Media Releases – March 2000
March 2000
March 1, 2000 A New Intifada
March 1, 2000 Letter to Lionel Jospin, Prime Minister of France
March 5, 2000 Arafat and the Pope on the Temple Mount
March 8, 2000 Readiness Conference for the Women of Jerusalem and Yesha
March 8, 2000 National Convention of WIG, New York, April 9
March 9, 2000 Protest Vigil Following Shooting
March 10, 2000 A Petition
March 12, 2000 An Israeli Court Votes Against A Jewish State
March 12, 2000 Is Indyk Interfering in Israel’s Affairs
March 14, 2000 Action Alert
March 15, 2000 Women’s Manifesto
March 16, 2000 You Can Help Too
March 19, 2000 Response to Rabbis Who Blessed Arafat
March 22, 2000 More on Rabbis Blessing Arafat
March 23, 2000 Yet Another False Messiah
March 27, 2000 Demonstration for Neguhot
March 27, 2000 Victory
March 28, 2000 All of Israel is Responsible for One Another
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Jerusalem, March 1, 2000
A New Intifada
Everybody whispers about it.
Journalists (in private conversations) confirm it.
You feel it in the air.
The time has come to say it out loud:
After the Pope’s visit the intifada will start again, but big.
Exactly where and exactly how is unknown yet,
one thing is sure: it’s going to happen in the near future
and we have to get ready for it – not only in Judea, Samaria and
Gaza, but also in Jerusalem.
What does it mean “to get ready for it”?
a) to acknowledge it and realize that we unfortunately cannot blindly
trust the government :
Haaretz March 1, 2000: (by Zvi Zrahiya Knesset Correspondent)
“Budgets to provide settlements with security are being cut by 40
percent, the Knesset State Audit Committee was told yesterday by
Yossi Vardi, the Defense Ministry’s official for settlement affairs.
Audit Committee Chair MK Uzi Landau (Likud) charged that the security
establishment is exposing residents of the territories to
ever-increasing risks. Landau believes that there is reason to check
whether the government is deliberately trying to leave settlers
vulnerable to danger, with the aim of creating an atmosphere
conducive to getting the settlers out of the territories”.
b) What scares the enemy the most
is when we show unity and strength. and therefor:
Women from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Gaza will gather
for a first tachles meeting on Tuesday, March 14, in Netzarim
(Gush Katif) in the late afternoon-evening.
(Details will come later – just save the day, prepare the
babysitters and plan to come).
The purpose of the meeting is to
1) meet and get to know eachother
2) share tachles ideas about how to react to the difficult times
ahead
*one idea of achdut is for instance that when the Arabs
will block the road to a yishuv in Gush Katif we Jews of Gush
Etzion and the Shomron -men and women- will block the Arabs in our
area and Jews from Jerusalem would go out and demonstrate too.
Stonethrowing on the road from/to Tekoa? We will go and block that
road to Arab traffic.
* urge women to learn the basics of shooting a gun by
organizing shooting ranges in all the yishuvim,in order to be able to
defend their children and homes.
3) most important of all: finish the evening with a strong and clear
public statement signed by all the women representing Jerusalem and
all the yishuvim saying:
“we are here to stay forever and we are getting organized”
We urge you to make the effort and join us in this important evening
Women from Jerusalem and Yesha
Jerusalem: Ruth Matar tel: 02-6249887
Efrat: Nadia Matar tel: 02-9932083
Kedumim: Channa Gofer tel: 09-7921460
Tekoa: Anita Finkelstein tel: 02-9964805
Gush Katif: Ayala Zar tel: 07-6847667
e-mail: nmatar@netvision.net.il
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Jeruslaem, March 1, 2000
Open letter to Lionel Jospin, Prime Minister of France
Dear Mr Jospin,
We hope you have recovered from the terror attack you suffered two
days ago at the Bir Zeit University. Maybe now you understand that a
stone is a lethal weapon. Maybe now you understand how we Jews feel
when WE are being stoned.
We Jews, who live in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, already know from
experience, that stones can and do kill. Therefore we have been forced
to protect our cars with anti-stone windows, and drive – even in the
hot summer – with closed windows for fear that our dear ones would get
stoned and killed.
We also know that if any Jew would dare go into one of the Palestinian
towns, even just on a stroll, he would get the same treatment you
got, just without the tens of bodyguards you were lucky to have.
You basically suffered a little taste of the “peace of the brave”. But
we are sure that what hurts the most is not the physical pain of the
stone, but the tremendous anger you must feel at the response the
world gave to the attack. Instead of blaming the assailants for their
terrorist attack against you, you must have been shocked to discover
that YOU are the one being blamed, even by your own President. For
what was your sin? You dared to expose the truth about the Hizbollah
being terrorists.
Dear PM Jospin. We Jews feel for you. We already know that in the “New
Middle East” one is not allowed to divulge the truth. The Arab
terrorists get away with anything and always get the world’s sympathy
for it. Whether it is murdering Jews or attacking a French prime
minister, the terrorists are never at fault. Your president reminds me
of all those leftist Jews who also blame their own fellow brothers
instead of accusing the real assailants.
Maybe now you understand why a large majority of the Israeli public
does not believe that our peace partners really want peace. If
attacking Jews or a French prime minister is acceptable, then what
kind of peace are we talking about?
We applaud your courage, PM Jospin, and hope your experience will not
scare you from continuing to expose the truth.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, March 5, 2000
Arafat and the Pope on the Temple Mount
The following is a must-read article published in the Hebrew
Ha’aretz of Sunday, March 5, 2000.
The English Ha’aretz chose not to publish this article.
The Women in Green, therefore, bring this English translation to
you as a public service.
———————————————————————
Arafat Is the Host – On the Temple Mount
by Nadav Shragai Ha’aretz, March 5, 2000
When the Umayyad Caliph Omar ibn al-Malik built the Dome of the Rock
in 691, he was not satisfied with perpetuating the connection and
affiliation between Islam and Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
Al-Malik also sought to compete with the external appearance of the
magnificent Christian churches, and to graphically illustrate the
triumph of Islam over the rival religion of Christianity. The
breathtaking and monumental construction work directed by the Umayyad
calif was the more refined part of the bloody relationship between
Christianity and Islam extending over about half a millennium. The
Crusaders and the Muslims slaughtered each other, and did everything
in their power to remove, to cause to be forgotten, to conceal, and
to dwarf the history on the Temple Mount of the rival religion. The
crescents were removed from the mosques, and the structures were
turned into churches. A century later, it was the Christian ritual
sites with their crosses that were erased from the Temple Mount.
Who are as conscious of this history as John Paul II and the Supreme
Muslim Council? Today as well, the relations between the Muslims and
the Christians are not strewn with roses. The Christian migration
from the territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority
continues, and the list of Christian complaints of persecution and
attacks under the rule of the Authority is quite lengthy. The
heritage of Saladin and the victory of Islam over the cross are used
to this day by the Muslim preachers in their diatribes, but all of
these will surface possibly only as allusions during the duration of
the visit by the Pope to the Temple Mount at the end of the month.
