Media Releases – August 1997
August 1997
August 2, 1997 It Seems To Me I’ve Heard This Tune Before…
August 5, 1997 Save Israel – Stop Oslo Now!
August 5, 1997 Frontier Life In Israel
August 7, 1997 Stop Oslo Now!
August 10, 1997 There Is No Other Alternative – Stop Oslo Now!
August 14, 1997 Campaign to get Uri Dan and Dennis Eisenberg Back!
August 17, 1997 ” Esther” Albright
August 19, 1997 Letter to Publisher of Jerusalem Post
August 19, 1997 No Questions Asked!
August 23, 1997 Of Arab Double-Talk and Brazen Immorality
August 27, 1997 Call to Vote
August 27, 1997 The Shabbes Goy
August 27, 1997 Circular: Arafat Preparing for War
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Jerusalem, August 2, 1997
It Seems To Me I’ve Heard This Tune Before…
Once again the same predictable musical score is
being heard, with slight variations. The same initial
reaction of anger and bitterness. The same closing down
of the territories, only to be opened again two or three
weeks later because we Jews must provide Arabs with a
livelihood in Israel. The same momentary doubt after
such a tragedy of an Arab bombing where many innocent
civilians are killed, and scores are seriously injured,
which sees the failure of this peace process with
Arafat. The protagonists of Oslo are quick to counter
with the loaded, and irrelevant question, “Do we have an
alternative?” The same standard Peres-Meretz and
American response that we can’t allow these terrorists
to be victorious by allowing their acts of terror cause
the stopping of the peace process, as if Arafat and his
PLO henchmen were ever sincerely interested in Oslo or
peace. The same refusal to face the reality of what it
obviously means when Arafat has not once spoken in
Arabic to his People since the inception of Oslo to
date, advocating peace with the Jews.
On the occasion of the Mahane Yehuda bombing
yesterday, the Government’s reaction to the Arab
massacre on first glance seems to have finally undergone
a decided and radical change as compared to previous
Arab bombings. The scheduled renewed peace talks were
suspended. The visit of the U.S. State Department’s
messenger, Dennis Ross, was temporarily delayed. The
oral but deserved dressing down by Netanyahu of Arafat
that the latter’s expressed condolences were
insufficient, and that he was required to act
forcefully against the terrorists in his midst, whom
Arafat usually honors and glorifies. But predictably
this Netanyahu tough talk and stance will not go
beyond the approximate two weeks that it takes for
Israel’s present anger to subside. The American and
European pressures to “get that peace process started
up again” will then commence after they “humanely”
allowed a short period of mourning for the bereaved;
after this unavoidable delay, the horror of the
present tragedy will then be allowed to take its
place in the library of the innumerable other Arab
bombings to which Israel’s usual reaction has been
“submission to the inevitable.”
What is actually needed is the wisdom to
seize the hour of tragedy, and to use it to Israel’s
advantage. While world sympathy is still alive and
fresh, we should do the proper thing which we have
refrained from doing because of fear of a negative
reaction from nations who themselves are subject to Arab
oil pressures. Netanyahu should withdraw his objections
to the building of the housing units on the Mount of
Olives which the Jerusalem Municipality recently
approved, and declare that so similarly will be our
answer to any and all future violence on the part of the
PLO and Arafat. The other aimless drifting route has
only brought death and destruction. Firmness of resolve
and belief in an undivided Jerusalem demands that
Netanyahu take this logical and vital step at this
time.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
*********************************
Jerusalem, August 5, 1997
Save Israel – Stop Oslo Now!
What happened at Mahane Yehuda last Wednesday
was no aberration. It is the logical and natural
consequence of entering into an arrangement with a
deceitful murderer and his Arab cohorts, whose purpose is
not peace but to use the Oslo Accords as a stepping stone
to the ultimate destruction of Israel and the Jewish
People. That is why the pattern, from Oslo’s inception,
is a story of continued Jewish killings, initiated by
deliberately uncontrolled Arab terrorist groups.
It is a grisly story of self-deception.
There has been an almost passionate desire for peace on
the part of the Jews, causing them to be misled in the
false belief that peace is possible, even with murderers,
and persons who have no deep-seated belief in morality.
When hate and enmity of the Jews continue to be taught to
Arab children even after the Oslo Accords have been
signed; when the “Engineer” and others like him are
extolled and declared by Arafat as a martyr, after making
bombs that kill Jews. The same Arafat refuses to address
Arabs in Arabic requesting that they make peace with the
Jews, nor is willing to condemn terrorism in that tongue
against Jews, nor clamp down on known terrorist
organizations and terrorists. And finally, he refuses to
turn over known murderers who did their killings of Jews,
and then returned to the areas under the PLO’s control,
and sit there unpunished.
