Archive for July, 2007

WE REFUSE TO REDUCE OUR FOOTPRINTS IN THE HOLY LAND 0

Letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green) Jerusalem
Thursday, July 26, 2007

 

I have received a number of e-mails recently, begging me not to be such a “Cassandra”.
 
Who was this “Cassandra”? I remembered vaguely that she was famous in Greek poetry, but I didn’t remember what she was famous for and therefore consulted my encyclopedia.
 
Cassandra apparently was able to foretell the future. According to Greek Legend she warned the Trojans in vain not to take the Wooden Horse inside the walls of Troy, which, of course, resulted in the destruction of Troy.
Certainly we Jews need a few Cassandras to continually warn Israel not to let the Wooden Horse (the Arab enemy) take over our G-d-given Biblical Land of Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem!
 
Tisha B’Av, the ninth of the month of Av, is the traditional day of mourning and fasting in the Jewish calendar. On that day, Jews around the world remember the tragedies which occurred on Tisha B’Av.
 
TISHA B’AV IN HISTORY
 
Antiquity
 
On Tisha b’Av, five things occurred: 1- It was decreed upon Israel in the desert that they would not enter the Land; 2-3 – Both the First and Second Holy Temples were destroyed; 4- A great city named Betar was conquered…It [Betar] fell into the hands of the Romans and they were all killed, and it was as great a tragedy as the Destruction of the Temple; 5- The wicked Turnus-Rufus plowed up the area of the Temple and its surroundings to fulfill what was said by the prophet, (Jeremiah 26:18) ‘Zion will be plowed like a field’.   (Rambam, Hilchos Ta’anis 5:3).
 
Spain
 
Nor was that the end. On Tisha b’Av, 1492, one of history’s most infamous deadlines arrived. It was on that day that the Jews of Spain had to convert or leave the country- or face torture and the auto-dafe. One Jew was spared from the decree- Don Yitzchok Abarbanel, the famous Torah commentator and statesman who, as finance minister of Spain, had saved profligate Ferdinand and Isabella from bankruptcy. He was too valuable to be confronted with a choice that would have forced him to leave the country. But Abarbanel spurned the ‘generosity’ of his monarchs. He tried to induce them to withdraw the decree. Failing, he led as many as 75,000 of his fellow Jews in a march that reached the Spanish border and crossed it on Tisha b’Av.
Europe
 
World War I began on Tisha b’Av. To contemporary people, the tragedy of our century is the Holocaust of World War II- and, indeed, the words have still not been invented to describe the extent of its loss and suffering.
 
It is impossible to minimize the events of World War II, but, viewing this tortured century in its historic sweep, we must conclude that the fires began to rage during World War I and that it was a pivotal event in shaping the trends of Jewish experience that are still unfolding.
 
The German sweep into Eastern Europe beginning in 1914, uprooted Jewish communities and demolished a laboriously built tradition that took centuries to shape. Enlightenment, Bolshevism, Socialism, Nationalism, and all the other movements that characterized rebellion against Torah demands and authority, surged through the breach in the wall of tradition. Virtually all of the major rabbis in the wide swath cut by the Germans were exiled for several years. Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik, the Chofetz Chaim, and Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski were only a few of the many who were forced to leave their flocks leaderless for years at a time. Cities were devastated and tens if thousands of Jews became homeless refugees.
 
Small wonder that the devastation of the war was no less spiritual than material. The diminished stature of the Rabbinate, the extreme poverty afflicting communities and yeshivos, the Bolshevik Revolution and the clamping of an Iron Curtain around the three million Jews of Russia, the decay of German political and economic life and the emergence of an evil genius named Hitler- all these and more were legacies of World War I.
 
In a deeper sense, just as World War II was a legacy of World War I, World War I was a legacy of earlier times- because World War I broke out on Tisha b’Av, the day that was designated for punishment. The heartbreak and tribulation of this century, too, are manifestations of the historic Tisha b’Av.
 
Israel
 
The expulsion of 10,000 Jews from their homes in Gush Katif by the Sharon-Olmert governments occurred the day after Tisha B’Av, in 2005.
 
On the eve of Tisha B’Av, Jews read from Megillas Eichah, the Book of Lamentations. This book of mourning is ascribed to the prophet Jeremiah:
 
“Alas- she sits in solitude! The city that was great with people has become like a widow. The greatest among nations, the princess among provinces, has become a tributary.
 
“She weeps bitterly in the night and her tear is on her cheek. She has no comforter from all her lovers; all her friends have betrayed her, they have become her enemies.”
 
“Slaves ruled us; there is no rescue from their hands.”
 
“There was none to rescue us from them, because they could not free us except with the consent of their own masters.”
 
(This explanation made me think of the present time. Ehud Olmert cannot do anything without the consent of President Bush!)
 
Does Jeremiah’s lament have any meaning to Jews today? Is the Ninth of Av relevant in a world where Jews are sovereign in the Land of Israel, Jerusalem teems with people and is far from solitary, and Jews are able to pray in the Old City of Jerusalem at the Western Wall? Why is there a need to mourn when, in fact, Jews today should be celebrating the fact that after 2,000 years a Jewish state has again arisen in the Jewish home-land?
 
Do we really need to fast for our sins and the resulting loss of sovereignty- when, today, there is a Jewish state and a Jewish army and a Jewish parliament in the Land of Israel?
 
The Jews may have Sovereignty over the Land of Israel, but we have not yet rebuilt the Temple. Only in an ideal age will a messiah from the line of King David lead the effort to reestablish the Temple and bring recognition of G-d as One to the world.
 
Also, we have not yet reached the ultimate messianic goal of a world of peace and brotherhood!
 
Headline in Wednesday’s Jerusalem Post:
“Europe gets more ‘awkward’ on Israel”. In Plain English this means: Ministers from ten Mediterranean countries are taking a more assertively pro-Arab line!
 
Our greatest painful disappointment is the United States and its President George W. Bush. President Bush is the first American President who wants to create another Arab state- carved out of the Land which the
G-d of Israel gave to the Jewish People as “an everlasting inheritance”. This, of course, includes all of Judea and Samaria, the ancient Jewish Biblical heartland!
 
Bush made clear in a recent speech that the Arabs must be rewarded with money, American legitimacy and above all, Israeli lands. However, I find that President Bush’s most disappointing and unforgivable sentence in his speech is the following:
 
“THE ISRAELIS SHOULD FIND PRACTICAL WAYS TO REDUCE THEIR FOOTPRINTS IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA”
Whose footprints exactly is President Bush talking about? Those of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Of King David and King Solomon? Of Sarah, Rivka and Leah? Of Mother Rachel? Of The Prophets? Of the Christian Messiah?
 
Dear President Bush,
 
On the eve of Tisha B’Av, more than ten thousand people took part in the revival of the tradition of walking around the walls of the Old City, to show their great love and allegiance to Jerusalem.
 
Consider all those footprints! Small ones of toddlers! Bigger ones of children and teenagers! Real big ones of soldiers, parents and grandparents!
 
With all your power you will not be able to find “practical ways to reduce their footprints”!
 
Do not place your trust in Abbas- the man who has pocketed billions of dollars in assistance from the US, the EU and Israel, but has never lifted a finger against terrorists or done anything to end the corruption endemic in his government!
 
Dear President: I am a simple elderly American Jewish lady, fortunate to be able to live in the eternal Jewish Capital of Jerusalem. You are one of the most powerful men in the world! But surely we both believe in the motto of our American currency:
“In G-d We Trust”!
 

With Blessings and Love for Israel,
 
Ruth Matar
The Jewish Cassandra
 
P.S. I am including a moving letter from Judy Lash Balint, the author of “Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times”. This book is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com.

From: Judy Lash Balint, Jerusalem:

A brisk breeze blows through the concrete canyon created by the
buildings that make up Jerusalem’s municipal complex, Safra Square.
The wind ruffles the sackcloth mourning garment worn by a youngish
woman sitting alone on the hard ground in the middle of the square as
Tisha B’Av descends on Jerusalem.

Along with hundreds of others, she’s there to mourn the long litany of
national tragedies that has befallen the Jewish people around this
date all through Jewish history.  While Yom Kippur is the day for
personal reckoning, Tisha B’Av is the occasion for some national
soul-searching over what led to our various ancient and recent disasters.