The Palestinian Authority and the Muslim establishment in Jerusalem
will be occupied this time in taking full advantage of the crowning
moment of the Holy See’s visit to Israel – the attainment of
religious and political recognition by the Christians of the status
that the Authority has succeeded in gaining for itself on the Mount
and in Jerusalem since the intifada. If Yasser Arafat is alongside
the Pope, or not – Israel will try to prevent Arafat from coming to
the Mount – the Palestinians do not intend to let such an opportunity
slip through their fingers, and they intend to show the world, in the
words of, of all people, Uri Zvi Greenberg, that “whoever rules the
Temple Mount, rules Jerusalem.”
Greenberg was a poet, but this statement by him exceeds the bounds of
poetic license. Jerusalem was once the capital of the long memory of
the Jewish people, a memory that imparted to the latter an identity
and a culture. In recent years it has become the capital of the
memory of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian memory is less
ancient, but it at least is alive and beating. The Jewish memory, in
contrast, has dimmed in recent years, to the extent that many of us
do not afford any special importance even to the Temple Mount.
The Holy See’s taking a stance as the ally of the heads of the
Palestinian Authority, in the place most holy to the Jewish people,
is therefore almost a fait accompli, and all that is left for Israel
is to engage in soul-searching, or even a reevaluation of the status
quo policy at Judaism’s most sacred site, the policy to which it has
adhered for the past three decades.
In June 1967 the Defense Minister at the time, Moshe Dayan,
constructed a Temple Mount status quo equation with two parts. From
the Jews he requested to refrain from prayer and rite at the site
that had been sanctified by the Muslims for 1,300 years, and from the
Muslims he requested to refrain from using the Mount to further their
national aspirations. On both sides of the Israel-Arab conflict, the
religious aspect had fueled countless wars and national struggles,
which was especially true as regards Jerusalem. Dayan thought that on
the Mount he was obligated to erect a partition between religion and
nationalism.
This was the essence of the equation that determined the
status quo on the Temple Mount, only one side of which remains at
present. The Jews are prevented from engaging in prayer on the Mount,
even prayer that is defined as “silent prayer in one’s mind, without
moving one’s lips.” The other side of the status quo equation has
been blurred to the point that it is no longer recognizable. For a
long time, the Mount has no longer been only a Muslim ritual site.
The religious autonomy that was granted to the Muslim religious
authorities in June ’67 has turned into Palestinian autonomy on
behalf of the [Palestinian] Authority, an autonomy that no longer
answers to Israeli rule and sovereignty.
Thus, in practice, at the end of the month a de facto
Muslim-Palestinian Vatican state will host the head of the de jure
Christian Vatican state. Even the Israeli courts are gradually
disengaging themselves from any responsibility for what happens
there, and Justice Minister Yossi Beilin once again is speaking of a
Palestinian flag on the Mount. And if this is what is destined to be
– who knows? Perhaps it would have been better if in ’67 the illusion
had not been implanted in us that the Temple Mount is in our hands.
Before then, at least we longed for and desired the Mount and
Jerusalem within the walls, while today many take them for granted.
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Jerusalem, March 8, 2000
Readiness Conference for the Women of Jerusalem and Yesha
As matters stand, the coming weeks and months are liable to be
fateful for the future of the State of Israel. The Arab foe does not
hide his intentions to renew violence – not only in Judea, Samaria,
and Gaza, but also in Jerusalem – in order to exert pressure on the
Israeli government to capitulate to terror, once again. The leftist
government in Israel does not conceal its desire to uproot
settlements and/or transfer them to Arafat’s murderous hands.
In the time of Purim, it was a woman who saved her people. The women
of Jerusalem and the women of Yesha (Judea, Samaria, and Gaza) will
gather a week before Purim in order to prepare for the new situation,
and to exchange ideas regarding the ways to act in the future in
order to stem the erosion.
The conference will be held on TUESDAY, MARCH 14,
in NETZARIM, Gush Katif, at 6 p.m.*
on the program:
* chizuk through words of Torah
* operational directives for readiness in the settlements (such as
organizing firing ranges for women, self-defense, and more)
* proposals for intersettlement cooperation
* at the conclusion of the evening: the signing of a public
statement
for details:
Jerusalem: Ruth Matar 02-6249887
Efrat : Nadia Matar 02-9932083
Tekoa: Anita Finkelstein 02-9964805
Alon Shvut: Yehudit Dasberg 02-9932421
Kedumim: Hanna Gofer 09-7921460
Elkana: Penina Muati 03-9362380
Neveh Daniel: Timna Katz 02-9938020
Gush Katif: Ayala Azran 07-6847667
Karnei Shomron: Sarah Dolev 09-7929201
Kiryat Arba: Bella Gonen 02-9961701
Shaarei Tikva: Adva Naveh 03-9362644
* Busses will leave from the Laromme Hotel in Jerusalem at 2 p.m.
from the Gush Etzion junction at 2:30 p.m.
from the Kiryat Arba trampiada at 2:15 p.m.
(please register for transportation)
* the conference participants must arrive at the Kibbutz Saad
parking lot no later than 4:30 p.m. so as not to miss the IDF escort
to Netzarim
Nadia and Ruth Matar
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Jerusalem, March 8, 2000
National Convention of WIG
New York April 9
First U.S. National Convention
On Sunday, April 9, the American Friends of Women In Green will hold their
very first National Convention in New York City. Ed Banyai, the President
of American Friends, has announced that the Guest of Honor will be Lillian
Chavkin, our National Vice President. Lillian is a legendary figure whose
dedication to the Jewish People has shown itself in many different ways,
time and time again. Her love and devotion to Israel and the Torah of
HaShem are boundless.
The smorgasbord-luncheon will be held at the elegant Le Chateau, commencing
at 11 am. Le Chateau is located at 431 Avenue P, between East 2nd and East
3rd Street in Brooklyn, New York. For further details phone: 718-258-2953.
The couvert will be $100 dollars per person.
Special recognition for outstanding service to our Cause will be presented
to these women Awardees: Tamar Adelstein, Shulamit Hawtof, Darla Stone,
Hana Teitel and Carlotte Wahle. The men Awardees are: Lothar Brown, Rubin
Chavkin, Irving Franklin, Morton Howowitz, Ira Nosenchuck and Paul Schneck.
Awards will also be given to some of our Founders and local Chapter
Chairpersons who have excelled in their imaginative and creative efforts in
behalf of Women For Israel’s Tomorrow. Included among these accomplished
individuals are: Barbara Ann Bloom of the Baltimore Chapter, Miriam Colbert
and Mae Lobel of the Philadelphia Chapter, Pat Cummings of one of the
Florida Chapters, Bunny Horowitz of the Miami Beach Chapter, Elaine
Silverberg of the Monsey Chapter and Gail Winston of the Chicago Chapter.
There will be a Memorial Award for the late Rabbi Sholom Klass, former
Publisher of the Jewish Press, who was a noted Torah scholar and an
exemplary righteous person.
A Media Award will be presented to Les Kinsolving, a well-known National
Correspondent, and WCBM Radio Commentator and Talk-show Host.
Tova Eizik, an Israeli soldier in the 1948 War of Independence, will also
be one of our speakers. She was held captive as a Prisoner of War by Syria
for almost a year. Hearing from her experience, we should be able to get a
true understanding of what a so-called “peace” with Syria holds in store
for the Jews of Israel.