Accordingly, Women In Green, expressing
the beliefs of the Jewish majority, and joining with
other groups on this major issue, have initiated a
Campaign to bring the failed Oslo process to an immediate
halt, so that the Jewish People rid itself of this one-
sided Oslo plague and mockery, whose continuation
threatens Israel’s very existence.
On Wednesday, August 6, 1997, at 13:00 in
the afternoon, at Davidka Square in Jerusalem, at the end
of the one week mourning for those who died in the latest
Mahane Yehuda tragedy, we have called for a Memorial Service
followed by a Press Conference at which several Members
of Knesset and Public Figures are expected to attend. At
such time and place we will inaugurate our new Campaign
under the slogan: “Save Israel, by Stopping Oslo Now.”
Following the Memorial and Press Conference, Women In
Green, along with others, will walk over to the adjacent
Mahane Yehuda Market, where we will distribute this
message by way of car-stickers and other literature to
the surviving shoppers and vendors.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, August 5, 1997
Frontier Life In Israel
For those who have not experienced what it is
like to live surrounded by murderous enemies, on a
isolated settlement, let us tell you about Women In
Green’s monthly tour which took place on Wednesday,
July 30, 1997, to Netzarim in the Gaza Strip. Netzarim
is thought to be at a strategic location, security
wise, and the army maintains an adjoining base in the
vicinity. As is usual on our monthly tours, two full
busloads of our people set out relatively early in the
morning from Jerusalem to visit Netzarim. It was
approximately a two-hour journey, which included the
necessary wait for the army to accompany us to this
location, which is some three kilometers from the city
of Gaza on one side of it, and less than two, from
another nearby Arab community. Strange as it may seem
in this so-called civilized world, the people living in
Netzarim are not allowed to leave the area in which
they live, without an army armed escort. Why? Because
it has been learned through bitter experience that, if
they go unprotected, murderous Arabs will violently
attack Jewish residents, to discourage them from living
in this part of Biblical Israel, notwithstanding the
Oslo so-called “Peace Accords.”
It was a poignant scene of contrast, our
arrival at Netzarim, with armed army soldiers boarding
our buses, and accompanying us into the settlement, and
with armed jeeps to the front and rear of each bus.
In the face of such military might, we were
unexpectedly greeted at the settlement’s entrance by
tiny, joyous children waving small Jewish flags! It
virtually brought tears to our eyes, and for this
experience alone, our visit was immediately rewarded.
But the wonders of the visit didn’t stop there. We had
brought a large toy for the children’s play area, a
colorful two meter long plastic caterpillar. The
children loved it! They were starved for this kind of
attention, and their beautiful faces beamed with joy
and appreciation. Whatever your life’s activities,
nothing can match this kind of experience.
We then toured the rather extensive area of
the settlement, with its agricultural areas; with pride
we were shown a new area where etrogim for the Succoth
Holidays would soon be growing in this ideal climate.
Soon, in the religious stores in Mea Shaarim in
Jerusalem, and all over the world, these etrogim would
be evaluated carefully by Jewish experts, to see if
that major item of the four species met all the
requirements of the law.
We were told how difficult it had been for
them being dependent on the Arabs for their electrical
supply, which unfortunately was also tied to their
being able to bring up water from the wells that supply
their water needs. When they finally acquired a
suitably powerful generator their sufferings from
frequent Arab cut off of their electricity was solved.
Another severe and major problem they had was the
deliberate Arab direction of their sewage to wind up at
Netzarim, with all the attendant foul odors and health
hazards that such sewage caused. All of this, of
course, was specifically against the PLO obligations
under the Oslo Accords, yet it did not faze the Arabs
at all, as it has not fazed them in their multitudinous
disregard of what they promised to do under Oslo, such
as controlling terrorism, and eliminating the directives
in their Charter to destroy Israel.
No question about it, Arab terrorism is
rampant in the area, and Netzarim is probably the
easiest target, since it is the most isolated Jewish
settlement. Its residents, brave idealists all, are
surprisingly not limited to kippa-wearing people. Our
guide Gershon is bare-headed, yet he is a prominent
member of Netzarim, and apparently one of its leaders.
He is the same warm Gershon who came with us when we
demonstrated in the Gaza Strip in behalf of the
beleaguered Jewish Community of Morag, about a month
ago, when the Palestinian Authority had Arabs squat on
their land. Even though Gershon does not wear a kippa,
and claims he usually votes for the Labor party, he is
among the few in that party who believes in a “Greater
Israel.” He amply demonstrates the courage of his
convictions by living in Netzarim, and indeed practices
what he preaches in his own gentle fashion.
That was the message with which we left
Netzarim: the indomitable spirit of the finest of our
Jewish People, selfless, strong people who live in
accordance with their convictions and therefore will
not be frightened by violence or a threat of violence.
