WOMEN FOR ISRAEL’S TOMORROW
WOMEN IN GREEN
Media Releases – October 2000
October 2000
October 3, 2000 Vilification Without Justification
October 5, 2000 Abandoning Our Soldiers In The Field
October 6, 2000 Do We Want to Win?
October 8, 2000 Victory Now!
October 8, 2000 Pray for Hillel
October 8, 2000 Arafat’s War
October 11, 2000 The World’s Moral Bankruptcy
October 13, 2000 The Government of Surrender Must Resign Now
October 13, 2000 Letter to the Editor of the Jerusalem Post
October 16, 2000 The Barreness of Barak
October 16, 2000 Shimon Peres On Why He Gave Guns To The Arabs
October 18, 2000 The Truth – As Told by an Arab-American Journalist
October 18, 2000 A God Given Opportunity
October 19, 2000 Untie the Hands of Our Soldiers
October 22, 2000 Shoot the Jew
October 26, 2000 Beilin, Peres, and Barak: It Was You Who Gave Them Guns
October 29, 2000 Media Release – Demonstration
October 31, 2000 Urgent: Kever Rachel (Rachel’s Tomb)
Jerusalem, October 3, 2000
Vilification Without Justification
Ariel Sharon is to be commended. Visiting the Temple Mount on
the eve of Rosh Hashana was a timely and intelligent move. It is
a refreshing bit of leadership, something this Country needs
desperately. True, it should have been done long ago. In that
way, the intolerance towards other religions that many Arabs
clearly demonstrate, including Arafat and his band of terrorists,
would have been revealed to the whole world. Better late than
never!
That is a significant difference between Sharon and Barak.
Barak is hopelessly secular, without a trace of a spiritual
connection to the God of Israel or the religious nature of his
homeland. So is the Communist indoctrinated Ephraim Sneh,
Barak’s defense assistant and “apologist”, whose father led the
Israel Communist Party for many years. Barak is preparing to
share Jerusalem with the terrorist murderer Arafat. Jerusalem,
and the Temple Mount, from time immemorial, have always been
sacred to the Jewish People. Sharon’s decision to visit this
sacred site, contrasts sharply with Barak’s immoral hosting of
Arafat at his own home. Arafat daily teaches hatred and violence
against the Jews in his schools and in his media, despite the
fact that he readily and continuously signs Agreements to the
contrary.
The sad crew of Barak, Beilin, and Ben Ami is pitiful. Each of
them has no appreciation of, or loyalty to, their magnificent
Jewish Tradition, and Heritage. They present a picture of
helplessness and weakness to everyone in their handling of the
present Arab riots. Their off-note chorus has been joined by the
hypocritical U.S. State Department, led by the self-denying
Jewess, Albright, putting the blame on Sharon for the
unprovoked Arab terrorist attacks. The Arabs, of course, are
using the same typical false claims that their holy place on the
Jewish Temple Mount, the Al Aqsa Mosque, is threatened with
attack by the Jews. The world, CNN and the Israeli immoral and
irreligious Left, are willing to promulgate this garbage. Over the
years, distorting the news always has been “fair game,” when it
comes to Jews.
What about the basic concept of freedom of religion, which
everyone agrees is vital to any society? That fundamental value
is one of the bedrocks on which the U.S. democratic society was
founded. Who among the media dare point out that the Jews
have at least the same right as the Arabs to worship on their
historical Temple Mount in their own Jewish Homeland? A
review of Jewish Prayer Books over the centuries will reveal that
for over three thousand years that Holy Site has been the
spiritual focus of the Jewish Religion. It is groundless, and an
attempt to avoid the merits of the real issue involved, to blame
Arik Sharon and other Members of the Knesset of this Jewish
State, for visiting the Temple Mount. What more appropriate and
natural act is there? It should have been done by Jewish
leaders of this nation from the very outset in 1967, when the
miracle of its recapture first took place. Do not the Baraks,
Beilins, and Ben Amis realize that their cowering concessions
won’t satisfy Arafat, nor his Arab supporters? The inescapable
conclusion is that the lack of national, and spiritual feelings of
such “Jewish” leaders, is a national tragedy.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, October 5, 2000
Abandoning Our Soldiers In The Field
It is so typical of Barak. He is more concerned about what he
thinks “world reaction” would be, than the life of one of his
soldiers. He did not allow IDF tanks to enter Shchem in order to
prevent one of our soldiers from bleeding to death. The IDF
soldier was seriously wounded when Palestinians, without any
provocation, shot him while he was protecting the isolated
enclave located at the Jewish Holy Site of Joseph’s Tomb. The
wounded soldier lay bleeding in the enclave for five hours,
while the army was negotiating with the PA Authority to allow an
ambulance to come in to take him to the hospital. Barak should
have anticipated the danger to the life of the soldier, because of
the lack of concern the Arabs usually have for human life. The
wounded Israeli soldier became for them a mere bargaining
chip, and they would hold to their position even at the expense
of causing his death. Contrast this Arab behavior with what
three IDF officers did when the Governor of Nablus’s son was
wounded. They risked their lives by going into an Arab hospital
in Nablus to try to save his life, even though he was part of the
riots against Israel.
