Media Releases – October 1996
October 1996
October 2, 1996 Arafat Seeks to De-Judaize Jerusalem
October 6, 1996 Renowned Professional Israeli Bashers
October 11, 1996 The Intimidating Media
October 20, 1996 “When One Burns Books, One Will in the End,
Burn People”
October 21, 1996 A New French President, But the “Usual”
French Hypocrisy
October 24, 1996 A Fair and Impartial Media “Is Good for
the Jews”
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Jerusalem, October 2, 1996
Arafat Seeks to De-Judaize Jerusalem
One of Yassir Arafat’s recent claims, for
which he has sought and gotten the sympathetic ear and
support of Vatican oriented Christians, is that the
present Netanyahu Government is attempting to Judaize
Jerusalem. Horror of all horrors. The City of King
David, the ancient Jewish Capital of Israel, is remaining
the undivided Jewish Capital of the Jewish State of
Israel!
Arafat and some members of the international
community are not happy with such a state of affairs.
That is one of the main reasons for the recent riots. It
is, moreover, the reason why there has been a rush by the
international community to irresponsibly place the blame
on Israel for those PLO riots. To make their point,
Arafat’s police,(really his army) turned the guns, given
to them by Israel under Oslo, on Israelis and murdered 15
of our soldiers and wounded more than 60. In addition,
widespread rock and Molotov Cocktail throwing has taken
place by Arab throughout Israel, Judea and Samaria and
the Gaza Strip area. It has been well documented, and
proven conclusively, that all aspects of these riots had
been initiated, orchestrated and approved by the highest
echelons of the PLO, and by Arafat personally.
The canard that these riots arose out of
the re-opening of the Hasmonean Tunnel by the Netanyahu
Government, which in turn threatened Moslem holy sites,
is patently absurd. It may be true that the re-opening of
this ancient archeological site may have sparked these riots,
but that is based on the proven facts that Arafat and the PLO
deliberately made false claims and misrepresentations concerning
this archeological site to Arabs both in Israel and in the
“territories.” The specific intent was to incite them to
riot, to obtain what they determined would be Israeli
concessions to restore the “peace and quiet.” Even the
most superficial checking of the facts about the nature
and location of this ancient archeological site, however,
will disprove the false allegations and inciteful claims
of Arafat.
The Hasmonean Tunnel in question is located
at a distance equivalent to several city blocks from
any Moslem shrine, and is some distance from the Temple
Mount itself. It is not underneath the Temple Mount,
and thus can not possibly affect the foundations of the
El-Aksa Mosque, as Arafat absurdly claims. Moreover,
It had already been open to the public for quite some time,
without any objection from the Moslems or Arafat. The only
thing that has been added during the recent renovations is
an exit at the other end of the Tunnel, which now permits
tourists to go out onto Via Dela Rosa Street in the Old City,
rather than requiring them to double back from where they
originally entered. That exit is a safer and more
convenient way of accommodating the many visitors to the
famous archeological site. The resultant flow of traffic
into the Old City is of direct benefit to the Arab
merchants located in the area, who are strongly
supportive of the recent renovations which will result in
an increase in their tourist business.
The fact of the matter is that what
disturbs Arafat and the PLO about this Hasmonean Tunnel,
is that it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jewish claims
to Jerusalem are based on solid historical facts. The
Tunnel of the Hasmoneans pre-dates Christianity, and the
Moslem Religion, and is living proof that Jews lived and
functioned in Jerusalem long before there were any Arabs
living here. It proves that the Jews lived and ruled in
this Jewish Capitol during the period of the Hasmoneans,
and that this aqueduct served the water needs of the Temple
Mount, where the Jewish Temple stood, long, long ago, before
there was any El Aksa Mosque. (Incidentally, the Arabs
displaced a Christian Church on the site where their El
Aksa Mosque is now located today).
There is a definite pattern which Arafat
and the Arabs follow in their attempt to rewrite and distort
history in their favor. They destroy, wherever they
can, any artifacts which proves the Jewish historical
ties to this Land. Whether it is on the Temple Mount, in the
Old City itself, Bethlehem, or whatever areas they take
possession of, the first thing they do is destroy any signs that
Jewish life heretofore existed at such sites. Thus in the Old
City, many houses, in what the British arbitrarily called the
Moslem and Christian Quarters, had Mezuzot on their doorposts
indicating that Jews used to live there. Arabs would methodically
attempt to obliterate these traces of a former Jewish presence.