As we sit waiting for the start of the recitation of Eichah, the
mournful lament for his people penned by the prophet Jeremiah, a
friend reminds me that we spent last Tisha B’Av together at Mt. Herzl
attending the heartrending funeral of IDF soldier Michael Levin z”tl,
a young American immigrant killed in the Hizbollah war.

There were civilian casualties too last Tisha B’Av.  Five people were
killed by rockets fired into Israeli towns that day. Shimon Zribi, his
15-year-old daughter Mazal, Albert Ben-Abu, and Aryeh and Tiran Tamam
all perished in Akko last Tisha B’av.

At this year’s march around the Old City walls, Knesset member Aryeh
Eldad and Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich, the former Soviet Prisoner of Zion,
both drive home the message that last year’s war as well as the
previous summer’s tragic expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif, both
resulted from weakness. MK Eldad told marchers that the people are
stronger than the leaders and expressed confidence that we could “turn
the wheel back.”

Mendelevich, one of Israel’s most unsung heroes, explained that he
felt compelled to say Kaddish at this spot just outside the Temple
Mount “for the heroes who fell here.” He turned to face the site of
the Temple and the thousands of marchers who had listened quietly to
his stirring talk rose behind him to gaze up at Lions Gate and join in
the response to his passionate rendition of the ancient words of
praise and hope.

Last night, more than ten thousand took part in the revival of the
tradition of walking around the walls of the Old City on Tisha B’Av
that has captured the attention of growing numbers of Jerusalemites in
recent years. It’s difficult to estimate the crowds, but it took the
better part of half an hour for the masses to move out of Safra Square
at the beginning of Jaffa Road and set off on their way after the
public reading of Eichah.

This year marked the 13th anniversary of the revival of the custom,
initiated by the Women In Green organization headed by Nadia and Ruth
Matar. 

Tisha B’Av is the one day of the year when Jewish prayers are
broadcast over a public address system, in contrast to the daily call
to prayer blasted out five times a day over amplification systems from
mosques in eastern Jerusalem. It’s actually a little disorienting to
hear the Hebrew of Eichah amplified over the main city square.

As the marchers move off following a huge banner proclaiming a slogan
of allegiance to Jerusalem, organizer Nadia Matar reminds the crowd
that this is not a demonstration or a rally, nor is it a social event.
 In fact, no reminder is necessary, as the restrained mass of Jews
soberly sets out to encircle the gates of the Holy City.

Scattered amongst the marchers are a significant number of
non-observant Israelis.  Women wearing pants walk side by side with
others whose hair is carefully covered with a scarf or hat.

There are wheelchair “marchers” and a number of octagenarian walkers,
some supported by younger relatives, who manage to reach the end of
the hour-long route.

As we pass New Gate, the main entry to the Christian Quarter, we see
that all traffic on Route #1 (the main north/south gateway through the
city) has been redirected as we take over the streets and pour down
the road toward Damascus Gate. Spotlights and snipers are dotted on
the rooftops and although most of the Arab stores are shuttered tight,
soldiers keep a tight watch over several dozen Arabs who watch us
march by as we pass Saleh el Din Street, the main commercial avenue of
eastern Jerusalem. Border police hold back a few dozen Arabs coming
out of Herod’s Gate as we stream past.

Walking down the hill toward Damascus Gate we turn to look back at
those behind us.  People as far back as we can see.

The march is a hands-on outdoor classroom for many parents.  All along
the way, fathers are explaining the significant sites to sons and
daughters.  “Saba (grandpa) fought here,” one tall, bearded man tells
his 10 year old son as we round the corner towards Lions Gate, where
Israeli paratroopers entered to liberate the Temple Mount in the 1967
Six Day War.

“Look over there,” says a young mother to her wide-eyed daughter.
“You can see the stairs where the Jews used to go up to the Temple,”
she says as we walk up the hill in front of the southern wall.

In front of us we see the Mount of Olives crowned with its Arab and
Christian institutions.  There’s a refreshing feeling of freedom as
thousands walk freely down the road that overlooks the oldest Jewish
cemetery in the world.

Many marchers wander over to the wall to gaze at the Kidron Valley
below with  Absalom’s Tomb and the monument to the prophet Zechariah.
 Across the valley we can see the Maale Hazeitim development that acts
as a buffer between Abu Dis and the Temple Mount.

Rounding the corner, we look up at the imposing Southern Wall of the
Temple with the steps and Huldah’s Gate, before making the ascent
towards Dung Gate and the entrance to the Western Wall.  Glancing
backwards again, the sight of the crowds of people still behind us is
awesome.  Quiet and dignified, the march has gone off without incident.

Getting out of the area proves challenging, as the Egged bus company
lays on dozens of buses to get people in and out of the Old City,
causing their own traffic jams.

Close to midnight the road leading to Zion and Dung gates is still
blocked by a line of the green Egged buses packed to overflowing with
the faithful who will spend the night sitting or lying on the ground
at the site of the catastrophe that gave us Tisha B’Av.

At 1 a.m. I see the young woman in sackcloth stretching out on a
concrete ledge inside the tunnel that links the Kotel plaza to the
Moslem Quarter.  She’s no longer alone.


********************************************************************
You are invited to join Women in Green’s first ever, all inclusive, guided tour to the center of the struggle for Israel’s heartland. Don’t just read about what’s going on in Judea and Samaria, see everything with your own eyes and meet the real people who are standing firm against those who want to surrender parts of our Holy Land. This fall, we will take you “beyond the wall” for an unforgettable experience. For more information please contact <therealisrael@womeningreen.org>.

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

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow  (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To make a contribution through Paypal, go to:

https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=wfit2@womeningreen.org&cn=Note+to+Women+in+Green&tax=0&currency_code=USD

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

ANNUAL TISHA B’AV WALK 0

THE WOMEN IN GREEN ANNUAL TISHA B’AV WALK AROUND JERUSALEM’S OLD CITY WALLS
Well over 15,000 people participated in the Annual Women in Green march around the Walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. The evening started with a meaningful Eicha reading at Safra square and continued with the march. At the beginning of the march we met a representative of Almagor, a terror victim’s organization who told us they were having a vigil in front of the hotel where European Union envoy Tony Blair was staying. Almagor was protesting the fact that Tony Blair was pushing a new plan, very similar to the Oslo agreements, that would be disastrous to Israel and that would lead to many more Jewish victims of terror. Women in Green strengthened the victims of terror and joined in their call: Blair go home!!

Next to the Lion’s Gate, MK Professor Arieh Eldad, Rabbi Yossef Mendelevitch, Attorney Yoram Sheftel and Dudu Elaharar gave moving speeches.

MK Arieh Eldad pointed out how our current leadership is leading us to an additional destruction and we urgently need to change the leadership. Rabbi Yossef Mendelevitch gave an ode to those who fell to free Jerusalem in 1967 and ended his speech with an impassionate call to free Jonathan Pollard. Attorney Yoram Sheftel came out against the “Western Wall cult”, explaining that the Jewish people’s aspiration was not to pray at the Kotel, but rather on the Temple Mount. Sheftel quoted Uri Zvi Greenberg who said: ‘Whoever controls the Temple Mount, controls Israel” and called for all Jews in Israel and abroad to work harder to go back to the Temple Mount and, please G-d, rebuild the Temple. He ended his speech by saying that he hoped that next year the march would be towards the Temple Mount rather than towards the Kotel. Dudu Elharar read a most moving poem about Jerusalem by Uri Zvi Greenberg. Nadia Matar, co-chair of Women in Green, was the last speaker. Below is her speech.

We Can Correct the Sin of the Spies
by Nadia Matar
This evening, Tisha B’Av eve, we mourn, not only for the destruction of the First and Second Temples, that were ravaged by an external enemy, but we also we mourn for Gush Katif and northern Samaria, that were destroyed and razed to the ground by internal powers, in order to please the external foe.

For these we weep: Bedolah, Bnei Atzmon, Dugit, Elei Sinai, Gadid, Gan Or, Ganei Tal, Kfar Darom, Kfar Yam, Kerem Atzmona, Morag, Neveh Dekalim, Netzarim, Netzer Hazani, Nisanit, Pe’at Sadeh, Katif, Rafiah Yam, Shirat Hayam, Slav, Tel Katifa, Ganim, Kadim, Sa-Nur, and Homesh.

We stand here, and we ask ourselves: How have we come to this juncture? Two years have passed since the expulsion of our brothers and sisters from Gush Katif and northern Samaria. Gaza has become Hamastan. Sderot and the surrounding settlements are shelled. Even though it is clear now to any thinking person that handing over parts of the homeland to the Arab enemy endangers the very existence of the State of Israel, our political leaders continue their intent to surrender, to fold, to relinquish. to hand over, and to expel.