To honor Lillian and the other individuals who will receive awards at the
luncheon, Ruth and Nadia Matar, co-leaders of our grass-roots movement,
will be coming from Israel for this wonderful occasion. It will be a great
opportunity for our many members and supporters throughout the United
States and Canada, to meet Ruth and Nadia personally. In addition, of
course, they will be able to hear the important messages that each of them
will bring with them from Israel concerning the battle for Jerusalem, for
retaining the Golan, and many other vital matters of interest to Jews in
the Diaspora about Israel. All of us will then more readily comprehend the
underlying theme and impact of this Convention which is: “Saving Israel
Means Saving Ourselves.” You will not want to miss such an auspicious First
National Convention of The American Friends of Women In Green.
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Jerusalem, March 9, 2000
Protest Vigil Following Shooting
The “Efrat Action Committee” calls upon all residents of Israel
to join a vigil in reaction to the shooting last night near
the tunnels that lead to the Etzion bloc and Bethlehem.
Seven bullets hit a car.
While the woman who was driving the vehicle was not hit, she
went into shock and was rushed to the hospital.
The nation must hear our reaction.
We will not “turn the other cheek”.
WHERE: Since the attempted murderers fled to Bethlehem, the vigil
will take place at the junction to Bethlehem that leads to Solomon’s
Pools(when you come from Efrat and drive to Jerusalem, you have a turn
to the right in order to go to Bethlehem–that’s where we will peacefully
stand)
TIME: Tomorrow, Friday, March 10th at 8:00 am precisely
MEDIA COVERAGE WELCOME:
further information: 050-500834
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Jerusalem, March 10, 2000
A Petition
Elyakim Haetzni has written the following petition and plans to print
it in the newspaper the week before the Pope’s visit.
Anybody who agrees with the content and agrees to sign it, is asked
to e-mail Elyakim with his name and city:
ehaetzni@netvision.net.il
It is important to have many signatures.
Following the petition is the agreement between the Holy See and
Yasser Arafat (sent by IMRA)
———————————————————————
Elyakim Haetzni Kiryat Arba 90100
Tel/fax 02-9961878
3/2000
Subject: pontifex maximus I
On the eve of his visit, the Pope planted a land mine on
our doorstep in the form of an agreement between the Vatican
and the P.L.O. advocating the establishment of Palestinian
Sovereignty, the dwarfing of Israel into the 1947 bound-
aries, the return of the Arab refugees and the inter-
nationalization of Jerusalem. This agreement also terms
Israel’s actions in Jerusalem as “unacceptable from a moral
and legal standpoint.”
We declare that the Pope could not have been oblivious to
the fact that by concluding such an agreement, he was
grievously wounding the State which is about to host him,
and he is therefore directly targeting the insult at the Jewish
State and her people. We would remind him of a history
of immense suffering which the Jews sustained at the
hands of the Catholic Church and express our disappointment
that Pope John Paul not only missed an opportunity to rectify
this historic injustice even somewhat, but he has compounded
the evil, by acting hand in glove with our enemies to rob us of
Jerusalem and to implant in the Holy Land, a foreign political
entity whose construction signifies our destruction.
We note in shock the Pope’s eagerness to recognize the
Palestinian State before it has even yet arisen, (and it is most
doubtful that it will ever arise) and we recall the eagerness of
another Pope to recognize the Nazi regime four months after it was
established.
We sense a profound sorrow over the fact that Pope John
Paul, in demanding the internationalization of Jerusalem, is
essentially following in the footsteps of Pope Pius XII, the
person whose resounding silence when confronting the
Holocaust, will never be forgotten nor forgiven, and who
immediately upon the establishment of Israel demanded the
internationalization of Jerusalem. It is not apparently
fortuitous, that John Paul seeks to beatify the Holocaust
Pope.
We express our amazement, that the government of Israel
contented itself with a polite diplomatic protest “for form’s sake”
and is proceeding with the costly and arduous preparations to turn the
Pope’s visit into a success, when in line with the agreement with the
P.L.O., this visit will mark a success for our enemies and a severe
debacle for us.
We warn that the conclusion of the agreement between the
Vatican and the P.L.O. constitutes an important move in the
battle for Jerusalem and the survival of the State of Israel and many
states will view this agreement as an example and a prototype to
assail Israel and subvert her existence. Therefore restraint and
disregard will be recorded as a defeat for Israel in this battle.
We demand from our government, personages and publics
involved in the Pope’s visit that they give expression to our
sense of indignity and the insult perpetrated upon Jerusalem,
in order that our silence should not be misconstrued as admission.
———————————————————————
Date sent: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 21:07:05 +0200
From: imra@netvision.net.il
To:
Subject: BASIC AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE HOLY SEE AND THE
PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION AND ISRAELI REACTION
BASIC AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE HOLY SEE AND THE PALESTINE LIBERATION
ORGANIZATION AND ISRAELI REACTION
BASIC AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE HOLY SEE AND THE PALESTINE LIBERATION
ORGANIZATION , 15.02.2000
http://www.vatican.va/cgi-bin/w3-msql/news_services/bulletin/news/6459
.html? index=6459&po_date=15.02.2000&lang=it
Preamble
The Holy See, the Sovereign Authority of the Catholic Church, and the
Palestine Liberation Organization (hereinafter: PLO), the
Representative of the Palestinian People working for the benefit and
on behalf of the Palestinian Authority:
Deeply aware of the special significance of the Holy Land, which is
inter alia a privileged space for inter-religious dialogue between the
followers of the three monotheistic religions;
Having reviewed the history and development of the relations between
the Holy See and the Palestinian People, including the working
contacts and the subsequent establishment – on October 26, 1994 – of
official relations between the Holy See and the PLO;
Recalling and confirming the establishment of the Bilateral Permanent
Working Commission to identify, study and address issues of common
interest between the two Parties;
Reaffirming the need to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the
Middle East, so that all its nations live as good neighbours and work
together to achieve development and prosperity for the entire region
and all its inhabitants;
Calling for a peaceful solution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,
which would realize the inalienable national legitimate rights and
aspirations of the Palestinian People, to be reached through
negotiation and agreement, in order to ensure peace and security for
all peoples of the region on the basis of international law, relevant
United Nations and its Security Council resolutions, justice and
equity;
Declaring that an equitable solution for the issue of Jerusalem, based
on international resolutions, is fundamental for a just and lasting
peace in the Middle East, and that unilateral decisions and actions
altering the specific character and status of Jerusalem are morally
and legally unacceptable;
Calling, therefore, for a special statute for Jerusalem,
internationally guaranteed, which should safeguard the following:
a. Freedom of religion and conscience for all.
b. The equality before the law of the three monotheistic religions and
their institutions and followers in the City.
c. The proper identity and sacred character of the City and its
universally significant, religious and cultural heritage.
d. The Holy Places, the freedom of access to them and of worship in
them.
e. The Regime of “Status Quo” in those Holy Places where it applies;
Recognizing that Palestinians, irrespective of their religious
affiliation, are equal members of Palestinian society;
Concluding that the achievements of the aforementioned Bilateral
Permanent Working Commission now amount to appropriate matter for a
first and Basic-Agreement, which should provide a solid and lasting
foundation for the continued development of their present and future
relations, and for the furtherance of the Commission’ s on-going task,
Agree on the following Articles:
Article 1
Paragraph 1:
The PLO affirms its permanent commitment to uphold and observe the
human right to freedom of religion and conscience, as stated in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in other international
instruments relative to its application.
Paragraph 2:
The Holy See affirms the commitment of the Catholic Church to support
this right and states once more the respect that the Catholic Church
has for the followers of other religions.
