Letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green) Jerusalem
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Dear Friends,
On the 12th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, Betar Jerusalem soccer fans booed when requested to stand for a few moments of silence in his memory.
Reacting to the incident, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, himself a fan of the Betar team, said: “I detest these brutish and violent people who, I am sorry to say, are a sizeable sector of the fans. I want to state in the clearest, angriest terms, that this behavior– not of a small group… was wicked and unbearable”.
The head of the Israeli soccer federation, Avi Luzon, told Israel Radio: “It was not just a handful- that is what is so appalling. It was, I am afraid, the majority of the crowd that was there.”
Some of the local analysts are of the opinion that this event is a violation of democracy, and shows disrespect for democracy itself.
On the contrary, I feel that the booing at the memory of Rabin was an outlet of the pent-up emotions of the soccer fans. They no doubt feel that vital, existential decisions had been made by Rabin without any public consent, and that successive Israeli governments continue in his footsteps of disregard for the opinions of the people of Israel.
1. In 1991, the Madrid Conference held by President George Herbert W. Bush, (the father of President George W. Bush) paved the way for the Oslo Accords.
2. In 1992, Rabin signed the catastrophic Oslo Accords with Yasser Arafat, without at all taking into account the will of the Israeli people.
3. In 2005, Ariel Sharon launched the disastrous unilateral disengagement from Gaza without the consent of the people. In fact, people harbored such strong feelings at the time, that there was much concern and fear of a civil war breaking out!
4. And finally, today, at the end of 2007, Ehud Olmert is agreeing to attend the Annapolis Conference, where the current United States President, George W. Bush, is intent on carving another Arab terrorist state out of what is left of Israel.
I have a strong feeling that the soccer fans at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem booed as one because of their frustration at the lack of democracy in Israel ever since Rabin signed the Oslo Accords.
They are fully aware of the intentions of the very unpopular Olmert Government to continue in Rabin’s footsteps. Olmert is potentially poised to take decisions at the Annapolis so-called “peace conference”, that could profoundly affect Israel’s security, future, and in fact, its very survival as a Jewish State.
Olmert not only ignores the opinions of the people; he states without shame that he DOES NOT EVEN NEED KNESSET APPROVAL to reach a joint declaration with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Annapolis.
Ehud Olmert acts as if Israel were his private real-estate. He has made himself a virtual dictator! He has no regard for democracy whatsoever!
We must therefore get rid of Olmert before he gets rid of us!
With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth Matar
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Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
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