Media Releases – February 2001
February 2001
February 9, 2001 Congratulations to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
February 10, 2001 Our “Impartial” Media
February 12, 2001 We Are At War-Let Us Seek Unconditional Surrender from Arafat
February 13, 2001 The “Cookie” Arrest
February 17, 2001 Throwing Caution To The Wind?
February 19, 2001 Recommendations
February 24, 2001 Facing the Music
February 28, 2001 Pardon for Margalit Har-Shefi
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Jerusalem, February 9, 2001
To Prime Minister Arik Sharon:
What a delightful culmination to our strenuous efforts to get you elected
as prime minister.
Actually, we knew what the outcome would be many weeks before the day of
the election. Our “truth mobile” travelled all over Israel and spent a day
in at least 30 of its major cities. Nadia Matar brought a national message
of hope and encouragement everywhere we went. We were met with great
enthusiasm and support for your candidacy. The election results merely
confirmed what we had already discovered.
It is imperative that you take firm and decisive action to clear out those
in the government station (channel 1) who continually work against you and
the national interest. The Netanyahu administration failed miserably in
that regard, and we look forward to your firm action to restore this
station to the people. Enough of biased reporting, and having one sided
representation from the left on matters of national importance.
Once again, our joy in your election. May you prove to be strong and of
good courage in your protection of the interests of our people and our nation.
Most Respectfully,
Michael Levi Matar, Administrator
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Jerusalem, February 10, 2001
Our “Impartial” Media
Despite inclement weather throughout the morning, in the form of a heavy
continuous rainfall that our weather people had predicted would occur, more
than 300 demonstrators turned out for the Women In Green Vigil and March
that took place on Sunday morning, February 4, 2001. The theme of the
Vigil and March was to commemorate the hundreds of Jews whom the Arabs had
killed since the inception of Oslo.
Each of the Marchers bore a sign with the name and date that Jew had been
murdered. Prior to the demonstration, both ads and media releases had
been sent out by Women In Green describing the event planned for that
Sunday, so that everyone knew that this was a Women In Green event. More
than that. This was the 36th consecutive Sunday that Women In Green and
Forty Thousand Mothers demonstrated outside the Prime Minister’s Office,
each week with a different theme. The demonstrations were renowned for
their innovative and colorful presentation. At least the international
media always found these events extremely interesting and always filmed
them. Such filming appeared on international TV channels. On the other
hand, the Israeli media gave their usual “cold” treatment to the Women In
Green. They usually simply refused to report on these Women In Green
activities, classifying them as “non-newsworthy.”
Significantly, there were scores of reporters, photographers, and
television cameras recording this newsworthy Women In Green event this past
Sunday. Yet later that day, and in the newspapers the following day, the
event was virtually ignored by the Israeli Media. It appears that no one is
truly interested in a fair presentation of the realities — that the peace
of Arafat and the Arabs is and was a sham and a fraud. That Oslo, after
seven long years, is an outright failure! There are many applicable
Biblical phrases pointing out that under the cloak of peace, a war may be
waged. Yet our left-oriented media will not accept the obvious. It will
refuse to report on any news that reveals or even tends to suggest this
fact.
The Jerusalem Post had a black and white photo depicting a sole dissenter
arguing with the “right wing” protesters, but that was it. Compare this
with the prior evening when PEACE NOW had a paucity of demonstrators near
the Prime Minister’s Residence, which was given LIVE COVERAGE BY ISRAELI
TV. Nor did the Jerusalem Post or anyone else label those demonstrators as
“left wingers.” The reports accurately named the sponsor of the
demonstration as “PEACE NOW,” without denigrating words of embellishment.
Would that we received the same treatment with regard to descriptions of
Women In Green activities! Would that a new Prime Minister firmly acts to
correct the existing bias and wholly negative attitude of the Israeli Media!
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, February 12, 2001
We Are At War – Let Us Seek Unconditional Surrender from Arafat and the PLO
Every other day, another Jew is murdered by the Arabs. Firing at our
soldiers, and Arab stone throwing is a daily occurrence, mixed with
bombings and mortar shellings. Our People in the recent election demanded
taking immediate action against this war. The French aptly put it this way:
“A la guerre comme a la guere”. (When at war it is mandatory that you act
as if you are at war.)