In other words, today’s political leaders are not all that different from the ten spies who slandered the Land. As we know, Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun said (Numbers 13-14): “Let us by all means go up, and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it,” while the other ten spies said - No! “We cannot attack that people, for it is stronger than we,” “the country is one that devours its settlers.” The entire people began to weep: “The whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night.” They proclaimed: “It would be better for us to go back to Egypt!” For this crying, the Holy One, blessed be He, punished the people of Israel with forty years in the wilderness, to ensure that whoever belonged to that wicked generation of weepers would not enter the Land of Israel.

And here we should ask: How did Hashem dare to punish them at all? By the rules of “democracy,” the people followed the “majority”: Ten spies said, “No to Eretz Yisrael,” and two said, “Yes to Eretz Yisrael.” According to the rules of “democracy,” the majority has to be heeded, doesn’t it?

What does the Holy One, blessed be He, teach us here? No! When it comes to Eretz Israel, there are no such rules. We are obligated to conquer, to take possession, and to settle every place in Eretz Israel. And if the people are stuck with weak leaders, then the people of Israel are obligated to rise up against them, and not to heed them.

In the Six Day War in 1967, we liberated the Temple Mount, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the Gaza District, and the Golan. Instead of being thankful for the miracle, our leaders, once again, repeated the sin of the spies. Moshe Dayan removed the Israeli flag from the Temple Mount, and handed the keys to the Arab enemy. Instead of the people rising up and not accepting that - all were silent, a majority of the rabbis, as well. Once again, they repeated the sin of the spies.

Exactly forty years have passed since that sin. The slanderers of the Land still rule, and continue to harm Eretz Israel. Thousands of Jews paid the price for this with their bodies and souls - the thousands of victims of Oslo, Wye, the disengagement. The majority of the people oppose those decrees but do not rise up against them. “Nothing can be none,” say many. Saying this sentence “nothing can be done” is in itself a repeat of the sin of slandering the Land. And in our camp, as well, the rabbis and public figures who opposed nonviolent civil disobedience and refusing to obey the expulsion order are guilty of the sin of the spies.

I ask: Will we allow this to continue, or will we finally begin to correct the sin of the spies? This sin can be corrected, as we read in the book Kol ha-Tor:

“The correction of the sin of the spies must come only by the building of Jerusalem and the expansion of the Jewish settlement, by the commandment of expansion, the prophetic mandate [Isaiah 54:2]: “Enlarge the site of your tent” […] enlargement in the physical area […] that is, expansion of the settlement, expansion of the number of those dwelling in Eretz Israel.”

In other words, my friends, the correction of the sin of the spies means that - despite our political leaders not wanting this - the people will arise and struggle for every place in Eretz Israel. This is the reason why we are going back to Homesh, yet again. Because we do not accept the decision by the “slandering the Land government” that handed over Gush Katif and northern Samaria. This is the reason why, with G-d’s help, we are establishing a settlement at the Eitam Hill in Efrat, tomorrow, the day after Tisha B’AV. The authorities want to abandon the hill to the Arab enemy, beyond the fence. The authorities, once again, are repeating the sin of the spies. This time, however, we are not joining them. We are joining the spirit of Caleb and Joshua, and we say: “Let us by all means go up, and we shall gain possession of it.” No matter how much this angers them, we will struggle for Eretz Yisrael. And you should know, this is only the beginning of a series of actions to renew the settlement momentum in Judea and Samaria, as a response to the policy of surrender and strangulation, as a response to the policy of the sin of the spies.

It is clear to everyone that this will not be simple. Our political leaders have gotten wind of the new spirit that blows through the hills of Judea and Samaria; and it is clear to all that the authorities will attempt to repress this spirit. And here, the Holy One, blessed be He, has given us the strongest tool for contending with this threat: this Shabbat we read in the portion of Devarim what is the necessary condition for possessing the Land (Deuteronomy 1:21): “See, the Lord your G-d has placed the land at your disposal, Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the G-d of your fathers, promised you. Fear not and be not dismayed.” And further on in the same chapter (verses 29-30): “I said to you, ‘Have no dread or fear of them. None other than the Lord your G-d, who goes before you, will fight for you.’”

 What I understand from this, with my limited comprehension, is that the Holy One, blessed be He, is telling us: In order to take possession of the Land - you may not fear; not only your external enemies, for it is clearly forbidden to fear them. Mainly, have no fear of your weak leaders. And if they want to hand over parts of the homeland to the enemy - do not be afraid to rise up against them! Do not be afraid of threats, intimidation, the Bolshevik methods of forcing people to shut their mouths. “Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the G-d of your fathers, promised you.”

Two years after the expulsion, I want to tell you: enough crying, enough mourning, enough of the submissive mamlakhtiyut (state-orientation). Now is the time to correct the sin of the spies. Now is the time to struggle for Eretz Yisrael, both to return to the places that were abandoned to the Arab enemy, and to struggle for the places that the government wants to give over now to the Arab enemy. I hope to see you all the day after tomorrow, on Wednesday, in Efrat, at 4:00 p.m. Together, we will go up with the families and establish the settlement on the Eitam Hill.

May it be His will that this new spirit, that so strongly desires to struggle for Eretz Israel, without fear of the authorities, will succeed in entering the entire people, and together we will free our land from domestic and external enemies; we will, with G-d’s help, return to Gush Katif and northern Samaria, we will impose Israeli sovereignty over all of Eretz Israel; we will build thousands of homes everywhere in Judea and Samaria; and, at long last, we will drive out the Hamas foxes who run about on the Temple Mount and desecrate the place where we will rebuild our Temple. Thus, with G-d’s help, we will save the people of Israel from its horrendous leaders; and thus, with G-d’s help, we will bring closer our righteous Messiah, speedily in our days, Amen.
********************************************************************
You are invited to join Women in Green’s first ever, all inclusive, guided tour to the center of the struggle for Israel’s heartland. Don’t just read about what’s going on in Judea and Samaria, see everything with your own eyes and meet the real people who are standing firm against those who want to surrender parts of our Holy Land. This fall, we will take you “beyond the wall” for an unforgettable experience. For more information please contact <therealisrael@womeningreen.org>.
********************************************************************

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow  (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org
To make a contribution through Paypal, go to:

Click Here to Donate using paypal!

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

Israeli Court overturns acquittal of government critic 0

Israeljustice.com
July 19, 2007
http://www.israeljustice.com/news2.asp?key=76

JERUSALEM — An Israeli court has overturned a lower court’s decision to acquit a Jewish dissident on charges of insulting a government official who played a major role in the expulsion of 16,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in 2005.

On July 19, the Jerusalem District Court ordered the re-trial of Jewish dissident Nadia Matar, who had been acquitted of insulting a public official. Matar, head of Women in Green, was the first Jewish nationalist prosecuted under a 1936 law of the British Mandate.

“It was once again proven that the judicial system in Israel pushes for the enemy of the Jewish people,” Matar, a mother of six, said. “That means it has no problem to persecute anyone who shows loyalty to the Land of Israel.”

The decision came one day after the Knesset Constitution and Law Committee approved a bill to cancel the indictments of non-violent demonstrators against the expulsion. The legislation must be voted by the
full parliament.

In 2004, Matar wrote a scathing letter to Disengagement Authority director Jonathan Bassi, responsible for the eviction and resettlement of Jewish residents of the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank to trailer
parks in Israel. Matar said Bassi’s role was similar to that of the Judenraat, the Nazi-appointed Jewish administration that helped liquidate the ghettos in Eastern Europe during World War II.

Matar contended that her letter was a legitimate act of protest. The defense cited numerous examples whereby authorities refused to prosecute left-wing activists who condemned officials and military commanders. Defense attorney Yoram Sheftel pointed to the daughter of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who in a demonstration in 2006 called then-Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz a “murderer.”

“I have shown that the decision to prosecute individuals from one side of the political spectrum contrasts to the decision to prosecute individuals on the other side of the politicial spectrum,” Sheftel said. “The
prosecutor’s office cannot decide what is legitimate for public debate and what is not.”

On Sept. 10, 2006, Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge David Mintz, himself branded a war criminal by a left-wing critic, dismissed the indictment against Matar. Two months later, the state appealed Matar’s acquittal in Jerusalem’s District Court.
 
