Media Releases – April 2001
April 2001
April 5, 2001 Pesach Prayer for Our Missing Soldiers
April 5, 2001 A Pesach Poem
April 13, 2001 A Return To The Bottomless Pit?
April 17, 2001 Emergency Fax Campaign for Hebron
April 20, 2001 Morality and the Arabs
April 24, 2001 Free Margalit Har-Shefi: Kappores Chicken
April 27, 2001 Reconnecting the Jewish Leadership with America
April 29, 2001 BBC and CNN — Accessories to Murder
April 29, 2001 Upcoming Demonstrations
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Jerusalem, April 5, 2001
Pesach Prayer for Our Missing Soldiers
The Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organization have initiated
a special world-wide solidarity Passover campaign on behalf of Israel’s POWs
and MIAs.
Leaders of the Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organization have appealed to
every Jewish household in Israel and throughout the world to set one
symbolic place at the seder table in honour of the Israelis who have fallen
into captivity and for those Israeli soldiers missing in action.
On the eve of Passover, a special prayer for the safety of the POWs and MIAs
will be distributed as an insert in the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv.
Similarly, the prayer will be distributed in Hebrew, with an English
translation, by the Jerusalem Post to all its subscribers, both in Israel
and around the world. All Jewish newspapers are encouraged to include this
prayer in their pre-Passover editions. Jewish communities world-wide have
been asked to join the campaign.
Every Jewish household is being asked to recite this prayer within the
framework of their Pesach seder. In this manner, the demand for the release
of the Israeli POWs and for information on the MIAs will be placed at the
top of the global Jewish agenda on the eve of Passover, the Festival of
Freedom.
For further information please contact:
Michael Jankelowitz, Liaison to the Foreign Press and Media, Jewish Agency
for Israel
Tel. 972-2-620-2780; Fax: 972-2-620-2708; mobile 972-51-601706
JAFI website: www.jafi.org.il
The following is the text of the prayer:
Prayer for the Safe Return of Israel’s POWs and MIAs
May He who blessed our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph, Moses and
Aaron, David and Solomon bless, guard and protect our prisoners of war and
IDF soldiers missing in action, including Ron son of Batya and Moshe Arad,
Zachariah Shlomo son of Miriam and Yona Baumel, Yekutiel Yehuda Nahman son
of Sara and Yoseph Katz, Zvi son of Pnina and Abraham Feldman, Omer son of
Hadra and Kassem Suewed, Binyamin son of Edna and Chaim Avraham, Adiel son
of Zipora and Yitzhak Avitan, Elchanan son of Rivka and Yehuda Tannenbaum,
and our brothers who are imprisoned in Iran, among all our other brothers
who belong to the Jewish people and are in distress and being held captive
for the sake of this community which prays on their behalf. May God be
filled with mercy for them, and bring them out of darkness and the shadow of
death, may He release their bonds and save them from anguish, and return
them speedily to their families and may salvation come swiftly. “May they
thank the Lord for His kindness and wonders for the human race”. And may
the words of the Bible be fulfilled, as it is written: “Those redeemed by
God will return and arrive at Zion with glad song and eternal gladness on
their heads, joy and gladness shall they attain, and sorrow and misery shall
flee, and let us say, Amen.”
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Jerusalem, April 5, 2001
A Pesach Poem
We wish to make amends
And wish our supporters and many friends
A Kosher and Wonderful Passover
And ask HaShem to hover
over all of us a bit more
until we are able to restore
Dignity and Pride in our Jewish Way
and in our People, come what may!
Ruth and Nadia
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Jerusalem, April 13, 2001
A Return To The Bottomless Pit?
Shimon Peres will never admit that he made a mistake concerning Oslo. He
is that kind of a man. So he is back at the same old game of coming to
some sort of an arrangement with Arafat. Arafat, in turn, will use any
such agreement reached to his advantage and disregard it entirely, once he
believes it is no longer of any use to him. So the news reports of
reaching an “understanding” by the warring sides, puts us back to square
one, without having resolved anything. Tomorrow, or the next day, we are
faced with the same exposure to terrorism and violence.
