Media Releases August 2005

AUGUST 2005

August 1, 2005

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
Two activities on Tuesday August 2nd, 2005. Women in Green urge you to go to both:

1) At 10:30 am inside the Beersheva Court- show support to Shimshon Cytryn, falsely accused of attempted murder of an Arab. It is important the judge sees that people are with Shimshon and do not believe the lies and false accusations of the Attorney General and the Media. For details call: Jacqueline 0544 248 365

2) Women in Green call upon all its members to participate in Yesha’s March to Gush Katif, Round 2. Everyone is urged to arrive at Sderot at 6:30 pm on Tuesday August 2nd, 2005.

In Sderot, we are calling upon all our members to look for the “”Adama Admati “” sign where all the people who are *really* determined to get to Gush Katif will gather.

Buses will leave Jerusalem Binyanei Hauma between 4:00 and 5:00 pm. BUT, Since the police intend on blocking all buses, we suggest you get there by car.

Bring along:
Backpack, water, green hat, sleeping bag, flashlight, tallit, teffilin, food, change of clothes, towel, toiletries, toilet paper, wipes.

Available to the public will be:
Water, medical supplies, food and mattresses for sale.

Do not bring your personal weapons.

For details call Yesha: 02-6211977
3) SUNDAY, August 7, a week before Tisha B’Av and a week before the beginning of Sharon’s Deportation Plan:

Mass activity at the Jerusalem Bus Station (on the Binyanei Hauma Side) handing out material to the soldiers urging them not to take part in the uprooting/deportation.

Come One-Come All to all activities mentioned above. Men, Women, Youth and Children.

Our grandchildren will ask us:
“”What did you do to stop Sharon’s Criminal Plan?””

You must be able to answer them in a positive way.
Jerusalem, Aug. 1, 2005 Ruth and Nadia Matar
=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:michael@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

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WELCOME TO THE USSR

LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM
Thursday, August 4, 2005
Dear Friends,

On August 2, 2005, the Jerusalem Post published a very insightful article by the columnist Caroline B. Glick, entitled Democracy’s Descent to Darkness.

Israeli democracy is no longer just “”descending into darkness””. The descent to darkness engineered by Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon becomes daily more and more complete.

Democracy is not simply the holding of elections. It is also the safeguarding of the freedom of expression, of protests and of demonstration. All three of these have been severely abrogated by the Sharon government.

Some Examples:

1. This is what happened to a good friend of mine. He is an important Professor and Head of the Science Department of a prestigious Israeli university. During a demonstration he was standing on the sidewalk giving out bumper stickers with the legend: “”Jews don’t expel Jews”” He was forcibly arrested and dragged to the paddy wagon. He was held overnight in a cramped holding cell together with ten other people, including a prominent Rabbi.

During his interrogation at the police station he was asked to cooperate in having his fingerprints taken. He refused, saying that this was not necessary, since he was not a criminal. The police officer then made The Professor an offer he could not refuse: “”If you don’t cooperate I assure you that you won’t be able to hold anything with your hands for a long time to come.””

2. Israeli citizens no longer have the right to travel freely in their own country. Whole areas are designated as “”closed military zones””, any time that Sharon finds this necessary for the execution of his plan to expel the Jews of Gaza and northern Samaria from their homes. In this connection, bus drivers of private companies have been threatened with the loss of their license if they drove opponents of the Disengagement Plan to the site of the planned demonstration.

3. Three girls, aged 13-16 are sitting in jail until the end of proceedings against them. Moria Goldberg, 13, Chaya Belogrodsky, 14, and Pnina Ashkenazi, 16, have been incarcerated since June 29. They were arrested while they took part in an anti-withdrawal and anti-expulsion demonstration.

Chaya Belogrodsky’s father appealed her detention and the lower court ruled that his daughter had to stay in custody until the end of legal proceedings against her, which could be for a period of many months.

Supreme Court Justice Ayala Procaccia upheld the lower court’s ruling and wrote that “”Chaya must remain in jail for a period that could last months, because she constitutes a ‘danger’ to society because of her ideological motivation.””

4. Fifty-year-old Vitaly Vovnoboy was forcibly dragged from his home by six men in civilian dress, five of them armed with M-16 rifles. Only after he had been taken to the Russian Compound jail in Jerusalem was he informed that he had been arrested for “”sedition”” and distributing “”seditious materials””.

Vovnoboy’s “”crime”” was having provided technical support for the Internet site belonging to the anti-withdrawal and anti expulsion group “”Habayit Haleumi”” (The National Home), whose members organized the highway blocking protest. Both while under arrest, and since his release, Vovnoboy has not once been interrogated.

Vovnoboy, a senior software engineer for a major international hi-tech firm, is a well known and highly respected figure in Russian immigrant circles. He is a long-time member of the Likud and serves as a member of the party’s Central Committee. After making Aliyah in 1991 from Moscow, he was a member of the Zionist forum lead by Natan Sharansky and later, served as its acting chairman.

Word of his arrest sparked uproar in the whole community. Fifteen former Prisoners of Zion sent a letter of protest demanding his immediate release to President Moshe Katsav, Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra and the Prime Minister. MKs Yuli Edelstein and Yuri Shtern wrote similar appeals. In Vovnoboy’s view, the entire ordeal was meant to “”terrorize and silence Sharon’s political opposition””. The forms confiscated from his home were signatures from Likud Central Committee members, demanding a convening of the Committee to debate the removal of Sharon from his leadership of the party. In order to convene the Committee, twenty percent of its members must sign requests to do so. Vovnoboy had planned to submit the forms the day after he was arrested. The deadline for submission was the day before he was released. The police returned the forms to him two days after the deadline passed. Brilliant move on Sharon’s part!

The full force of Ariel Sharon’s determination to deprive the Israeli people of their democratic rights is reserved for the demonized “”settlers”” of the Holy Land. Draconian measures are continually added by Sharon to deprive them of their rights as Israeli citizens, or even of their rights as human beings.

The following is part of a transcript of an IBA (Israel Broadcasting Association) Radio interview with Neve Dekalim (Gush Katif) resident, Rachel Saperstein on July 31, 2005 at 06:37:55.

KOL YISROEL RADIO INTERVIEW WITH GUSH KATIF RESIDENT RACHAEL SAPERSTEIN

Newscaster: And on the Sunday edition of the weekend report reporter David Ze’ev asked Neve Dekalim Rachel Saperstein whether her objection to the disengagement is security related or ideological. She says there is a very different dimension.