Thus, the Moslem Wakf is unashamedly active
in destroying Jewish artifacts on the Temple Mount itself
in its desperate attempt to prevent any Jewish claim to
the right to pray on the Mount.
To clearly demonstrate how extensive and
consistently pervasive this Arab policy is of destroying
proof of prior Jewish life in Israel, the Arabs
immediately removed traces of Jewish historical roots
when they took over in the areas turned over to them
under Oslo. They did this despite the explicit
provisions in the Oslo Accords that such action on their
part would constitute a clear violation of the terms of
those Accords. Thus in Bethlehem, in the short period
that they are there, they have already removed traces of
an ancient Jewish aqueduct that supplied water to Jerusalem
going through that area. Moreover, a house which for many years
was known as “the Jewish house”, where Jews had lived over
the centuries, was recently destroyed by the PLO when
they were given control over the area. The same pattern
was is to be found in Hebron, especially after the 1929
pogrom, when long settled Jewish population sites were
desecrated and destroyed. Here then is the basic
grievance of Arafat and others with regard to the
Hasmonean Tunnel. It is living proof that Jerusalem is
the ancient Jewish Capital of Israel, and that is
something Arafat and his ilk cannot abide. It
“Judaizes” Jerusalem, and must be closed.
Arafat apparently is being assisted in
his efforts to rewrite history. CNN, a major media
power, in discussing the recent Arab riots on the Temple
Mount, emphasizes that the El Aksa Mosque is located
there, which they tell you repeatedly is the Muslim’s
third most holy site! CNN, also tells you over and over
again the Arabic name for the Temple Mount. It
deliberately neglects to point out that the Temple Mount
is the holiest Jewish site, mentioned as such in the
Bible; it is there specified as the site where Abraham
took his Jewish son Isaac to be sacrificed in what was
the most famous show of faith in the Lord that has ever
been recorded. CNN deliberately does not give the proper
historical perspective, because of its pronounced pro-
Arab one-sidedness in the Arab-Israel dispute. It omits
to advise its listeners, that it is the place where the
First and Second Temple were built and the site where
masses of Jews prayed daily long before there was a
Muslim Religion or even an Arab People; and that it is
the site where the Jews pray daily to be allowed to
rebuild the Third Temple in the future.
Women In Green came out in support of the
Netanyahu Government in the face of the disloyalty of Shimon
Peres, and Peace Now, siding with the PLO-Arafat onslaught.
Our women held such a demonstration on Friday morning, September
20, 1996, in downtown Jerusalem. The event was widely
covered, particularly by the foreign media; Nadia Matar
was interviewed at length in behalf of Women In Green by
Israeli, French, Belgian, English, German and
Scandinavian television, press or radio.
Women In Green street theater and signs
directed questions at Shimon Peres and those who have
been acting in a similar disloyal manner. Some of our
posters read: “How dare you side with the enemy?!” ;
“Shimon Peres, Aren’t You Ashamed?!” “How Can You Sleep
At Night?!”; “We Warned You, Don’t Give Them Guns!”;
“Peres, You Gave Them the Guns Which Kill Our Sons”.
The riots against the Jewish presence in
Israel, which was joined in by Arab police who killed our
soldiers, has temporarily brought reality to the make-believe
“peace process.” The belligerence and incitement of Arafat
which preceded and caused these Arab riots brings into serious
question whether any meaningful peace can be achieved with such
a deceitful “peace partner”, who at any time will use violence
to obtain his objectives. A re-evaluation of the whole process
is in order. First and foremost must be the determination by the
Arabs that they truly wish to live in peace alongside Jews in
this historic Jewish Land.
Ruth Matar
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Jerusalem, October 6, 1996
MEDIA RELEASE MEDIA RELEASE
Renowned Professional Israeli Bashers
BBC and CNN are decidedly prejudiced in their
reporting concerning Israel. Especially is this true
when it concerns any dispute Israel has with the Arabs.