In its ruling, the appeal court said Matar failed to prove that authorities had targeted her while ignoring violations by left-wing activists. The court ordered the case returned to the Jerusalem
Magistrate’s Court for another trial.

“If they think they can scare us, just the opposite,” Matar said. “We will increase our activities for guarding the Land of Israel.”

* * *
Newsflash from Arutz 7 on same topic:
 
Matar: Legal System Persecutes Loyal Jews
July 19, 2007
by IsraelNationalNews.com

“Women in Green” co-chairwoman Nadia Matar said Thursday that “the same system of state attorneys and courts - most of them leftist extremists who don’t object to the release of Arab terrorists - continues to persecute Jews who are loyal to the Land of Israel.” 

Matar’s criticism of the legal system came shortly after the Jerusalem District Court overturned an earlier decision erasing an indictment against her.  Matar now once again faces charges of insulting a public servant for calling Disengagement Authority (Sela) head Yonaton Bassi “a modern-day version of the Judenrat.”


********************************************************************
You are invited to join Women in Green’s first ever, all inclusive, guided tour to the center of the struggle for Israel’s heartland. Don’t just read about what’s going on in Judea and Samaria, see everything with your own eyes and meet the real people who are standing firm against those who want to surrender parts of our Holy Land. This fall, we will take you “beyond the wall” for an unforgettable experience. For more information please contact <therealisrael@womeningreen.org>.

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

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow  (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To make a contribution through Paypal, go to:

https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=wfit2@womeningreen.org&cn=Note+to+Women+in+Green&tax=0&currency_code=USD

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

Column One: Bush, the talented politician 0

Caroline Glick, THE JERUSALEM POST
July 20, 2007
In the twilight of George W. Bush’s presidency, the president has shown himself to be a small and unpopular leader, but a fairly good politician.

A good politician is someone who knows how to get people to support him by making them believe that he agrees with them, even when the policies he advances are contrary to their wishes and interests. Bush’s success in endearing himself to his supporters comes across clearly in his administration’s handling of Iran.

For the past four years, US military commanders have provided mountains of evidence demonstrating unequivocally that Iran is the central force behind the terror and violence in Iraq. Iran arms the forces terrorizing the Iraqi people and fighting coalition forces. Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hizbullah forces direct and organize the insurgency. Al-Qaida operatives in Iraq receive their orders from al-Qaida leaders who have been operating in Iran since December 2001.

Iran’s activities in Iraq are not limited to directing the terror war. In the Kurdish areas in northern Iraq, Iran exploits its close relations with Kurdish President Masoud Barzani to undermine US-Turkish relations. On Tuesday, Michael Rubin, who serves as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and previously worked as an adviser to the Pentagon in Iraq, discussed this situation in testimony before the House Foreign Relations committee.

Rubin testified that “Barzani has provided safe-haven and arms to PKK terrorists responsible for the deaths in Turkey of more than 100 people since January alone.” Stemming from this state of affairs, in recent weeks, US-Turkish relations, and especially US relations with the anti-Islamist Turkish military, have reached an all time low. For the first time there is a distinct possibility that Turkey may withdraw from NATO. This state of affairs transpires as Turkey’s Islamist Prime Minister Recip Erdogan moves to strengthen Turkey’s relations with Iran and Syria.

At his press conference last week, Bush spoke forthrightly about Iran’s role in the Iraq war. Bush said, “The fight in Iraq is part of a broader struggle that’s unfolding across the region…The same regime in Iran that is pursuing nuclear weapons and threatening to wipe Israel off the map is also providing sophisticated IEDs to extremists in Iraq who are using them to kill American soldiers.” Bush also pointed his finger at Hizbullah and Syria for the central role they too play in the war.

Bush’s remarks were music to the ears of those who have been urging the US to confront the Iranians. But unfortunately, his statement last week, like countless statements that preceded it, was not matched by any revision of the administration’s Iran policy. That policy, which the Bush administration has pressed for the past four years, is characterized by continuous and consistently escalating attempts to appease Iran’s leaders.

Two months ago the administration held the first US diplomatic contacts with Iranian officials since the Islamic revolution in 1979. With the declared goal of convincing the Iranians to put out the fires they are lighting in Iraq, the administration dispatched its ambassador in Iraq to meet with Iranian diplomats.

Iran responded to this radical departure from traditional US policy with unbridled contempt. Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei taunted, “”Why don’t you admit that you are weak and your razor is blunt?” Days after the meeting, the Iranians announced that they had arrested four US citizens who were in Iran visiting their relatives. This week, two sickly looking American female prisoners were paraded before television cameras presumptively admitting that they had been working as US agents to subvert the Iranian regime.

The administration responded to this outrage by on the one hand, expressing outrage, and on the other hand, by intensifying its efforts to mollify the mullahs by renewing direct talks between the US ambassador in Iraq and his Iranian interlocutors.

The absurdity and defeatism inherent in the administration’s abject refusal to change course was given full expression in the following exchange between a reporter and State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack on Tuesday.

Question: Given that you have not seen… anything, [from] the first [meeting that] could be helpful. Why do you have reason to believe that another one would be any more successful than the first one if you haven’t seen any change yet?

Answer: Well, we’ll see. That depends on the Iranians. That’s going to be up to them. As I said, it could be helpful. It could be useful to be able to have that direct exchange and to convey a message, once again, directly to them. But we’ll see. This is entirely dependent upon the Iranians and what they decide to do vis-a-vis Iraq.

There can be little doubt that most Americans do not wish to be humiliated by Iran. And yet, due to Bush’s strident anti-Iranian rhetoric, the administration has reined in criticism of its Iran policy even as that policy is causing the US to take daily Iranian attacks against its soldiers, citizens and vital interests lying down. Rather than object to this failed policy, Bush’s supporters are led to believe that there must be more to what is happening than meets the eye, when in fact there isn’t.

It is against this background that one should approach Bush’s speech Monday regarding the Palestinian conflict with Israel. In his address, as in his statements on Iran, Bush was careful to make his supporters think that he agrees with them even as he advances a policy they dislike.

Bush’s success in convincing his supporters that he is on their side was clearly evidenced Wednesday in a Wall Street Journal op-ed authored by Israeli historian Michael Oren. Oren’s article, which the White House later distributed to Jewish leaders, upheld the address as an amplification of the Bush Doctrine. In Oren’s view, “Never before has any American president placed the onus of demonstrating a commitment to peace so emphatically on Palestinian shoulders.” And in fact, the president did have some strong words for the Palestinians. He said they “must match their words denouncing terror with action to combat terror. The Palestinian government must arrest terrorists, dismantle their infrastructure, and confiscate illegal weapons - as the road map requires. They must work to stop attacks on Israel, and to free the Israeli soldier held hostage by extremists. And they must enforce the law without corruption, so they can earn the trust of their people, and of the world. Taking these steps will enable the Palestinians to have a state of their own. And there’s only way to end the conflict, and nothing less is acceptable.”

This strong statement led Oren to assert that Bush’s speech was a clear message of support for Israel and against Palestinian terrorism. Yet the statement, and others that Oren quoted in his defense of Bush, were wholly disconnected from the actual policy that Bush is advancing and that he spelled out clearly in his address.

Neither on Monday nor at any other time did Bush condition his support for the Palestinians on their taking concerted action against terrorism. Indeed, as he made clear in his speech, his policy is predicated on the basic assumption that the Palestinians must be bribed with money, American legitimacy and Israeli lands, and that Israel must be pressured to make more and more concessions to the Palestinians before one can expect them to change their terrorist policies, values and goals.

Far from revisiting this assumption after Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s US-trained Fatah forces surrendered to Hamas in Gaza last month, administration officials responded to the rout by intensifying their belief in it.

Take for example Bush’s demand that Abbas arrest terrorists. Bush made this demand while simultaneously upholding Abbas as a peace-seeking, terror abhorring leader. Yet Abbas’s one consistent demand is for Israel to release terrorists from prison and grant amnesty to terror commanders it has yet to arrest.

Today the administration has made preventing a Hamas takeover of Judea and Samaria its immediate goal. Monday morning The Washington Post reported that since the Hamas takeover of Gaza, US intelligence agencies have concluded that the only thing preventing Hamas from taking over Judea and Samaria is the IDF. As one senior intelligence official put it, “Israeli military operations are the major factor restricting Hamas activity [in the areas].” Yet rather than urge Israel to maintain its counter-terror operations, Bush said that the Israelis should find “practical ways to reduce their footprint” in Judea and Samaria. He also pledged $80 million to Fatah militias whose officer corps are teeming with the same terrorists that Abbas is supposed to be arresting.