Rachel Saperstein: We are talking about the huge sums of money that will be going to the Palestinian Authority. This is the people who have business dealings with some very wealthy people here in Israel. We know about the Portland Trust where thousands and thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars, will be used through the Peres Peace center to develop this area. We know about the millions of dollars that are being invested in hotels and casinos here on the seashore. Mr. Cyril Kern has already mentioned that he will be putting in casinos and hotels on the seashore over here.

David Ze’ev: Of course we can’t get the reactions of all these people, but what is the basis of your information?

Rachel Saperstein: Mr. Kern mentioned it in the press that he would be doing this. The Portland Trust is a known factor that has been mentioned, of course, in all the newspapers. So we know that a good deal of what has happened here was merely the receiving of huge sums of money to develop this area and it is going, we don’t know where, in whose pockets.

David Ze’ev: Can you understand in any way the people who say that the disengagement is something which is necessary for Israel?

Rachel Saperstein: They are telling us an untruth. They know this. Most of the security people have said this is a tragedy. We hear this again from the army. We hear this from various security sources that this will only create more explosions.

David Ze’ev: You don’t buy for a moment the argument, for example, that the Prime Minister makes, that it will help solidify Israel’s position in Judea and Samaria? That there is less, already less international pressure on Israel?

Rachel Saperstein: We know that the Prime Minister’s friends Ehud Olmert and Shimon Peres have already stated that they will start to dismantle hundreds of other communities in Judea and Samaria. They have already stated that they will be doing so. They are told to hush up at the moment, but we’ve heard them say it at a number of different meetings that they have had.

David Ze’ev: In a couple of weeks then, when the disengagement is to take place, when the soldiers come in – and we heard the other day from an officer what the statement will be over the megaphones that, “”we are with you,”” they will say – the soldiers or the border police or whomever – “”We want this to end peacefully. Please come with us. Or please leave your homes.”” What are you going to do on that day?

Rachel Saperstein: First of all, this will not take place. We know and we have been told that Mr. Sharon’s private police force, it’s called the NACHSHON BRIGADE of the Israeli Police.

David Ze’ev: Why is it his private force?

Rachel Saperstein: He has developed this force. It was used to remove the foreign workers who were here. They have been specifically trained to come in to homes, pull people out, usually in the middle of the night, and remove them from their homes. They have already been trained not to show any mercy. They are trained to be cleansed, as you might say – of all feeling.

David Ze’ev: Wait a minute. You have been warned or you have been told in advance of the dates more or less and you’ll be told greater detail in the future, it’s not as though they are coming as a surprise. What will you do? Will you resist? You’ll stay in your living room? What are you going to do?

Rachel Saperstein: I will be here. I will be working with the press and the information service to relate what is happening here. Meanwhile, they have cut off our telephone service, our Internet service. They have been cutting this off now on and off. They have sent us letters that our medical care will be stopping shortly. Our post office will no longer be delivering our mail. We will no longer have use of the bank. They will be closing down. They are simply squeezing us and tightening the noose around our necks. Friends can not visit anymore. Only relatives, a son or a daughter, a parent or a child can come in to visit. We are being closed down, isolated. They want to break us, and yet you would be amazed here, David, that people are getting up and doing what they have to do and getting on even with their lives. The people have not signed up for other school systems. They’ve only signed up for the elementary school here. We hope that somewhere along the way this will not happen. It can’t happen. It can’t happen to the people of Israel!
***
What I find most frightening about this radio interview is the revelation that Ariel Sharon has a PRIVATE police force, the NACHSHON BRIGADE. Mind you, this is not like the US Secret Service, assigned to protect the President. This PRIVATE police force is used by Ariel Sharon to do his dirty work, the kind of work that keeps dictators such as Stalin, of the USSR, in power.
In the words of Jerusalem Post columnist Caroline Glick:

“”These are dark days for Israeli democracy. We see in the behavior of the police, the courts and the Prime Minister’s Office that in their hysteria to push through a controversial plan whose benefits to Israel’s national interests and security are unclear at best, everyone who objects to this plan – regardless of age, station or action – is suspect. Their homes are raided, their liberties denied and their civil and legal rights discarded.””

Sharon is going directly against G-d’s word when he tries to give away parts of our eternal inheritance. It behooves all of us who believe in the Bible, to fight with all our might against Sharon’s evil, immoral plans. In the words of the Prophet Isaiah:

“”For Zion’s sake I will not be silent and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be still until her righteousness emanates like bright light and her salvation blazes like a torch.”” (Isaiah 62:1)
With Blessings and Love for Israel,

Ruth Matar
=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:michael@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

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August 4, 2005

Editor, The Times, Sunday Times, www.timesonline.co.uk
1 Pennington Street
London, E98 ITA, UK

Dear Sir:

We refer to an article written in TIMESONLINE for your newspaper by Marie
Colvin, entitled: “”Commando Girls fight Gaza Pullout”” which appeared, among
other places, over the Internet on July 31, 2005.

This irresponsible article is libelous against Nadia Matar, in that it
claims, among other falsehoods, that she is leading a group of young women
who intend to kill Israeli soldiers.

We demand a prominent apology in your newspaper immediately. If it is not
forthcoming, we intend to institute legal proceedings against your
newspaper at the earliest opportunity.

Sincerely,

Ruth Matar, Co-chair Women In Green

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:michael@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

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*******************
This Is How We Will Cancel the Decree
by Nadia Matar, August 8, 2005
This is it. We’ve come to the bottom line of the struggle. If some supernatural miracle does not occur in the next week, then we must organize and act, to bring about, with our own hands, the natural miracle that, with G-d’s help, will result in the cancellation of the deportation decree. To put it simply: anyone who thoroughly understands the situation knows that we have the power to stop the deportation plan.

We have a tremendous, determined, and believing public. Moreover, a considerable part, if not the majority, of IDF soldiers identify with us and know that it is forbidden for them to participate in the plan to deport Jews and hand over parts of our biblical homeland to the Arab enemy. IDF soldiers are just waiting, to see determination and steadfastness on our part, for them to shed their uniforms and join the army of Eretz Israel loyalists. The miracle to which we aspire is to convince the hundreds of thousands of Eretz Israel loyalists that this is really within our power, and that they will leave their homes and join the various activities to stop the NEGA plan (the Hebrew word nega, meaning plague, is an acronym for nesigah – withdrawal, gerush – deportation, akirah – uprooting) of Sharon and the band of Oslo criminals surrounding him.

I speak with very many people who are in pain because of the situation and want to act, but don’t know what to do. There are no clear directives. There is no straightforward leadership that will say what to do in the coming two weeks. Moetzet Yesha (the Council of Jewish Settlements in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza) is organizing nice grandiose productions, and it will undoubtedly go down in history as the organizer of extremely successful happenings, but these protests are not at all enough to cancel the decree.