The image of Sharon is greatly tarnished by his claiming that he will not
negotiate under fire, while at the same time Shimon Peres, Sharon’s Foreign
Minister, is meeting in Athens with Arafat’s aides under the pretext that
it is a meeting to merely REDUCE acts of terrorism. Moreover, Sharon’s
image is not helped by his cosmetic reply to continuous gunfire in Hebron
from the Arab controlled nearby hill of Abu Sneneh. It seems that even the
Arab killing of a 10 month old Jewish baby in shootings from that high
ground, is not enough of a basis for Sharon to be moved to act to retake
that area. When the Netanyahu government gave over this area originally to
the Hebron Arabs, it promised that should shootings emanate from that high
ground, Israel would not hesitate to retake it. Sharon has not fulfilled
that promise.
What emerges from all this is the sickening feeling that nothing has really
changed. That we are being slowly dragged back to the same pit which has
caused us limitless pain and suffering. Arafat will not change. He
constitutes a real and present danger to the existence of Israel. Yet
Sharon, who claims he knows how to deal with Arafat, will not make the
necessary decisions in this regard. This venomous Arafat must be dealt
with forcefully, and treated in a manner of what he actually is, a
dangerous enemy of the Jewish People. Arafat’s recent use of mortars to
attack a civilian community, and once again mortally wounding an infant, is
just another indication that he will not be limited by Oslo or similar
agreements when push comes to shove. It is quite useless to deal with him
in any other manner than as a virulent foe, and to confiscate and destroy
his arms and bases of terrorism.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, April 17, 2001
Emergency Fax Campaign for Hebron
Friends-
Please take a few minutes to review the dangerous situation of the
residents of Hevron and join our massive fax campaign. The faxes do have
influence and hopefully will have the proper impact on the Prime Minister.
News from Hebron
The Hebron Press Office
April 15, 2001
1. Warfare in Hebron
At 5:00 this afternoon Hebron residents gathered at the ancient cemetery
for a memorial service for Shalhevet Pass, killed in Hebron several weeks
ago. As the service began, Arab terrorists began shooting at the Avraham
Avinu neighborhood from the Abu Sneneh hills, exactly at the site where
Shalhevet was murdered.
A few minutes after five o’clock, Shlomo Levinger and his wife Yisca,
residents of Beit Hadassah, pulled up in front of the entrance to the
Avraham Avinu neighborhood courtyard, where both Shlomo and Yisca’s parents
(Rabbi Moshe and Miriam Levinger, and Yisrael and Miriam Ze’ev) live . As
they were unloading their car, Yisca bent over to take out her baby son. As
she bent over to pull the child out, a shot was fired, hitting their car,
exactly where she had been standing only seconds before. The bullet
penetrated the car door and continued into an adjacent transit, which was
occupied by another child. The sniper shot twice more, with one of the
bullets hitting a cement wall under a bench in the playground.
Miraculously, no one was hit by the sniper fire.
Israeli troops began shooting back at the source of the terrorist sniper
gunfire. Hebron residents quickly realizing the miracle that had occurred,
began running up the hill to the Abu Sneneh neighborhood, demanding that
the army retake the hills. Israeli soldiers and police prevented them from
reaching the top of the hill. Hebron residents, in protest of the
continuing restraint shown by the Sharon administration, have set up a tent
near the Gross Square, opposite the Abu Sneneh hills, and are planning on
sleeping there.
Shooting has continued in Hebron, with Arab terrorists exchanging gunfire
with Israeli troops. They terrorists have also shot at the Tel Rumeida
neighborhood from the northern Harat a’Shech hills.
A Hebron spokesman issued the following statement:
Arab terrorist snipers are aiming at Hebron women and children. Three weeks
ago a sniper killed a ten month old baby. This afternoon only a miraculous
act of G-d saved the life of a young mother of three and her baby son.
The Israeli government has done absolutely nothing to stop the shootings in
Hebron. Twice Israeli soldiers have been dispatched into Khan Yunis in
Gazza, (area A – under Arafat’s total control) in response to continue
mortar fire on communities in Gush Katif. What is Sharon waiting for in
Hebron – another murder, or perhaps mortar fire here too???
In interviews granted to three Israeli newspapers last week, Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon stressed the importance of Hebron to the Jewish people and the
importance of a Jewish community in Hebron. He specifically said, if there
were no Jews in Hebron, would we be able to visit and pray at Ma’arat
HaMachpela?
