A FAMOUS THEORY OF ALBERT EINSTEIN

Letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green) Jerusalem
Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Dear Friends,

One of Albert Einstein’s famous theories is the following:

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over
and over again expecting different results.”

This definition fits Ehud Olmert and the majority of his ministerial crew to a “T”.

Even after the dangerous fiasco of the Gaza disengagement, Ehud Olmert continues to boast that he was the one who convinced Ariel Sharon to disengage from Gush Katif (Gaza). Not only is he proud of this past “accomplishment”, but he continues to promote the very ideas, which have proven so disastrous for Israel.

In his recent meeting with US President George W. Bush, he continued to promote his “Convergence Plan”, his “Realignment Plan” and his “Disengagement Plan”. Actually, these plans are all the same­their intent is to give away Jewish land, in his words, “to increase security”. Thus, Olmert wants to repeat his Gaza “disengagement success” in Judea and Samaria.

Let us take a critical look at the Gaza Disengagement Plan:

1. The suffering of the approximately 9,500 Jews forcibly expelled from their homes; for the majority, no jobs, no permanent homes, and no compensation from the government.

2. The security situation of the South has deteriorated drastically. The General Security Service (Shabak) announced on September 20 that in the year 2005, 159 rockets were fired at the Sderot region. This year, so far, 1004 Kassam
rockets have been fired at Sderot and environs!

3. Many people have been maimed by the non-stop rain of rockets. Last Wednesday, Maor Peretz was seriously injured in a rocket attack; both of his legs were subsequently amputated below the knee. Fatima Slutzker, mother of two, was killed in the same attack. Yesterday, Yaakov Yaakobov, the father of two teenage sons, was killed, when a Kassam rocket hit the factory where he worked. (Sadly, he won’t get to celebrate his son’s Bar Mitzvah next month.)

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat wrote an excellent op-ed article entitled: “Saying I’m Sorry”, which was published in the Jerusalem Post of November 21, 2006.

In this article, Rabbi Riskin explains why it is so important to say “I’m sorry”:

“Because at the very least it tells me that the sinner understands he made such a mistake, and so there is at least a possibility that he will not repeat it again.”

Unfortunately, there’s seems to be little chance that Olmert will admit his mistakes, much less say he is sorry. On the contrary, he blindly and stubbornly forges ahead, making the same mistakes all over again.

IF THAT DOESN’T FIT ALBERT EINSTEIN’S DEFINITION OF INSANITY, I DON’T KNOW WHAT DOES!

I am including Rabbi Riskin’s article in it’s entirety:

Saying I’m sorry
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN, THE JERUSALEM POST
November 21, 2006

There is a pathetic Israeli joke about a newly minted “born-again” Jew who approaches his Orthodox rabbi towards the end of November with a question: “I’m sorry, but do we say Ya’aleh Veyavo on Thanksgiving?,” he asks.

“What’s Thanksgiving?”, says the rabbi, which immediately ends the dialogue.

He then turns to the more progressive rabbi in town: “I’m sorry, but do we recite Ya’aleh Veyavo on Thanksgiving?”

“What’s Ya’aleh Veyavo?” answers the rabbi.
In desperation, our well-meaning if naive Jew approaches the Israeli who has just moved into his neighborhood: “I’m sorry, but perhaps you might know if we say Ya’aleh Veyavo on Thanksgiving?”
“What’s ‘I’m sorry’?” responds the confused Israeli.

IS IT really important to say “I’m sorry,” you ask. After all, what’s done is done. But it is very important, teaches our Jewish tradition, even going so far as to rule that confession (vidui) - which fundamentally consists of recognition of sin and an expression of contrition for having committed a wrongdoing, in effect saying I’m sorry - is the essence of repentance, and that it in itself is sufficient to grant the perpetrator Divine forgiveness.

And why is “I’m sorry” so significant? Because at the very least it tells me that the sinner understands he made such a mistake, even if it was an unwitting mistake, and so there is at least a possibility that he will not repeat it again.