Not too long ago the Army had a similar experience with the
Egyptians who refused to allow medical treatment to Israeli
tourists whom one of their soldiers had shot. The deaths that
followed by those wounded individuals bleeding to death, was
the direct result of the callous refusal of the Egyptians to allow
medical treatment for them. That experience should have taught
Barak that he could only wait a short time before taking the
needed action to save the wounded Yusef.
As usual, Barak did not understand the implications of his
timorous decision to leave Yusef Maclhat to bleed to death on
our retaining this important Jewish Holy site, and on our
morale. Not only was the morale of the soldiers of the IDF
involved, not only the morale of the Jewish People as a whole,
but there was the predictable bad reaction of the minority Druze
community. The brother of the soldier who died did not critcize
the Arabs who prevented his wounded brother from being taken
to a hospital. Rather he stated that his brother should not have
had to die protecting a Jewish Holy Site. Barak, by not taking the
proper action to save this soldier, brought about the resentment
of the Druze community AGAINST THE JEWS! Barak, in effect,
rewarded the Arabs for their violent behavior and breach of their
commitments under Oslo to allow free access to this Jewish
Holy Site. Barak thus has put in jeopardy, by his inaction, our
right to retain this important Biblical site!
If Barak were wise, he would have issued a short media release
to the “world”, to explain why, because of the Arab refusal, the
IDF needed to bring in tanks in order to save a life. His failure in
this matter has led many reservists to write to Barak for
assurances that they would not be abandoned were they to be
wounded in battle during their tour of duty. Why, oh why, are
the actions of Barak so out of tune with the aspirations and
convictions of the Jewish People, and the true interests of this
Jewish State?
Ruth and Nadia Matar
Jerusalem, October 6, 2000
Do We Want to Win?
Hagai Huberman
[From: “Hatzoveh” — Wednesday, October 4, 2000]
The IDF’s behavior in Yesha leads one to think that the state’s
political leadership has consciously decided that this is a war
it wants to lose. In the spirit of Ami Ayalon’s viewpoint as
reported in the latest issue of “Nekuda”: “it’s a good thing that
we were defeated in the Intifada.”
It is not to be believed: the IDF is simply not fighting. The army
only returns fire when fired upon; puts “restraint” above all;
reacts to events and does not initiate anything. No real or
effective pressure point has been used against Arafat.
On the contrary, the IDF has refrained from imposing a closure on
[the Arabs of] Yesha. Thousands of Palestinian workers crowded the
border crossings on their way to a routine workday in Israel.
IDF forces at the checkpoints received orders not to prevent their
entrance. Even the land corridor between Gaza and Jericho within the
State of Israel, that is called the ‘safe passage”, was open as
usual.
This war could have been over in one day had the tanks not just stood
but also fired. And had the combat helicopters not just hovered
overhead as if they were touring the skies of our land, but also
fired massively as part of a planned attack.
There is no need to cause tens of casualties. Combat helicopters can
pinpoint strategic targets. After the “Nakbah” events last May, the
Chief of Staff said on several occasions, that what stopped those
clashes were his warnings that attack helicopters would destroy
Arafat’s headquarters. “I spoke with Arafat, ” Mofaz told about the
day of the “Nakbah”, “and I made clear to him that I am not
negotiating with him, since he began the fighting, but that I am
simply informing him that if the shooting does not stop, the
helicopters are waiting in the air and I will give them an order to
shoot. Arafat answered : don’t threaten me. I said to him that I am
not threatening, but that he should know that if the shooting does
not stop, we will respond.”
Four days have passed since the beginning of the current round of
fighting and Arafat’s various headquarters are still intact. Instead
of Arafat being forced to beg for a cease-fire, Barak is the one who
is down on his knees, and today he is dragging his feet to Paris,
bruised and beaten, to capitulate to Arafat.
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Jerusalem, October 8, 2000
Victory Now!
Message from Moshe Feiglin – Zu Artzeinu:
We have to demand only one thing:
NITZAHON ACHSHAV (VICTORY NOW)
If we wish to live, then the only choice is to win the battle.
Demonstration this Tuesday, October 10th, at 7:00 pm
in Tel Aviv at the Tel Aviv Museum in front of the Ministry
of Defense, Shaul Hamelech street, close to the “Beit Mishpat
Ha’ironi” (municipal court).
Come with a sign saying “Nitzachon Achshav” (Victory Now).
There will be a bus leaving from the Laromme Hotel in Jerusalem at 5:45pm.