Bush told the Palestinians that this is a “moment of choice” for them. It is time for them to decide if they are for terror or peace. But then, he said the same thing five years ago. Since then, at every decision point, the Palestinians chose terror. They have built terror armies and amassed terror arsenals. The have strengthened their ties to Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and al-Qaida. They overwhelmingly elected Hamas to lead them. But in the interests of advancing its policy of appeasement, the Bush administration abjectly refuses to acknowledge that the Palestinians have already chosen.

Abbas is the man that Bush believes will cause the Palestinians to have a change of heart. Bush places his trust in Abbas - the man who has pocketed billions of dollars in assistance from the US, the EU and Israel but has never lifted a finger against terrorists or done anything to end the corruption endemic in his government. Bush upholds Abbas, who equipped his US-trained forces with anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles which are completely useless for fighting terror cells but come in mighty handy for fighting Israel.

Israel’s assigned role in this diplomatic farce is the patsy. Due to the exigencies of democratic politics, and in the absence of leadership on either side, over the past few years, US-Israel relations have taken on a sado-masochistic quality. To endear himself with the State Department and Europe, Bush has chosen to insist that Israel endanger itself. To survive in office, Olmert, like Ariel Sharon before him, has agreed to endanger Israel in order to secure the support of the Left in his governing coalition, the media, and the State Prosecutor’s office.

The one conclusion that cries out from all of this is that in the waning days of the Bush administration, and perhaps of the Olmert government, the American and Israeli publics need to find ways to make it clear that they demand good leaders, not good politicians.


********************************************************************
You are invited to join Women in Green’s first ever, all inclusive, guided tour to the center of the struggle for Israel’s heartland. Don’t just read about what’s going on in Judea and Samaria, see everything with your own eyes and meet the real people who are standing firm against those who want to surrender parts of our Holy Land. This fall, we will take you “beyond the wall” for an unforgettable experience. For more information please contact <therealisrael@womeningreen.org>.

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

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow  (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To make a contribution through Paypal, go to:

https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=wfit2@womeningreen.org&cn=Note+to+Women+in+Green&tax=0&currency_code=USD

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

Upcoming Activities 0

The struggle for Jewish sovereignty over Eretz Yisrael is at its height. While the Olmert government, backed by Oslo architect President Peres are pushing to “get rid” of our Biblical homeland and hand it over to the Arab enemy - thousands and thousands of Jews are packing backpacks, sleeping bags, tents and lots of Jewish determination to keep the Land of Israel in Jewish hands.
 
Starting today and continuing the next days, weeks and months, we will witness the struggle for the return to Chomesh and the struggle to settle different hills in Judea and Samaria, starting with the hill of Eitam in Efrat, Gush Etzion. The more people participate, the more chance we have to succeed. For all those who cannot be there physically - you can help too:
 
a) Financially - by sending us donations to keep up the struggle. It is no secret that without funds, we cannot function. Leftists organizations are being funded by the European Union and other anti-Jewish organizations who give groups like “Suicide Now” (better known as “Peace Now”) millions of dollars. We need the help of Israel lovers. To donate to the cause of Eretz Israel:
http://www.womeningreen.org/help.htm
 
b) Morally - by bombarding politicians and public figures in Israel and abroad with faxes and phone calls of support for the Eretz Yisrael Campaign.
 
Women in Green calls upon all to join in the struggle for ERETZ YISRAEL!
 
Ruth and Nadia Matar

1) TUESDAY JULY 17th, 2007- CHOMESH

The Chomesh action Committee has surprised the army by declaring that they are postponing the aliya to Chomesh from today to the next few days. “We will not play into their hands” say the Chomesh people. “They [the authorities] have the power…we have the time…we will go up when WE decide. We will for sure go up to Chomesh by Tisha b”Av.

To receive details about Chomesh one can call (from Israel) the number 050-8007575 and get the latest updates.
 

2) WEDNESDAY JULY 18th- SUPPORT THE GUSH KATIF FARMERS

The Gush Katif farmers have set up a tent in Jerusalem next to the Supreme Court, across the Foreign Ministry in protest of the fact that two years have passed since the Expulsion and still no solution is in sight for the Gush Katif farmers. Come and show your support at the rally that will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, at 6:00pm.
 

3) TISHA B’AV- MONDAY EVENING, JULY 23rd

WOMEN IN GREEN ANNUAL WALK AROUND THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM’S OLD CITY
 
For Jerusalem’s Sake we will not be Silent!
 
Join the thousands of men, women, youth and children, young and old, new olim and veterans….in one word: Am Yisrael, who start the fast of Tisha B’av by reading the Lamentations together and then march around the Old City Walls to the Kotel.
 
This Tisha B’Av will also commemorate two years since the expulsion of the Jews from Gush Katif and Northern Shomron.
 
Program:
At 20:30 pm- Maariv, followed by reading of Eicha at Safra Square. Bring flag, Megillat Eicha and a flashlight to help you read.
 
At 21:30 pm- Our Walk begins, led by MK Prof. Arieh Eldad, former Prisoner of Zion Rav Yossef Mendelevitch, Attorney Yoram Sheftel and artist Dudu Elharar. We will pass the New Gate, Damascus Gate and the Flower Gate. At the Lion’s Gate we will assemble to proclaim our eternal bond to the Temple Mount where our First and Second Temples stood, and where the Third Temple will be built, speedily and in our days. We will end our Walk at the Dung gate, near the Kotel.
 
We have a police permit for the Walk. Come with your whole family, friends, neighbors and relatives. The Walk itself takes only 45 minutes. Even if you heard Eicha at your synagogue in Jerusalem and its surroundings, there will still be plenty of time to join the Walk!
For details: nmatar@netvision.net.il  fax 972-2-9309148
4) WEDNESDAY, JULY 25th, 2007- JOIN US IN SETTLING EFRAT’s EITAM HILL!

All the details about the campaign can be found on the website: www.yishuvnow.com
 
*On Wednesday,the public is asked to arrive in Efrat at 4:00pm.
*Gathering at the “Chativa” high school in the Zayit neighborhood.
*Bring walking shoes, sleeping bag, food, water, flashlight, cell phone, cameras and the spirit of Calev Ben Yefuneh and Yehoshua Bin Nun.
*Buses (with a fee) from Binyanei Hauma will leave at 2:30pm.
 
By registration only: call Hadar at  054-579-7343
 
Below, please find a call by the Rabbis of Judea calling upon the public to participate:

B”H
 
25 Tammuz 5767
 
Call by the Rabbis of Judea  “enlarge the site of your tent”
 
Join the aliya to the Eitam Hill
 
During these days of “between the straits” marking destructions and exiles, we lift our eyes and hearts to arousal, revival, and redemption.
 
The government of Israel, whose job it is to advance and strengthen the process of  “etchaltah degeula,” the beginning of redemption, unfolding in our times, unfortunately is not working in that direction.  Instead of fulfilling the call of the prophet to “enlarge the site of your tent”, the government is in effect constricting us into a “pale of settlement” and restricting the growth of our communities.  Instead of fulfilling the prophet’s promise that “Jerusalem shall be peopled as a city without walls,” the government is putting us behind walls and fences.

Every man, woman, and youth for whom the good of the nation and its future is close to his or her heart, is called upon to join the ascent to Givat Eitam on Wednesday, the 10th of Av, together with the  families planning to settle there.
 
Givat Eitam, part of Efrat’s municipal development plan and intended to house 2500 families, will serve – God willing – as a rallying point for halting the capitulation and as an impetus for building and development, as the hills of the Zayit,  the Tamar, and the Dagan were in their times.
 
We call upon the entire public, and especially the residents of Efrat, to participate in the ascent to Givat Eitam.
 
Shake off the dust from yourselves, arise, dress in your garments of glory, my people!
 
Wake up!  Wake up!  For your light has come.  Arise and shine!
 