My co-leader, Nadia Matar, repeatedly tells our women
that by visiting these outlying settlements and meeting
the brave Jews who reside there, we do indeed help
strengthen them. Our visits concretely convey our
support and appreciation of their efforts. However,
Nadia is right when she says, that it is we who gain
far more. To have been in the presence of these
“idealists” is an inspiration and strengthens our own
basic beliefs that despite the hardships and the
bleakness of any hour, the sun will finally break
through. Long live the heroes of Netzarim! They are a
shining light to the darkness of self-aggrandizement
that pervades our culture and those of many other
nations today. They are the actual pioneers in our
society, role models who spur us all on to greater
heights, and insure a better Israel for all of us.
Ruth Matar
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Jerusalem, August 7, 1997
Stop Oslo Now!
The following is the literal translation of last Sunday’s’s program by
Nadia Matar, the chairperson of Women for Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in
Green), on Arutz 7. Nadia speaks every Sunday after the 12:00 noon
newscast.
Shalom to all our listeners!
This is Nadia Matar speaking –
Last week I saw the Prime Minister on the Popolitika program. Yes, he
was terrific. He sat there among the four vultures and answered every
question so finely. He succeeded in evading every hostile query, and
again and again reiterated the “achievements” of his government.
Unfortunately, his favorite sentence was “With us, there is hardly
any terror,” “busses don’t explode.” Every time that he repeated this
sentence, my heart missed a beat, and I hoped that the Prime Minister
would bite his tongue. Such boasting is the height of arrogance! I
wanted to tell him: “Don’t talk like that! You’re not responsible for
the absence of terror.” If there were no acts of mass terror in the
past year, this was not because of any lack of attempts and desire by
the Arabs. The hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, is responsible
for this, despite the many attempted attacks. Hundreds of incendiary
bombs in Hebron, shots fired at Beit Hadassah, Arab terrorists
disguised as policemen on their way to an attack on Har Berakhah and
Eilon Moreh, and more and more. Each of these could have ended
tragically, but we were miraculously saved. And then came the two
bombs in the Mahaneh Yehudah marketplace. Now the Prime Minister can
swallow his words. The time has come to tell the truth: There is
terror when there is no “progress in the Oslo process,” and there is
terror when there is “progress in the Oslo process.” There is terror
when a government of the left is in power, and there is terror when a
government of the right is in power. There was terror before we
returned to Judea, Samaria, and Gaza in 1967, and there has been
terror since 1967 to this very day. Why? Because it not important who
is in power, and it is not important what are the boundaries of the
State of Israel: the Arabs cannot tolerate a Jewish entity here, they
regard us as a cancer, and they will continue to do everything in
order to drive us out of the region – from Hebron, from Gush Etzion,
from Jerusalem, from Tel Aviv, and from Haifa. Nonetheless, there is
a tremendous difference in the level and quantity of terror since the
signing of the accursed Oslo accords. This is because, the more we
surrender the land of our fathers, the more we increase the appetite
of our enemies. And the greater the territories that the Arabs
control and with more weapons and military equipment – as they are
allowed by the Oslo accords – the resources and opportunities to
conduct terrorist acts grow accordingly. In other words – the Oslo
accords only intensify terror. We never anticipated that there would
be no terror under the government of Binyamin Netanyahu.
But we were naive. We expected that a national government would
react to terror differently! We expected that this government would,
at long last, tell the truth: that the “Oslo process” has failed and
died. Not only because the Oslo process means surrender to terror
and the rewarding of the murderers of Jews, but because our security
has been abandoned, and given into the hands of the archmurderer
Arafat.
For example, after the bombing in Mahaneh Yehudah, we saw David
Bar-Ilan, the government’s information chief. Reporters asked him how
he could accuse Arafat of not fighting terror, when a few days
previously the “Palestinian Authority” had “uncovered” a large
weapons factory in Beit Sahur. David Bar-Ilan replied angrily, and
heatedly, that the “uncovering” of the factory was actually a media
gimmick by Arafat, in order to distract attention from the affair of
the “Palestinian police” whom he had dispatched to murder Jews.
Bar-Ilan added that the Israeli government had already known for two
months about the existence of the factory, and had pleaded with the
Authority for the Palestinian police to do something about it. This
reply satisfied the reporter, who continued with his other questions.
But he did not ask the question that cries to Heaven: “David
Bar-Ilan, you want to tell me that the Israeli government knew about
the existence of a factory for bombs and explosives for two whole
months, but you did nothing about this, except for asking Arafat
nicely to take care of the matter!” God in Heaven! Is this “peace
with security”? Did the people of Israel vote in May ’96 for a policy
of degrading and pathetic dependence upon murderers and terrorists?
This week we, the Women in Green, are beginning a major campaign, and
I hope that you will join in spreading the new message, a message
that will be circulated on stickers, posters, etc., namely:
“STOP OSLO NOW!”