Arafat and the PLO are our deadly enemies! They are interested in our
elimination. We must take prompt action to completely eliminate this
threat. No more dillydallying! No more pussyfooting! No more “restraint”!
Enough is enough.
Let the world shed crocodile tears for Arafat and the poor Palestinians. It
is a world which stood by while our Jewish people were being gassed and
slaughtered by the Nazis. They cannot be our judges. It is the Jewish
people who have given morality to this world. It is vital for them to act
immediately, well within this moral code, in order to survive.
Copying the Nazis, Arafat and the PLO seek similar results and are not
averse to using comparable methods in order to obtain them. Our people have
democratically voted not to be murdered. Have you got this message, Prime
Minister Sharon?
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, February 13, 2001
The “Cookie” Arrest
As a resident of Efrat I am part of the Yehuda action committee.
(Action committee uniting residents from Efrat, Gush Etzion, Kyriat
Arba , Hevron and Southern Hevron).
I thought of sharing with the Women in Green list something that
happened to us this Tuesday morning, including my short arrest.
The following is a posting I wrote on the Efrat e-mail list:
Nadia
——————–
Clarification about the road blocking in general and about this
morning’s arrest:
After the recent murders, the Yehuda Vaad Peulah has decided to take
action and stop Arab cars (with PA licence plates) driving on our
roads. The message is clear: it is inconceivable that the enemy
drives on our roads while we are, every day, being shot at, stoned,
wounded and murdered.
Yesterday, Monday, 6:00 am the Neve Daniel people started together
with a few other residents of the area. Surprisingly, the moment we
went on the road with one or two flags, the police immediately took
over and worked together with us, putting roadblocks at the Gush
intersection and close to Neve Daniel; thus clearing the road for us.
All we had to do was to stand on the road and check that Palestinian
cars would not trick us and try anyway to come through. If that would
happen, we would stand in front of the car and, with the help of the
police, tell the Arab to turn around and go back where he came from.
The police also made it clear that if we would leave, they would
leave and let Arab traffic go by again.
When we expressed our surprise at the cooperation from the army and
the police, we were told that they were happy we were doing so. Many
of them said Kol Hakavod. I found out from Haggai Huberman, a reliable
journalist, that after the murder of Didovky,HY”D, and then again
after Dr. Gillis’s murder,HY”D, Shaul Mofaz, the Chief of Staff, gave clear
instructions: Arab men in private cars (two or more) are not to drive
on the roads of Yesha. Arab families and Arab public cars (taxis) are
allowed.
So we were basically forcing the army and the police to do their job;
making the rules a little stricter and stopping all arab vehicles
with PA licence plates. Great.
The same happenend this morning. We came at 6:15. Went on the road.
The police told us “Don’t worry. We will deal with this.”
Beautiful.
I go to the makolet and bring cakes and drinks etc
(courtesy of Women in Green) and hand it out to all, including the
policemen. At 9:00 am a new van of policemen arrive. Some 6 or 7
guys. I go and open a new package of cinnamon cakes. While holding it
and on my way to go to those new policemen to give them the
cakes, somebody shouts that a Palestinian car is trying to go through.
It is a private car with two Arab men. As we did before, we run,
stand in front of the car and tell them to turn around. And there I
stand with my cakes in front of that car.
And then comes the “surprise”. All of a sudden the police run towards
us and tell us “the game is over,” “you are going to let them
through”. We refuse. This is a private Palestinian car with two Arab
men. That car is obviously not allowed on the road. This one
policeman pushes and shoves me, trying to let the car go through and
somehow the delicious cinnamon cakes end up flying in the air and
landing on that Arab car! What a waste! And they were kosher
lemehadrin !
I am immediately arrested and put in the van.
The moment the van starts driving the policeman says in his
walkie-talkie: “Reopen the road to Arab traffic”.
At the police station I am accused of
1) blocking traffic on a major highway
2) throwing objects at Arab cars
3) preventing a policeman from doing his work
4) resisting arrest
After two hours of doing nothing and a short interrogation (where I
refused to answer anything, as usual) I was released on bail,
with the probability to have a court case opened against me, with
those “terrible cookie accusations”. That’s OK- after having gone
through eight court cases, one more won’t make a difference.
Let them make themselves narish and bring the cinammon cookies as
witnesses.