Did any representative of our government attend Fatima Slotzker’s funeral and say I’m sorry publicly? After all, unilateral disengagement from Gaza was supposed to have made the people in Sderot safer from - and not more vulnerable to - attack. The minimum responsibility a government has toward its citizenry is protection of their lives; if the increased Kassams and now loss of life in Sderot are the result of a misguided foreign policy, at the very least ought not the architects of that policy say “I’m sorry?”

AND WHAT about the 7,000-8,000 heroic citizen-residents of Gush Katif, who were praised by every government since the Six Day War for magnificently performing a critical service to our nation by being where they were and by turning desert into gardens of flowers, fruits and vegetables exported all over the world?

They were then forced to surrender home and life’s work on the altar of this same misguided policy of unilateral disengagement. It turns out that they were exiled from the very homes and communities which they built with their own hands - with no suitable places prepared for them to go to (despite lying television ads to the contrary) - for, as we now understand, no justifiable reason.
Indeed, in the aftermath of their departure, the security of the South and even our right to the settlement blocs has only diminished in the eyes of the world. Has any of those who enforced the uprooting of those settlements begged the pardon of those displaced citizen-settlers - many if not most of whom have yet to be properly settled?

AND HAS anyone begged forgiveness of the brave soldiers of the IDF who went into battle filled with patriotic motivation and righteous zeal, hoping to march to victory on behalf of our country’s northern flank?

Innocent citizen victims from Afula to Kiryat Shmona were forced underground into shelters - some of which were non-existent - by the barrage of artillery secured by Hizbullah after we left Lebanon with our tail between our legs. Government after government turned a blind eye to our enemies’ constant and consistent military build-up.

AND WHAT of those who lost life and limb during a misguided and mismanaged war, marked by conflicting orders and confused directions, after failing to provide our soldiers with even the most basic necessities, such as flak jackets and proper nutrition? Has anyone asked forgiveness of them and of their bereaved families?

And finally have we - all of us - asked forgiveness of our children for having bequeathed to them a government led by those responsible for all the above, individuals who have yet to say they are sorry and who have not so much as provided an alternative policy?

In the case of our political leadership, some of those in the highest of offices are so taken up with charges of corruption that they cannot be expected to have the time and energy to forge a plan for our future; and in the case of our IDF leaders, they are so concerned with commission findings and clearing their names that they hardly have the luxury of reorganizing our army from disrepair?

At least I, with a breaking heart, wish to apologize to my grandchildren for remaining silent in the face of a political system whose Knesset Members are not accountable to a voting electorate, only to a party, and whose failed leaders still hold the reins of power and the keys to what appears to be - if I see the world only with a realistic perspective - our fragile future.

* * * * *

Are the people of Israel completely powerless in this life threatening situation?

To quote my favorite Jerusalem Post columnist, Caroline Glick:

“The people of Israel must not be seduced by the blindness and empty promises of our leaders. All efforts must be made to sideline these incompetent, self-serving bumblers and replace them with responsible leaders as quickly as possible.”

AMEN!

With Blessings and Love of Israel,

Ruth Matar

P.S. This coming THURSDAY morning, NOVEMBER 23rd, 2006, at 9:30am, will be the start of the Appeal by the State of Israel against Nadia Matar in the “Jonathan Bassi” case.

As you may remember, this past summer, Judge Mintz had dismissed the case against Nadia Matar. She had been accused of “insulting a public official”, after writing to Jonathan Bassi, head of the “Disengagement Authority”, that he reminded her of the “Judenraat”. To read Nadia’s letter to Bassi please click on: http://www.womeningreen.org.il/petition

The State appealed Judge Mintz’s decision. The appeal will take place this coming Thursday at the “Mehozi” (District) Court House, Sallah-a Din street 40, in front of 3 judges: Judge Segal, Judge Shapira and Judge Noam.