If Ariel Sharon really believes what he is saying, the time has come for
him to act and give Hebron’s Jews the protection needed allowing us to
live here safely. Too much blood has already been spilled and we are much
too dependant on continuing miracles. Just as Sharon has sent troops into
Arafat-land in Gazza, so must he send the troops on to the hills
surrounding Hebron’s Jewish community. Anything less is insufficient and
unacceptable.
Please Fax your demand that the IDF will return to Abu Sneineh hill. There
is no way to give security to the Jewish Yishuv without a permanent IDF
presence there!
Ariel Sharon
Prime Minister
02-566-4838
Binyamin Ben Eliezer
Minister of Defense
03-697-6218
Uzi Landau
Minister of Internal Security
02-581-1832
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Jerusalem, April 20, 2001
Morality and the Arabs
It is universally accepted that Judaism was the parent and springboard for
the creation of the Moslem and Christian religions. It is also a fact that
a great majority of the Arabs today are of the Moslem faith.
Nevertheless, a great deal of the problems that exist between the Jewish
and Arab Peoples today arises from the following: The Arabs have accepted
the Jewish concept of there being only one God, but they have not adopted
the moral values of Western Civilization. The Arab culture and religion in
practice is barren of the associated moral values which Judaism gave to
Western Civilization. The nations who consider themselves a part of Western
Civilization, on the other hand, have integrated these moral values into
the fabric of their respective cultures.
For instance, the Ten Commandments are not the controlling guidelines, even
theoretically, for day-to-day living in the Arab world. Certainly telling
untruths is not at all considered immoral by the Arabs. It is a well-known
fact that LYING is a widespread practice within Arab society. It is a
source of wonder that the world media, knowing the propensity of the Arabs
to exaggerate and to tell outright lies, nevertheless will repeat verbatim
Arab claims, without cautionary reservations, in their daily news reports
emanating from this region.
The value and sanctity of human life, a cardinal principle in Judaism, is
not similarly valued among the Arabs. Thus, Arafat takes human life with
impunity, even that of an infant, especially when such lives are Jewish or
American.
The morals which the Western World considers essential and an integral part
of Western Civilization, are not valued in Arab society. Cruelty, such as
public hangings and cutting off ones hands for stealing, will not raise
eyebrows in the Arab world. No moral outcry against such acts will emanate
from the Moslem Clergy. In fact it is they who lead the incitement against
Jews and Americans, resulting in Arab violence, terror, murder and mayhem.
Nor is there respect for other religions among the Arabs. Their intolerance
manifests itself in many ways, but is particularly demonstrable on the
Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Arabs now claim this Jewish Holy
Site to be exclusively theirs; they will not allow the Jews to pray or
worship there. This despite the fact that the Temple Mount, where the
Jewish First and Second Temples were located thousands of years ago, is
considered to be the holiest Jewish Site in Judaism.
How then can Arabs and Jews reside together in peace when the attitude of
the Arabs is hostile and intolerant? Arab hatred towards the Jewish People
and Israel, both in their educational system and in their daily propaganda,
must be fully rooted out. Arab terrorist and immoral behavior must cease. A
true Arab commitment to peaceful co-existence with a Jewish State is a
prerequisite to any viable solution.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, April 24, 2001
Free Margalit Har-Shefi: Kappores Chicken
Women in Green demonstrated yesterday, Monday, April 23rd, in front
of the Justice Ministry’s “department of pardons” in Jerusalem.
We brought a live chicken symbolizing the fact that Margalit Har-
Shefi is like a kappores chicken.
Another sign read:
Carmi Gillon KNEW
Avishai Raviv INCITED
Margalit Har-Shefi SITS IN JAIL !!
As usual, passersby were very supportive and signed the petition
asking for Margalit’s immediate release.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, April 27, 2001
Reconnecting the Jewish leadership with America
Women In Green has sent the following to Prime Minister Sharon, as well as
to other influential people in Israel.
Ruth and Nadia
——————————————————–
Reconnecting the Jewish Leadership with America
by David Wurmser
Research Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
The Jewish leadership in America, and the Israeli community with strong
ties to it, has had one of its worst years in decades. Traditional hallmark
institutions, such as AIPAC, the ADL and the UJC, as well as newer
institutions which rocketed to the top of the world of power in the recent
decade * the Israel Policy Forum and Americans for Peace Now * suddenly
find themselves all but in the political wilderness. All were so closely
identified with the previous administration, and none actively cultivated
their ties to the new administration when it mattered * before the
election– that now they have almost no access, nor significant prospects
for future access, to the White House, or even to the still-Republican
dominated Congress.