To assure a seat you must call one of the following people by 10:00am. on Tuesday:
1. Anita – 996-4805
2. Ruth – 624-9887
3. Gemma – 582-7273
Jerusalem, October 8, 2000
Pray for Hillel
Just spoke to the family of Hillel Lieberman, the Jew who is missing
near Schem. They have asked us to spread his name as much as
possible in order for everybody to daven for his safety and well-being.
Hillel Eliyahu ben Bracha. His father’s name is Zevulun.
Gmar Chatima Tova,
Ruth and Nadia Matar
Jerusalem, October 8, 2000
Arafat’s War
by Charles Krauthammer
Fighting has broken out in the Middle East, we read. This use of
passive phrasing, almost universal in media reports on the
violence in Israel, is a way of deliberately expressing
agnosticism about the cause of the fighting.
It is a scandal. It is akin to writing that on September 1, 1939,
war “broke out” on the German-Polish frontier.
Few wars break out spontaneously. And certainly not this
one. Does anyone believe that Ehud Barak, who went to Camp
David and offered the Palestinians peace terms of breathtaking
generosity, would be starting a war? Does anyone believe that
the most dovish government in Israeli history, feeling itself just
inches away from concluding a permanent peace, would initiate
gun battles?
The plain fact is that Yasser Arafat, thrown on the diplomatic
defensive by rejecting Barak’s offer (to the astonishment and
dismay of the American mediators), has done what he has
always done, resort to violence to regain the initiative and, most
important, mint new underage martyrs – on world television – to
regain the international sympathy he had foreited by turning
down peace at Camp David.
His pretext was that the September 28 visit to the Temple
Mount by Israel’s leader of the opposition so offended Islam that
the faithful erupted in violence. The audacity of this claim is
astonishing. Yes, the Temple Mount is the third holiest place in
Islam. But it happens to be the single most holy place for Jews.
Why does the Moslem claim so trump all others that Jews may
not set foot on their most sacred site, their Mecca?
The war that followed was as spontaneous as a Havana
demonstration. The preacher at al Aqsa mosque called at Friday
prayers to “eradicate the Jews from Palestine.” Official
Palestine television began playing over and over archival
footage of the Palestinian intifada of 1987-1993 showing young
people out in the streets throwing stones.
In case we still didn’t get the message, Voice of Palestine
radio began playing patriotic war songs. Arafat then closed the
schools and declared a general strike, causing everyone to go
out into the street.
With Arafat’s chief political lieutenant on the West Bank
orchestrating the militia, war then “broke out.”
The doves are stunned. Avraham Burg, speaker of the Israeli
parliament and one of the architects of the Labor governments’s
bend-over-backward peace proposals, writes perplexedly,
pathetically. “Do we really understand what is going on? After
everything was given, there are still demands on the other side.
Suddenly we discovered,” he continues plaintively, “that what
we mean by peace – which is mutual reconciliation – is not
being met by the other side.”
SUDDENLY? Where has he been for seven years? Seven
years during which Arafat built his “police force” into a 40,000-
man army now unleashed on Israel. Seven years during which
Arafat repeatedly said that the peace process was one option
and that if he did not get everything he wanted there was
another. Seven years during which his state–controlled
television, radio, newspapers and now children’s textbooks
inculcated in his people an anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism so
virulent that it has succeeded in producintg a new generation
bred on reflexive hostility to Israel.
Seven years during which he repeatedly called for “jihad” for
Jerusalem.
Well, it has now arrived. That is the meaning of the current
fighting.
This is, as the Palestinians repeatedly call it, a war for
Jerusalem. Not as the world press has reported endlessly and
fatuously an expression of Palestinian “frustration.” Frustation
with what? Israeli occupation? It ended years ago. 99 percent
of Palestinians live under the rule of Yasser Arafat. Over
territory? Barak has conceded virtually the entire West Bank.
Over political subordination? Barak offered full recognition of
the first independent Palestinian state in history.
The Palestinians are less frustrated than emboldened.
Emboldened by an Israeli government who desperate for peace it
has given up “everything” as Burg admitted. Emboldened by
the fecklessness of Burg and his colleagues, so impervious
for so long to empirical evidence of Palestinian implacability that
in this moment of supreme crisis they admit openly to
disorientation.
Emboldened by an American administration so craven that it
refuses to condemn Arafat for cynically starting this war, indeed
for repeatedly violating his single obligation under Oslo, the
renunciation of violence.
“After everything was given,” laments Burg. Yes everything
except one last thing, the Temple Mount. Why, Barak went
wobbly even on that. He offered to relinquish sovereignty over
Judaism’s holiest site and internationalize it under the UN
Security Council.
Arafat refused. He demands ownership – the audacity is
breathtaking – of Judaism’s holy of holies. Hence this war.
It is not spontaneous. And it is not without direction.
Arafat knows what he wants, and he is prepared to sacrifice as
many of his own people as it takes to get it. Preferably on
television.