Article 2
Paragraph 1:
The Parties are committed to appropriate cooperation in promoting
respect for human rights, individual and collective, in combating all
forms of discrimination and threats to human life and dignity, as well
as to the promotion of understanding and harmony between nations and
communities.
Paragraph 2:
The Parties will continue to encourage inter-religious dialogue for
the prom otion of better understanding between people of different
religions.
Article 3
The PLO will ensure and protect in Palestinian Law the equality of
human and civil rights of all citizens, including specifically, inter
alia, their freedom from discrimination, individually or collectively,
on the ground of religious affiliation, belief or practice.
Article 4
The regime of the “Status Quo” will be maintained and observed in
those Christian Holy Places where it applies.
Article 5
The PLO recognizes the freedom of the Catholic Church to exercise her
rights to carry out, through the necessary means, her functions and
traditions, such as those that are spiritual, religious, moral,
charitable, educational and cultural.
Article 6
The PLO recognizes the rights of the Catholic Church in economic,
legal and fiscal matters: these rights being exercised in harmony with
the rights of the Palestinian authorities in these fields.
Article 7
Full effect will be given in Palestinian Law to the legal personality
of the Catholic Church and of the canonical legal persons.
Article 8
The provisions of this Agreement are without prejudice to any
agreement hitherto in force between either Party and any other party.
Article 9
The Bilateral Permanent Working Commission, in accordance with such
instructions as may be given by the respective Authorities of the two
Parties, may propose further ways to address items of this Agreement.
Article 10
Should any controversy arise regarding the interpretation or the
application of provisions of the present Agreement, the Parties will
resolve it by way of mutual consultation.
Article 11
Done in two original copies in the English and Arabic languages, both
texts being equally authentic. In case of divergency, the English text
shall prevail.
Article 12
This Agreement shall enter into force from the moment of its signature
by the two Parties.
Signed in the Vatican, fifteenth of February, 2000
[00372-02.01]
+++
Israel Expresses Displeasure Over Vatican-PLO Agreement, February 15,
2000 (Communicated by the Foreign Ministry Spokesman) Jerusalem,
February 15, 2000
Israel expresses its great displeasure with the declaration made
today in Rome by the Holy See and the PLO, which includes the issue of
Jerusalem, and other issues which are subjects of the
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on permanent status. The agreement
signed by these two parties constitutes a regretful intervention in
the talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
There is no denying that Israel safeguards freedom of conscience and
freedom of worship for all, and provides free access to the holy
places of all faiths. Similarly, there is no question that the
religious and cultural character of Jerusalem is being preserved as
are the rights of all the religious communities and their institutions
in the city.
Consequently, Israel flatly rejects the reference to Jerusalem in the
aforementioned document. Jerusalem was, is, and shall remain the
capital of the State of Israel, and no agreement or declaration by
these or any other parties will change this fact.
The apostolic nuncio, the representative of the Holy See in Israel,
has been called to an urgent meeting tomorrow at the Foreign Ministry
with the ministry’s Director-General Eytan Bentsur.
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Jerusalem, March 12, 2000
An Israeli Court Votes Against A Jewish State
Aharon Barak, the Chief Justice of the Israel Supreme Court,
has dealt a severe blow to generations of believers in Zionism, and to
those who want Israel to be a Jewish State. Writing for the majority of
the Court, Barak held that it was illegal for the Government to allocate
to the Jewish Agency government land that would exclude Arabs from
owning portions of such land, in an otherwise planned Jewish community.
Barak, in his decision, chose to be guided by purist
democratic values rather than the survival of the Jewish People, or for
that matter Judaism itself. His holding reflected his personal value
system and point of view. It was based on his thoroughly secular,
non-nationalistic orientation, which was totally divorced from his
People’s Biblical roots. The ivory tower majority decision regarding Katzir,
is apparently aimed at getting Barak the approbation of American jurists
and the world wide “liberal” community, rather than facing up to the
problems of the Jewish People in resettling in their homeland in a
hostile Middle East.
Katzir represents a statement of democratic principles,
which completely ignores the harsh consequences to Jews that result from
such a decision. As the Chairman of the Jewish Agency Salai Meridor was
quick to point out, following this unwise decision of the Supreme
Court, that the holding creates many serious problems, while at the same
time not in any way leading to an improvement of Arab-Jewish
relationships. The Triangle, all of the Galilee and the Negev, as
integral parts of the State of Israel, have been placed in jeopardy by
reason of this Aharon Barak decision.
The decision does not face up to the problems that exists for
the Jews living in Israel. Just a few of which are the following: It
avoids taking into account the history of the upbuilding of this Jewish
homeland fought all the way by Arab hostility. The patent and
persistent intransigence and outright hatred of the Arabs to the return
of the Jews to their Promised Homeland. The identification and support
of world Jewry with the upbuilding by Jewish pioneers of what was a
barren wasteland. The subsequent mass migration to the Land of Israel by
Arabs thereafter, from surrounding Arab countries. The violent
murderous threat, approved even by Arab Knesset Members, to those
selling land to Jews, even at the usual exorbitant prices. The
existing dangers to any Jew who happens to be unarmed in an Arab
neighborhood, and the different moral standards of the Arab community in
reaction to fellow Arabs murdering Jews. The hatred fostered in the
Arab media and amongst Arab children of Jews in the Palestinian
Authority’s educational system, despite the so-called peace process.
All this while the Government of Israel is making far-reaching
concessions of its homeland to the Arabs, something no other country on
this earth has ever done voluntarily.
Applying theoretical democratic principles to unresolved
existing problems of baseless hatred of Arabs towards Jews, is an
exercise in futility. Moreover, it is questionable if the Court, rather
than the Knesset, is equipped or is the proper venue to attempt to
resolve such vital issues. Particularly at this time when Jewish pride
and loyalty are at their lowest ebb, the Katzir decision helps to
further destroy the morale of our Jewish People. If their own Court
does not take into accout the realities, the difficulties and dangers
that Jews face daily in this Land, on whom can they rely? It is one
thing to wish to achieve democratic goals. It is quite another matter
to hear unwarranted preaching from a Court divorced from its Jewish
roots and loyalties, and pandering to Arab insolence, continued
intolerance, and bigotry towards Jews.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
*******************************************************
Jerusalem, March 12, 2000
Is Indyk Interfering in Israel’s Affairs
Has U.S. Ambassador Indyk Found Religion?
Or is He Once Again Interfering In Israel’s Internal Affairs
As Befits His Concept of Israel as a Banana Republic!
The front page color picture of Martin Indyk with a black kippa
in “Maariv” and the “Jerusalem Post” on Friday, March 10
visiting Rabbi Ovadia Yosef of Shas has a clear message to all of us.
Are you properly enraged?
Ruth and Nadia Matar
*******************************************************
Jerusalem, March 14, 2000
Action Alert
This morning’s announcement that the Barak government is going to
hand over, next week, to the murderous hands of Palestinian Authority,
areas adjacent to Jerusalem – is a declaration of war against
the Jewish People!
The Barak government is, little by little, tying the rope around our
neck – we cannot be silent!!
Women in Green call upon all Jews, in Israel and abroad, to bombard
the following people with phonecalls and faxes (see numbers on the
bottom).
1) to Ehud Barak – express your outrage – tell him that his actions
clearly divide Jerusalem and we will do everything to make his
government fall.