 
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
Chief Rabbi of Efrat

Rabbi Dov Lior
Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Arba-Hevron
 
Rabbi Matanya Ben Shachar, Rabbi of Neve Daniel
Rabbi David Bar Nitzan, Efrat
Rabbi Daniel Cohen, Rabbi of Bat Ayin
Rabbi Yaron Dorani, Rabbi of Nokdim-El David
Rabbi Menahem Fruman, Rabbi of Tekoa
Rabbi Shimon Golan, member, Lishkat HaRabbanut, Efrat
Rabbi Haim Iram,Rabbi of Elazar
Rabbi Shlomo Kimchi, Rosh Yeshiva, “Orot Yehuda,” Efrat
Rabbi Tzvi Leshem, Rabbi of the “Shirat Shlomo” synagogue, Efrat
Rabbi Moshe Levinger, father of the Jewish community of Hevron
Rabbi Eran Moshe Margalit, Rabbi of Karmei Tzur
Rabbi Gideon Perl, Rabbi of Alon Shvut
Rabbi Channan Porat, Kfar Etzion
Rabbi Uzi Sharbaf, head of Kollel Shalhevet, Hevron
Rabbi Rafael Tawil, Alon Shvut
Rabbi Aharon Toledano, head, Machon Torani Barkai, Efrat
Rabbi Avi Walfish, Tekoa

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

You are invited to join Women in Green’s first ever, all inclusive, guided tour to the center of the struggle for Israel’s heartland. Don’t just read about what’s going on in Judea and Samaria, see everything with your own eyes and meet the real people who are standing firm against those who want to surrender parts of our Holy Land. This fall, we will take you “beyond the wall” for an unforgettable experience. For more information please contact <therealisrael@womeningreen.org>.

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


=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow  (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org
To make a contribution via our secure server or through Paypal, go to: https://host5.apollohosting.com/womeningreen/funds/donation/donation.htmlTo subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to
To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

Our World: The joke’s on us 0

********************************************************************
You are invited to join Women in Green’s first ever, all inclusive, guided tour to the center of the struggle for Israel’s heartland. Don’t just read about what’s going on in Judea and Samaria, see everything with your own eyes and meet the real people who are standing firm against those who want to surrender parts of our Holy Land. This fall, we will take you “beyond the wall” for an unforgettable experience. For more information please contact <therealisrael@womeningreen.org>.

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

Caroline Glick, THE JERUSALEM POST
July 17, 2007
‘It’s all a joke. It’s just a joke.” That’s how the Palestinian terror commanders in Judea and Samaria explained the show they made of handing in their weapons to Fatah commander Mahmoud Abbas’s official militias over the weekend.

“This is all a big joke,” they told reporters while posing for pictures. “Abbas asked us to sign a declaration saying we won’t attack Israel and so we are.” And why not? The Palestinian Authority Chairman agreed to pay them thousands of dollars in exchange for the photo opportunities. There is also the non-financial incentive. In exchange for their propaganda photos and their signatures on declarations not to engage in terror anymore, Israel has pledged to take these murderers off of its wanted list. So just for participating in a satire, these men get to walk without fear for the first time in years.

The deal between Prime Minister Olmert and Abbas claims that 178 members of Fatah’s Aksa Martyrs’ Brigades terror organization will hand in their weapons and pledge to stop being terrorists. From now on the only Palestinians in Judea and Samaria who will bear arms will be members of Abbas’s “official” security forces. But since most of these men are already members of those official militias, and the rest are set to be commissioned in short order, the deal has no impact on any of them.

In anticipation of the formalization of the agreement at the Olmert-Abbas meeting yesterday, the IDF ended its nightly raids in Judea and Samaria for the first time in five years. Those raids, in which thousands of terrorists were apprehended in their sleep and their networks disrupted, were the main reason that Israelis in Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, Netanya and Hadera have been able to sleep in a modicum of safety for the past three years.

It is these raids, rather than Abbas’s vaunted efforts to strengthen the so-called peace camp in Palestinian society or the security fence that have prevented suicide bombers from entering Israeli cities with any frequency.

SATURDAY the IDF’s General Staff ordered Central Command to receive prior General Staff approval for any such raids in the future. By taking the ability to fight terrorists away from the commanders in the field, the General Staff essentially made fighting terrorists off limits for IDF forces in Judea and Samaria. That is, without officially announcing it, Israel has agreed to Abbas’s demand that it extend its “unilateral cease-fire” in Gaza (which existed until Hamas rose to power last month), to Judea and Samaria.

It should be recalled that the Hamas takeover of Gaza was abetted by Israel’s decision to declare a unilateral cease-fire there. Israel stood down in Gaza in an effort to strengthen Abbas’s control over that area. Since Abbas refused to use his US and Egyptian supplied arsenal to take on Hamas, Israel’s decision to stand down in Gaza played a central role in enabling Hamas to raise its Iranian-trained terror army in the area to which Abbas’s forces abjectly surrendered.

Now, in the interest of strengthening Abbas and his terrorists-turned peace activists in Fatah in Judea and Samaria, Israel is extending the policy to the outskirts of its major population centers.

While disturbing, the General Staff cannot be blamed for ordering its forces to stand down in Judea and Samaria. The 178 terrorists who Olmert just took off the wanted list are themselves the IDF’s main targets.

TAKE Daoud Hajj for example. On February 19, 2002 Hajj commanded an Aksa Brigade’s attack on an IDF roadblock near Ramallah. The terrorists killed three off-duty soldiers in their sleep and another three soldiers who came to their rescue. After the attack, Hajj was given an officer’s commission in the Palestinian security forces and moved into Arafat’s presidential compound in Ramallah. He still lives in what has become Abbas’s compound.

On Monday, Aaron Klein in World Net Daily released several other names on the list of pardoned murderers. These include the commanders and deputy commanders of the Aksa Brigades in Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin. Ala Senakreh and Nasser Abu Azziz in Nablus were the masterminds of all the suicide bombings in Israel in 2005 and 2006 that emanated from Judea and Samaria.

Kamal Ranam, from Ramallah commanded scores of shooting attacks against Israeli motorists in Judea and Samaria last year. In one such attack, against a school bus carrying middle-school girls, Ranam and his men boasted that they used US weapons that had just been shipped to Abbas to carry out the attack.

Zacharia Zudbeidi, the Aksa Brigades commander in Jenin is the darling of the Israeli Left due in large part to his well-developed propaganda skills and gutter Hebrew. Zubeidi has directed at least two suicide bombings and overseen scores of shooting attacks that have claimed the lives of dozens of Israeli civilians and soldiers.

And now, all of these men are free to go about their business in the open.

THE GOVERNMENT’S decision to grant immunity to these terror-masters represents a complete breakdown of Israeli strategic thinking. This cognitive break with reality is all the more disconcerting as it comes at a time when Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and the Palestinians remain firmly on war-footing.

The conference of Lebanese factions being held this week outside of Paris, which includes Hizbullah representatives, is a major victory for Hizbullah and Iran. In light of the clear Hizbullah and Iranian intention of dominating Lebanon and opening a new round of war with Israel, the Sarkozy government’s decision to treat Hizbullah as a legitimate political force in Lebanon is both misguided and dangerous - especially to Israel.

But then, it is nearly impossible to pin the blame on the French since Israel too is strengthening its enemies. The Aksa Brigades have deep and abiding ties to Syria, Iran and Hizbullah. Since 2001, much of the Aksa Brigades terror activity has been financed and directed by all three. Indeed, since 2000, there has been little distinction between the Aksa Brigades and Islamic Jihad, which is an overtly Iranian organization. Given this, it was no surprise when the Palestinian Authority offered to acquire Israeli clemency for Islamic Jihad terrorists as well.

The fact that Abbas himself is interested in strengthening Fatah ties with Iran, Syria and Hizbullah is made clear by his insistence that Olmert permit Fatah leader Farouk Kadoumi and DFLP leader Naif Hawatmeh to enter Judea and Samaria. Kadoumi, who has never accepted the so-called peace process with Israel, is a frequent visitor to Iran. In a visit there last November, Kadoumi met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Manoucher Mouttaki. There he attacked the US for its refusal to recognize Hamas and applauded Iran for its plan to destroy Israel. Kadoumi said, “With the grace of Almighty God and firm determination of our youths and brotherly stands adopted by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its leadership we will liberate Palestine and will say our prayers in Holy Jerusalem.”

As for Hawatmeh, the unrepentant murderer of 22 Israeli children at the Ma’alot massacre in 1974 has been living in Damascus for the past generation. He is widely seen as an agent of Syria’s intelligence services.

But, Abbas claims that these men are necessary to fight Hamas and so Israel has let them in.