According to Sharon’s malicious plan, as was publicized in the media, on August 15 thousands of officers will come to the doors of the residents of Gush Katif and they will inform them that from that moment they are there illegally, and that they have two days to get out. Whoever does not leave will be forcibly deported beginning on August 17. There are rumors that from that date on food will not be allowed into Gush Katif. Moreover, there is information that Sharon’s government will also take steps against the settlers of Gush Katif and Samaria that it would never dare to take against the murderous Arab enemy, such as shutting off water and electricity – don’t even mention telephones and cell phones. Obviously, there will be a total blackout. This must enrage all of us, and motivate us to act with greater intensity to frustrate the criminal plan of the Sharon government.

After many conversations with activists from the entire country, it is clear to all that there is no single magic remedy that will cancel the plan. The forces of the racist deportation must be take by surprise, and driven mad. Action must be taken simultaneously, and on different levels, throughout the country. The motto for the war against the Sharon plan is: chaos throughout the entire country.

We must also undergo a mental upheaval and realize: every policeman and soldier who consents to participate in the deportation turns himself from a brother into an enemy in the service of a corrupt dictator, who seeks to achieve the Hamas program of the deportation of Jews, the destruction of Jewish settlements, and the handing over to the enemy of portions of the homeland.

And another clarification: the army commanders who tell us that they will do the job “”gently and with sensitivity”” are like a rapist who says that he rapes little girls “”gently and with sensitivity.””

The following is a diverse range of ideas for action. Everyone will find here something that is most suitable for him and his family. One thing is clear. From Tisha B’Av onwards, no one stays home. Everyone, according to his abilities and character, will organize by himself or join other actions.

The activities to frustrate the deportation plan fall into two categories: activities outside Gush Katif and Samaria, and activities within the endangered areas.

1) Activities outside Gush Katif and Samaria

These activities aim to occupy a considerable portion of the deportation forces outside the region of the Katif and Samaria settlements. The following are a few examples; everyone is invited to initiate additional activities. Remember, it is inadvisable for a single body to coordinate all the activities. Don’t wait for “”orders from above.”” Each and every one of us has to be a rosh gadol, to think for himself, to organize several people and go into action.

* Joining the three marches that will set out, simultaneously, for Kisufim, Karni, and the northern Gaza Strip. The purpose of these marches is to bring thousands into Gush Katif. The IDF openly admits: if there are tens of thousands of people in Gush Katif on the deportation day, we simply will be unable to carry out the mission. Details on the marches will be forthcoming in the Hebrew national papers.

* Joining all the activities around the Temple Mount, the Gush Katom procession with shofarot (ram’s horns) to the Temple Mount gates, and additional actions. Here, too, look for details in the Bersheva, Makor Rishon and Hatzofe newspapers.

* Road blocking throughout the country – close to home and at central intersections in the country.

* Noisy demonstrations, and even a siege of government buildings, radio and television stations, the Knesset, and the Supreme Court.

* Vocal, around the clock, protest vigils at the houses of government ministers, public figures, media people, and rabbis known to support the deportation plan. Anyone who endorses the deportation plan will not be able to go home, as if nothing is happening, and sleep with his family in peace and quiet. Five demonstrators with whistles and shofarot standing day and night opposite a public figure’s house will suffice to cause total confusion.

* In Judea, Samaria, and Gaza: seizing as much state land as possible and establishing new me’ahazim (outpost settlements) everywhere.

* Anyone who feels that the above actions are too militant for him should buy whistles and posters, write on them: “”Honk against the deportation of Jews,”” and stand at intersections, on the sidewalk or in the road, and maintain a vigil there.

* Additionally, organize prayers at the Western Wall and at every other central location in the country, such as the entrances to malls.
2) Activities within Gush Katif and northern Samaria

The purpose of these activities is to disrupt the plans of the deportation forces, to prevent them reaching their destination, to sabotage the equipment and vehicles used by them for the crime of deportation, and to ensure that the work of deportation, in each and every house, will be so traumatic and difficult, both emotionally and physically, that after one or two houses, most IDF soldiers will inform their commanders: “”Commander, I cannot do this any more. I did not join the IDF to fight Jewish brothers and to hand over parts of the homeland to the enemy.””

Here, as well, there are numerous things to be done, and the following are only examples:

* To encourage the residents of Gush Katif and ensure that the overwhelming majority of them remains. According to an IDF forecast (as published in this Friday’s Hazofeh), 90 percent of Gush Katif residents will remain until Tisha B’Av. In the two days after Tisha B’Av, the army estimates that 40 percent of the residents of Gush Katif will leave. According to this forecast, the deportation forces will actually have to deport 50 percent of the population. We must try and persuade the residents of Gush Katif that they will gain nothing by leaving. The Yonatan Bassi Administration does not promise any decent solution. Consequently, the more residents who remain in their homes, the greater the chances of canceling the decree.

* Each settlement must decide how it will act on the deportation day. We are all against violence, but in my humble opinion, the work of deportation must be made difficult, in each and every house, by handcuffing oneself to furniture, or one to another, or by sealing doors and windows to make it difficult for the deporters to enter. This is not violence, but defense of one’s home against lawbreakers who come to commit a pogrom.

* The guiding principle is simple: the more difficult that the family makes it for the deportation forces to enter the house and remove people, both emotionally and physically, the greater the chances that the deportation forces will give up. There is a vast difference between a house with a father, mother, and four children, who, as soon as there is a knock on the door, go out to the bus quietly, in tears, that is, the entire work of the deportation of that family took five minutes, and the soldiers did not have problems of conscience – and between a family that will bring in dozens of people to resolutely defend the house, and the work of deportation will take hours.

* Obviously, when the deportation forces will begin the uprooting of one or two settlements, the other Gush Katif residents will not stand by and wait for the deportation forces to come to them, but will create chaos in their sector. (Obviously, the less said here, the better.)

* In short, if we organize to create tremendous chaos on all the fronts, both within Gush Katif and Samaria and elsewhere, with G-d’s help, we definitely have the ability to stop the implementation of this crime. Yes, protest may result in us spending some time in prison. This is the price that we are willing to pay for Eretz Israel. With G-d’s help, when a truly Jewish government will be established in Israel, all those who were imprisoned in the struggle for Eretz Israel will be awarded marks of distinction.

“”It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work; but you are not free to desist from it”” (Avot 2:16)
=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:michael@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

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****************

August 10, 2005

                          What Do You Want Us To Do Abroad ?

       Many have asked what can they do to protest the criminal Deportation Plan of Sharon? How can we remain silent when families are being evicted from their homes in which they resided for over 30 years?