(Washington Post Writers Group)
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Jerusalem, October 11, 2000
The World’s Moral Bankruptcy
Charles Krauthammer, a renowned syndicated columnist,
pointed out in a recent column entitled “Arafat’s War”, how the
world slmost universally ignores Arafat’s responsibility for the
violence in Israel. To be added to this moral evasion, is the total
lack of condemnation by the world leaders, the media, or
religious leadership of the destruction by Arab masses of
Joseph’s Tomb, an important Christian and Jewish Biblical Holy
Site.
That moral tragedy, and the accompanying burning of Jewish
prayer and other holy books at Joseph’s Tomb, are met with a
deafening world silence. The reported discovery of the bullet-
ridden body of Hillel Lieberman whom the Arabs massacred in
cold blood not far from this holy site, is another glaring example
of the indifference of the world community when it comes to the
spilling of Jewish blood.
Hillel Lieberman is the purported actual cousin of the United
States Vice Presidential Democratic Candidate Joseph
Lieberman. That relationship does not seem to have stirred the
Jews of America to realize the dangerous implications to their
own welfare as a result of the indifference on the American
scene when news of the Tomb’s destruction and this murder
were reported. Certainly, in view of his own immoral track
record, Bill Clinton cannot be expected to lead the moral
indignation that should have resulted from this ugly desecration.
That he continued to deal with immoral Arafat, and later failed to
criticize Arafat for his responsibility in the breakdown of the
“peace process”, speaks volumes.
In the face of this American and world indifference, and
misreporting of what is actually taking place in Israel today, the
present floundering Israeli leadership itself lacks moral direction
and conviction. Barak apparently is ill-equipped to raise a moral
hue and cry. Moreover, the people he has surrounded himself
with, the Beilins, the Pereses and the Ben Amis are moral
pygmies, who themselves are responsible for the deaths by
shootings of many Jews. These “Jewish” leaders supplied the
weaponry to the Arabs under Oslo, and bear responsibility for
the predictable and foreseeable savagery with which these
weapons are being and have been used by the Arab police and
others against IDF soldiers and civilians.
What is needed at present is the kind of daring and imaginative
leadership which Barak has proven himself to be incapable of
providing. First and foremost, all further contact with Arafat and
his negotiatiors must be cut off and cease. Furthermore, the
realities of the Israeli Arab’s active participation, alongside of
the Arab Knesset Members, in the rioting and uprisings that
have been intitiated by Arafat, requires drastic and effective
action. No Jewish State can remain silent in the face of blatant
acts of treason that are being committed. These Arabs are using
the democratic process to destroy our beloved Jewish State.
The Knesset must act immediately to disfranchise these Arabs
politically, while at the same time insuring them the equal rights
that the Biblical “stranger” in our midst would enjoy.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
Jerusalem, October 13, 2000
The Government of Surrender Must Resign Now
Barak is trying to attend a summit in order to calm things down, so
that he can continue with the suicidal Oslo process!
Barak still considers the murderer, Arafat, a partner and is
still willing to give away to the murderous PA most of Yesha, the
Jordan valley, parts of Jerusalem etc…
We have to bring down this defeatist government!
PROTEST — Sunday, October 15, 2000
Tell PM BARAK in Person
At the Rally Outside his Office
At the Rose Garden in Jerusalem
From 8:30 to 10:30 am
(while his cabinet is meeting)
Jerusalem, October 13, 2000
Letter to the Editor of the Jerusalem Post
Dear Editor,
The Arab reaction to Sharon visiting the Temple Mount with
other members of the Knesset before the Jewish holidays just
exposed the truth about their lack of respect and tolerance of
Jewish religous rights.
Nor should Sharon be blamed for the death of 12-year-old
Mohammed Aldura. Ironically, when a PA policeman set fire to a
2-year-old Jewish toddler in Jericho not long ago, there was not
one word of remorse from Arab leaders, nor PEACE NOW
supporters. Nor was there any demand on mainstream TV or
radio, either in Israel or abroad, calling for Arafat to be made
accountable for maiming this child for life. Where was the
compassion of the Israel Defense for Children International (DCI)
to open its website to receive support for a Jewish child being a
victim of an Arab policeman’s act of terror?
Arab and Israeli critics blame Sharon for Mohammed’s death.
Why don’t they and the media address the fact that this very
tragic incident could have been prevented if the parents of the
child would not have allowed him to take part in the violence
involved in rock throwing? When Mohammed placed himself in
life-threatening cross-fire, his life was in great danger.
It’s time for Arab parents to teach their children the meaning of
true peace. They should address the problem of teaching hatred
in their schools, and speak out against acts which lead to sad
situations such as occurred with “Baby” Shalev and
Mohammed.