You just do not get a fair presentation of the news on
these powerful networks when they report on events relating
to Israel. Their commentary is even worse. The higher
echelons in those communication giants have a patent bias
against Israel and its Jews. Whereas as far as they are
concerned, the Arabs and Arafat can do no wrong. Both in
their selection of antagonistic personnel who cover and
report the news from here, and in their unashamed slanting
of the news, their hostility glaringly shines through.
While subtle Anti-Semitism is no doubt a
factor, short term self-interest is the more dominant
basis for their hostile attitude towards Israel.
Whatever the reasons, the blatant unfairness, and lack
of professional standards of reporting when it concerns
Israel is there for all to easily witness daily. Israel
and the Jewish People are the ENEMY, and the “poor”
warring Arabs shooting Jews with the guns Israel gave to
them are the VICTIMS. The ones who are the “oppressed”
are those aggressively throwing mortally dangerous
stones and Molotov Cocktails on peaceful passing Jewish
vehicles, with women and children passengers.
A street theater presentation has been called
to express grateful appreciation by the Arab Community for
all that CNN and BBC are doing for them. Arabs will
congregate in front of the Jerusalem Capitol Studios
at 206 Jaffa Road, in Jerusalem, on Tuesday, October 8,
1996 at 10:A.M., outside the building where CNN and BBC
studios are located.
CNN and BBC cameras will be there recording
the spontaneous show of appreciation by the ARABS to CNN and
BBC for getting world public opinion worked up against the
Jews and Israel. Come and Join the Circus!
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, October 11, 1996
The Intimidating Media
There are all kinds of cynical individuals in
this world, and singling out any particular one, or two
of them, normally isn’t worth the effort. However,
when these cynical people, directly and unfairly attack
you personally by threatening your very survival, they
can not be ignored; in such instances an all out effort
must be made to stop such unjustified attacks.
Unfortunately, in the instance of
media giants such as BBC and CNN, stopping such
prejudicial attacks is no easy feat. These
broadcasters deliberately and continuously deprecate
Israel in its life and death struggle with the Arabs.
They do so through the highly prejudiced anchor men
they have placed here, who can be counted on to slant
and interpret the breaking news events in a manner
detrimental to Israel. Their subtle and sometimes open
verbal attacks on Israel are effective and help mold
world opinion against that small nation. In addition,
they bolster these harmful reports by choosing outside
“analysts” of the news events, who can be counted on to
be supportive of the claims and charges of the Arabs
against the Jews of Israel, no matter how baseless.
Israel does not have the ultimate and
decisive oil weapon, which lurks in the background, and
prevents the nations from impartially weighing matters
on the merits. Neither does it have the huge amount of
monies or friends to counter-attack or to deflect this
reign of false propaganda blows. Both these
television networks have made their calculations and
find their bread is buttered economically from real or
potential Arab markets. As far as Israel is concerned,
even if its position is historically and morally
“correct,” that does not carry sufficient weight to
counter-balance these networks’ self-interested outlook
blatantly favoring the Arabs. Moreover, huge amounts
of Arab money are wisely spent on public relations
firms, and it is not inconceivable that broadcasters
are “influenced” by “appropriate” contacts that are had
with them from such sources.
Take the recent “opening of the
Hasmonean Tunnel” and the subsequent Arab rioting,
where guns supplied to the Arab “Police” by the former
Labor Government, were used by them to murder 15
Israeli soldiers and wounding over 60 of them. CNN and
BBC had a field day; a virtual propaganda orgy of false
reporting, working up world opinion against the victim
Israel, in favor of the Arab aggressors, Arafat and his
henchmen. Without bothering to investigate the easily
available facts, they adopted almost to the letter
Arafat’s attacks on the Jews and on Israel. It was a
sordid day for these bulwarks of the media which had
abandoned any semblance of ethical standards.
Women In Green took to the streets in
protest. On Tuesday morning, October 8, 1996, they
organized a street theater demonstration outside the
Jerusalem Capitol Studios where BBC and CNN are housed.
Our women, dressed in Arab garb, were publicly thanking
BBC and CNN for being so openly prejudiced in favor of
the Arabs. Others of our women were dressed as
“Gorilla” CNN and BBC cameramen, recording the
proceedings. They carried placards conveying strong
messages of criticism against these media leviathans,
some of which read as follows:
B ringing B ack C hamberlain;
B latantly B iased C ommunications;
B igoted B ully C arrier;
C ertified N on-Stop N etanyahu basher.