Nadia Matar will be represented by Attorney Yoram Sheftel.

Women in Green calls upon all who believe in freedom of speech to come to the District Court at 9:30am on Thursday to protest the continued persecution, and crushing of dissent, of the national camp.

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SHOULD ISRAEL RECONQUER GAZA?

Letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green) Jerusalem
Thursday, November 16, 2006

Dear Friends,

The most basic responsibility of a government is to protect its citizens. The Olmert government is not fulfilling this responsibility.

Yesterday, a woman was killed and a man lost his legs when Kassam rockets landed in downtown Sderot. The Islamic Jihad and Iz A-Din El-Kassam terrorists proudly claimed credit.

Fatima Slutzker, a Moslem woman married to a Jew, was the seventh fatal victim of a Kassam rocket among the nearly 1,700 that have been fired since the withdrawal from Gaza. She was 57 years-old.

The rockets fell not far from the house of former Sderot Mayor Amir Peretz, now Israel’s Defense Minister. Maor (ben Dorit) Peretz, the 24-year-old guard assigned to protect Peretz’s house was also hit by the rocket’s wildly-scattered deadly shrapnel.

Both Fatima and Maor were taken to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon where the woman died, leaving behind her husband and two sons. Peretz had both of his legs amputated. Six other people were treated for light injuries.

Close to ten Kassams were fired at Sderot Wednesday. In addition, four other rockets were fired at the Western Negev. Another rocket landed near a children’s nursery in a nearby kibbutz.

The nearly 1,700 Kassams were not an accident. They were meant to kill and when they did kill Jews, the Arabs celebrated! No apologies forthcoming from them!

However, when an Israeli artillery shell accidentally strayed 500 meters off course, killing 19 and wounding 29 others in Beit Hanoun, senior Fatah officials called for sanctions from the UN Security Council and incited the Arab populace to increase terror attacks on Israeli civilians.

Israel’s wimpy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, on the other hand, publicly apologized to the entire world for the IDF’s accidental firing, giving the Arabs additional propaganda ammunition.

There is currently an intense debate about whether Israel should re-conquer Gaza to stop the Kassams. The journalist Haggai Huberman wrote an excellent article in today’s Hebrew newspaper Hatzofe. The following are excerpts from this article:

One of the lies spread by spokesmen in the government in particular, and by the left in general, is “And when we sat in Gaza, there were no Kassams?” The answer is simple: “NO!” When we sat in Gaza, there were no Kassams.

We left Gaza (and other places from where they are sending Kassams, like Beit Hanoun, Mejabliya, etc. … in 1994 because of the Oslo agreements. [R.M. Remember the famous “Gaza-Jericho” plan?]) Before 1994, (when the IDF controlled Gaza) there were no Kassams. Not on Sderot, not on Miflassim, not on Nahal Oz.

Another famous sentence uttered in these days by the left is: “We tried already everything.” No! That is not true. It is true we tried everything except the one and only thing that will stop the rockets: Complete re-conquest of the entire Gaza Strip. Complete IDF security control in each and every corner.

And thus we will repeat it ad nauseam! There is only one way to stop the rocket attacks. To re-conquer Gaza and stay there. It will happen sooner or later. Even Yuval Diskin, General Security Service Chief, and Avi Dichter, Internal Security Minister, already understand this.

Dear friends, I am including an article by Israel Harel, columnist for the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz, entitled, “You Promised a Dove, We Got Kassams”. This article sheds light on how Israel’s leaders got us into this terrible mess we are in.

You promised a dove, we got Qassams
By Israel Harel, Haaretz
November 16, 2006

The unilateral disengagement, said the politicians who initiated it and carried it out and the journalists who jumped on the bandwagon, will bring calm to the Gaza border. The unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon, went one of the most influential arguments, proved that
steps of this nature, despite the delusional warnings of opponents of peace, succeed. Shelly Yachimovich, who, from her influential positions in the media, was one of the instigators of the flight from Lebanon, even scoffed: “The entire region will burn? Not only is the region not burning, but there is absolute calm” (Haggai Segal and Uri Orbach, “They Promised a Dove”).