We demand that the Netanyahu government not try to pull the wool over
our eyes with its “demands to Arafat” and a “closure of the
territories.” We’re sick and tired of talking – the time has come for
action. We must proclaim the stopping of the Oslo suicide process and
the revival of true Zionism. The sole Zionist-Jewish response to
terror is building and settlement in all of Eretz Israel and
throughout Jerusalem. Today the Prime Minister must begin to build,
with his own hands, the neighborhood in the southern Mount of Olives.
Today massive Jewish construction in Hebron and the rest of Judea,
Samaria, and Gaza must be proclaimed. Today the Prime Minister must
declare that a pact cannot be made with the Devil – that Yasser
Arafat is an archmurderer and deserves to die. It is very nice that
we have a Prime Minister who can maneuver between Dan Margalit, Tommy
Lapid, Shelly Yahimovitz, and Amnon Dankner on Popolitika. This may
be amusing, but it is not relevant. The People of Israel need a
Jewish-Zionist leader with principle, courage, and faith; A leader
who is capable of contending with Clinton and the entire hostile
world. The slaughter in Mahaneh Yehudah is, in fact, Netanyahu’s last
opportunity to display leadership. Is he capable of rising to the
challenge? Write letters to him, to the following address: Mr.
Binyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister, Prime Minister’s Office,
Jerusalem, and give him the clear message:
“Stop Oslo Now!”
Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, August 10, 1997
There Is No Other Alternative – Stop Oslo Now!
It is not a matter of choice. The Oslo Process with
Arafat as a partner has not worked, and what is more
important can not possibly work. Arafat is not
changeable. He is what he is. And what he is, has been
proven time and time again, a man devoted to the
destruction of Israel, not making peace with it. Just as
Hitler was incapable of being a peace partner, nor, as
the U.S. claims, is a person like Ghadafi of Libya, so
similarly and tragically is Arafat.
All the signs are there and can no longer be
ignored. Arafat is a known supporter of, and in close
league with, the worst enemies of Israel. Hussein of
Iraq, Assad of Syria and Mubarak of Egypt. Moreover, in
the school systems of the Palestine Authority, the seeds
of hatred of Israel and the Jewish People are blatantly
and continue to be sowed, the ” Oslo Peace process”
notwithstanding. Nor is Israel taught to the children
as a living and enduring entity; rather what is implanted
in the school children is the PA maps showing that all of
Palestine rightfully belongs to the Arab People which
includes all of present day Israel; it is only a matter
of time when the Arabs will be occupying Jaffa, and Haifa
again.
The fact is that the PLO Charter will never be
amended. To believe that Arafat eventually will honor
his commitment to amend that Charter removing all
references to the intended destruction of Israel, is the
height of naivite and wishful thinking. Arafat considers
Israel as an enemy, says so over and over again, and acts
concretely in accordance with those convictions. There
are innumerable tapes of his declarations in that regard.
Moreover, he will never criticize in Arabic any of the
terrorists who have bombed and killed Jews; on the
contrary, in Arabic he has nothing but praise and
glorifies them as heroes and true patriots. With such an
enemy, no true peace can be achieved, no matter the
signed Agreement. Arafat has merely used these Accords
to obtain weapons, and raise an Army which would assist
anticipated invading forces. The gimmick is to use the
Jews desire for peace with the Arabs, as a means of
weakening Israel through Oslo, and it has worked so far.
Those who pierce the veil of Arafat’s deceit and true
intent to destroy Israel, are unfairly accused of being
“against peace” by those who initiated and support the
“Oslo process.”
The time has come to call a halt to these
shenanigans, and stop Oslo Now. We must wait patiently
until there appear on the scene Arabs who are truly
intent on making peace with Israel in word and deed.
Until then, Israel must be eternally vigilant, and be
firm and resolute in its search for a true peace. At the
same time it must realistically recognize the enemies it
has from within and without. There is no other or better
formula for its survival.
In the Memorial Service held on Wednesday,
August 6, 1997, at Davidka Circle, adjacent to the Mahane
Yehuda Market where 13 lives were lost, and more than 150
were injured by two separate Arab terrorist bombs,
speaker after speaker called for an end to the sham of Oslo.
Members of the Knesset Ze’evi, and Alon, and former Knesset
Member Elyakim HaEtzni spoke eloquently to that effect,
as did Nadia Matar, and Joyce Boim. Joyce’s son David was
murdered by Arabs, one of whom has been identified, but
Arafat to date has refused to punish him, nor extradite him
as he is required to do under Oslo.
After the Memorial Service, those attending
walked over to the Mahane Yehuda Market to show
solidarity with the vendors and shoppers. They were
greeted with warmth and great friendship, particularly
Knesset Members Ze’evi and Alon, and Nadia Matar.
These vendors invited the Women In Green signs and
stickers calling for putting an end to Oslo Now to be
pasted on their vendor stands and booths. As a
result, future shoppers to the Market will find this
prevailing message well displayed there.