FROM THE Palestinian perspective, there is no reason to suffice with Israel’s military capitulation. After all, if Israel is willing to accept Fatah’s lies, then why limit them? And so, ahead of Olmert’s meeting with Abbas, Fatah Prime Minister Salam Fayad said that it would be “pathological” for Israel to believe that military capitulation is all that is required of it. Israel, Fayad said, must renew negotiations toward its withdrawal from Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem as well. Otherwise, he said, Fatah will never be strong enough to fight Hamas.

It is not coincidental that this entire exercise in national suicide has taken place this week. It is a fitting backdrop to the ascension of Israel’s high priest of national delusion - Shimon Peres - to the presidency. Peres is the architect of Israel’s decision to embrace lies and reject truth as a national strategy.

Israel’s new head of state is the man who, as Israel’s foreign minister in 2001 traveled to the US in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and told the UN General Assembly that the proper response to the attacks on Washington and New York was Palestinian statehood and nanotechnology.

This is the man who demands an end to the study of history which he deems counterproductive to looking toward the nanotechnological future.

This is the man who in 1993 forced Israel’s Zionist establishment to its knees by insisting that Yasser Arafat was a man of peace.

This is the man who in 2002 oversaw US President George W. Bush’s abandonment of his demand that the Palestinians fight terror as a condition for US support of Palestinian statehood.

The role of Israel’s president is by law restricted to ceremonial functions. But Peres didn’t even wait to be sworn in before he announced his intention to ignore both the letter and spirit of the law in his single-minded quest to realize his dream of peace through Israeli capitulation to terror.

And really, why should he care what the law says? Peres is arguably the strongest man in Israeli politics since David Ben Gurion. He controls Kadima and Labor. He enjoys the complete backing of the print and broadcast media and the legal establishment. He enjoys massive support from Israel’s plutocrats. And so, as he enters his 85th year, Peres is right to feel unfettered in backing the Palestinians against Israel in the name of peace.

For the Palestinians this is a joke. For Peres this is a dream. And for the Olmert government this is national policy.

The Israeli people must remember to laugh when the bombs begin to drop.


=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow  (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To make a contribution via our secure server or through Paypal, go to: https://host5.apollohosting.com/womeningreen/funds/donation/donation.html

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

A TIME TO BUILD 0

********************************************************************
You are invited to join Women in Green’s first ever, all inclusive, guided tour to the center of the struggle for Israel’s heartland. Don’t just read about what’s going on in Judea and Samaria, see everything with your own eyes and meet the real people who are standing firm against those who want to surrender parts of our Holy Land. This fall, we will take you “beyond the wall” for an unforgettable experience. For more information please contact <therealisrael@womeningreen.org>.

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

A TIME TO BUILD
by Sharon Katz, Editor of VOICES
voices@actcom.co.il

The time-honored golden vision of settling the Land of Israel has dulled lately. Instead of priding itself in the reclamation of mountain and desert lands, the State of Israel has been intent on undoing the communities of Yesha, and giving away their ‘riches’ to the enemies of our people.

While once only “hilltop mavericks” were in danger of having their caravans totaled, the destruction of entire Jewish towns in Gaza and Northern Shomron has proven that all of Israel’s settlement enterprise is being threatened.

Still reeling from the physical, mental and spiritual damage caused by the demolition of Gush Katif, land-lovers have made a slow comeback But come back they have.

Now, having tried out the orange public on a few spins around the hills of Chomesh and Eitam, the “Settlement Now” movement is ready to get serious.

Prepare your sleeping bags, friends. And start freezing your water bottles. The hills will once again be alive with the sound of music, prayer and laughter.

Five communities are set to be established this summer, IY”H - Chomesh II (the sequel hopes to be even better than the original) in the Shomron, Eitam next to Efrat (actually within official Efrat boundaries), Harchivi next to Elon Moreh, Shvut Ami next to Kedumim, a new hilltop next to Chashmonaim, and BE”H, Tirza, another new settlement in the Shomron.

Singles, couples and families young and old are lined up to rejoin the settlement enterprise and breathe new life into our ancient mountains and into the souls of Am Yisrael.

The return to the hills is being coordinated by The Action Committees of Efrat-Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arbah-Hebron, and Har Hebron together with the Land of Israel Faithful, Youth for Eretz Yisrael, Women in Green, Nahalal Forum, Maginey Eretz, Professors for a Strong Israel, Mateh LeHatzalat Ha’am ve’Haaretz, the Council of Yesha Rabbis, Mateh Tsafon and Megurashei Gush Katif (Committee of Gush Katif Expellees).

Settlement in the Air

As Voices went to press, the imminent resettlement of Chomesh was at hand. Nadia Matar, co-chairwoman of Women in Green explained, “We’re adding another layer to the struggle for Eretz Yisrael. In addition to going up to Chomesh and returning to places that were abandoned, we have to fight for the places that they want to abandon. We’re going forward.”

Nadia said, “Our daily routines have to be put on hold now. Did you know that the letters for the term ‘routine’ (shigra) are the same as the letters for ‘expulsion’ (gerush)? If we continue in our regular routines, we’ll find ourselves facing the next expulsion.”

She compared the current depressed national atmosphere to that of Israel after the Yom Kippur War. People felt that the political leadership was corrupt. They had lost faith in their leaders, who had no Zionist values or Jewish ideals. “Just like today,” she said. “What changed the mood of the people? The Gush Emunim settler movement!”

“The national compass has gone off course,” Nadia said. “We have to go back to the old fashion values of loyalty to our Land and our people.”

The Eitam

While a total of six new communities are on the charts, Efrat’s Eitam is the next one up after Chomesh (scheduled for Tuesday, July 17), because its situation is the most urgent. The Barrier Wall threatens to cut off the Eitam from the rest of Efrat, leaving the community stifled and unable to accommodate its next generation.

The establishment of the new Eitam neighborhood is planned, IY”H, for Wednesday, July 25, 10 Av, exactly two years since the destruction of Gush Katif and Northern Shomron. Construction to atone for destruction. Young families will be moving into pre-fab structures with simple water, bathroom and generator hook-ups.

The last time Efrat’s residents moved out to the hilltops in a grand way was the summer of 1995 when the Oslo Agreement called for the Dagan to be given over to the Arabs. Efrat’s women led the battle with hundreds of Efrat and Gush Etzion families behind them. They were taken down from the mountain several times, but now there is a thriving yeshiva on the hill - proving that IY”H people’s actions can make a difference.

Voices drove up to the Eitam recently with a convoy of cars going to investigate illegal Arab building on the hill. The growing excitement surrounding Efrat’s expansion onto the Eitam had made the Arabs nearby frantic, and they began dumping their garbage there. Trying to lay claim illegally to the hilltop, they dug a deep foundation for a building, and prepared a large stone structure.

After complaining about these infractions to the Minhal Ezrachi (Civil Administration) and waiting for action against the illegal Arab building, the area Action Committees  finally asked residents to come up to the Eitam and dismantle any illegal structures the Minhal hadn’t.

When the residents arrived, work gloves in hand, fresh tractor marks could be seen on the summit. The structures were gone.

I trekked up in a high jeep through the Arab village of Wadi Raychal. Its basketball court was packed with teenagers playing ball. Some rushed to the court’s fence to eye us. Others continued playing. We traveled next to walls of stone painted with crosses. Those walls bordered land owned by the Franciscan church - Beit Yitomim Artas.

Eitam was everything its supporters said it was - H-U-G-E, beautiful, with a 360 degree panoramic view of the area. In one direction Bethlehem lay directly at our feet, in another the majestic Herodion, further south east Tekoa stood upon its mountains, and then behind us, separated by a 12-minute drive, the rest of Efrat.

More Than a Pretty View

Zahava Englard, a member of Efrat’s Action committee said, “Eitam is the center of Gush Etzion. Strategically whoever stands on that hill, because of its height and vastness, controls both the Zaatra Bypass Road and Route 60 - vital links to Jerusalem. Eitam connects Gush Etzion East to Gush Etzion West. It would be illogical to relinquish this hill to our enemy. ”

Efrat’s Mayor Eli Mizrachi is also serious about holding on to the Eitam. Officially, the Mayor is like an expectant father - waiting for the stork to deliver the good news that his town can expand across all its hills, but feeling that he can’t do as much as he’d like to speed up the process. The status of the Eitam, which is state land, is currently in the courts, because of Arab ownership claims.

The entire process is expected to a conclude soon, and while the Mayor is anticipating that Efrat will be found true owner of the land, he doesn’t feel he can take any actions on the hill until the decision comes through.