Barbara Ann Bloom, President
Baltimore Chapter, Women in Green
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Jerusalem, October 16, 2000
The Barreness of Barak
What do you do about a Jewish Leader who does not vigorously
respond to desecration of Jewish Holy Sites? Ehud Barak is
such a Prime Minister. He is more interested in what Clinton and
Europe will think of him, than in basic Jewish values. He was
rightly upset about the inhumane lynching by the Arabs of at
least two Jewish soldiers in Ramallah. He was virtually silent
about the desecration involved in the burning down of the
Jewish Holy Sites of Joseph’s Tomb in Shchem, and the ancient
Jewish Synagogue in Jericho. He likewise remains silent as to
the opposition of the Arabs to allow Jewish and Christiana
prayer on the Temple Mount.
Barak, of course, responds in kind according to his value
system. To him, the burning of the ancient synagogue in
Jericho only warranted the response of destroying an Arab
military training school in Jericho. Because of Barak’s complete
absence of having a Jewish education, and his own agnostic
attitude with regard to religion, the value of prayer and even the
belief in the God of Israel, he did not visibly get upset with the
burning down of the Torah Scrolls and Holy Books that were
part of the conflagration. Nor did he describe the irreplaceable
and priceless ancient mosaic flooring that was thereby placed in
great jeopardy. He certainly did not mention these tragedies in
his appearances before the world radio and television cameras
in reporting about the lynching of Jews in Ramallah.
As to the disaster which occurred in Shchem at Joseph’s Tomb,
he had already abandoned that Holy Site because he as a former
general found it to be militarily indefensible. He was not
prepared to commit the necessary readily available military
force to uphold that which the Palestine Authority had
committed itself to do in prior agreements.
Apparently, it never entered Barak’s mind that the Lord had
given him a justifiable reason for retaking all of Shchem after the
burning down of that Biblical Holy Site, and retaking of Jericho
after the burning down of this ancient Synagogue and its Holy
Scrolls and books. The patent and blatant breach of the
obligations of the Palestine Authority in the former agreements
it had signed with regard to these Jewish Holy Sites would have
been seen by the world as justifiable, after these Arab barbaric
acts in Shchem and Jericho. Any self-respecting nation would
so act.
Barak did not consider the ramifications to world Jewry of the
Arab burning down of the Biblical Tomb of Joseph and the
ancient Jewish Synagogue in Jericho. His lack of a firm and
proper response to these mob acts of desecration, is connected
to the report of the continued desecrations of synagogues in
France and throughout the world. If in a Jewish Country, its
leaders are silent in the face of attacks on Judaism and Jewish
Holy Sites, it is a clear encouragement to the Anti-Semites of
this world to attack Jews and their Holy Places everywhere.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
Jerusalem, October 16, 2000
Shimon Peres On Why He Gave Guns To The Arabs
Shimon Peres appeared on CNN and to the question posed by
the interviewer as to whether he regretted in retrospect giving
guns to the Arabs, Peres replied: “Guns don’t kill, only people
do”. If ever there was a facetious and callous answer to a
legitimate and timely question, that one of Peres takes the prize.
Actually, the lynching the Arabs recently carried out in Ramallah
was not done by guns. Arabs stabbed to death at least two
Israeli soldiers that were being detained at an Arab Police
Station. They then tossed their bodies out through a window to
a mob below. Whereupon that mob inhumanely further stabbed
and stamped upon the dead soldiers, and disgracefully dragged
their bodies through the streets of Ramallah. Their acts showed
the depth of the Arab hatred of the Jews and the bitter fruit of
Arab education. Television taken at the scene did not show an
aroused and wild mob. It appeared instead to be a calculated
act of violence, while the permissive PA police stood by and
watched. Unfortunatedly, such inhumane acts are not atypical
of Arab violence. Arabs, it seems, live by a different moral
standard. Life and respect for the deceased, are not valued
highly, particularly where their enemies are involved.
Shimon Peres, who has refused to take the lessons of history
seriously, nevertheless is certainly aware of the heartless and
ruthless pogroms the Arabs are capable of, and carried out
against the Jews heretofore in Israel. He was alive when the
massacre of Jews occurred in Hebron in 1929. Since then, there
have been repeated inhumane acts on the part of the Arabs
towards the Jews. To say that people kill, not guns, is an
irresponsible and heartless answer. It basically shows how
unsuitable this man was to be in a position where he could make
the kind of decisions which so adversely affect the People of
Israel today.
The ruthless savagery displayed by the Arabs in Ramallah, the
burning of the Jewish Holy Site of Joseph’s Tomb in Shchem,
and the burning down of an ancient Jewish Synagogue in
Jericho, are not uncharacteristic of Arab behavior. The
intolerance towards other religions and other peoples is
embedded in the Moslem faith. Jews and Christians are not
permitted to pray on the Temple Mount. Saudi Arabia to this day
does not allow Jews to enter their country. Iraq and other Arab
countries virtually expelled the Jews from their lands.