The bad news, however, is not limited to the fortunes of one election.
Israel and American Jewish leaders are drifting dangerously out of touch
with deeply entrenched social and cultural forces in American society which
had in the past been the mainstay of support for Israel and influence for
American Jewish leaders.
So where has so much of the Jewish leadership gone wrong? First of all, it
confused the tools of influence * access * with the ends of influence ?
principles and interests. To place too much emphasis on access to
institutions of power can, ironically, lead to the opposite result. A
clever administration knows how to preempt an organization or community to
serve its interests by tempting it with the appearance of access and
influence in exchange for support of its policies. When access is raised to
a primary objective of a special interest community, it invariably leads to
vulnerability to subtle political blackmail. To gain access, specific
policies might be compromised. The “special interest” group then becomes an
inversion of itself: it declines into more of a vehicle for access and
influence by the administration into the community than it remains the
advocate of the community’s interests. Some pro-Israel groups fell into
this trap. But they are not alone.
In the previous administration, virtually all special interest groups were
turned. For example, one need only look at the contortions major woman’s
organizations * who had long championed the idea of special legal rights
for women accusers who were victims of sex-based crimes * were required to
execute to defend President Clinton from charges of sexual harassment and
his strategy of first using the full power of his office to de-legitimize
his accusers and question their sanity and honesty; then using his
executive privilege to avert trial, and finally using his political power
derived from his office to just sweep off the charge while letting his
devastated victims twist in the wind alone. The excuse forwarded by these
organization rung familiar: the Clinton administration was the best friend
of these women’s organizations because he gave them unprecedented access to
power and included them in the decision-making process to pass legislation.
Whatever legislation to help women that such access might have bought, it
is minuscule compared to the damage done to every woman who faced or will
yet will face sexual harassment because the behavior of the most visible
man in America broke all taboos, legitimized such behavior and proved that
power could help avoid accountability under the law.
But the isolation the traditional Jewish leadership now feels is not only
about putting access ahead of principle. It is about policies, and how
those policies resonate with deeper trends in American culture. With
respect to Israel, a substantial portion of the Jewish leadership, in part
because of its close ties to the Clinton administration, became strongly
identified with its policies * specifically the peace process. And because
the peace process was so important to the Clinton administration, and
because the Israeli Labor party became so central to getting Israel to make
the concessions that sustained the peace progress, the administration made
clear, even to the point of interfering in Israel’s democratic character
and elections process, that it viewed the prospects of a right-wing Israeli
government dimly and sought help in securing the political future of the
Israeli left. Such efforts ranged from public statements by President
Clinton imploring Israelis to vote their hopes, not their fears, and
quieter efforts by America’s ambassador, Martin Indyk, to sway Arab voters
in the 1999 elections to vote for Ehud Barak.
As a result of this strongly signaled preference, much of America’s Jewish
leadership was faced with a choice: assist the administration in helping
the fortunes of Israel’s left, or be left out of the circle of White House
influence. Much, but not all, of the American Jewish elite caved and as a
result drew unusually close to the left half of Israel’s political
spectrum. As the decade wore on, the identity of the Jewish leadership
institutions became increasingly tied to Clinton, peace and Israel’s Labor
party. Jewish leaders and organizations that opposed Oslo and maintained
close ties to the right half of Israel’s political spectrum were frozen out
and marginalized. For the bulk of the American Jewish leadership, however,
the identity and political health of all three came to be tied to each
other. A small slice of that interdependency surfaced in the famous scandal
surrounding the pardon of Marc Rich.
Yet now, suddenly after Bush became president, Arafat hurled the peace
process to the garbage, and Sharon moved Israel’s political spectrum 39% to
the right from 18 months ago and wins by a stunning 25 %, the Jewish
leadership here in America finds itself with no special access to the
administration or congressional conservatives, no peace process, and no
Israeli left in power. It is time for a reevaluation of what they stood for
and how they will need to secure future influence.
What Commands America’s Respect?
The sort of policies which American officials in the State Department try
to persuade Israelis to accept in order to secure popular support in
America have more to do with what these government officials wish to see so
that their lives are made easier and their policy paradigms are vindicated,
than it does with any real understanding of what makes Americans respect
and support another nation. Ultimately, America supports another nation
when it identifies itself in that other nation. Its attitude toward the
world is a function of its own vision of itself. In short, to understand
how Israel is seen in America requires understanding how Americans see
themselves. Many of those understandings can be found in, ironically, the
observations of the Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville.