[Recently Efrat tried to work on completely unclaimed land right in the middle of town, and representatives of the Civil Administration immediately stopped the town in mid-air. Residents questioned, “How could the Minhal have responded so quickly, when it takes weeks if not months for it to investigate Arab illegal building? Luck? A satellite aimed at Efrat? An informer?”]

“The massive Eitam hilltop is 40% of all the land area of Efrat,” Eli told Voices. “It’s our reserve land after the Dagan and the Tamar. About 2000 housing units are planned for the hill. If the court confirms that the Eitam is our land, then we can act immediately. Plus, then I can ask for the Separation Barriers to be moved.”

“The government says, ‘The wall doesn’t protect land. It protects people.’ When the court renders its decision, we can go up to the Eitam with the many people who have volunteered to move there. Former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said originally that as soon as there are people living on the Eitam, he’d be willing to move the Barrier.”

Eitam Fever

Residents of Efrat are beginning to catch Eitam Fever, according to Action Committee member Judy Auerbach, “The people of Efrat are very eager to establish another neighborhood. It’s very disconcerting for many people to see the Wall coming up and cutting us off from the rest of Efrat [the Eitam] and parts of Gush Etzion.”

The enthusiasm and support of the community will be put to the test very soon, Judy said. “We’re going up on 10 Av, as a nechama (comfort), to show that we are continuing to live in the Land of Israel, and in the memory of the Jewish homes of Gush Katif that were destroyed. This is our Zionist response.”

Judy added, “The establishment of a community on the Eitam is a wonderful way to express our love of our land, our community and our history. Renewed settlement activity and a determined struggle for every place in the land of Israel are the key to Israel’s salvation.”

To be part of building the Land of Israel, you may send a shekel check to Women for Israel’s Tomorrow (earmarked Eitam Hill), PO Box 1269, Efrat 90435, Israel.

Dollar donations may be written to Central Fund of Israel (earmarked Eitam), and mailed to Michele Wechsler, 28/2 Pitum HaKetoret, Efrat 90435.

For further information: Zahava 052-4846034, Nadia 050-5500834, Judy 050-8823313, Anita 050-5777254, Datya 050-5246770.

Or visit: http://www.yishuvnow.com (where, among other things, you can see a short video clip about the campaign)


=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow  (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To make a contribution via our secure server or through Paypal, go to: https://host5.apollohosting.com/womeningreen/funds/donation/donation.html

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

THE FALSE MESSIAH NAMED “THE PEACE PROCESS” 0

Letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green) Jerusalem
Thursday, July 12, 2007

 
Dear Friends,
 
In yesterday’s Jerusalem Post there was an excellent op-ed article entitled “Beware of false messiahs” by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. (Rabbi Riskin is the rabbi of the town of Efrat in Judea, where three of our four children and their families reside.)
 
Rabbi Riskin tells the story of how he once called his wife from abroad to tell her that he felt deathly ill after having eaten a portion of fish in a restaurant, which didn’t taste “right”.
 
“How much of the fish did you eat?” his wife asked. “About half the portion,” Rabbi Riskin replied. His wife’s answer was, “The first bite was the restaurant’s fault, but the second bite was your fault!”
 
The following is Rabbi Riskin’s article in its entirety:

 

Beware of false messiahs
By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
Reading the newspapers and listening to radio news gives me a feeling of deja vu. Israel is (again) negotiating with Mahmoud Abbas to free Palestinian prisoners, just as we did with Yasser Arafat - because we must “strengthen the moderate Palestinian leadership” against the more radical Hamas.
 
We are turning over tax money to Abbas to help the Palestinians on the West Bank economically, just as we did with Arafat - because, we are informed, we must “strengthen the moderate Palestinian leadership” against the more radical Hamas.
 
And we are being urged by the US State Department to ease up on the various West Bank checkpoint restrictions to make daily life more liveable for the Palestinians just as we did with Arafat - because, we are advised, we must strengthen the moderate secular leadership against the more fanatically religious Hamas.
 
But we were tragically disappointed by Arafat. His Oslo package turned out to be a Trojan Horse, and what we got in exchange for land concessions was not peace, but more terror.
 
And even when former prime minister Ehud Barak offered the Palestinian chieftain 96-97% of the West Bank and a land swap for the remaining 3-4%, he declared unequivocally (in Arabic) that his intention was not to go back to the pre ‘67 lines, but rather to the pre- ‘48 situation - before there was a State of Israel. Indeed, his response to the much-too-generous offer was the second intifada, in which the very Kalashnikov rifles with which Israel supplied him to supposedly fight Hamas were used against our civilians and our children.
 
IS MAHMOUD ABBAS truly a moderate, sincerely interested in making peace - or is he merely a clean-shaven, tie-sporting version of Arafat?
 
Well, he certainly had no difficulty joining a Hamas government which refused to recognize Israel, until they overthrew the sparse and craven Fatah forces in Gaza last month. He has never declared unequivocal acceptance of the Jewish state in Arabic, and he has never admitted that the Holocaust actually took place - after having written a doctorate attempting to prove that it did not.
 
And most importantly, Palestinian schoolbooks and radio, television and print media are still spewing out hateful caricatures and wretched rhetoric reviling Jews (and Zionists) and praising suicide bombers - all under Abbas’s “moderate” regime.
 
I remember once calling my wife from a London hotel room, telling her I felt deathly ill after having eaten a portion of fish which didn’t taste “right” in one of the restaurants.
 
“How much of the fish did you eat?” she asked. “About half the portion,” I replied.
 
“Well,” was her wise response, “the first bite was the restaurant’s fault, but the second bite was your fault!”
 
HOW OBTUSE can we be? How can we account for making further concessions before having any tangible proof that Abbas is different, that he does in fact recognize our right to exist in the Middle East, that he will not countenance anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist text books and media hype?
 
When I attempt to understand the psyche of our government’s actions, only one explanation comes to mind: Israel has fallen prey to belief in a false messiah named “Peace Process.”
 
How ironic it is that the West Bank settlers and religious Zionists are called the false messianists when, in truth, it is the political Left who actually belong in that category.
 
And in a way, it is difficult to blame our leaders. After five difficult wars and tens of thousands of shattered families as a result of the devastation wrought by terrorist suicide attacks, drive-by shootings and Kassam rockets, they yearn for peace - even if it is only a mirage.
 
Tragically, the one thread that connects all fake messianic movements is the failure to be influenced by facts on the ground; despite the fact that - at least in accordance to classical and normative rabbinic sources - a dead messiah cannot be the messiah.
 
Shabtai Zvi enthusiasts, Jews for Jesus and Chabad messianists continue to believe in their messiah, despite their respective passings from this world.
 
And in our case, we dare not place our citizenship at risk on the basis of an illusion. Oslo is a dead messiah; it can only be resurrected on the basis of undisputable changes on the part of Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah cohorts - in speech as well as in deed.
 
We dare not attribute to these Palestinians a “moderate” political stance of compromise simply because that is what we would like them to be thinking and saying. The first time we blindly trusted before making concessions, it was their fault; this time, it would be our fault - and the State of Israel cannot afford to become even more vulnerable as a result of further misguided concessions.
 

* * *
Has Israel lost it completely? Because of the so-called “peace process” thousands of innocent Jews have been murdered or maimed. We are presently attacked by Hamas from Gaza in the south and by Hizbullah from Lebanon in the north!
 
Surely we must not continue “to eat that rotten fish”!
 
If Israel, and I mean not only the disastrous Olmert government, but the People as well, agree to further misguided concessions because we buy the fiction that Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah have become “moderates,” we are succumbing to dangerous wishful thinking of the worst kind!
 
We may, G-d forbid, lose our beloved country, if we continue to follow the false messiah named “the peace process”!
 

With Blessings and Love for Israel,
 
Ruth Matar

********************************************************************
You are invited to join Women in Green’s first ever, all inclusive,
guided tour to the center of the struggle for Israel’s heartland.
Don’t just read about what’s going on in Judea and Samaria, see
everything with your own eyes and meet the real people who are
standing firm against those who want to surrender parts of our
Holy Land. This fall, we will take you “beyond the wall” for an
unforgettable experience. For more information please contact
<therealisrael@womeningreen.org>.
********************************************************************


=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow  (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To make a contribution via our secure server or through Paypal, go to: https://host5.apollohosting.com/womeningreen/funds/donation/donation.html

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

Next Page »