2) From the politicians of the Mafdal and Yisrael Ba’aliyah we expect
that they quit the government immediately.
3) From Moetset Yesha we expect a strong reaction. We call upon
Moetset Yesha to show leadership and call on all the yishuvim to go
out on strike, including closing schools, regional councils, and
organize a big demonstration.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
Women in Green
————————————————————–
Prime Minister Ehud Barak:
tel: 02- 6705555
tel: 02-6705511
fax: 02-6705415
fax: 02-5664838
tel home: 09-7492930
NRP (Mafdal):
Minister Rabbi Yitzhak Levi
tel: 02-5847654
fax: 02-5847787
MK Rabbi Chaim Druckman
tel knesset : 02-6753835
fax: 02-6753897
tel home: 08-8582827
cellular: 050-804899
MK Yigal Bibi:
tel: 02-5311086/7
fax: 02-6513703
tel home: 02-9932288
MK Shaul Yahalom:
tel: 02-6753802
fax: 02-5603152
tel : 03-9362344
YISRAEL BA’ALIYAH:
Minister Natan Sharansky
tel: 02-6701400 or 02-6753390
fax: 02-5666376
home: 02-5639861
cellular: 053-464464
MK Yuli Edelstein
tel: 02-6753688
fax: 02-6756438
home: 02-9938322
cellular: 052-292345
MOETSET YESHA
tel: 02-5810624
fax: 02-5814072
Top of Page | End of Page | What We Say Index Page | To Home Page
*******************************************************
Jerusalem, March 15, 2000
Women’s Manifesto
Some 140 women from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Gaza united
in Netzarim (Gaza Strip) on Tuesday, March 14 for a readiness
conference. Women came from Jerusalem, Efrat, Tekoa, Neve Daniel,
Kyriat Arba, Elkana, Kedumim, Oranit, Shaarei Tikva, Karnei Shomron,
Gush Katif and other places.
The afternoon-evening was a big success. The women felt an
electrifying atmosphere of achdut (unity) and chizuk (strength). We
first toured in and around Netzarim and encountered the
difficulties the Netzarim residents have in their every day life.
Netzarim, being an isolated yishuv in the heart of the Palestinian
Authority, has been turned into a fortress. The only way to get
there is with an army escort, in the front and in the back, and of
course only with bullet-proof cars. (That’s “peace”!!) On the one
hand, we admired how the Netzarim residents have gotten used to harsh,
limiting conditions, on the other hand, we all agreed that everything
has to be done to prevent other yishuvim from turning into “Netzarims.”
The speakers were: Blessings by Gershon Kustiner, secretary Gush Katif
and Ayala Azran (Gush Katif); divrei Torah by Rahel Meshulami (Netzarim);
Nadia Matar, co-chair Women in Green (Efrat); Daniella Weiss (Mayor of
Kedumim); Bella Gonen, local council (Kiryat Arba); Yehudit Dasberg (Alon
Shvut).
The main purpose of the evening was to sign a strong public
manifesto (see below). We call upon you to take the time to read the
following manifesto and e-mail us if you want to add your name to it.
Anybody who agrees with the content is asked to sign this
manifesto (send us your name and adress) and join us in the sruggle
for the survival of the State of Israel.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
Women in Green
———————————————————-
BS”D
7 Adar II 5760
March 14, 2000
Public Statement by Women from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza
Political processes that threaten the Jewish people are being
revealed before our very eyes. The Arab enemy (including those with
whom we have signed “peace” agreements) does not conceal his
preparation for a total war for the destruction of the State of
Israel and the elimination of the Jewish entity in the Middle East.
The enemy, who has learned the distorted psychology of the Israeli
government, uses terror as a tool to soften us up, even during the
presumed peace process. In a march of folly, the government of Israel
is constructing for the enemy his very plans. In an obsessive manner,
the government seeks to rid itself of the nation’s lands, which will
lead us, Heaven forbid, to a terrible war. After the handing over of
portions of the homeland that have become nests of terror, the
government intends to uproot Jews from their homes and their
settlements, and to give them over into the hands of the enemy. There
is also a program for “voluntary transfer” that will leave
settlements at the mercy of the enemy..
We have chosen to gather, in Gush Katif, specifically on the eve of
the Purim holiday, in which G-d rescued Israel by means of a
courageous woman. The time has come for us to take part in the
preparations for confronting a changing reality.
To the Prime Minister of Israel, the Government of Israel, the Knesset
of Israel, and the people of Israel:
-WE DECLARE: Eretz Israel belongs to the Jewish people
for all time, and only to it – thus our Torah has established.
-WE DECLARE: that no one is entitled to surrender a
single bit of the soil of Eretz Israel to a foreign people. There is
no legal or moral validity to the handing over of parts of Eretz
Israel to the Arabs. This is a betrayal of Judaism for all time. We
will never accept this crime.
-WE DECLARE: that not even a referendum will make this
act legal and moral. We will not comply if, Heaven forbid, the people
will betray its homeland.
-WE DECLARE: that we will resolutely oppose any
program for the uprooting of settlements. We will not allow our being
uprooted from our homes and from our land. If the government will
adversely change the security situation, it will find us ready,
resolute, combative, alongside our men.
-WE DECLARE: that we will not leave behind even the
smallest of settlements. We will join with it, shoulder to shoulder,
in the struggle for its existence.
-WE DECLARE: that we will take action for the continued
construction and growth of settlement throughout Judea, Samaria, and
Gaza, the Golan, and Jerusalem. Threats will not stop our magnificent
Zionist enterprise.
-the new reality mandates that we be an integral part
of the defense system of the settlements. WE CALL upon women to
practice self-defense and the use of arms, and to purchase weapons,
that are approved by the law. This is the hour of pikuah nefesh, the
saving of life.
-as mothers, we appeal to you, our brother and son –
the soldier – do not uproot what has been planted! Do not be a
partner in the crime against your people, against your homeland. The
order to uproot Jews from their homes and from their land is a
patently illegal order. Governments rise and governments fall, but
what is sacred to Israel and its values will last forever.
-WE CALL upon the national camp, with all its
organizations, and the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea,
Samaria, and Gaza, to awaken and act.
Women in Israel have demonstrated bravery and resourcefulness, from
the time of the Matriarch Sarah to the pioneering women of today –
the pioneers of Beit Hadassah and those who dwell in the caravans on
the desolate hills. We, too, with the help of G-d, shall be an
example and symbol by steadfastness to the goal and self-sacrifice.
We shall not permit the destruction of our life’s work. We shall
stand resolute at the gate, with our children, against those who
arise to destroy us, even if they are our brothers. We shall not
submit – and G-d, shall be our helper.
——————–
Sponsored by Women for Israel’s Tomorrow(“Women in Green”)
POB 7352, Jerusalem
Tel.: (02)624-9887, fax: (02)624-5380
Web site: www.womeningreen.org e-mail: wfit@womeningreen.org
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*******************************************************
Jerusalem, March 16, 2000
You Can Help Too
Dear Women in Green listmates,
The response to the manifesto is tremendous. Keep it up!
Many people abroad ask what else they can do to help.
Believe me, you can do a lot!
I suggest you print out the copy of the manifesto, translate it to
the language of your country, xerox it in tens (or hundreds) of
copies and spread it wherever you can: synagogues, Jewish community
centers, youth movements, schools etc…
The best thing would be to have it printed in your local Jewish
newspapers.