But one does not need to go abroad to seek examples of Arab
hatred being taught against the Jews. Right here throughout the
Land of Israel the Palestine Authority, both in its schools and
media, teaches such hatred and animosity. Shimon Peres and
the rest of his entourage has not done anything to solve this
problem. To have given guns and similar weaponry to the Arab
population under the Peres-Beilin Oslo Agreements, without first
having resolved the concomitant problem of the Arabs
continuing to teach hatred of the Jews, was irresponsible. They
should be tried in a Court of Law for their crimes against the
Jewish People.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, October 18, 2000
The Truth
As Told by an Arab-American Journalist
Forwarded Message Follows:
Tue, 17 Oct 2000 10:01:13 +0200 To:
hebron_today@hebron.org.il From:Hebron
Subject:
From: WorldNetDaily
Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2000
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/
bluesky_btl/20001011_xcbtl_myths_brmi.shtml
Myths of the Middle East
by Joseph Farah
c 2000 WorldNetDaily.com
I’ve been quiet since Israel erupted in fighting spurred by disputes over
the Temple Mount.
Until now, I haven’t even bothered to say, “See, I told you so.” But I
can’t resist any longer. I feel compelled to remind you of the column I
wrote just a couple weeks before the latest uprising. Yeah, folks, I
predicted it. That’s OK. Hold your applause.
After all, I wish I had been wrong. More than 80 people have been killed
since the current fighting in and around Jerusalem began. And for what?
If you believe what you read in most news sources, Palestinians want a
homeland and Muslims want control over sites they consider holy. Simple,
right?
Well, as an Arab-American journalist who has spent some time in the Middle
East dodging more than my share of rocks and mortar shells, I’ve got to
tell you that these are just phony excuses for the rioting, trouble-making
and land-grabbing.
Isn’t it interesting that prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, there was no
serious movement for a Palestinian homeland?
“Well, Farah,” you might say, “that was before the Israelis seized the West
Bank and Old Jerusalem.”
That’s true. In the Six-Day War, Israel captured Judea, Samaria and East
Jerusalem. But they didn’t capture these territories from Yasser Arafat.
They captured them from Jordan’s King Hussein. I can’t help but wonder why
all these Palestinians suddenly discovered their national identity after
Israel won the war.
The truth is that Palestine is no more real than Never-Never Land. The
first time the name was used was in 70 A.D. when the Romans committed
genocide against the Jews, smashed the Temple and declared the land of
Israel would be no more. From then on, the Romans promised, it would be
known as Palestine. The name was derived from the Philistines, a Goliathian
people conquered by the Jews centuries earlier. It was a way for the Romans
to add insult to injury. They also tried to change the name of Jerusalem to
Aelia Capitolina, but that had even less staying power.
Palestine has never existed – before or since – as an autonomous entity.
It was ruled alternately by Rome, by Islamic and Christian crusaders, by
the Ottoman Empire and, briefly, by the British after World War I. The
British agreed to restore at least part of the land to the Jewish people as
their homeland.
There is no language known as Palestinian. There is no distinct Palestinian
culture. There has never been a land known as Palestine governed by
Palestinians. Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable from Jordanians
(another recent invention), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc. Keep in mind
that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands. Israel
represents one-tenth of 1 percent of the landmass.
But that’s too much for the Arabs. They want it all. And that is ultimately
what the fighting in Israel is about today. Greed. Pride. Envy.
Covetousness. No matter how many land concessions the Israelis make, it
will never be enough.
What about Islam’s holy sites? There are none in Jerusalem.
Shocked? You should be. I don’t expect you will ever hear this brutal truth
from anyone else in the international media. It’s just not politically
correct.
I know what you’re going to say: “Farah, the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of
the Rock in Jerusalem represent Islam’s third most holy sites.”
Not true. In fact, the Koran says nothing about Jerusalem. It mentions
Mecca hundreds of times. It mentions Medina countless times. It never
mentions Jerusalem. With good reason. There is no historical evidence to
suggest Mohammed ever visited Jerusalem.
So how did Jerusalem become the third holiest site of Islam? Muslims today
cite a vague passage in the Koran, the seventeenth Sura, entitled “The
Night Journey.” It relates that in a dream or a vision Mohammed was carried
by night “from the sacred temple to the temple that is most remote, whose
precinct we have blessed, that we might show him our signs.” In the
seventh century, some Muslims identified the two temples mentioned in this
verse as being in Mecca and Jerusalem. And that’s as close as Islam’s
connection with Jerusalem gets – myth, fantasy, wishful thinking.
Meanwhile, Jews can trace their roots in Jerusalem back to the days of
Abraham.
The latest round of violence in Israel erupted when Likud Party leader
Ariel Sharon tried to visit the Temple Mount, the foundation of the Temple
built by Solomon. It is the holiest site for Jews. Sharon and his entourage
were met with stones and threats. I know what it’s like. I’ve been there.