Not even an enclave like Shaba Farms, on the Lebanese border, was left in the Gaza Strip. Instead, 25 flourishing settlements were uprooted and Israel withdrew to the last millimeter. In addition, a high fence, almost impassable, was erected between the Gaza Strip and the western Negev. And good fences, according to the slogan that those who supported the flight from Lebanon, the uprooting in Gaza and the uprooting in Judea and Samaria like to recite, make good neighbors.

But despite the fence and the traumatic disengagement that tore Israeli society apart, 100 doves of peace are not springing up in the Gaza Strip as promised. Instead, Palestinians are shooting hundreds of Qassam rockets, including the lethal ones fired yesterday. Miraculously, most have not been fatal. But yesterday, there were no miracles.

Last week, an annual conference on social issues took place in Sderot. At one session, following the calamity in Beit Hanun, a melancholy rhetorical question was asked: What is the point of our responding forcefully, even though we certainly did not intend to kill civilians? There have been years of military operations, but the Qassams continue to fall. And shells from Israeli cannons kill civilians, including children. How is it possible to educate our children in such a situation? What kind of hope are we giving them, so that they will not abandon the country and emigrate?

These remarks were made out of genuine concern. But past experience shows that as long as we were educated, and educated others, to a reality of “there is no choice,” there were few cracks in our emotional fortitude and our sense of justice. The loss of hope occurred after we tried the “alternatives” and, as at Oslo, “achieved breakthroughs.”

The sowers of illusion convinced us that there is a Palestinian partner, and pushed the decision makers into unrealistic and even delusional harbors. For the sake of “giving the children hope,” whether their own children or all children, the parents who were in the driver’s seat lent a hand to moves that have proven lethal: Oslo, the flight from Lebanon and the disengagement. And because they were lethal for the Jews, they were also - since it is not possible to refrain from responding to suicide bombings, or even to Qassams - lethal for the Arabs.

It is not vacuous, and therefore unavailing, moves, like the uprooting from Gaza and the flight from Lebanon, that our children need to prevent them from abandoning the country, and us. Imparting illusions, instead of educating our children to believe in the principles of Zionism, national and social solidarity and the need to continue fighting as long as fighting is necessary, increases emigration rather than decreasing it.

It is no wonder that many of those who believe in these illusions have evaded service in the Israel Defense Forces or now live abroad. In the bubble of illusion, disappointment and despair reign: “You promised a dove,” they say, but you did not keep your promise.

We must tell the next generation the truth. We must prepare it, and ourselves, to cope without illusions - among other things, with the fact that fences and unilateral withdrawals increase the enemy’s motivation.

In the Bnei Akiva youth group and the national religious community’s educational institutes, they do not teach that our life in this country is conditional on the Palestinians’ consent. There, teaching about the nation of Israel’s right to its land - which used to be what everyone was taught - is still the key component of an education, and not the supposed injustices the nation of Israel is causing the neighboring nation. Nor is reality whitewashed there.

And the results prove that a difficult truth is preferable to a fraudulent illusion.

It is important to educate for peace. But it is also necessary to inculcate the fundamental educational baggage that will give the students the tools to cope with a situation in which the longed-for peace fails to arrive, despite sincere and costly efforts to attain it. Above all, it is necessary to instill in the students something that many households and educational institutes no longer do: a belief in the justice of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.

* * *

Member of Knesset Tzvi Hendel (National Union), commenting on the government’s refusal to send in massive forces to enter Gaza, said bitterly, “Only a rocket on Tel Aviv will cause Olmert to take over Gaza.”

MK Hendel is wrong! A rocket on Tel Aviv will not make Olmert send forces to take over Gaza. Only a direct hit by a rocket on Prime Minister Olmert’s residence in Jerusalem would accomplish this!