America is a complex country; it does not lend itself easily to compact
understandings of its beliefs and essence. Still a few themes cannot be
ignored, all of which have accompanied the American experiment since its
founding.
The first is one expressed by a great American leader who still today
carries immense respect among Americans who might otherwise have long ago
already forgotten about World War II: General Patton. He put it simply:
“America loves a winner.” Americans have never believed that being an
underdog is itself virtuous. Nor does America engage in Pollyannaish
optimism that the weak shall reign. In fact, Americans don’t define
morality through power relationships at all. Being weak or strong does
little to determine morality. Americans have no problem believing that a
strong nation with principles should win, and that a weak nation without
principles should lose. In fact, they believe that a person’s or nation’s
strength ultimately is anchored to the solidity of its commitment to
principles. Thus, Americans believe that a true commitment to fight for
principles can lead even an underdog to victory, and when an underdog wins,
it is a sign of the strength of his convictions and the correctness of his
principles.
Second, Americans are peaceful by nature, but they are by no means
pacifist, nor are they attracted to pacifist arguments. Few American movies
ever have as their hero a negotiator, mediator, or someone who has conceded
his principles to avoid a fight. In America, to call someone in America
fair and reasonable is a compliment. To call him “compromising” is neutral,
depending on what he compromised. To say that someone bent on his
principles is devastating; it casts him as shifty and dishonest. And to
tell someone that he traded away his principles to seek peace is a way of
telling him that he is a coward and deserves whatever misery will befall
him as a result. In fact, peace is rarely seen as a valuable objective in
itself in America * it is seen as a result of commitment to proper values
and principles. Americans believe they were a great nation long before they
were powerful and wealthy. They do not believe that they are great because
they are wealthy and powerful. Peace, prosperity and power all seem to
Americans to be a consequence of proper values and principles. To trade
principles for peace, wealth or power inverts the natural order of things,
and will not only deny a nation its moral compass, but guide it to in
strife, poverty and weakness.
Americans also respect individual independence. Our frontier long ago
closed * even in outer space * but we still hold the values dear which we
believe built our westward settlement and expansion: the gritty, tough,
self-sufficient and undaunted settler who dealt with problems simply as
natural chores to repair.
Related to this is the issue of how a people deals with adversity. Few
Americans came to America involuntarily. Their immigration was a bold
stroke with great initiative for most Americans. They left their familiar
homelands, often their families, to come across an ocean and settle in
America. Few Americans expected anyone else to ever take care of them.
America was indeed a land of unlimited opportunity, but it also was a land
without a fatherly aristocracy, government or administration to save you.
Americans came because they wanted the freedom of opportunity, not the
safety of servitude. Still, adversity, the initial condition of almost all
Americans * be they colonialists fighting a rebellion against the greatest
power on earth, Britain, or poor immigrants working 16 hour days at the
turn of the century * was an omnipresent enemy to be fought and conquered.
Whining and complaining about adversity and the fatigue which accompanied
fighting it is understood by Americans as an appeal to taken care of. It is
a cry for help based on a hope that someone will listen and save you from
your misery; that someone else will conquer your adversity for you. That,
Americans have traditionally believed, is the first step in the long road
to servitude.
Israel in America’s Eyes
Until the Oslo process, Americans saw in Israel an image of themselves,
their creation, their frontier spirit, their moral fiber. In many ways,
Americans, especially during in the 1970s saw in Israel the image of who
they wished to be but thought had been lost in America. This was the
foundation of the special relationship * and it was as special as America’s
relationship to any other country, even Britain.
Americans knew Israelis came to Israel in bold strokes driven by their
initiative, just like generations of Americans. Israel may have been poor
in resources and small in size, but rich in human courage, like early and
frontier America. Israelis fought for themselves, even when they were not
sure they would win and survive, like several generations of Americans
have. Israel conquered the harsh desert to build cities, as American
conquered a continent. Israel, driven only by its determination and its
spirit, rose from profound adversity in every aspect, just as America’s
immigrants, the “poor huddled masses”to use the words under the statue of
liberty, built a nation from wilderness.