If the reaction by the shoppers and vendors to
the call to “Save Israel – Stop Oslo NOW!” is at all
representative of the feeling of the general public,
there is present in Israel an overwhelming desire to halt
Oslo. There is no doubt that very, very few of the
Jewish public trusts Arafat, nor do they believe that he
sincerely desires peace with Israel. Under Oslo, Arafat
was obligated to act against terrorists and their
organizations which he refuses to to do, thus assuring many
future Arab terrorist bombings like at Mahane Yehuda;
moreover, it is more than likely that war, and not peace,
will be the outcome of Oslo. Under such circumstances,
it behooves the Netanyahu Government to act decisively
now and bring Oslo to a halt, because of the failure of
Arafat and the PLO to abide by their Agreements. By
discarding the fraud of Oslo, Israel can then search for
sincere Arab peace partners, and thus eventually have a
chance to attain a real and lasting peace.
Ruth Matar
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Jerusalem, August 14, 1997
Campaign to get Uri Dan and Dennis Eisenberg Back!
Dear friends,
Today, Thursday, August 14, 1997, the wonderful weekly column of
Uri Dan and Dennis Eisenberg did not appear in the Jerusalem Post.
One of our members called the Post to ask for an explanation and was
told : “We have a different policy now!”
Uri Dan & Dennis Eisenberg’s column was like a breath of fresh air in
a very controlled, one-sided and biased Israeli media. We are very upset
that the Jerusalem Post denies its readers an opportunity to share the
insights of Dan and Eisenberg.
We call upon you to call, fax or write the publisher and editor of
the Jerusalem Post to demand that the column of Dan and Eisenberg be
reinstated forthwith!
Publisher: Norman Spector fax: 02/ 538 78 62
e-mail publisher@jpost.co.il
or write to the Jerusalem Post,
POB 81,
Jerusalem 91000
Editor: Jeff Barak tel: 02/5315612
fax:02/ 5376553
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, August 17, 1997
” Esther” Albright
In the Book of Ecclesiastes (1:9) we are told
that there is “Nothing new under the Sun.” And indeed
there isn’t. For instance, we have a long history of
persecution of the Jews, with their enemies down through
history seeking to destroy them. The Bible’s Book of
Esther spells out a classic instance of this scenario.
There, a man called Haman led the intrigue to destroy
the Jewish people because they had different beliefs
and values. The setting was Persia, the Iran of today.
Haman’s planned destruction of the Jews was thwarted
by a Jewess, Queen Esther. She influenced her King to
recognize that Haman was evil, and that the Jews were
loyal subjects, who actually had saved his life. She
was reluctant at first to speak up for her Jewish
people. All kinds of difficulties, including exposing
her very life to danger were involved, were she to do
so. She was told by her uncle Mordechai, however, that
if she did not help, salvation would come in some other
way for the Jews, but she and her household would not be
spared and would be destroyed. And he sagaciously
pointed out that she probably achieved her queenship
for this very purpose, to give her the opportunity to
save her people!
Today we have a different “Haman” in the guise
of Arafat. He has been hiding behind a well-intentioned
“Oslo Peace Process” using it to fulfill his planned
destruction of the Jewish people. Using the slogan
“Land for Peace,” Arafat has convinced the nations of
the viability of that formula, but it is being used for
the exclusive purpose to destroy Israel in accordance
with the unchanged Charter of the PLO. The designs of
history have projected Madeleine Albright, the Jewish
daughter of parents who barely escaped Hitler’s gas
chambers, into a position of being able to save her
people. Hitler successfully murdered three of her
grandparents because they were Jewish. Her parents,
despairing of the nation’s attitude towards the Jews,
converted themselves and their small children to
Christianity, hoping to escape further persecution. But
she still prays to the same God, and He has Promised
this Land to the Jewish people, including the Golan
Heights, which was inhabited by the Jewish tribe of
Menashe long before there ever was a Syria.
Miraculously, this immigrant child has risen
to become U.S. Secretary of State in the most powerful
nation in the world. She has thus been thrust into a
powerful position where she, like Esther of old, would
be able to save her people from a doom that awaits
them at the hands of Arafat (Haman) and his cohorts
through the use of his sly device of “land for peace.”
That doctrine is a clever Arab ploy, which has never
worked to bring peace in any instance where it has been
attempted. Oslo and “land for peace” are objectively
nothing but tools which are exploited by Haman-Arafat
to destroy Israel. Will Madeleine Albright save her
people as Queen Esther of old? Time will tell.
Ruth Matar
**********************************
Jerusalem, August 19, 1997
Letter to Publisher of Jerusalem Post
To: Norman Spector, Publ, Jerslm Post
Fax: 972- 2-538 7862
E-Mail: publisher@jpost.co.il
From: Michael Matar Fax 6245 380
August 19,1997
Dear Sir:
We want to register our dismay over the
fact that we have learned that Dennis Eisenberg
would no longer be writing for the Jerusalem
Post. Now, there are many outstanding voices who
have questioned the wisdom of the Oslo Process.