         WOMEN IN GREEN would like to suggest that all lovers of Israel organize an all day and night vigil outside each
Israel Embassy and Consulate, to protest the cruel, inhuman and immoral action of the Sharon Government. Particularly at this time of Tisha BAv, when the First and Second Temples were destroyed, is such an action appropriate.

          Take a day off from work and come to any Israel Embassy or Consulate to protest against this inhumane action. Immorality is not what our dear L-rd requires of us mortals!   Such immorality is contagious, and anyone who permits it to occur, subjects himself or herself to the judgment of the G-d of Israel.

          Stand up and be counted among the righteous!

Jerusalem, August 10, 2005              Ruth and Nadia Matar

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August 11, 2005
WHAT YOU CAN DO EVEN OUTSIDE OF ISRAEL…

Dear Friends:

Wherever one will be on Tisha B’Av night, pray for the Jews of Gush Katif and Northern Shomron. After reading Eicha, which details the destruction of Jerusalem over 2500 years ago, take a few minutes as a congregation or community to read the names of those Jewish communities threatened with destruction next week and pray that this evil decree be annulled.

However, do not make this event an afterthought. Wear orange to Eicha. Post flyers that this solidarity event is happening in your community. Tell your local papers (both Jewish and non-Jewish). Print out the suggested Prayer and Recitation sheets from the telavivrally.com website.

This Saturday night in Jerusalem, 100,000 people will be marching around the Old City walls as part our annual Tisha B’Av march. Your voices worldwide need to be added to this call to our Father in Heaven.

The Alliance for Eretz Yisrael is following up their successful worldwide rallies of July 19th with prayer vigils on Tisha B’Av night and day around the world. In addition, they are organizing a large rally in New York against the expulsion at the UN on Tuesday, August 16th. Their website is:
http://www.telavivrally.com
They are publicizing rallies and vigils held around the world against the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif and Northern Shomron. Organize Tisha B’av Vigils and Rallies in your communities, large and small, on either Monday, August 15 or Tuesday, August 16. Send information on your local event to: davidromanoff@gmail.com . The Chairman of The Alliance for Eretz Yisrael and the coordinator of the Worldwide Solidarity Rallies for the Jews of Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron, David Romanoff has done an admirable job but he needs your help. Let him know that you and your community are stepping up to the plate, now. The communities of Southern Florida, Melbourne Australia, San Diego, Los Angeles, Montreal and many others have once again joined the worldwide effort. We dare not be silent now at this critical moment in Jewish history.

The 25 Jewish Communities scheduled to be destroyed:
Alei Sinai, Atzmona, Bedolach, Dugit, Gadid, Gan Or, Ganei Tal, Ganim, Homesh, Kadim, Katif, Kerem Azmona, Kfar Darom, Kfar Yam, Morag, Netzarim, Netzer Hazani, Neve Dekalim, Nissanit, Pe’at Sadeh, Rafiah Yam, Sa-Nur, Shirat Hayam, Slav, Tel Katifa

Your Friend in Jerusalem,

Ruth Matar

P.S. It is important to print the attached flyer and to post it all over your communities.

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August 11, 2005
WHAT YOU CAN DO EVEN OUTSIDE OF ISRAEL…

Dear Friends:

Your Friend in Jerusalem,

Ruth Matar

P.S. It is important to print the attached flyer and to post it all over your communities.

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SHARON’S WAR AGAINST THE “”MITNACHALIM””

LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM
Thursday, August 11, 2005

Dear Friends,

First of all, let me translate the Hebrew word “”Mitnachalim””. This Hebrew word means “”Inheritors””, but is often mistranslated as “”Settlers””. The word “”Settlers”” has been given a pejorative meaning, as far as Jewish Settlers in the Holy Land are concerned. (Interestingly enough, most people in the United States are fairly recent “”settlers””, with the exception of the Native Americans.)

Jews from all over the world have now returned to their homeland and have become “”Inheritors”” of the land which the G-d of Israel promised to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their descendents. They have taken the Biblical injunction to settle the land as their sacred responsibility. Now Ariel Sharon wants to steal their inheritance!

All of us have much to learn from our Tanach (Bible). As King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “”There is nothing new beneath the sun.”” Yes history does repeat itself. But if we are willing to learn from what is written in the Bible, we might avoid many mistakes.

I suggest, therefore, that you take time out and carefully read the story of King Ahab in the Book of Kings I, Chapter 21. There are some very interesting similarities between Ahab and Ariel Sharon.

I have selected a few verses from this chapter, so that you can easily see the relevance of this story to the present situation in the Holy Land.

Chapter 21

1 It happened after these events: There was a vineyard (belonging) to Naboth, the Jezreelite in Jezreel that was adjacent to the palace of Ahab, King of Samaria.

2 Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “”Give me your vineyard so that I may have it as an herb garden for it is close by my house; in its place I will give you a better vineyard or if you prefer I will give you its price in money.

3 But Naboth said to him, “”far be it for me before HASHEM that I should give you my ancestors’ heritage!””

4 Ahab came home sullen and angry over the matter that Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him, (when) he said “”I will not give you my ancestors’ heritage””. He lay on his bed, turned his face to the (wall) and would not eat any food.

5 His wife Jezebel came to him and spoke to him, “”Why is it that your mood is so sullen and you do not eat any food?””

6 He said to her, “”Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, “”Give me your vineyard for money, or if you prefer I will give you another vineyard in its place.”” But he said, “”I will not give you my vineyard.””

7 His wife Jezebel said to him, “”are you now exercising your sovereignty over Israel? Arise. Eat some food and let your heart be. I shall present you with the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.””

Then, Jezebel, Ahab, the elders and the officials of the city conspired to have Naboth stoned and he died.

17 The word of HASHEM than came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

18 Arise to go down to meet Ahab who (lives) in Samaria; behold he is at the vineyard of Naboth which he has gone down to inherit.

19 You shall speak to him, saying, “”Thus said HASHEM: will you murder and also inherit?””

20 Ahab said to Elijah, “”Have you found me guilty, my adversary?”” He said, “”I have found (you) guilty, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the eyes of HASHEM.

There are certainly great similarities between the actions and motivations of King Ahab and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Both King Ahab and Prime Minister Sharon desire to appropriate land for their personal and/or political benefit, land which they know is not theirs but the ancestral heritage of their subjects. Ahab offered Naboth a better vineyard or its price in money. Sharon, as well, is offering the Jews in Gush Katif and Shomron land or money in exchange for their ancestral inheritance.

Both leaders make offers in a form that cannot be refused. Neither allows the Jews to stay on their own land.

King Ahab acquired the land by arranging to have Naboth killed.

Sharon, on the other hand, has decided to declare WAR on the Jews of Gush Katif and Shomron in order to remove them from their ancestral land.