And Israel was always a winner. No nation drew Jewish blood cheaply again.
No matter what the odds, Jews would fight rather than whine or complain
about their condition. Terrorism was met with devastating retaliation.
Hostages were plucked from any corner of the globe and returned to their
homes in Israel. The Arabs may have had much of the world supporting them
in the United Nations; they had the Soviets pouring in weapons and direct
military intervention at times; they may have had vast armies with the
latest weaponry; and they had been fortunately graced with immense oil
wealth, but Israel, carried by its spirit alone, won every time. No matter
what the odds, Israel always emerged the winner, which vindicated and
confirmed for Americans the strength of its values, principles and
spiritual core.
And part of that core for most Americans was the Bible — the common source
for Israel and the new Jerusalem, which Americans sometimes called
themselves earlier in their existence. America is a religious nation, but
it also views the Bible as a cultural matter, a sort of guide for western
culture. No president ever ran against religion in America, nor was he
elected if he failed to make a point of attending church on Sundays.
Religion is considered not only the source of faith for Americans, but
also, to many Americans, is the foundation of their freedom and the font of
their society’s values. Americans believe a man who only answers to god is
man who cannot be bent to servitude. That is why the core of support for
Israel in America has never been focused on the Jewish leadership. It has
always been anchored to Americans who took the Bible seriously * either for
reasons faith or in belief in the common cultural heritage.
The Damage of the “Peace” Processes
The damage done to US-Israeli relations and the image of Israel in the eyes
of Americans by Israel’s behavior in the Palestinian and Syrian
negotiations are incalculable. It may have gained Israel closeness to one
administration. It may have given some of the Jewish leadership temporary
access at unprecedented levels to the White House. But it gnawed away
dangerously at the special sentiment and respect Americans held for Israel
beyond Washington DC, which over the long run is all that really ties
America and its imagination to Israel.
Suddenly, Americans were bombarded with statements from Israel that U.S.
forces should buffer Israel on the Golan, because Israel was too tired to
continue war with Syria. Americans were told they should pay huge sums of
money to Israel, because Israel “could not afford another war with Syria”
and needed compensation for their concessions. Israelis asked Americans
also to pay money to Syria and the PLO, both of which still espoused
hostility to America, as bribes to keep them engaged in the “peace” camp.
Israelis tried to convince Americans how prosperity depends on peace rather
than stubborn adherence to key principles, and that in turn, such a needed
peace depends on concessions on vital interests. They sought to convince
Americans that everything the Jewish people had longed and fought for *
such as Jerusalem * was no longer worth fighting for. And they came to
America full of pacifist slogans: “the only real security is through
peace,” “young Israelis should not die for the graves of their ancestors,”
and so forth. They told Americans that they are tired of war and no longer
want to fight; they wanted to be normal like America. In the process, they
forgot to notice that almost every generation of Americans fought a war,
sometimes losing as much as five percent of the population in the process.
Very few generations among the many of this “normal” American nation ever
forgot that their freedom and prosperity depended on their constant
vigilance and willingness to fight, often in far away lands.
Worst of all, Israeli elites * not only scholars, but also government
officials — came to America and wrote books in English peddling morally
confusing arguments about the righteousness of the Palestinian cause and
the tarnishing sins in Israel’s war of independence. At the same time that
Israelis signaled Americans that they believed there remained nothing in
Israel’s spirit worth fighting for * no core principle or set of beliefs,
even religion, which defines this “new Israel” * they also admitted the
righteousness of Palestinian national aspirations and conceded respect for
the Arabs’ determination to fight for them.
Finally, Israel’s left and the current left-dominated American leadership
share their embarrassment, distrust, and even hatred of religion. The worst
crime of any politician for the current Jewish leadership is to be caught
invoking religion. Even Senator Lieberman, who was popular among Americans
precisely because of the strength of this faith, ran afoul of the ADL for
the public invocation of his faith. American Jewish leaders regularly
vilified Newt Gingrich when he was speaker of the House of Representatives
* not because he ever uttered an anti-Semitic word or criticized Israel.
The opposite; he was one of the most dogged supporters of Israel and its
interests ever in Congress. When AIPAC equivocated about how strongly they
should press the US government to move its embassy to Jerusalem, Newt
Gingrich simply announced America should move it immediately, warning the
Arabs that instead of threatening violence over it, they “should just grow
up.” Gingrich’s crime was that he supported a conservative agenda,
including allowing prayer in schools * a provision a majority of Americans
support. Being liberal meant more than being Jewish and pro-Israel to much
of the leadership.