Ehud Barak is working very fast. We need to work faster than him!
Therefore we need each and everyone of you, in Israel and abroad.
Take initiative and spread the manifesto.
May we, with the help of G-d, overturn the evil decrees!
Nadia
*******************************************************
Jerusalem, March 19, 2000
Response to Rabbis Who Blessed Arafat
The following is a translation into English of an open letter to the four
Rabbis who blessed Arafat. (Last Thursday, Rabbi Fruman met with
Arafat in Gaza and brought with him letters of blessing from Rabbi
Riskin, Rabbi Minister Melchior and Rabbi Bakshi-Doron. Arafat gave
Rabbi Fruman presents: jewelry for his daughter who is getting
married today and a fancy oriental dress for his wife).
———————————————————————
Open Letter/ Iggeret Purim 5760 (2000)
To Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Efrat;
Rabbi and Minister Mikhael Melchior, Jerusalem;
The Rishon le-Zion, Rabbi Bakshi-Doron, Jerusalem;
Rabbi Menahem Fruman, Tekoa
Happy Purim,
We were stunned to see on television and read in the newspapers that
Rabbi Menahem Fruman was hugging and kissing the archmurderer, Yasser
Arafat, and gave him congratulatory letters on the occasion of the
Muslim Id al-Adha holiday (Feast of the Sacrifice), that falls now,
by Rabbis Shlomo Riskin, Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, and Mikhael Melchior.
In each generation Amalek arises to annihilate us, and G-d saves us
from their hand. The Torah provides distinguishing marks for the
identification of Amalek, whose garb changes in every generation: “and
cut down all the stragglers in your rear when you were famished and
weary” (Deuteronomy 25:18); regarding the wicked Haman: “written
instructions were dispatched by couriers to all the king’s provinces
to destroy, massacre, and exterminate all the Jews, young and old,
children and women, on a single day” (Esther 3:13); and in our time,
only fifty-five years ago, Hitler’s extermination machine destroyed
one million children and five million men, women, and the old;
the archmurderer Yasser Arafat, the greatest murderer of Jews in our
day, who has emblazoned on his banner the destruction of our people,
blows up masses of Jews, men, women, children, and the old.
Arafat is no different from Hitler in his desire and goal, but only
in the opportunities and means that are at his disposal. To our great
misfortune and shame, foolish Jews tirelessly labor to establish for
the Arabs a sovereign terror state in the heart of Eretz Israel, while
dispossessing Jews from their land. To our sorrow and embarrassment,
the Jews imported to Eretz Israel none other than the archmurderer,
Arafat the Amalekite, to place him at the head of this enemy state,
the establishment of which could be our destruction!
Only a few days ago Arafat marked the beginning of the Muslim holiday,
by calling upon his people and the Arab world to focus upon the
transformation of Jerusalem into the capital of the Palestinian state:
“My message to you is strong and clear. I say to you: Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, Jerusalem!”
And now, four rabbis have arisen from our midst – bending their knees
and bowing to Arafat the Amalekite, the foe of the Jews. The visit to
the archmurderer, with the accompanying letters, constitutes spitting
in the face of the people of Israel throughout the generations, and
especially of the victims of Arab terror. The message to Arafat harms
Eretz Israel, Jerusalem, the Zionist enterprise, and the Divine
command: “Remember what Amalek did to you” (Deuteronomy 25:17).
WhenRabbi Riskin and anyone who bears the distinguished title of
rabbi and halakhic authority in Israel writes a letter to Arafat, he
does not do so as a private individual, but appears to represent us,
the residents of Gush Etzion, and actually, the entire observant
public. This is without our permission and contrary to our views.
Rabbi Riskin and the other rabbis mentioned above are turning us all,
against our will, into partners to their fawning letters to that
archmurderer. By doing so, they harm the entire Jewish public and
cause a major desecration of the Divine Name in Israel and in the
world.
We repudiate your actions and protest the shaming of the Jewish
people. We expect you to repudiate these actions and to unequivocally
clarify, in writing and publicly, that you neither forgive nor waive
the great quantities of Jewish blood that have been shed by Arafat,
and that you do not regard him as a friend, comrade, or partner, and
that he is still the archmurderer, and will not succeed in deceiving
you, as if his intentions are peaceful.
With the blessing (of the prophet Samuel): “the Eternal One of Israel
does not deceive”
Residents from Efrat and Gush Etzion
—————————————————————-
-Whoever has not yet signed is invited to do so.
Please call: Dr. David and Nadia Matar (Efrat) 9932083; Naomi Baruchi
(Efrat) 9932713; Anita Finkelstein (Tekoa) 9964805; Yehudit Dasberg
(Alon Shvut) 9931375
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*******************************************************
Jerusalem, March 22, 2000
More on Rabbis Blessing Arafat
Some people thought that the announcement about Rabbi Fruman going to
bless Arafat with a letter from Rabbis Riskin and Melchior was a Purim
joke. It is unfortunately no joke (the joke is on us – or as the
yiddish verse says: I would laugh if the ‘nar’ wasn’t mine).
Below is the translation of the article as it appeared in “Ma’ariv” –
Friday, March 17, page 3 (accompanied by a photo of Arafat and Fruman
warmly shaking hands.
ARAFAT GAVE THE SETTLER WOMAN JEWELRY – AS A PRESENT FOR HER WEDDING
by Menahem Rahat and Eli Buhanda
Yasser Arafat, chairman of the palestinian Authority, yesterday gave
a golden bracelet and a necklace to a resident of Tekoa – as a
present for her wedding on Sunday. This is the first time that Arafat
has sent a wedding present to a settler.
The father of the bride, Rabbi Menahem Fruman, the rabbi of
Yishuv Tekoa, received a wooden box with flower engravings from
Arafat and her mother received, in honor of her daughter’s
wedding, a fancy oriental dress.
Rabbi Menahem Fruman met yesterday with Arafat, at the head of a
delegation of settlers and religious Jews. The delegation had come
to the chairman’s office in Gaza in order to bless him and the
Palestinians in honor of their holiday of Hag Hakorban (Holiday of
the Sacrifice). Rabbi Fruman told Arafat that it is possible to create
a religious base for mutual understanding amongst Israelis and
Palestinians and between Palestinians and settlers, because “all of
us are sons of Abraham and lovers of G-d.”
In a letter from the Chief Rabbi, Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, the
emphasis was put on the obligation of religious people to strive for
peace.
The Rabbi of Efrat, Shlomo Riskin, wrote to Arafat,
that it is possible to make peace not only between Israelis and
Palestinians, but also between settlers and Palestinians;
according to him there is no impediment to settlers living with
Palestinians, while respecting each other rights and founding
joint industrial parks and hospitals.
Arafat, to whom the letters were read in Arabic, mumbled many times
in Hebrew: “toda” (thank you, thank you).
Rabbi Fruman was joined by Dr. Avi Elkayam from the Bar-Ilan
University; Rabbi Maimon, teacher of Islam in Jerusalem, and
Sheikh Abu Salah from the village of Dir-Kadis next to Jerusalem, who
is learning Judaism from Rabbi Fruman and who teaches Fruman chapters
in Islam. The meeting was broadcast on Palestinian TV.