They question as well dealing with an amoral
despot such as Arafat. Your readers are entitled
to be able to read Eisenberg, who oftentimes
realistically points out the failures and
contradictions of our Government’s policies, and
those of the United States, and squarely faces up
to the problems involved; and certainly there
should be writers like him who have some
justifiable pride in their Jewish-Zionist
Heritage. Various writers on your paper actually
are self-hating Jews who hold anti-Zionist and
anti-religious points of view, but that does not
stop you from widely printing their nonsense.
Certainly, we have found a good deal of biased
and sloppy writing on the part of Michal
Yudelman, Larry Derfner, Susan Hattis Rolef,
David Forman and others on your staff. To single
out Dennis Eisenberg is both inconsistent and
hypocritical. Eisenberg generally has an
orientation that an overwhelming number of your
Zionist readers share; what is more important,
they enjoy his articles and turn to it first in
reading your Thursday paper. Similarly, the
erudite and well written articles by the well
known author, political analyst and astute
Zionist, Shmuel Katz, are conspicuously absent
from your paper since your new editor has taken
over.
It is always been a great puzzle to us how your
newspaper, which has a preponderance of Jewish
readers who are definitely Zionist oriented, has
writers who actually offend these readers, so
much so that often one is on the verge of
canceling one’s subscription with your paper.
Now with the coming advent of Ha’aretz putting out
an English edition, there is little reason for
anyone to continue to read the Jerusalem Post, as
Ha’aretz mouths the Labor-Meretz orientation far
better than your paper; moreover, it has a far
greater degree of accuracy, and more widespread
reporting of events than does the Post. It seems
to us that the Post would try to retain its large
number of Zionist readers by having such writers
as Dennis Eisenberg on its staff, and send
Yudelman, and Derfner over to Ha’aretz;
unfortunately, I doubt if they would be taken
on by that paper. Ha’aretz seems to have
some accepted standards of journalism, which
Yudelman and Derfner do not practice nor possess.
Yours for a better Israel tomorrow,
Michael Matar
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Jerusalem, August 19, 1997
No Questions Asked!
What does it take to have the world and Israeli
media properly evaluate the persistent stream of
absurdity that flows from the propaganda offices of the
Palestinian Authority? Take the recent murder of a
Jewish taxi driver outside of Jericho that made the
headlines. Lo and behold, under American pressure that
Arafat was not doing enough to prevent terror, it
suddenly became easy for the three Arab murderers to be
rapidly identified by the Jericho Police. The
explanation given by the PA and adopted by the media for
the rapid solution of the case, was that the murderers
were known car thieves, and the taxi had been sold for
spare parts in Jericho. An immediate one day speedy
trial was held, the defendants were found guilty and
sentenced forthwith; two of them were given a life
prison term, and the third, a 17 year old considered a
minor, humanely, according to PA unique moral standards
was given 15 years. Justice was done! Or was it? No,
it was merely the usual Palestinian sham tune, played
for the gullible Americans and Europeans! Amazingly,
kudos were widely extended to the Jericho police for
their cooperation with the Israel security forces.
What then was all the fuss raised by Netanyahu about
Arafat’s non-cooperation in matters of security? Can’t
you see how effective the Arab police were in this
case?. Now Netanyahu can release frozen PA funds that
Israel obligated itself to pay under Oslo, and the
closure can be ended forthwith, and “peace” will reign
once again in the Land.
It appears, however, that the whole situation
was, as usual, one big Arab farce. No mention of any
punishment of the people who bought for a song the
stolen taxi, which would be a proper step by the PA to
halt these multitudinous car thefts. No reference to
the PA obligation to turn over these murderers to the
Israeli authorities since the murder occurred in Israel
outside of Jericho. As usual, the immediate trial was
held to give a contrived basis of not complying with the
PA’s obligation under Oslo to extradite these murderers.
Instead the PA gave out to the media, which pretty much
swallowed the PA version, that this was not a terrorist
act, but rather a simple act of criminals. These
thefts had no relation to the Oslo peace process, the PA
claimed. It was their typical convoluted reasoning;
condoning these widespread thefts by total inaction and
sometimes participation, and unjustifiably divorcing
their responsibility under Olso for this cancerous
situation.
The sham one day trials, the predictable escape by
the defendants after a relatively brief prison stay, the
refusal to extradite these murderers as required under
Olso, the esteem in which the Arab public and Arafat
immorally hold these murderers of Jews, all these
continue to make a mockery of Oslo. It seems that
truthfulness and objectivity are not the guideline for
reporting news from the Middle East. The media’s
controlling rule with regard to Arab lies and deceit
instead continues to be: “No Questions Asked!”