And this is where the affinity between the Israeli left and the American
Jewish leadership became most pernicious. Israel leaders came to America,
including prominent figures such as Shlomo Gazit, with a message which
could not have been planned to more offend most Americans: Israel, they
said, has progressed “beyond religion” and thus needs no longer cling to
religious symbols like the Temple Mount. They argued it meant more to the
Palestinians than to Israelis * a dangerous admission that the Palestinians
had firmer principles than Israelis. Many Americans were shocked by
Israel’s behavior and arguments. They had a hard time understanding a
nation that so thoroughly rejected its beliefs and religion. They could not
fathom the reasons for shedding the Judeo-Christian common heritage which
Americans believed tied them to Israel and Jews. They could not see the
nobility of a people which was unwilling to make a stand on its most sacred
symbols. Israel had jettisoned its ties to the Bible, which was the compass
through which Americans understood the common bond with Israel. Israel
looked like just another, average European nation * hardly a compliment in
the American lexicon
Ultimately, most Americans had long understood that the Arab-Israeli
conflict was fueled by the same phenomenon as hatred of America. Hatred of
the Untied States and Israel is not because of anything which either the
Untied States or Israel have done. It is because you really cannot get
around the fact * and certainly our enemies do not try to get around the
fact * that Israel and the United States are both symbols of freedom.
Israel is a symbol of freedom locally, America is the symbol of freedom
globally, and a nation that is run by a tyrant * a real tyrant, not a
monarchy like Jordan or a partially free country like Kuwait, but a real
tyrant like Saddam, Assad, Qadaffi and probably even like Arafat * sees a
profound threat in a nation like Israel or the United States.
Israel, in its eagerness to right the wrong signaled America that the
sources of anti-Zionism were not the same as the sources of
anti-Americanism. Israel signaled that it believed it really had done
wrong; it really denied another people what was rightfully theirs. In their
eagerness to accept blame for everything in order to reach an agreement,
they reminded Americans of an embarrassment most Americans care to forget:
the 1960s and the “blame America first” culture.
Conclusions:
Real credibility and influence come from ideas, commitment and courage.
Lord Balfour once wrote how he came to be convinced that Britain needs to
support the Zionist effort. In a letter late in his life to his sister, he
recalled how in 1905 he had a meeting with the World Zionist Organization’s
representative, Haim Weizman. Weizman came to express his concern for the
fate of east-European Jewry suffering under pogroms and near starvation. He
sought to convince Britain of the need to help the Jews establish a haven.
At the meeting, Balfour offered Weizman Kenya, at least until a better
solution could be found. Weizman refused; it was Palestine or bust.
Balfour wrote to his sister that it was at that moment he became a
supporter of Zionism, since a people so determined, courageous and true to
its principles will eventually triumph. What was true then of Britain
remains true today of America.
By sacrificing principles and using wealth to gain access rather than
gaining respect and influence through uncompromising commitment to core
principles has led much of the Jewish leadership to a point of meltdown. To
secure the position of American Jewry, and to shore up Israel’s image in
the United States for generations, it needs to return to determined support
for key principles which in the past formed the bedrock of their position
in American society and in Israel’s position in America’s imagination.
Some American friends of Israel take solace from the fact that the Arab
world stumbles into the same pitfalls as Israel and the American Jewish
leadership. The Arab world ultimately relies on something that will never
be delivered to them: that America “saves” them from whatever ails them.
This is true; the Arabs have insurmountably strong limits on their appeal
to Americans. But if Israel and American Jewry don’t get their act
together, Americans are liable to reject support for both Israel and the
Arabs and call for a plague on both their houses.
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*******************************************************
Jerusalem, April 29, 2001
BBC and CNN — Accessories to Murder
The perverse role the Media can play, particularly in television news
broadcasting, is exemplified by BBC and CNN in their apparent war against
the Jewish State of Israel. Arafat and the Palestinian Authority find they
have solid friends in BBC and CNN, and exploit this advantage to the hilt.
In their unwillingness to objectively present the news from this area, both
BBC and CNN are cardinal offenders of biased and prejudicial reporting. The
consequences are grave, damaging and far reaching.