When I was released and was driven back home by a dear friend who
waited for me outside the police station all that time, I saw the
police was in force at the intersection – this time…..
(sit down) protecting the Palestinian drivers and making sure we
would not bother them.
So what happened here?
My guess is that after a succesful roadblocking yesterday and this
early morning, the Arabs started getting sick of it. They complained
to the PA. Somebody big in the PA called the Israeli government and
the instructions came around 9:00 am to get rid of those bothersome
Jews who are upsetting our wonderful relations with the Arabs. It was
OK to let the Jews express their frustration for one day…but who do
they think they are that they are going to continue to do so.
Real chutzpa. Jews are supposed to be killed and stoned and are
certainly not allowed to complain about that for too long.
Anyway, this is a proof to me that those roadblockings are somewhat
effective. Therefore it is crucial to continue and make sure a lot of
people are there. We might have trouble with the police now, but we
have to make it clear that we are sick and tired of driving on the
Russian roulette, wondering which will be the next funeral to attend.
We expect the army to bring back deterrence. It is time the Arabs
start being afraid of what might happen to THEM if they shoot us or
stone us.
Come and help us block the roads, but don’t bring cinnamon cookies.
They have been labeled from now on as the new dangerous weapon of the
fanatic settlers….. bring chocolat cookies instead!
All the best,
Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, February 17, 2001
Throwing Caution To The Wind?
Former Prime Minister Barak has reversed his prior decision to retire, and
has accepted the position of Defense Minister in the Sharon Government. The
public has received this news with great trepidation. The fact that the
Foreign Ministry portfolio is to be given to Shimon Peres as a condition of
the Labor Party entering into a unity government, is no less a matter of
grave concern. It is unfortunate, but true, that Labor and its Knesset
Members have heretofore not acted as a loyal opposition when they were
voted out of power. It remains a serious test for them in the days ahead,
whether each of the Labor Ministers will be able to put the interests of
the Nation first, and those of their Party, and their individual respective
careers, second.
Whether Barak, who failed in his role as his own Defense Minister, will be
able to take orders from Sharon, is a very real question. Particularly
difficult for Barak would be the consideration that if Sharon’s different
approach succeeds, his previous failures will be highlighted.
As to Shimon Peres, his track record is one of disloyalty and chicanery.
In order to justify his own Oslo views, he can be counted on to sabotage
any efforts of Sharon to abandon the Oslo road. That the electorate thought
Oslo was leading Israel to destruction, is attested to by its recent
decisive vote.
The overwhelming vote in favor of Sharon, however, will not humble
Barak,nor Peres, in any serious way. Why then did Sharon embark on this
treacherous path of a unity government with the likes of Barak and Peres?
The obvious reasons are not difficult to find. Among them are the
exigencies of the Arab threat to our very survival; and that Labor could
not be trusted to act as a loyal opposition. Should Labor have displayed
such disunity, it would have been detrimental to any hope of gaining world
support for the contemplated actions of Israel under Sharon’s leadership.
Above all, a narrow government would not be sufficiently stable. Small
parties would be able to extract harmful concessions by threatening to
prevent Sharon from taking bold actions to extricate Israel from the
present morass in which it finds itself.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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Jerusalem, February 19, 2001
Recommendations
Dear Friends,
“Cyber Samizdat at: cybersamizdata@hotmail.com wrote the following:
“In order to counteract the lack of adequate media coverage of Israeli
victims of Arab terror, Maale Adumim resident Jacob Richman has created an
outstanding website dedicated to the memory of those who have perished over
the past six months. Check it out at http://www.jr.co.il/things/poli-01.htm
We highly recommend this site, and also recommend subscribing to Cyber
Samizdat for accurate, funny, biting… etc. analysis of what is happening in Israel,
to Jews, etc.