With Blessings and Love for Israel,

Ruth Matar

ARE DONORS TO THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND DECEIVED?
(continued)

Letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green) Jerusalem
Thursday, November 2, 2006

Dear Friends,

Last week’s Letter from Jerusalem, entitled “Are Donors to the Jewish National Fund Deceived?”, was written with a heavy heart. Heaven forbid, I do not want you to think that I accuse the current leaders of the Jewish National Fund of lining their own pockets with our contributions!

What I do believe is that the present JNF leadership has, unfortunately, been unduly influenced by radical leftist ideology, where no price or human sacrifice is too high to achieve an illusionary peace with the Arab enemy, including the wholesale abandonment of Jewish Biblical Land.

My friend, Helen Freedman, wrote a courageous article, entitled “Arabs grabbing JNF land in Jerusalem”, which was posted on October 15, 2006, claiming that in Jerusalem important strategic portions of that land ends up in Arab hands. Her article was part of my October 26, 2006, “Letter from Jerusalem” on the same subject.

Helen and I are not writing from the top of our heads. Our writing is based on documented information from Arieh King, a passionate Zionist who resides in East Jerusalem and who has literally made it his life’s mission to uncover the tragic giveaway of Jewish land to the Arabs.

Arieh King deals with documented facts only. Such facts were submitted to Avinoam Binder, Chief Representative for Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, the Hebrew version of JNF, at his New York office.

MR. BINDER HAS CONFIRMED THAT LARGE SCALE GIVEAWAY OF JNF LANDS TO ARABS HAS BEEN OCCURRING THROUGH ISRAELI GOVERNMENT DECISIONS AND THE FAILURE OF JNF TO OPPOSE THESE DECISIONS.

The most tragic and harmful failure of JNF in this regard is its failure to rigorously oppose huge tracts of land being left on the “Arab” side of the so-called “security wall,” which is again dividing Jerusalem. JNF considers this a decision by the Israeli government, which they refuse to appeal.

The sad truth is that the NJF leadershiop has lost its way. At the present time, it does not
represent the desires of the majority of its contributors, nor the goals for which it was founded, that is to reclaim Jewish ownership of our biblical inheritance.

The CEO of the JNF, Russell F. Robinson, has written a scathing personal attack on my friend Helen Freedman, in the form of an “Open letter” to her.

An example from Mr. Robinson’s “Open letter” to Helen Freedman:

“By attacking the soul of the Jewish people, it puts you in some interesting company. You now join the ranks of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and others who attack us for our work as a Zionist organization. I ask you, Helen Freedman, what safe Israel are you talking about?”

WOW! That is a serious accusation! Helen Freedman is part of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign? You sure owe Helen Freedman an apology, Mr Robinson.

For his own organization, the JNF, Mr. Robinson has nothing but flowery platitudes, such as the following:

“We believe deeply and emotionally in our mission statement — that we are the caretakers of the land of Israel on behalf of its owners — Jewish people everywhere.”

If this were only true!

Further on his opinion of Helen Freedman:

“In your unfair representation of ‘facts’ your attack on JNF is an attack on the soil, which is the soul of the Jewish people. You, Helen Freedman, have attacked the soul of the Jewish people.”

My question for Mr. Robinson: If the SOIL is the SOUL of the Jewish People, why do you abandon our very SOUL to the Arab enemy?

We need to work to prevail on the leadership of the JNF to safeguard the principles of their founders to purchase the land solely for Jewish use. They must fight the decisions of a temporary Israeli government, which abandons these principles for an ideology which goes against the intent of the founders of the JNF at the Fifth Zionist Congress at Basel, Switzerland, in 1901:

“The JNF shall be the eternal possession of the Jewish People… The JNF protocol specifically prohibits selling land ownership and selling any rights to non-Jews.”

With Blessings and Love for Israel,

Ruth Matar

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