If they agree to be expelled from their land and community, and take his offer of alternate land or money, fine. If they don’t cooperate, he will use the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israeli Police to physically, and if need be, violently, drag them out of their homes.

Sharon has always been an excellent strategic planner. Unfortunately he is now using his talents against his own people. Sharon is training Jews to fight against Jews. He is currently preparing the army to evict Israel’s own citizens! Exercises are held where the army engages in war games such as mock evacuations of a settlement.

There is a frightening item in today’s Jerusalem Post: “”Border police men used excessive force against soldiers acting as settlers and the pullout exercise had to be suspended by the Commander.””

Just as the Romans did, Sharon is planning a virtual siege against the Gush Katif and Shomron settlements. Immediately after Tisha B’Av, on August 15, he plans to cut off electricity, water supply, and food delivery. Land telephone and cell phone service will be terminated. After midnight of August 14, no media will be allowed in the areas to be evacuated. Any reporter who remains is liable to be arrested.

Yes, the ethnic cleansing of Jews is not going to be an attractive picture!

Many Mitnachalim are going to resist leaving the homes and communities which they have built up over many years. The digging up of the graves in Gush Katif, where terror victims also have been buried, will be a sad, macabre occasion.

The Sharon Government has wantonly cancelled fundamental private property rights of homeowners, farm owners and business owners, and decided that Jews in certain locations will not benefit from basic human rights and civil liberties.

Reporters have asked me whether I believe that the Jews of Gush Katif and Shomron are finally resigned to their fate. Do they realize that there is no longer hope that Sharon will change his mind about his disengagement plan?

My answer is as follows; on Saturday night is the beginning of Tisha B’Av, the day which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples, the expulsion of Jews from Spain and many other calamities which have befallen the Jewish people. Thousands of people all over the world will open their hearts on that day and beseech the G-d of Israel to annul the evil decree.

Wherever you are on Tisha B’Av, on the night of Aug. 13, and on the day of Aug. 14, pray for the Jews of Gush Katif and Northern Shomron.

With Blessings and Love for Israel,

Ruth Matar

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August 12, 2005

Settlers Who Fight Will Emerge Healthier
Printed originally in Hebrew on Arutz 7 Website
and translated as a public service by Women in Green
Dr. Gai Enosh and Dr. Eli Buchbinder from the Haifa University School of Social Work state that settlers who will not abandon their homes in Gush Katif before the soldiers come, but struggle to the end will cope better with “”the day after,”” and will emerge from the crisis with a healthier feeling.

Our [Arutz 7] correspondent Ruthi Abraham reports that the two write in the study they published that for the settlers of Gush Katif and northern Samaria, the evacuation decree is like a sensation of loss, accompanied by internal and social chaos. “”Whole life plans are cut short, fundamental beliefs and values are collapsing. Not only is the future unclear for them, it even appears threatening. Their situation is like that of a person who has just learned that he/she and the members of his/her family are suffering from a terminal illness, and the doctors give them only a short time to live. These people experience the absolute loss of a sense of control in their lives.

“”It is known from the research literature that people who experience approaching loss, experience the intense need to try and change their bitter fate. The actual responses may be divided into two main categories: those who accept their fate, as opposed to those who continue to try and struggle against their bitter fate and attempt to create change or find a cure for the malignant disease.””

The two add that those who accept their fate are seemingly “”realistic and adaptive,”” and those who struggle are defined as “”unrealistic and utopian, and it is expected that the crushing disappointment upon the onset of the crisis will be more difficult for them.””

It will be those who seemingly adjusted to the new situation who will suffer from profound depression, giving up on life and activeness as a way of life and worldview, while “”those who do not accept, and continue to struggle, are seen in the long run as adjusting better to the crisis and the trauma of loss, and they manifest abilities and ways of coping and adjusting that are better and of higher quality. In effect, they are the ones who emerge from the crisis with a sense of ‘at least I tried,’ ‘I acted to the best of my ability,’ and this feeling is the basis for finding the powers to adapt to the life of ‘the day after.'””

“”In light of this, the settlers’ remaining until the last moment of the actual evacuation of their settlement, which will enable them to exhaust all the possibilities of legitimate opposition open to them, will aid them in finding within themselves the fortitude to cope with the post-disengagement crisis, and in the future prevent the development of those negative psychological and social processes that we mentioned above.””

Furthermore, they add, all this holds true, and even more forcefully, for children and youth. “”It is known that children and youth tend to assume a sense of responsibility and guilt feelings, even when there is no objective justification for such feelings, and the difficult event is beyond their control. The professional literature often terms this phenomenon ‘magical thinking.’ Not giving the children and youth the opportunity to stay in their settlement until the evacuation day and to actively participate in protest against what they experience as an unfair decree has great potential to develop magical thinking, that centers around a position of: ‘If I would have done something, I would have succeeded in stopping the uprooting.’ Such thinking is liable to intensify a sense of responsibility and guilt feelings, directed towards themselves as well, and also towards those most dear to them: their parents, their siblings, and their social environment.

“”The young psyche is still in a formative process. Thus, it is essential, specifically for the children and youth in settlements earmarked for evacuation, to encourage a stance that copes, instead of the adoption at a tender age of a passive stance and a sense of resignation, which mean the loss of all sense of motivation, a goal-oriented personality and personal strength, and the ability to cope later on in life. In other words, abandoning the struggle and developing a fatalistic stance when they are still in the processes of growth and the fashioning of their self will influence their psychological development and fashion a passive and regressive personality, pursued by guilt feelings and shame.

“”In contrast, active coping with the approaching loss and bereavement, and exhausting the attempts to prevent them, at this stage of life, will build the basis for developing the skills to cope in the rest of their lives, the ability to encompass losses and cope with them, and the ability to accept situations of inevitable change, after truly exhausting attempts at change.

“”In conclusion, in terms of the psycho sociological welfare of the inhabitants of Gush Katif and northern Samaria and their children, and the welfare of Israeli society, based on the existing knowledge in the area of coping with crises and trauma, we recommend that those designated for evacuation remain in their homes until the actual moment of evacuation, in order to enable future proper development and coping,”” the two researchers write.

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August 18, 2005
A Final Appeal to US Jewry from the besieged Jews in Gush Katif
About 40,000 Israeli soldiers and police have been expelling Jews from their homes and preparing to destroy their communities in the Gaza Strip. The plans of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon includes the destruction of all synagogues and yeshivot in the Gaza Strip, destroying a 3,000 year Jewish legacy in the area — all this against the will of the majority of the Jewish people in Israel. The army has brought in U.S. platforms and equipment for the expulsion of the Jews and the destruction of the homes and synagogues. They include armored bulldozers, such as the D-9 from Caterpillar, and other equipment to ensure the destruction of Jewish life in the land of Israel. The idea that American taxpayer money is being used to destroy Jewish life is both immoral as well as unconscionable.