Can you imagine what it is like for Jews to be threatened, stoned and
physically kept out of the holiest site in Judaism?
So what’s the solution to the Middle East mayhem? Well, frankly, I don’t
think there is a man-made solution to the violence. But, if there is one,
it needs to begin with truth. Pretending will only lead to more chaos.
Treating a 5,000-year-old birthright backed by overwhelming historical and
archaeological evidence equally with illegitimate claims, wishes and wants
gives diplomacy and peacekeeping a bad name.
A daily radio broadcast adaptation of Joseph Farah’s commentaries can be
heard on TalkNetDaily- http://www.wnd.com/talknetdaily/.
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Jerusalem, October 18, 2000
A God Given Opportunity
The rationale for keeping Nadia Matar and Women In Green
from the airwaves during the period of time when there were still
many who believed that peace was possible with Arafat, was
understandable. It was not appropriate to stir up patriotic
feelings and to remind our leaders that no one had the right to
give up to a foreign entity, any portion of the Promised Land.
That Land belongs to the entire Jewish People, both here and
abroad, past, present and future. While “land for peace” is still
on the government agenda, suppression of patriotism is the
order of the day. Such an approach was consistent with Barak
making wide use of the media with his repetitious message of
how it was so painful for him to agree to give up for “peace”
such large segments of Israel to Arafat and the PLO.
But all has purportedly changed ever since the lynching of at
least 2 Jewish soldiers in Ramallah. The baring of the brutality
of the Arabs and their savage and barbaric practices jolted even
the Peace Now-niks out of their dogmatism and complacency,
and made them take another look at their peace partner.
Unfortunately for Arafat, he cannot bear up under close scrutiny.
His long and murderous record is accompanied by a dossier
that discloses he has no word. That dossier further reveals that
he lies consistently, and has no moral restraints. He even
callously uses and exposes his own Arab children to grave
danger for publicity purposes, to win world opinion over to his
Cause – the destruction of Israel.
Arafat, however, is not alone. He has an army of sympathizers
who see no blemish whatsoever in this murderer. Chief among
his sympathizers and followers are the Arab members of the
Knesset. They have been a tolerated 5th Column in our midst,
as bona fide as the peace process itself, and part of the price, it
was thought, one had to pay to obtain the desired objective of
“peace” with our Arab brethren.
Now that our eyes have been opened to see the true nature of
murderous Arafat and his followers, what concretely have we
done to protect ourselves? Not very much. We are still having
one-sided presentations over our television and radio. Only the
Sarids, the Beilins and the like appear to interpret events for us.
What is even more ludicrous, we are giving valuable media time
to MK Ahmed Tibi et al, the henchmen of Arafat, to spread their
lies and deceit, to further confuse the Jews. These Arabs pound
away with their false accusations, and constantly attempt to
instill guilt feelings among the Jews. Their obvious objective is
to put us on the defensive and to becloud the real issues.
Giving your enemy media time to spew hatred and confusion, is
not beneficial to much needed high public morale.
The call today, among those who heretofore were our leaders, is
a call for unity. However, that unity must have a solid
foundation. It cannot rest on the past mistakes which we now
readily acknowledge occurred when we chose the immoral
Arafat as our peace partner. We must clean house, and move
forward on a path which will rectify past mistakes and insure us
a stable and vibrant Jewish State. We must rid ourselves of the
past media prejudices and open up our airwaves to full
discussion of the vital issues of the day, where all sides who
seek the continuance of this Jewish State have an opportunity to
be fully heard. A true democracy is dependant on an informed
public.
We should appreciate the Lord’s kindness. HE revealed to us, in
the nick of time, the true nature of our peace partner. Those who
have heretofore been blind, now objectively can review the
peace that was engineered by architects who virtually doomed
the existence of a Jewish State. We must give thought to how to
disfranchise politically those Arabs who blatantly act to destroy
Israel. There may be no more God given opportunities. We must
act wisely, effectively and decisively, NOW!
Ruth and Nadia Matar
Jerusalem, October 19, 2000
Untie the Hands of Our Soldiers
To Protect and Return Honor and Pride
To The Jewish People
PROTEST
Sunday, October 22, 2000
At the Rose Garden in Jerusalem
Opposite the office of the PM
From 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.
(while Barak and his cabinet are meeting)
Demonstration under the auspices of
Women In Green
P.O.B. 7352, Jerusalem, Tel:02-624-9887 þ
Jerusalem, October 22, 2000
Shoot the Jew
The following letter was written by Hanni Luz, a columnist
for “Hatzofe” (a Hebrew daily newspaper), to her fellow journalists.
* * * *
Dear Sir,
A new game is being played on account of human lives. It’s called:
“Shoot the Jew”. The stage managers come from two parties. The first
are armed and usually masked gunman. The second are troops of
cameramen. Both are looking for the daily take.