C lose-minded N egative N ewsreporting;
C ommunicating Neo Arafat N ihilism
There were a great many television cameras
and photographers who recorded the demonstration,
including a face-saving lengthy BBC interview of Nadia
Matar. Speaking in behalf of Women In Green, she
incisively analyzed the problem, stressing the
pernicious bias of these networks and their local
reporters, and the resultant harm they were doing to
the possibility of a real peace being achieved in the
region. Wonder of wonders! No coverage was given to
the event at all by foreign television, nor by the
local television stations. The cameraman for Channel 2
Israel Television was there, and enjoyed immensely the
ingenuity and content of the street theater
demonstration, but was later unable to convince his
superiors to put the footage he recorded on television.
Neither was there any report of the event on the radio.
The Jerusalem Post carried a large photo taken by
Reuters, and the caption under the photo read ” A
right-wing protest,” deliberately not mentioning Women
In Green, whom they well knew initiated and staged the
“event.” The Hebrew press likewise had no report of
the protest whatsoever.
What does this all mean? Certainly
we had no anticipation that BBC or CNN would report on
the event, despite the obvious gimmick of BBC
purporting to conduct an interview of the protesters at
the scene. But what about the local media? Involved
here was a basic problem seriously affecting the
welfare and image of Israel, which should have been
widely reported locally, since it is of great interest
to the Israeli public. The problem, moreover, had
serious ramifications affecting the success of any
peace process. Yet there was an obvious concerted
blackout of this important news story by the Israeli
media. Why? It was certainly by any criteria “news
that was fit to print,” and of vital interest and
concern to the Jews of Israel. The answer, we must
face up to, is that the very biased media here in
Israel is still controlled by those who are antagonists
to the things Women In Green are working and striving
for, i.e. unabashed Zionism, a love of Country and a
State with Jewish content. Israel media well
understood that if they reported on criticism of the
patent prejudices of the “foreign media,” they would be
opening a Pandora’s box of criticism of the tight reins
they hold on what information the Israeli public will
receive at their left-oriented hands. They would be next
in line as a natural target of Women In Green.
So it is. A bad situation where the
foreign press is seriously and unfairly hurting our
image, and suppression of this fact by the Israeli
media, which itself is guilty of the same crime.
Ruth Matar
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Jerusalem, October 20, 1996
MEDIA RELEASE MEDIA RELEASE
“When One Burns Books, One Will in the End, Burn People”
Heinrich Heine
Overlooked by the world media, deliberately or
otherwise, was that the Arabs set on fire a synagogue and
burned sacred books at Joseph’s Tomb in Shchem, an
important Jewish Holy Site, during the recent PLO
inspired riots. The foreign media did report, however,
that six Jewish soldiers guarding that site were murdered
by rioting Arabs, with guns supplied to the Arab Police
by Israel under the Oslo Agreement. At a time when
Arafat, and all Arabs, ably abetted by the world media,
are urging Israel to turn over Hebron to the Arabs, the
recent Arab attack on the Jewish Holy Site in Shchem
looms as an ominous forewarning of what is likely to
occur in Hebron in the not too distant future. In
Hebron, an ancient Jewish Biblical City, Jews are
presently a minority, living alongside one of their
holiest sites, the Cave of the Patriarchs, where the
founders of their religion are buried.
Jewish holy books are considered so
sacred, that even when partially burned, their remnants
can not just be discarded. These holy books are required
to be buried, just as if a human life was taken. The
Arabs who hold in disdain non-Moslem holy places and
sacred books, find no problem with this recent
desecration of the synagogue at Joseph’s Tomb, and
significantly, not a word of regret about this
sacrilegious and barbaric attack was ever uttered by
Arafat, nor by any other Arab leader. And the world
media is strangely and ominously silent, reminiscent of
their behavior during the horrendous Holocaust
perpetrated on the Jews not so long ago. The media asks
no hard questions concerning these criminal Arab acts,
but rather continues to pressure the Jews concerning
Hebron; it criticizes the Jew’s reluctance to once again
be a patsy to Arab pogroms there.