——————————-
In “Hatsofeh,” Friday, March 17, page 3, they had the same info as in
“Ma’ariv,” but added that Rabbi Fruman also had a letter from Rabbi
Melchior
———————————————————————
When Rabbi Riskin writes letters to Arafat he is in effect
perceived as representing all of us, and makes us all unwilling
partners in his obsequious crawling to that mass-murderer. This is
intolerable and therefore a group of us wrote a letter
denouncing the Rabbi’s contemptible act.
Shavua Tov,
Nadia Matar
——————————————————————-
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Sponsored by VOICES Sharon Katz izzy@actcom.co.il
WebSkills Internet Content & Marketing:
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———————————–
Rabbi Riskin’s Response
Subject: Open letter to Nadia Matar
Date sent: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 10:47:03 +0200
An open letter to Nadia Matar:
My letter to Chairman Arafat was certainly not a Purim joke. I believe
in my position vis a vis our right to be where we are as well as our
proper attitudes towards our Palestinian neighbors basically known to
all the residents of Efrat:
As a result of my relationship with Moshe Arens when he was the
Defense Minsiter and in conjunction with Yinon Achiman we succeeded in
extending Efrat to Berakhot Shlomo with Givat HaDagan. I also believe
that largely as a result of our positive relationships with the Arab
villages, Yeshivat Siach which is now an affiliate of Ohr Torah Stone
and proudly numbers about 50 students including 10 families currently
living on Givat Hadagan, the Palestinian population remains silent.
The Ministry of Housing has now given the go ahead for 500 units on
Givat HaDagan.
During the past number of months the Palestinian Authority has given
the Arab villages surrounding Efrat a great deal of grief because of
their cooperative ventures with us, such as an early child care
center, and an emergency medical center. I have always believed that
Torah teaches the basic dignities of every individual and the
importance of our treating friendly non-Jews with concern as the
Gemarrah teaches in Masechet Gittin: “It is incumbent for us to feed
the poor of the gentiles together with our own.” (Gittin 61 a) In my
letter I specifically made reference to the importance of Arafat
permitting these cooperative ventures. I believe that until this
point my positions are not only in coincidence with halakha but have
also rebounded to the benefit of the settler community in general and
Efrat in particular.
Shlomo Riskin
—————————————–
Response from Nadia
Rabbi Riskin –
Your open letter to me did not address the basic issue of writing
letters of appeasement to a massmurderer. What does that have to do
with our shared objective of developing Efrat while living in
coexistence with our Arab neighbors?
Following is a translation into English of an open letter to the four
Rabbis who blessed Arafat.
Open Letter/ Iggeret Purim 5760 (2000)
To Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Efrat ;
Rabbi and Minister Mikhael Melchior, Jerusalem;
The Rishon le-Zion, Rabbi Bakshi-Doron, Jerusalem;
Rabbi Menahem Fruman, Tekoa
Happy Purim,
We were stunned to see on television and read in the newspapers that
Rabbi Menahem Fruman was hugging and kissing the archmurderer, Yasser
Arafat, and gave him congratulatory letters on the occasion of the
Muslim Id al-Adha holiday (Feast of the Sacrifice), that falls now,
by Rabbis Shlomo Riskin, Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, and Mikhael Melchior.
In each generation Amalek arises to annihilate us, and G-d saves us
from their hand. The Torah provides distinguishing marks for the
identification of Amalek, whose garb changes in every generation: “and
cut down all the stragglers in your rear when you were famished and
weary” (Deuteronomy 25:18); regarding the wicked Haman: “written
instructions were dispatched by couriers to all the king’s provinces
to destroy, massacre, and exterminate all the Jews, young and old,
children and women, on a single day” (Esther 3:13); and in our time,
only fifty-five years ago, Hitler’s extermination machine destroyed
one million children and five million men, women, and the old;
the archmurderer Yasser Arafat, the greatest murderer of Jews in our
day, who has emblazoned on his banner the destruction of our people,
blows up masses of Jews, men, women, children, and the old. Arafat is
no different from Hitler in his desire and goal, but only in the
opportunities and means that are at his disposal. To our great
misfortune and shame, foolish Jews tirelessly labor to establish for
the Arabs a sovereign terror state in the heart of Eretz Israel, while
dispossessing Jews from their land. To our sorrow and embarrassment,
the Jews imported to Eretz Israel none other than the archmurderer,
Arafat the Amalekite, to place him at the head of this enemy state,
the establishment of which would be our destruction!
Only a few days ago Arafat marked the beginning of the Muslim holiday,
by calling upon his people and the Arab world to focus upon the
transformation of Jerusalem into the capital of the Palestinian state:
“My message to you is strong and clear. I say to you: Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, Jerusalem!”
And now, four rabbis have arisen from our midst – bending their knees
and bowing to Arafat the Amalekite, the foe of the Jews. The visit to
the archmurderer, with the accompanying letters, constitutes spitting
in the face of the people of Israel throughout the generations, and
especially of the victims of Arab terror. The message to Arafat harms
Eretz Israel, Jerusalem, the Zionist enterprise, and the Divine
command: “Remember what Amalek did to you” (Deuteronomy 25:17).
When Rabbi Riskin and anyone who bears the distinguished title of
rabbi and halakhic authority in Israel writes a letter to Arafat, he
does not do so as a private individual, but appears to represent us,
the residents of Gush Etzion, and actually, the entire observant
public. This is without our permission and contrary to our views.
Rabbi Riskin and the other rabbis mentioned above are turning us all,
against our will, into partners to their fawning letters to that
archmurderer. By doing so, they harm the entire Jewish public and
cause a major desecration of the Divine Name in Israel and in the
world.
We repudiate your actions and protest the shaming of the Jewish
people. We expect you to repudiate these actions and to unequivocally
clarify, in writing and publicly, that you neither forgive nor waive
the great quantities of Jewish blood that have been shed by Arafat,
and that you do not regard him as a friend, comrade, or partner, and
that he is still the archmurderer, and will not succeed in deceiving
you, as if his intentions are peaceful.
With the blessing (of the prophet Samuel): “the Eternal One of Israel
does not deceive.”
Residents from Efrat and Gush Etzion
—————————————————————-
Whoever has not yet signed the letter is invited to do so.
Please call: Dr. David and Nadia Matar (Efrat) 9932083; Naomi Baruchi
(Efrat) 9932713; Anita Finkelstein (Tekoa) 9964805; Yehudit Dasberg
(Alon Shvut) 9931375
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*******************************************************
Jerusalem, March 23, 2000
Yet Another False Messiah
Yossi Beilin is the same cunning, deceitful, disloyal Yossi Beilin that
he was before he assumed the position as a Minister in the Barak
Government. Barak thought he could take this Peres man out of his hair,
by having him serve as his Justice Minister. He thought Beilin could do
the least amount of harm in that innocuous position, but as usual Barak
was wrong. Beilin traveled to Switzerland, and before Israel’s biggest
and notoriously unfair critic – the UN Human Rights Commission – he
further besmirched Israel’s good name and reputation. Before this
prejudiced unholy body, he admitted to something of which Israel is not
at all guilty – “the occupation of Arab territory” in the historical
Land of Israel.
What Beilin did in Geneva would warrant that he immediately be tried for
treason in any other country. To give fodder to the Arabs in the
further unjustified smearing of Israel, takes a disloyalty which knows
no bounds, and Beilin is a master in that regard. He has gotten away
without being punished for taking part in the initiation of the Oslo
process, at a time when there was a law on the books that it was
unlawful to deal with the PLO.