Looking out from our front window in the beach front community of Kfar Yam in Gush Katif, we can already see the preparations for the destruction of Neveh Dekalim, the largest Jewish community and a center of Torah in the area. The army has abandoned us to ensure our expulsion and only the grace of G-d has prevented any Arab attack. Indeed, this evening two attempts by suicide bombers to attack Shirat Hayam were foiled at the last minute!

The young and old in the surviving communities of Kfar Yam and neighboring Shirat Hayam, Kfar Darom and Netzarim are praying to G-d constantly to avert this disaster, but we need your help! We appeal to Jews everywhere to stop this massive destruction of synagogues, homes and yeshivot — an effort financed by the United States. Never has the United States paid for the destruction of Jewish communities and the expulsion of their residents. Although Sharon has initiated this process, President Bush has pressed the prime minister to complete the expulsion of Jews regardless of the cost, including the establishment of a terrorist state along the eastern Mediterranean. Sixty years after the Holocaust, the United States cannot lend its hand to the destruction of Jewish life — particularly in Eretz Yisrael — regardless of where this decision lies. This is an issue that must be brought to the immediate attention of members of the House and Senate. The hour is late, but your voice can still help save Gush Katif.

We, here in Israel, are fighting this evil decree daily as hundreds of thousands of people are demonstrating and seeking to physically stop the destruction in the Gaza Strip, but it is not enough. The issue is not only an Israeli one. The fate of Jews in the land of Israel affects Jews all over the world and the idea that so-called peace means the expulsion of Jews is an idea that we have fought against for thousands of years — whether in Spain, Germany, England or North Africa. The idea that “”peace”” can only come through the expulsion of Jews and destruction of their communities is one that must be fought now, before the same question is presented in Brussels, Paris, London or New York.

Jews in the Diaspora: stand up and be counted! The Jewish people are in danger and the obligation to act is on each and every one of us. Your voice is much more powerful than you imagine. Call your congressmen and senators immediately and demand that they represent you in stopping this evil decree.

Night has fallen on Kfar Yam and the latest word is that tomorrow morning the army and police will come in their U.S.-supplied armored bulldozers, jeeps, armored personnel carriers and cages and expel us from Gush Katif forever. We can still stop this. Help us.
Nadia Matar, co-chair Women in Green
Datya Yitzhaki, Minhelet Kela
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TIME TO PAY YOUR DEBT
AMERICA

Letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green) Jerusalem
Thursday August 25, 2005

Dear Friends,

Many tragedies in Jewish history have occurred at the time of Tisha B’Av, the ninth of the Hebrew month of Av.

* In the year 421 BCE, (Before the Common Era) the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar. About 100,000 Jews were killed during the invasion and the remaining Jews were exiled to Babylon and Persia.

* In the year 70 CE, (Common Era) The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans, under Titus. Over 2,500,000 Jews died as a result of war, famine and disease. Over 1,000,000 Jews were exiled to all parts of the Roman Empire. Over 100,000 Jews were sold as slaves by the Romans. The Jews were killed and tortured in gladiatorial “”games”” and pagan celebrations.

* In the year 132 CE, the Bar Kochba revolt was crushed. Beitar was destroyed and over 100,000 Jews were killed.

* In the year 1492 CE, the inquisition in Spain and Portugal culminated in the expulsion of the Jews form the Iberian Peninsula.

* In the year 1942 CE, deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka Concentration camp began. Six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.

* In the year 2005 CE, on the days following Tisha B’Av, Sunday August 14th, a Jewish Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, betrayed his own people and forcibly expelled almost 10,000 Jews from their homes, farms, schools, businesses and synagogues, all on Land promised the Jewish people as an everlasting inheritance by the G-d of Israel. (The Biblical book of Joshua, Chapter 15, verses 1-12 and chapter 17, verses 1-11)
***
Why did Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon betray his own Jewish People?

It is widely believed by many of his constituents in Israel that Ariel Sharon formulated the Disengagement Plan to escape the corruption probe of himself and his sons, Gilad and Omri. This was revealed in a “bombshell” broadcast on the evening of June 15, 2005. Journalists Raviv Drucker of Channel 10 TV, and Ofer Shelach of Yediot Achranot, appeared on Nissim Mishal’s Channel 2 television program and summarized the results of their research as published in their book BOOMERANG. These two veteran journalists, based on talks with persons very close to the Prime Minister, said that the Disengagement Plan was hatched up simply to avoid the criminal indictment of Sharon and his sons. Sharon was sure that then-State Prosecutor, Edna Arbel, was about to indict him. The decisions on the Disengagement Plan were therefore made without the participation of Sharon’s Ministers, his Cabinet and the Israeli Army.

I imagine that most of you watched with horror on television the bitter fruits of Sharon’s scheme to save himself and his sons from criminal prosecution. Old folks, parents, teenagers, children and babies were forcibly and violently dragged out of their homes

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon very carefully prepared the army. He used some forty to fifty thousand army and police. They wore new BLACK uniforms. (In the words of Emanuel Winston, Middle East commentator, they looked like Nazis or Mussolini’s Black Shirts.) With so many people now living below the poverty line in Israel, why was it necessary to design and manufacture new BLACK uniforms for the evacuators? Was this used as a tool of psychological intimidation? In any case Sharon successfully evacuated 21 communities in Gush Katif and 4 in northern Samaria on August 16, 17, 18, 22 and 23. Ariel Sharon effectively finished his WAR AGAINST THE JEWS in only five days!

Sharon’s surrendering territory to the Palestinian Arabs, under fire, is a grave strategic error. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, in the year 2000, committed a similar strategic error when he surrendered the tomb of the Biblical patriarch Joseph to the Arabs. This sent a dangerous signal, confirming that violence would force Israel to capitulate. Just as the Arabs danced on the roof of the destroyed tomb of Joseph, so too will the Arabs dance on the ruins of the Jewish communities in Gaza and Samaria. Abu Mazen has already gleefully boasted: “Today Gaza, tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem!”

The very same Islamic terrorists who have fought Israel since its rebirth – and even before – are the ones who are killing brave American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is unfortunate that the American government does not realize that Israel is only considered to be the “Little Satan” by the Arabs. The big prize is the “Big Satan”, the United States, as the major power of Western Civilization.

Unfortunately, the United States bears a great deal of responsibility for this crime against the Jewish People. America has been pressuring Israel to give up “Jewish settlements” in order to comply with the Saudi sponsored “ROAD MAP”. America’s mistaken belief is that this plan will bring peace in the Middle East. Actually, the ROAD MAP is an attempt to pacify the Islamic appetite for world domination by paying in Israeli coin.