The need for a vigorous protest in this
matter is well justified. That is why Women In Green are
joining with others in a Funeral Procession to bury what
remains of the burned holy books, which the Arabs of
Shchem torched. We want the world to know that this evil
has occurred, and that we will not be silent. If peace
is what Arabs say Oslo will bring, then why don’t they
actually work and educate for peace? Much has already
been given to them under Oslo: a one sided Agreement,
where only the Jews give, and the Arabs take. The Arabs
continue to evade the very few obligations they have
under Oslo, but the media refuses to deal with these sly
Arab tactics, which will lead to an inevitable explosion.
The funeral procession of the burned
holy books will commence at Zion Square in Jerusalem on
Tuesday, October 22, 1996, at 6 P.M., and will proceed to the
burial site at the Har Menuchot Cemetery in Jerusalem.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, October 21, 1996
MEDIA RELEASE MEDIA RELEASE
A New French President, But the “Usual” French Hypocrisy
French President Jacques Chirac is
seemingly a very practical man. He, like his
predecessors, has weighed the rightness and wrongness
of the Israeli-Arab conflict solely in terms of what
position is more beneficial economically for France.
He has recognized that France is wholly dependent on
Arab oil to keep its industries running, and that
there are vast potential Arab markets for French
products. Throw in a healthy measure of anti-
Semitism in the French Foreign Office, and voila, you
have a French Foreign Policy that is tilted wholly in
favor of the Arabs.
So Chirac is for a Palestinian State;
the Jews completely out of Hebron; Israel giving up
the Golan to Syria, an old ally of the French; Israel
giving up Judea and Samaria and, and, and. He will
not hesitate to travel to Ramallah to speak to the
Palestinian Legislative Council, but has to be begged
to condescend to visit our Knesset. He wants to have
a greater share in the “peace process”, where his
impartial judgments will speed up the process of the
dismantlement of Israel.
To such a visitor we owe a reception
that is suitable to his “friendship” for the People
of Israel. Accordingly, Women In Green will be
outside the French Consulate on Emile Botta Street in
Jerusalem on Monday, October 21, 1996 at 11 A.M.
Women In Green feel they must put everything aside to
extend the kind of welcome this French President
deserves.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, October 24, 1996
A Fair and Impartial Media “Is Good for the Jews”
I am not a prophetess, nor the daughter of
prophets, despite ancestral roots in prophecy, yet it
needs no special gifts of clairvoyance to predict the
upcoming tragedy which is sure to befall Israel, and Jews
everywhere, should the overriding desire for a peaceful
solution of our problems with the Arabs, continue to
deter us from facing up to the “realities.” Last night,
I came away from the rally held in downtown Jerusalem,
and the accompanying funeral procession to bury holy
books torched by Arab rioters at Joseph’s Tomb with a
feeling of shame. Even though there were thousands, I
nevertheless felt shame that there was not a far greater
participation by all segments of the Jewish population at
such a crucial event. What occurred at Joseph’s Tomb was
ominous, and indicative of the true state of affairs in
this land, and as such should be sending distress and
warning signals to our Prime Minister, to our Knesset and
Jews everywhere.
Heinrich Heine, a famous German author who
preceded by many years the Nazi practice of burning
books, prophecized long before Hitler killed masses of
Jews, that: ” When One Burns Books, One In The End Will
Burn People.” That acute observation says it all with
regard to the Arab burning of our holy books at Joseph’s
Tomb. Also, I later experienced an overwhelming feeling
of frustration because of the way our local media
handled the reporting of this significant protest. It
became another example of the unjust and harmful control
by the media, which arbitrarily decides what sort of news
we Jews are allowed to hear. In this instance, fear of
upsetting the unwavering drive to carry out the “peace
process” with Arafat, at all costs, made the Media
deliberately ignore news which would engender in us a
reluctance to proceed with our present peace partners,
and the present format of Oslo.