The first party coordinates the time and place. The second party tails
behind, striving for headlines, aiding the stage managers with
technology’s best lenses. Both the parties aim. The first takes careful
aim at a Jewish home, a Jewish bus or a Jewish soldier. The second
aims carefully at the daily hit, shooting it from the gunmen’s point of
view. Together the shoot.
The actors come on stage, ignorant of the two hungry parties waiting
behind the corner.
Bus number 160, on it’s way home from Jerusalem thru the Ezion
tunnels, was shot at on Wednesday evening. At the exit of the tunnel,
a CNN camera crew was waiting patiently for the best shot. This
incidence was not unique. The same method is being played day after
day near the Jewish town of Psagot, and behind the Jewish houses in
Hebron.
The grotesque truth behind “the picture tells it all” is that democratic
media teams are collaberating with killers, and therefore playing an
active, if not major, part in pre-planned murder. These are not press
reporters. They are terror-pushers, accountable for the worst of
immoral war crimes. This ugly phenomenon has to be stopped, if
democratic society wants to continue believing in humanistic values.
I beg you to boycott pictures from CNN, AP, Reuturs and other
agencies, that were abtained by trampling the most basic of human
rights — the right to live. Even a Jew has the right not to be shot at.
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Jerusalem, October 26, 2000
Beilin, Peres, and Barak:
It Was You Who Gave Them Guns
What Does It Take Before You Get the Murderous Message of Arafat & the PLO?
PROTEST – SUNDAY, October 29, 2000
At The Rose Garden in Jerusalem
From 8:30 – 10:30 A.M.
Opposite the office of the PM
While Barak and his Cabinet are Meeting!
Rally under the auspices of Women In Green
P.O.B. 7352, Jerusalem – Tel: 02 – 6249 887
Ruth and Nadia Matar
Jerusalem, October 29, 2000
Media Release – Demonstration
It was terribly inconsiderate of Yasser Arafat to declare war on
Israel while the Knesset was on vacation. His attempt to reactivate the
intifada was done with the knowledge that it would take more than this
act of war to bring this Knesset back to work. He was right once again
on his evaluation of these Guardians of Israel. The Knesset would need
more than this Arab insurrection for it to reconvene prior to the end of
its extended four month vacation.
Arafat is not alone in his disdain of the Knesset. Barak has long
ago indicated that he would bypass our legislative body and ignore it
completely. Opinion polls to the contrary, Barak claims he has the
support of the People, and doesn’t need the Knesset at all. He welcomed
its inactivity. It left him to reign supreme in his timid and weak
response to the Arafat threat. Barak chose to tie the hands of the IDF
and to receive his instructions from Clinton rather than to act
decisively to end Arafat’s violence. The Knesset throughout remained
virtually silent.
The first order of business, however, for this Knesset is to bring
down the Barak Government and order new elections. Are they capable of
acting in the interest of the People of Israel, or will they look after
what is best for each of them individually? We will soon have the
answer.
Women In Green will be there to greet the Knesset on its return
to work at 9 a.m., on Monday, October 30, 2000, in front of the entrance
to the Knesset in Jerusalem. We shall have an important and vital
message for them.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
Jerusalem, October 31, 2000
Urgent: Kever Rachel (Rachel’s Tomb)
As you know, Kever Rachel has been closed to Jewish visitors
since Rosh Hashana.
I just got a call from the Jerusalem Committee for Kever Rachel and
they asked us to pass the following information:
The army has agreed to reopen Kever Rachel, although in a limited
way:
Kever Rachel will be open tomorrow Wednesday, November 1st,
Thursday, November 2nd and Friday, November 3rd in the morning.
One cannot get there with private cars. One can only get there by
buses organized by the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Buses will be leaving the “Mar Elias” intersection (the
Gilo/Betlehem intersection) at 9:00, 10:00 and 11:00 am.
Return from Kever Rachel at 9:30, 10:30, 11:30am.
It is important to note the following: even though the Ministry of
Religious Affairs announced that it will be open “till further
notice”, the Jerusalem Committee for Kever Rachel found out that this
is really a trial period by the government to see if Am Yisrael will
actually come to Kever Rachel, despite the situation. If few people
come in the next 3 days, Kever Rachel will be closed again on Sunday.
We might see here, a renewal of the “Kever Yossef” syndrom:
not allowing us to go by private cars, only going there when they let
us, at specific times etc…making it so difficult to come that
in the end they will feel there is no problem in giving it away.
The call is to come, en masse, in the next 3 days to Kever
Rachel.
Please pass this on to everybody you can and call those who do not have
e-mail.
Ror more information:
The Jerusalem Committee for Kever Rachel, Shelli Karzen 02-9961756
Ministry of Religious Affairs, Oded Wiener 02-6252054 or 6240359
Chazak Venitchazek,
Nadia Matar