I dare say America’s Founding Fathers would be shocked and aghast at what their descendants are permitting to be done to G-d’s chosen people.

The Founding Fathers would find the road map an abomination, a most ungodly idea. As we all know, the Founding Fathers were sincerely religious and also overwhelmingly Christian. They not only read the Bible, they lived by the Bible. They gave their children biblical names and many of their communities were named after cities in the Holy Land.

Can you imagine the shock of the Founding Fathers, if they came down to earth today and realized that their beloved America, still a country with a Christian majority, has joined forces with the UN, the European Union and Russia some of which countries largely consider themselves secular and even more importantly irreligious, and who do not hesitate to go against G-d’s expressed words. And, of course, a large part of the United Nations is made up of Arab Muslim countries, who do not even recognize Israel’s right to exist, and who believe that their religion obligates them to dismantle the Jewish state.

The Founding Father’s would be particularly incensed that their descendants, while professing to be Bible-believing Christians are following a plan dreamed up by Saudi Arabia, a country that is violently anti-Christian, anti-Jewish and anti-Western Civilization. The Saudi “Road Map” aims to dismember the Jewish state and to substitute an Arab Terrorist state in what is designated as Covenant Land in the bible.

And finally, what about the “Jewish connection” to the founding Fathers? Was there even such a connection?

There certainly was a Jewish connection! General George Washington’s financial advisor and assistant was a Jewish man by the name of Hayim Salomon. During the cold winter months at Valley Forge, when American soldiers were freezing and running out of food and ammunition, it was Hayim Salomon who marshaled all the Jews in America and Europe to provide money in relief aid to these stranded American troops and thereby changed the course of history. Without this help, Washington’s Continental Army and the fate of the American Colonies would have been sealed before they could have defeated the British.

Hayim Salomon (1740-1785) emigrated from Poland to New York at the age of 32. He set up business as a bill-broker, purchasing and selling currencies at a discount. When the Revolutionary War broke out, Salomon moved to Philadelphia and began to negotiate the sale of Continental currency for hard French and Dutch bills. Asking for a nearly negligible commission on transactions, he made himself available for Congress, which appointed him official Broker to the Office of Finance of the United States. Salomon was able to maintain a thriving private business in addition to his official duties, despite his interest-free personal loans to such government officials as James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, General von Steuben and General St. Clair. Nevertheless, by the time Salomon died at the age of 45, private individuals and the government reputedly owed him $638,000. He died penny-less, having used all his resources to aid the newly formed and poorly supplied American Continental Army.

Dear friends, isn’t it time for America to repay the debt to Hayim Salomon and the other Jews, who rushed to the aid of the fledgling state when it was in dire need of support?

Please do not misunderstand me: I do not suggest that the Jewish People send the descendants of the Founding Fathers a bill for services rendered. To repay the debt owed Hayim Salomon and his fellow Jews for the help offered to the struggling American state at the time of the American Revolution, the US should stop supporting the ungodly Saudi sponsored “”Road Map””, and instead, assist the Jews to fulfill G-d’s plan for them to return to the Promised Land, not to be uprooted ever again.

Permit me to conclude with a beautiful Biblical promise, which I firmly believe will be fulfilled:

Amos 9:14-15: “”I will return the captivity of My people Israel and they will rebuild desolate cities and settle them; they will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will cultivate gardens and eat their fruits. I will plant them upon their land and they will never again be uprooted from their land that I have given them, said Hashem, your G-d.

With Blessings and Love for Israel,

Ruth Matar

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August 26, 2005

The Leadership of the National Camp Led Us Like Sheep to the Deportation
by Nadia Matar

Mourning. Sorrow. Pain. Suffering. Disappointment. And mainly much ANGER. These are the emotions that stir within me in these difficult times. Emotions so fierce and profound, emotions that consume me from within, and rend the heart and soul.

Our feelings of sorrow and mourning are for an area so marvelous, so beautiful and blooming, that we abandoned and discarded. The mind cannot absorb how we handed over those portions of the homeland to the Arab enemy so facilely, the Arab enemy who celebrates on the rooftops and wholeheartedly thanks Ariel Sharon. Everyone from Hamas understands now that there is no need for an heir apparent to Sheikh Yassin, when there is Ariel Sharon who, better than any Arab terrorist, implements the work of destroying Jewish settlements.

Feelings of pain for the suffering and anguish that the wicked Sharon Government has caused the families of the refugees. Let us not deceive ourselves: the Sela Administration’s cruel abuse of the Gush Katif and Samaria refugees is not a sorry mistake. This is intentional and planned abuse. We must understand, once and for all, that the deportation of the Jews of Gush Katif and northern Samaria is the first step towards the eradication of all Jewish settlement in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, with the goal of eliminating the entire national camp, and ensuring that it will not ever come to power in the country. In other words: the disengagement plan is the continuation of the Saison (when members of the Irgun and Lehi were seized by the “”organized Yishuv”” and given over to the British authorities) – the left’s persecution of the national camp with the aim of retaining power. Accordingly, the last thing that the Sharon regime wants is for the refugees to reorganize in cohesive and strong communities. The main task of the Sela Administration, headed by Yonatan Bassi, is to ensure that every family of refugees suffers and totally disintegrates, both mentally and financially. The only comfort in this sorry spectacle is the wonderful spontaneous organizing of Jews throughout the country who work day and night to aid our uprooted brethren. As a first step in our war against the Sharon regime, we must ensure that the Gush Katif and northern Samaria community remains together and reestablishes itself as united settlements, specifically in Judea and Samaria, in spite of the Sharon government.

But after the tears, the frustration, and the pain, my strongest emotion is anger. Anger, because I know that we did not have to come to such a situation at all. Anger, because I know that we were capable of preventing the destruction. Anger, because we let them, with such ease, raze our settlements from the face of the earth and crush us under foot, as if we were locusts and bugs. Anger at our leaders who gave Gush Katif and Samaria away on a silver platter, without any real effective resistance. Let’s state this outright: the Jewish Leadership led us all – against our will – like sheep to the deportation. Those certain rabbis and public figures, together with most of the leaders of the Council of Jewish Settlements in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, who fanatically champion the fascist approach of “”the State and the army above all”” – even if the State and the army commit crimes against humanity – are the ones who enabled Sharon to commit the malicious crime.

Every rabbi, public figure, member of Knesset, or member of the Council of Jewish Settlements who did not expressly call upon the soldiers and policemen to refuse to obey the racist transfer order – legitimized the crime, and, in essence, collaborated with the deportation machine.