On its face, the rally had been called to
bury the burned books; but its significance ran much
deeper. The little publicized or reported facts were
that, in addition to massacring 6 Jewish soldiers
protecting the Holy Site of Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem,
rioting local Arabs joined with the Arab Police and went
on a rampage, in a literal pogrom. They torched
thousands of Jewish holy books, and burned to the ground
the place of learning of the Yeshiva located on the
premises. Jewish law required that these sacred books be
buried in a manner similar to the burial requirements of
individual Jews. Accordingly, at the rally, memorial
services were conducted in downtown Jerusalem before a
gathering in excess of three thousand, in behalf of the
fallen soldiers. Prominent speakers included former
Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu; the Rosh Yeshiva
of Od Yosef Chai at Joseph’s Tomb, Rabbi Yitzhak
Ginsburgh; Rabbi Eliezer Waldman, the Rosh Yeshiva of Nir
Tamid, a Hesder Yeshiva in Kiryat Arba; and Knesset
Member Chanan Porat, among others. Former Sephardic Chief
Rabbi Eliahu passionately pointed out the need of our
People face up to and realistically deal with this
outrageous and despicable conduct on the part of the
Arabs, and buttressed his analysis with comments of our
Sages directly in point. All the speakers were quite
eloquent, but particularly Chanan Porat said it all when
he told the large audience that these despicable Arab
acts will not succeed in intimidating the Jews of Israel
from living and growing on the Land of their forefathers.
Shortly following these talks, there commenced an
impressive silent funeral procession winding through the
streets of Jerusalem to the distant Menuchot Cemetery in
Givat Shaul, where the charred remains of the sacred
books were buried. Along the way, additional thousands
joined the procession, especially as it passed through
the nearby neighborhoods of Geulah and Mea Shaarim.
The world and foreign media were virtually
silent with regard to this attack on a Jewish Holy site
and the accompanying sacking of a House of Prayer located
there, and its sacred books. Since they had a previous
track record of ignoring what was happening to the Jews
during the Holocaust, their silence and avoiding the
required condemnation of such inhumane Arab acts in this
latest pogrom, did not come as any surprise. That Arafat
and local Arab leadership, as well as Arab Countries in
the Middle East in no way condemned these Arab actions,
or even recognized the event as ever having happened, was
also predictable. Unfortunately, it is further
significant proof that there are no real prospects of
peace until such time as such a perverse attitude changes
for the better. Can you imagine what would have been the
world’s and the Arabs’ collective reaction if a single
Jew was responsible for the burning of one copy of the
Koran? All of Jewry would have been vilified and
condemned! Yet when thousands of Jewish sacred books are
burned by a host of rioting Arabs, and a Jewish religious
place of worship is burned to the ground, there is
complete silence from the Arab and Moslem world.
To add insult to injury, French President
Jacques Chirac who was visiting in Israel on the date
this rally for the burial of the burned books was held,
completely ignored the event, although it was well
advertised in the Jerusalem Post that day. Instead
Chirac came to preach to the Jews that they are not doing
enough for peace, and Arab refugees, and are not
respecting the “sensitivity” of the Palestinians. He
announced his intention to speak to the ” Palestinian
Parliament”, while refusing to speak to Israel’s Knesset.
Of course not a word of criticism of any Arab nation, nor
of Arafat; not a word about the latest Arab pogrom.
This from a French Government which, according to recent
revelations, actively participated in turning over 80,000
French Jews to the Nazi Germans for their certain death.
What can you expect from such a “friend”?
Unfortunately, the Media in Israel were
not very much better than the foreign media, in reporting
adequately the tragic occurrences that took place during
the Arab riots at the Jewish Holy Site at Joseph’s Tomb.
Nor was this subsequent protest rally at which thousands
of Jews participated, given other than minimal coverage
by Israel Television, Radio or Press. The only two
Israeli television stations, one of which is privately
owned, gave less than 30 seconds each to the coverage of
this important, and tremendously meaningful protest and
memorial. The extreme bias of the personnel who control
these powerful instruments of communication shone through
once again. They will not promote among their listeners
the nationalistic pride and dignity of being Jewish, the
vitality and meaningfulness of Judaism, or that Israel is
a Jewish State.
Moreover, except for Arutz Sheva, a
small independent nationalistic oriented radio station,
the radio coverage was nil of the burial ceremony of the
sacred books, As to the press, none bothered to report
on this large protest gathering, or to editorialize or
write up the implications of this latest Arab pogrom.
There was, here and there, an innocuous photo appearing
of the event, without any accompanying article. Thus
the Jewish Community in Israel, because of the anti-
religious controlled media were not allowed to have
spelled out for them, or decently reported, this
historic, extremely relevant and significant “event”. In
marked contrast, the media took the trouble recently to
actually count 220 Peace Now protesters in a demo against
Netanyahu, which merited a large picture and accompanying
article.