Arafat shrewdly makes available to these TV Stations his spokesperson Hanan
Ashrawi and her ilk, who persuasively justify evil and murder. Arafat
knows in advance that a pro-Arab interpretation immediately will be given
by these Networks. Moreover, these “friendly” television stations can be
counted on to present only Arafat’s spokespeople in BBC and CNN report of
events. From time to time, CNN and BBC attempt to cover up their blatant
prejudice and unbalanced reporting by having someone from Israel; however,
both these TV Stations consciously choose a person from the Israeli “left”
to give Israel’s version; such a person, they know in advance, will in no
way change Arab lies and distortions of the events of the day.
Moreover, these stations can be counted on to couch their presentation in
terms so as to give the impression that “Arab freedom fighters” are waging
war against their Jewish oppressors. The word “terror” is not part of the
BBC and CNN vocabulary; neither of them will ever designate Arab attacks
against civilians in these terms. Their favorite ploy is to emphasize the
large number of Arab deaths in proportion to the lesser number of Jewish
deaths. The obvious distinction is never made that it is the Arabs who
always initiate the violent attacks of mortars, gunfire, bombs and deathly
stone-throwing; of course, it is always in self-defense to these murderous
attacks, that disproportionate Arab deaths occur.
CNN and BBC, moreover, promote the Arafat fiction that the Jews occupy Arab
land rather than their own Jewish Biblical homeland. Over 90 percent of the
Arabs migrated to Israel within the last hundred years. Joan Peters in
“From Time Immemorial,” makes that crucial disclosure, but that fact will
never be heard on either TV station.
CNN and BBC disclaim any prejudice, and are quick to deny what seems to be
patent anti-Semitism. Yet they will never ask any “hard” questions of
Arabs being interviewed by them. Nor will BBC and CNN ever mention the fact
that Arab terrorism would not continue if Arafat openly stated in Arabic
that he condemns violence and terror. Moreover, they will not say that if
he actually rounded up and prosecuted those promoting such murderous
attacks against civilians, such terror and violence would end. The almost
daily Jewish deaths that occur are attributable to the encouragement given
Arafat by the unfair, uncritical, slanted and prejudicial news reporting of
CNN and BBC. Their behavior is immoral. The management of these TV
Stations should be held responsible for the mounting Jewish casualties.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
*******************************************************
Jerusalem, April 29, 2001
Upcoming Demonstrations
Dear Friends,
Here is a list of upcoming demonstrations and activities. Please join us.
1. MARGALIT HAR-SHEFI:
Monday, April 30, we will be demonstrating outside the Department
of Pardons of the Justice Ministy, Jerusalem.
Where: at the corner of Jaffa Rd. and Shlomzion Hamalka St. (next
to Bank Mizrachi).
Time: 10:00 to 11:30 AM.
The Department of Pardons has received the request for Margalit’s
pardon from her family, and all that department has to do is pass it on
to Justice Minister Sheetrit for his consideration and recommendation.
So far, this has not been done. Meanwhile, Margalit sits in prison.
************
2. STOP ARAB TERROR:
Wednesday, May 2, we will demonstrate outside the Knesset during a
“Special Session” of the Knesset called to discuss many issues, but
NOT the fact that Arab terror is running rampant.
Mortars are falling on Jewish communities in Gush Katif, injuring babies
and children; roadside bombs are going off next to school buses in Samaria;
and the murderer of Shalhevet Pass (and others like him) are still free
to seek out their next victim from the Abu Sneneh (renamed Shalhevet) hill
opposite the Jewish community in Hevron. We call on Knesset members,
together
with the government, to order the IDF to do whatever it has to in order to put
an end to Arab terror.
Time: 8:45 to 11:00 AM — please come on time so that the MKs see us
as they go into the Knesset.
************
3. SECURITY:
On Monday, May 7, we will join with other groups from around the country
protesting the deteriorating security situation all over Israel.
We will again stand outside the Knesset as the new session begins.
Further details — time, etc. — will be sent out later this week.
************
4. WAGNER:
Music by Wagner is scheduled to be performed in Jerusalem
as part of the Jerusalem Festival. Women In Green will be protesting.
More details to follow, if the performance is not cancelled.
************
5. MONTHLY TRIPS:
Re-starting soon — Women In Green monthly trips to communities in
Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Details in the near future.
Ruth and Nadia