Yet with all his cleverness, Beilin is still naive in his thinking. He
believes that he can be shrewder than the Arabs, by admitting to wrongs
that were never committed by Israel. Thus he would win Arab
confidence, and even win approval from the completely biased U.N.
Commission on Human Rights based in Geneva. Beilin, a couple of years
ago, ridiculed former U.S. President Reagan as a simpleton, because he
could not understand Reagan’s love of country and of his American
Heritage. That is because Beilin is a Jew completely without loyalty to
his People, and without pride in his own rich Jewish Heritage. He thus
could not understand anyone else who possessed the qualities of loyalty,
honesty and integrity.
The fact is that the only sin of the Jews, despite the one which Beilin
has falsely created, is that they remained alive, and returned to their
“promised biblical homeland” and miraculously rebuilt it. Instead of
being exultant in Israel’s accomplishments, he has taken the path of the
Ghetto Jew, being obsequious to his Gentile patrons, in order to
continue to “survive”.
Yossi Beilin is harmful and dangerous to the cause of peace. He
descends from a People that has contributed a great deal to the moral
and ethical values of Western Civilization, yet he himself acts
immorally and undemocratically. He is completely divorced from the
hopes and aspirations of the Jewish People, yet immorally speaks as if
he represents them. It is difficult to conceive of someone who has done
more harm to his own People and to the cause of attaining peace between
the Jews and Arabs. His people, by reason of its ancient traditions and
beliefs, has created the only democracy in the whole Middle East, which
is otherwise dominated by Arab dictatorships. Beilin has not shown and
cannot show in concrete terms, or in any other way, that the Arabs are
desirous of peacefully co-existing with the Jewish State of Israel, or
with its Jewish People. Yet he continues to relentlessly disparage his
own People with the unrealistic assumption that this will lead to
“peace” in the region. What a shameful caricature of a Jew is this
pitiful and unrepresentative false Messiah!
Ruth and Nadia Matar
*******************************************************
Jerusalem, March 27, 2000
Demonstration for Neguhot
Neguhot is the yishuv in the southern hills of Hebron that has been
abandoned by Barak – the road to Neguhot was handed over to the
Palestinian Authority last week.
The 13 young families of Neguhot are organizing a demonstration
demanding that Barak build them an alternative road and protesting
the fact that their lives have been put in danger.
They have asked others to join. It is crucial to come and show
support. It is also crucial to prevent other yishuvim from turning
into Neguhots.
WHEN: Monday, March 27 at 6:30pm
WHERE: in front of Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem
Nadia
*******************************************************
Jerusalem, March 27, 2000
Victory
Aharon Barak, struck a blow for freedom of speech in a decision
rendered in the Supreme Court today. Sitting at the head of a three
panel Supreme Court, Barak overturned the decision of District Judge
Vardi Zeiler and ordered the return of the payment of 22,500 NIS plus
interest and linkage by the plaintiffs, the Rabbis for Human Rights and
Arik Ascherman, to the defendants, Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women
In Green). At the outset Judge Barak indicated that the judgment of
the District Court would be overturned, and was of mind that the libel
case of the plaintiffs against the defendants should proceed and be
decided in a regular trial where each side will be able to present all
the facts. The defendants were represented by the well known attorney and
television panelist Chaim Misgav, Esq. of Tel Aviv.
The hypocrisy of the Rabbis for Human Rights and Arik Ascherman has long
been recognized in their one-sided support of PLO positions. No less an
authority on human rights than Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz
pointed out to them that the title of the organization claiming to be
for “human rights” was grossly misleading. Dershowitz stated that they
were a special interest group which devoted themselves exclusively to Arab
positions, and their record showed them sorely lacking in objectivity.
Ironically, the party-line support of the PLO, a notorious violator of
Arab human rights, contradicts what the plaintiffs claim they stand for,
the protection of these very human rights of the Arabs.
The Court no doubt recognized the well known principle in libel that by
the plaintiffs actively and continually thrusting themselves into the
vortex of public debate on crucial issues, they subject themselves to
“fair comment” on their actions and behavior. As recognized by the
Supreme Court of the United States, this comment may well be harsh and
severe, and part of the robust public debate needed in a democratic
society.
While the Supreme Court did not discuss this issue, it is well
established in the law of libel that by actively engaging in activities
trying to influence the public, the plaintiffs should be held to that
degree of proof required of a public person. That proof is to show that
the defendants actually knew their statements to be false when they
issued the statements which the plaintiffs are claiming to be libelous.
Judge Barak, during the Court’s discussion, took time out to make a
humorous comment. He pointed out that the Women In Green were highly
critical of a recent decision of his in the Katzir case, but he wasn’t
going to disqualify himself in this case because of that. He added that
Israel is in need of groups like Women For Israel’s Tomorrow, (Women In
Green) whether or not one always agrees with the positions they take on
public matters.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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*******************************************************
Jerusalem, March 28, 2000
All of Israel is Responsible for One Another
In accordance with the “Women’s Manifesto” signed by hundreds of
people at the convention of Jerusalem and Yesha women in Netzarim
two weeks ago, whereby Kol Yisrael areivim zeh bazeh – residents of
Judea, Samaria and Gaza will – over the next few days – block roads to
Arab traffic in response to what happened today in Netzarim and Gush
Katif (see details below).
The situation in Yesha is escalating rapidly. Every day we hear of
another incident in which the Arabs intimidate us and try to make
our lives impossible – and the IDF does not respond (most probably
because of government orders). This has got to stop.
What scares the government the most (and the Arabs too) is when we
show unity. If the Arabs touch our brothers and sisters in Gush Katif –
then we will react in Gush Etzion, in Kedumim, in Jerusalem etc…
So… in reaction to what happened today in Gush Katif, the residents
of Efrat and Gush Etzion (men and women) will block the road to Arab
traffic:
WHEN: this Friday, March 31, at 8:30 am
WHERE: at the same place we blocked the road in reaction to the
Arabs shooting an Efrat resident a few weeks ago, i.e. at the
entrance to Betlehem on the main Gush Etzion – Jerusalem road (next
to the “antique” shop).
The Efrat-Gush Etzion action committees and Women in Green call
upon all the yishuvim to do the same.
KOL YISRAEL AREIVIM ZE LAZEH
For details:
Call EFRAT: Marilyn Adler 02-9932811 or Nadia Matar 02-9932083
TEKOA: Anita Finkelstein 02-9964805 or Yael Amiel 02-9964131
NEVE DANIEL: Timna Katz 02-9938020
——————————————————————–
Date sent: 28 Mar 2000 14:11:55 -0000
Yesha Communities Bulletin Board
More PA paramilitary violence aimed at IDF forces & Israelis
(IsraelWire-3/28) Arabs in Gaza on Tuesday afternoon held
demonstrations at the Morag, Katif, and Netzarim Junctions during the
afternoon hours.
According to the Kol MòHashetach News Agency report, the community of
Morag was closed off as a result of the demonstration for a brief
time.
Israel Radio reported that at Netzarim Junction, PLO Authority (PA)
paramilitary forces detained an unspecified number of Israeli
motorists ö pointing their loaded weapons at them. At one point, PA
and Israeli forces pointed weapons at one-another, leading to a
confrontation. The Kol MòHashetach News Agency added that some IDF
troops sustained beatings from their PA counterparts until the
situation was neutralized.
Since the 6.1 percent land withdrawal last week, the number of such
incidents throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza continues to increase.