The net effect apparently is that the
media has decided to play down the barbaric and
sacrilegious acts committed by Arabs against the Jews at
Joseph’s Tomb, because it feels that to report such
events and the public reaction thereto would do damage to
the “peace process”. In their perverse view, all that
was involved at Joseph’s Tomb was the destruction of
irrelevant books that had no real message or guidance for
life in “modern Israel”. Thus was sacrificed the
public’s “right to know” the facts, and to be able to
decide for itself what the implications of such facts
are. Jews in Israel in particular, but Jews everywhere,
are entitled to hear discussed this vital development
which goes to the heart of any future arrangement or
accord between Jew and Arab. The Israel Media should be
made to understand that unless there is an unconditional
pledge of non-violence as a mutual policy, and respect
for each other’s religion, and a mutual tolerance of each
other’s basic beliefs, the likelihood of there being
peace in this land is quite remote. It would ultimately
prove to be the height of wisdom, for Israel to insist at
this time, before proceeding further with the Oslo
Accords, that there be an outright condemnation of such
tragic recent occurrences at Joseph’s Tomb. Such sincere
and immediate declarations, whose wording and delivery
must be acceptable to Israel, should be repeated ad
nausea in the Arab Media, and made by important Arab
dignitaries, including Arafat. Only in this manner can
the recent set-back to peace between Arab and Jew have a
chance to get back on track.
And of course, this Netanyahu Government
must take appropriate steps to correct the grave
injustices which the present personnel in the media daily
inflict upon us. The Jews of Israel are entitled to have
a fair and impartial media, nothing more and certainly
nothing less.
Ruth Matar
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Jerusalem, October 28, 1996.
Mass Rally To Counter-Balance Dangerous Pressures
Everyone these days appears to be acting in what
they believe to be their own self interest. Their real
motives are hidden behind the facade of a make-believe
“peace process”. From the point of view of America,
Europe and Japan, the Arabs are to be appeased, at
whatever the cost to Israel. The flow of oil from this
region is not to be disturbed. No matter the sordid past
record of Arafat, and of Arab violence; no matter the
known duplicity of the Arabs; no matter the serious
breaches of Arab basic obligations under Oslo. Israel is
to be pressured into appeasement. “Land For Peace”, the
present favorite cliche, is to be pressed upon Israel,
even though everyone knows it hasn’t the slightest
possibility of bringing peace.
The pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu is
horrendous and comes from all quarters, within and
without. It comes unrelentingly from a Labor Party led
by Shimon Peres, whose vanity seems more important
to him than his Country; from Meretz, whose positions
often border on treason; from a local media made up
mostly of pseudo-liberals who no longer identify with
or believe in Zionism or a Jewish State; from a foreign
media which has lost all pretense of fairness and
impartiality; and from Peace Now, whose one-sided
attacks on the Jewish State are heard continuously,
despite the fact that it represents a tiny Jewish minority,
which hues to the line of current Arab propaganda.
Arab Knesset Members are a Fifth Column in our
midst. They daily seek out the world and local media to
tell them about how Netanyahu is breaching Oslo. Arafat,
and his followers, have the same aims as the more
flagrantly extremist Arab groups such as Hamas. Arafat’s
strategy is to be constantly traveling abroad spreading
his poison and lies against Israel, and asking that the
world’s leading nations pressure Netanyahu to submit to
one-sided Arab demands. He is in constant touch with the
rest of the Arab world, led by Syria and Egypt, which use
the “Israel basher” ploy, to hide the abuses of their
dictatorial regimes. All threaten Netanyahu with war and
violence, if he stands firm as to Israel’s needs.
In the face of such overwhelming pressures on
Netanyahu, what can be done? We must attempt to
counter-balance this coercion. We must plead with him
publicly to be true to his campaign promises, and the
platform on which the sizable Jewish majority elected
him. He must stand by his previous commitments concerning
Hebron, despite the enormous pressures. Accordingly, a
Mass Rally will be held on Tuesday, October 29, 1996,
at 18:30 at Paris Square in Jerusalem. Come One – Come All!
Ruth and Nadia Matar