Nadia and Ruth
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Jerusalem, February 24, 2001
Facing the Music
“Ha’aretz” correspondent Ari Shavit:
Israeli Left should take responsibility for Oslo War
From: “Ha’aretz,” 22 February 2001 (Hebrew and English)
The security situation that Ehud Barak’s peace government has bequeathed to
Ariel Sharon’s peace government can be more or less summed up in the
following manner: Hezbollah attacks on Har Dov (to which Israel refrains
from responding), Tanzim attacks on Har Gilo (to which Israel is incapable
of responding), a suicide attack at the Azur junction (to which Israel
does not know how to respond), shots fired at Israeli vehicles on the Modi’in
Highway, shots fired at Israeli vehicles on the Tunnel Road, and
approximately sixty Israelis and more than 300 Palestinians killed within
less than five months.This kind of security situation can only be
described as close to catastrophic. It would be unthinkable to imagine such a
security situation existing in any other self-respecting democracy. This
state of
affairs, which has not been experienced in this country since the
mid-1950s, can be directly attributed to the melt-down of two concepts: The
Grand
Concept of Oslo and the Mini-Concept of the Withdrawal from Lebanon. In
line with the Grand Concept of Oslo, it was assumed that the flooding of the
land with fifty thousand AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifles for the Palestinians
would usher in an era of peace for the Middle East. In line with the
Mini-Concept of the Withdrawal from Lebanon, it was assumed that the
deployment of Hezbollah rocket-launchers along the line on which Kibbutz
Menara is situated would usher in an era of peace for Israel’s northern
frontier.
Both conceptions are the brain-child of the same genius. The records of
the Registrar of Patents documents in detail the fact that the Israeli who
invented the alchemist’s formula of Oslo (“If we say that this is peace
and if we sing out loud that this is peace and if we keep on saying the
‘Abracadabra’ of peace then, perhaps, all this will truly lead to peace”)
is the very same Israeli who thought up the lame-brain idea of the Israel
Defense Forces pulling out of Lebanon at any price (“If they defeat us,
chase us out and humiliate us, immediately afterwards they will certainly
leave us alone in peace”).
However, this famed inventor cannot be held solely responsible for these
two concepts. Granted, the outgoing justice minister did turn Israel into a
country that is incapable of granting even a modicum of personal safety to
its own citizens, and has gambled twice on Israel’s fate and has twice
lost. Granted, he still refuses to acknowledge that all his efforts have had
disastrous consequences and that his mistakes have been paid for in blood
and have produced hundreds of graves. But responsibility must also be
shared by thousands of other Israelis – intelligent individuals occupying key
positions in Israeli society – who were his partners in the scandal of
these two concepts. Thousands of Israelis who are the champions of and
determined crusaders for peace, are unable to muster the courage to stand
up and
publicly declare that they have led Israel into this situation, that they
have brought Israel to the very brink of an abyss.
When prime minister Golda Meir, defense minister Moshe Dayan and the
members of the elite group who surrounded them led Israel into the fire of
the Yom
Kippur War of 1973, they were called to account. When prime minister
Menachem Begin, defense minister Ariel Sharon and the members of the elite
group who surrounded them led Israel into another fire, the War in Lebanon
in 1982, they were called to account. When prime minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert unnecessarily placed Israel on a
bed of
nails in 1996 over the Western Wall Tunnel, many Israelis demanded that
they be called to account. However, today, when it is crystal-clear that the
Oslo-Lebanon elite has led Israel into a true conflagration, has led
Israel to face a wall of fire that has already scorched acres and acres of
land,
no one is calling the members of that elite to account. One Israeli after
another has been killed and yet no one is demanding that this elite group
be called to account. One Palestinian after another has been killed and yet
no one is demanding that this elite group be called to account. Granted, the
government has fallen, but none of its leading lights has been toppled.
None of them is seen to have made any error, none of them has blundered, none
of them bears any responsibility for the present situation.
The refusal by an entire stratum of leadership to assume responsibility
for its actions is an ugly and extremely grave phenomenon. Nonetheless, what
is needed now is not the collective deposing of all the members of the Oslo
group. Nor should the elite that was responsible for the serious blunder
of the two concepts, and which ruled this country with such arrogance for the
past seven years, be thrown out into the cold. The political culture of
public commissions of inquiry and public beheadings has run out of steam.
The political culture of mutual mud-slinging and mutual exclusion has
demonstrated its limits. Thus, a different kind of punishment must be
meted out to those responsible for the serious blunder of the two concepts. A
reverse form of punishment is what is called for. They must acknowledge
that they have made a tragic mistake and they must be forced to remain where
they are, to face the music, to assume responsibility. They must be
full-fledged partners in a national rescue project aimed at pulling Israel
out of the
two minefields into which they have led it.