Every rabbi, public figure, member of Knesset, or member of the Council of Jewish Settlements who forbade our wonderful youth from sabotaging the machinery and vehicles used in the deportation, in essence legitimized the crime and collaborated with the deportation machine.

Every rabbi, public figure, member of Knesset, or member of the Council of Jewish Settlements who opposed roadblocking and nonviolent civil disobedience; legitimized the crime, and, in essence, collaborated with Sharon’s anti-Semitic ethnic cleansing machine.

Every rabbi, public figure, member of Knesset, or member of the Council of Jewish Settlements who decided to make do with symbolic protests, instead of forcibly breaking through the fences at Kfar Maimon and the Kissufim checkpoints, in order to bring to Gush Katif the tens of thousands who would have physically prevented the deportation with their bodies, legitimized the crime of expulsion, and, in essence, collaborated with Sharon and the band of Oslo criminals around him.

Every rabbi, public figure, member of Knesset, or member of the Council of Jewish Settlements who was more concerned about his image in the state media than he was for Eretz Israel; legitimized the crime, and, in essence, brought the destruction nearer and made it possible.

Every rabbi, public figure, member of Knesset, or member of the Council of Jewish Settlements who embraced the soldiers and policemen instead of preaching to them, or even engaged with the deportation forces in the macabre dance of the victim with the hangman, broadcast to the world the message that the deportation is really not that awful, spared the soldiers and police guilt feelings, and thereby aided the racist transfer.

To all those who tell me that even if all our leadership were strong and brave, and had shaken off the galut (Diaspora) mentality of the Council of Jewish Settlements and followed strong rabbis, such as Rabbi Schapira, Rabbi Melamed, and Rabbi Lior, and in each and every settlement thousands had taken a stand, like the heroes of Kfar Darom on the roof of the synagogue, even then Ariel Sharon would have succeeded in annihilating Gush Katif and northern Samaria – I respond: Possibly, but it would not have come to pass so easily.

Datyah Yitzhaki, a resident of Kfar Yam and the head of the Kela Administration (Absorption for the Gaza Region), who is currently living with her family, as refugees, with us in Efrat, told me an appropriate story:

“”Once there was a Jew in a Jewish village in Poland who ate all the time. He was extremely fat, but he did not stop eating day and night. One day his friends came to him and asked him what was the meaning of all this. Why did he eat incessantly and turn himself into such a fat person. The Jew told them: “”When I was a little boy, the Cossacks came and killed my father. Then they burned his body, but because he was so small and thin, the fire burnt for only a few seconds. I eat and eat to make sure that if the Cossacks come back, then when they burn me, there will be such a big fire that it will go on for hours, and all the world will see this horror.””

I am angry at the intolerable ease with which our leaders gave up on Gush Katif and northern Samaria: all in all, just a few hours of resistance in each settlement, less determined resistance than there was at Yamit. This is simply unreasonable. Yes, even if we had taken all possible measures, such as mass refusal to obey orders, civil disobedience, bringing tens of thousands, and the like, Sharon the bulldozer might possibly still have succeeded. In my humble opinion, he would not have been successful. But even if he had, we would at least have managed to turn this into something so traumatic and horrendous that no leader in Israel would ever again dare to commit such a crime.

But our Jewish leadership preferred restraint, kowtowing, and love for those who committed the crime. There was no desecration of the Name of G-d so great. And as a result, all the newspapers celebrate, and those who implemented the deportation say that they are ready to continue. Just as we can hardly complain about a rapist who continues to rape a victim who does not oppose the crime with all her might, and even embraces the criminal – so, too, we can hardly complain about the leftists who write in the press that “”the work of deportation was implemented so easily; there probably won’t be any problem to deport the rest of the settlers in Judea and Samaria.””

In summation: the struggle for the Land of Israel is not a struggle for one specific settlement or another. This is a struggle for the character of the State of Israel. Will the Jews rule here, or the Hellenists? We are only at the beginning of the struggle. We took a severe blow, but we are not defeated. On the contrary. We must remember that we, the national camp, have a great public that is devoted and loyal to the people, the Land, and the Torah. We have wonderful youth who are ready to struggle with all their strength for our future here, and who cannot wait to return and liberate Gush Katif and Northern Samaria, and take over the leadership in Israel.

What must we do to ensure that we will no longer be defeated? First, we must demand that the deportation criminals be put on trial. “”Indict the Deportation Criminals”” is the slogan that we should spread throughout the land. Second, we must ensure that our “”Jewish Leadership who led the struggle until now will not be permitted to lead any longer. For if they continue, we can already start packing in Efrat, Beitar, Maale Adumim, Ariel, and Gilo in Jerusalem. After we install new leadership for the national camp, we will be able to focus on our main mission: taking the reigns of government in Israel, and turning it into a truly Jewish Government, one that is not afraid to proclaim: “”All the Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel in accordance with the Torah of Israel.””

In short, we must not despair. Our work is cut out for us. We must help rehabilitate our uprooted brothers and sisters and ensure that they reestablish strong and cohesive communities, specifically in Judea and Samaria. We must put the deportation criminals on trial. We must send home our failed mamlakhti leadership. We must establish a true Jewish leadership that will take power and direct Israel in a Jewish spirit. With G-d’s help the Jewish People shall prevail!

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August 29, 2005

STATEMENT

August 29th, 2005

‘While Americans and Israelis Strength and Honor, inc. and Women for Israel’s Tomorrow – Women in Green have had their differences in the past, they are pleased to report a settlement. To the extent the actions of the Matars have caused any disparagement to Mr Banyai or other hard feelings, the Matars hereby apologize and have tendered an appropriate written apology. The parties are pleased that they have resolved all disagreements between them and look forward to working for the betterment of the Jewish people. The litigation between them has been settled in accordance with the above and by the payment of $10,000.00 sum to a tax exempt entity that all parties regard as an appropriate pro-Israel charity.””
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Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
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August 31, 2005

Reburying the Sacred Souls of Those Who Died in Gush Katif
Women in Green call upon everyone to join in the national funeral that will be held to rebury the disinterred dead of the Gush Katif cemetery.

The event is organized by the grieving families who have urged all of Am Yisrael to participate.

When? TOMORROW THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 1st, 2005

The funeral procession will be leaving Gush Katif around noon. At 4:00pm there will be hespeidim at the Mashbir plaza in Jerusalem (King George Street). From there, the funeral procession will continue, by foot, through Jaffa road, to Har Hazeitim (Mt of Olives).

Women in Green will be gathering, as a group, at the Mashbir, at 4:00pm. Come one, Come all. Show your support to the refugees of Gush Katif. Share in their grief and pain. Show your last respect to the deceased.

Jerusalem, August 31, 2005 Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:michael@womeningreen.org
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