Ruth and Nadia Matar
**********************************
Jerusalem, August 23 1997
Of Arab Double-Talk and Brazen Immorality
“Judaization of Jerusalem” is Arafat’s and the
PLO’s oft-repeated description of a horrendous evil that
would befall Jerusalem, were it to take place. Yet Jews
solely controlling Jerusalem would be the fulfillment of
the Hebrew Prophets’ visions of what is not only morally
desirable, but the Will of God. That puts the problem in
a nutshell; Arabs have a parochial view of Jerusalem,
versus what always has been, down through the ages, a
view by Jews of Jerusalem, that is both intensely Jewish
yet universal. Accordingly, when the Jews are in control,
it is accessible to all. A Judaicized Jerusalem, therefore
is and would be a spiritual and moral inspiration for all
nations, and faiths.
Arafat, and many of the Arabs, unfortunately, are
not ready to live in accordance with the morality that
the Hebrew Prophets expounded in this Holy Land of Israel
many centuries before any Arab set foot in this land.
These Arabs would make of this Land another replica of
the multitude of Arab countries surrounding Israel.
Everyone recognizes that these Arab nations have
accomplished very little, especially compared to Israel,
to benefit their people, or to inspire other countries,
morally or otherwise; Arabs in these lands, for the most
part are ruled by despots, or at best dictators. Were
Arafat to succeed in his desire to crush Israel, there
would be set up still another dictatorship in this area,
very little different than in other Arab lands, and to
boot, the Jews indeed would be tossed into the sea!
It is farcical when Arafat and his effective
propaganda machine accuse Israel of oppressing
Palestinian Arabs and humiliating them. Israel, finally
reacting to consistent terror and killings of Jews,
imposed a closure not allowing Arabs, including those who
manufacture bombs in Gaza and other territories
controlled by Arafat, into Israel, until Arafat acts
against terrorists and terror organizations living freely
and undisturbed in his midst. And what about Arafat and
his cohorts’ imposing the death penalty on any Arab who
sells land to Jews? Such action is hardly consistent with
someone who desires to live in peace with his Jewish
neighbor. Moreover, Arafat hypocritically, but with
support from the nations of the world, and even America,
opposes lawful building of houses in southern Jerusalem
at Har Homa. Meanwhile, Arabs are busy building extensively
in Jerusalem, illegally and otherwise; led by Faisal
Husseini, the Arabs are collecting huge sums from wealthy
Arabs in other countries for building projects in and around
Jerusalem, far larger than that which the Jews are building
in Har Homa. And now, it is announced that peace partner
Jordan and the PA have joined forces, together with Arabs
from other countries, to form the Jerusalem Development and
Investment Company for the purpose of buying up land around
the Biblical Mount of Olives and elsewhere. All this under
the umbrella of Oslo. Is it any wonder that many people in
Israel and abroad, now believe the time has come to Stop Oslo
NOW, and thus save Israel!?
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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***********************************
Jerusalem, August 27, 1997
Call to Vote
Dear friends,
The “Yediot Acharonot” newspaper is having a “poll.”
People have to call in and choose the “people of the year.”
They have a list of 11 different spheres of life (music, sport,
entertainmnt etc…), most of which are not relevant.
The last item, however, is, as expected, “politics.”
The 5 people we are asked to choose from are:
1) Rabbi Benny Elon
2) Shlomo Ben Ami
3) Ehud Barak
4) Yitzhak Mordechai
5) Yaakov Ne’eman
I have heard that the Labor people are working hard to give Ehud Barak as
many votes as possible.
I believe think we should participate and make sure that Rabbi Benny Elon
and/or Yaakov Ne’eman get as many votes as possible so that THEY
should be looked upon as the representatives of the nationalistic
camp and not Yitzhak Mordechai.
Call telemesser 055-332722. On the 10 other items just vote 6, which
means you do not want to vote on that item.
For item number 11 (politics) you will vote:
number 1 for Rabbi Benny Elon or
number 5 for Yaakov Ne’eman
At the end of the vote you will have to give your phone number
and identity card number.
You may call until September 1st.
Nadia Matar
**********************************
Jerusalem, August 27, 1997
The Shabbes Goy
The following is the text of last Sunday’s program by Nadia Matar, the co-
chairperson of Women for Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green), on Arutz
7. Nadia speaks every Sunday after the 12:00 noon newscast.
Shalom to all our listeners!
This is Nadia Matar speaking –
Today I want to tell you a story – a story that was written by the
great author Y. L. Peretz more than a hundred years ago. The story is
entitled Der Shabbes Goy – The Shabbat Goy. In this story he
describes the rabbi of Chelm, the legendary city in Poland, who was
engrossed in his studies in his little room, with joy in his heart.