All this means that today, when Sharon is extending his hand in peace on
the domestic front, the Israeli left does not have the moral option of staying
on the sidelines. If Sharon’s invitation is rejected and if, as a result,
he finds himself plunged into a war with the Palestinians, this armed
confrontation cannot be called Sharon’s War. It will, instead, be the Oslo
War – the war that was built into the absurd framework that the Oslo elite
set up here. Similarly, if Sharon becomes entangled in a war on Israel’s
northern frontier, this armed confrontation cannot be called Sharon’s War.
It will be the Four Mothers’ War – the war that was built into the
humiliating process in which four Israeli mothers forced the country to
flee from Lebanon. Thus, if war breaks out in the North, no leftist will be
entitled to stand in Tel Aviv’s Yitzhak Rabin Square and protest. If war
breaks out in the North, no leftist will be entitled to sit and count the
dead beside the Official Residence of the prime minister in Jerusalem.
Because, this time around, those dead soldiers will belong to us. They
will belong to the Israeli left
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Jerusalem, February 28, 2001
Pardon for Margalit Har-Shefi
On March 21st, Margalit Har-Shefi is supposed to go to jail,
accused of “not-preventing the murder of PM Yitzhak Rabin”.
We all know Margalit Har-Shefi is innocent and has been the victim of
a witchhunt.
The Women in Green, together with friends and neighbors of Margalit,
are launching a campaign to cry out against this grave injustice and
in order to try to prevent her from going to jail.
The following are the details of the campaign. Time is of essence.
You are all asked to contact us and take part in this important
issue.
1) We have to show our open support for Margalit. Therefore we printed
a sticker and urge all of you to order it (by e-mailing me your name
and full adress) , put it on your car and spread it to friends and
neighbors. The sticker is in Hebrew . It quotes part a verse of
Tehillim chapter 15:”(S)he who speaks truth in his heart…shall not
ever falter “. and then it says MARGALIT HAR-SHEFI- WE ARE WITH
YOU!
2) We drafted a petition and urge all of you to sign tens of friends
on this petition asap.
The text is the following:
PETITION
Excerpts from the essay by Professor Eliav Shochetman “Preventing
the Shame”:
“My opinion is, with all due respect, that the Court ,on every
level, stumbled into grievous error, when it convicted Margalit
Har-Shefi for failure to prevent the commission of a crime, all on
the basis of speculation alone.”
“Those who should really have stood to trial for the failure to
prevent the crime of the murder of the Prime Minister, were those
elements [in the Shabak] who possessed full knowledge of Yigal Amir’s
statements, and nevertheless did nothing to confound his plans. ”
“…the jailing of Margalit Har-Shefi should outrage anyone with a
heartfelt sense of justice.”
“Since I am completely convinced of Margalit’s innocence, the only
way to prevent her jailing is through a presidential pardon….this
pardon should be expressed as a cancellation of the conviction
through a ‘full pardon’…that erases the crime completely….It is
intolerable to think that an innocent and pure personality
such as Margalit,should sit for even one day in prison.Her stay in
prison would bring great shame to all of us. Let us all mobilize to
prevent that shame.
Professor Eliav Shochetman
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, ARE CONVINCED OF MARGALIT HAR-SHEFI’S INNOCENCE
AND ASK THE PRESIDENT TO GRANT HER FULL PARDON.
————————————–
You can get a copy of the petition, together with the stickers, by
sending us your name and address and/or your fax number.
3) We were told that petitions are not enough and people are urged to
write personal letters and/or faxes to the President and also to the
Minister of Justice (when we will finally have a new one. Don’t
bother with Yossi Beilin….)
Address:
President Moshe Katzav
Beit Hanassi
Jabotinsky street
Jerusalem
or fax: 02-5611033
4) Vigils:
For the next 3 Mondays we will have a vigil outside the President’s
house asking for a pardon for Margalit.
We will meet in front of the President’s residence at 10:00 am sharp
on Monday March 5th, March 12th and March 19th.
5)If all this does not help and Margalit will indeed go to jail,
there will be a very large rally on the day of her incarceration
organized by the family and friends. Details will follow.
6)Please forward this e-mail to friends and relatives.
The more people who join, the better.
Ruth and Nadia Matar