unwavering support of Israel. In pursuit of his support of Israel, Hagee,along with 400 leaders from the Christian and Jewish communities, formed Christians United for Israel (CUFI) on February 7, 2006. This organization is focused on communicating the need to defend Israel, in light of Biblically based matters, with members of the United States Congress.

Hagee has denounced replacement theology; he believes the Bible commands Christians to support Israel and the Jewish people.

Because the territory of what is now Israel, Gaza and the West Bank was ruled by the Ottoman Turks prior to World War I, then controlled by the British, and later partitioned under United Nations mandate, Hagee argues that the land does not belong to the Arabs. The name Palestine (deriving from the ancient Philistines) was imposed by the Roman emperor Hadrian to punish the Jews for their revolt against Rome. Hagee maintains there is no Palestinian language, no historic Palestinian nation: most people claiming to be Palestinians immigrated from other Arab states.

Hagee says that Iran will never respond favorably to diplomacy and is a threat to Western civilization. To eliminate Iran’s alleged nuclear programme, he supports an American-Israeli pre-emptive military strike.  Hagee supports the Neo-Conservative movement in the United States.

The San Antonio B’nai B’rith Council awarded Hagee with its "Humanitarian of the Year" award. It was the first time this award
was given to a gentile. Hagee was presented the ZOA Israel Award by U.N. Ambassador Jean Kirkpatrick. This award was given by the Jewish Community of Dallas, Texas. He was presented the ZOA Service Award by Texas Governor Mark White. Houston Mayor Kathy Whitmire issued a special proclamation in his honor declaring Pastor John C. Hagee Day.

Hagee has been to Israel twenty-two times and has met with every Prime Minister since Menachem Begin. John Hagee Ministries has given more than $8.5 million to bring Soviet Jews from the former Soviet Union to Israel. Hagee is the Founder and Executive Director of "A Night to Honor Israel", an event which expresses solidarity between Christians and Jews on behalf of Jerusalem, the State of Israel and the United States.

5. ERIC H. YOFFIE

Eric Yoffie is the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, the congregational arm of the Reform Jewish movement in North America.

On August 31, 2007, Rabbi Yoffie gave remarks at the Islamic Society of North America’s 44th annual convention in Chicago, Illinois.  He states that, "the time has come to listen to our Muslim neighbors speak, from their heart and in their own words, about the spiritual power of Islam and their own religion."

Yoffie urged Jewish organizations not to cooperate with Hagee’s Christian Zionists arguing that they hurt Israel’s interests. Yoffie claimed that Hagee and his followers are opposed to a two state solution, thereby diminishing chances for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Pastor Hagee’s answer to Rabbi Yoffie was as follows: "Our opinions aside, Israel is a free country. CUFI’s fundamental philosophy from day one has been that Israelis and Israelis alone have the right to make existential decisions about land and peace.  The only lobbying I did on that issue was to try to persuade the US government not to pressure Israel into adopting policies it was reluctant to carry out."

It is most painful to realize that the Christian Pastor sees Israel’s situation more clearly than does the Jewish Rabbi.

With Blessings and Love for Israel,

Ruth Matar

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Women For Israel’s Tomorrow  (Women in Green)
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