All of a sudden Yankele, a young Jew in the city, bursts into the
room, bleeding and screaming in pain. The rabbi asks, surprised, “Oy,
Yankele, who sinned so against you, Yankele?” Yankele replies, “Oy,
oy, der Shabbes goy, rebbe!” The rabbi asks, amazed, “The Shabbat
goy? The non-Jew who kindles for us the lights on Shabbat for a piece
of challah and a glass of brandy? He did this to you? How did you
even come to the Shabbes goy in the middle of the week, Yankele?” He
answers: “I was just walking in the marketplace, I met the Shabbes
goy, and I saw him eating sunflower seeds. I was standing and looking
how he cracked open the seeds so skillfully, when he said to me,
‘Yankele, open your mouth!’ I thought that he wanted to toss me a few
seeds, so I opened my mouth, and then he put his fist right into my
mouth, and knocked out three of my teeth.” Yankele showed him the
teeth. The rabbi said: “These are your teeth? They look so white and
strong, like those of a non-Jew! It seems,” the rabbi said, “that the
non-Jew did not intend to harm you, because it is not possible that
he would beat you for nothing. But what happened – when you opened
your mouth and he saw such fine teeth, as if his teeth were in your
mouth, he of course became excited, and in his excitement, he hit
you. Go home, Yankele, wash your mouth, and next time, if you meet
the non-Jew, don’t open your mouth. He doesn’t have to see that the
Jews have teeth!” In the continuation of the story, Yankele returns
time after time to the rebbe, all banged up, attacked for no reason
and without any warning by the Shabbes goy. Each time, the rebbe
refuses to blame the non-Jew for the violence, instead, in his great
wisdom, he finds the real guilty party – When Yankele walks though
the marketplace with a loaf of bread for his children, and the
non-Jew hits him in the head, knocks him down, and grabs the bread,
the rebbe decides that the loaf of bread is what caused the non-Jew
to lose his head. The rebbe orders Yankele to wrap the bread in paper
– And when the non-Jew rains blows upon Yankele near the city
bathhouse, the rebbe decides that the place, and not the person, was
meant for violence. In the end, Yankele comes to the rebbe a fourth
time, moaning from pain, with broken bones, after another wild attack
by the Shabbes goy. Now the rebbe is aroused and resolves to take
action. He convenes a general assembly of all the Jews in Chelm. The
rebbe proclaims to all: “The entire town is in danger! The Shabbes
goy is running wild!!” The people ask, trembling: “If so, rebbe, then
what should we do?” The rebbe says, “There is no choice! Tomorrow,
before dawn…Yankele must leave the city for good, because it
seems that our Shabbes goy is obsessed by him. And this is not all.
In order to mollify him and to save the entire community from
terrible danger, it’s to our advantage to raise his weekly salary –
we will give him a larger piece of challah and two glasses of brandy
instead of one! Who knows, maybe he will have mercy!”
My listeners, the mentality of the rebbe from Chelm, the mentality of
the Diaspora Jews who always blame themselves – and not the non-Jews
– when they are attacked, this mentality is still alive today in the
State of Israel. It has created the accursed Oslo accords, and it has
allowed the death process to develop, withdrawal after withdrawal.
The time has come to rid ourselves of this mentality and to proclaim
that only our Arab enemies are guilty of the murderous terror against
us. Only they are guilty of the bottomless hatred expressed in the
violent and stubborn opposition to our very existence here. No
conciliation will avail, no concession, and certainly not
self-flagellation. We will be victorious only if we will be strong
and proclaim to the entire world that all of Eretz Israel belongs to
the Jewish People, in accordance with the Torah of Israel.
Join the campaign of the Women in Green calling to “Stop Oslo – Now!”
Call telemeser (03) 6363549 and we will send you material to give
out.
Have a good week.
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**********************************
Jerusalem, August 27, 1997
Circular: Arafat Preparing for War
If you still believe in Arafat, throw this message in
the trash. It is not for you!
Arafat is Preparing For War –
The Only Question is When Will It Break Out?
Arafat is Unchangeable, and
At the End of The Oslo Process:
> Arafat Will Control Judea and Samaria, only 7 miles
from the Sea.
> His army – 50,000 soldiers – will be armed and ready.
> He will have received massive arms via his Airport and
Seaport.
> He will have a milion refugees pressuring us on the
“green line.”
> He will declare a Palestinian State With Jerusalem as
its Capital.
If You Want Israel To Survive
Let Us Act Together To STOP OSLO NOW!
Presented as a public service by: Women For Israel’s
Tomorrow (Women In Green), P.O.B. 7352 Jerusalem Web
site: http://www.womeningreen.org E-Mail:
michaele@netvision.net.il or yaela@womeningreen.org
Cut out and send to: Women In Green P.O.B. 7352
Jerusalem, Israel 91072
or Call Telemesser at 972 – 3 6363549