LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN)
JERUSALEM
Thursday, October 2, 2003
Dear Friends,
On September 26, on the eve of Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year, an Arab terrorist broke into a home in Negohot, A Jewish Community near Hebron, and shot dead baby girl Shaked Avraham in her rocker, and also murdered a 27 year old man, Eyal Yerberbaum. Arab terrorists have been particularly fond of staging infiltration into Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria on Sabbath and Jewish Holidays. Since the beginning of the current conflict three years ago a total of 39 Israelis were killed and over 60 wounded in such attacks. Shaked is at least the seventh baby under one year of age, to be deliberately murdered in the ongoing Oslo war of terrorism against Israel.
On September 9, a 19 year old alleged Hamas member, Ihab Abed Qadaer Abu Salim, exploded himself outside a hitchhiking stop near Tel Aviv, taking eight Israelis with him. Five and a half hours later, his cousin and neighbor, 22 year old Ramez Simi Izzedin Abu Salim, blew himself up in Jerusalem, killing seven.
What do these Arab murderers have in common? ALL THREE OF THEM WERE RELEASED FROM JAIL TWO MONTHS AGO BY THE SHARON GOVERNMENT, AFTER STRONG PRESSURE FROM THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION. This was supposed to be a confidence building measure to benefit then Prime Minister Abu Mazen and then Security Affairs Minister Mohammed Dahlan. Did President Bush ever insist on Al Queda terrorists being released as a confidence building measure towards Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein?
The United States has invested more than 100 million this year in the Palestinian security agencies, under the premise that these funds would be allocated to former PA Prime Minister Abu Mazen, and former Security Affairs Minister Mohammed Dahlan, neither of whom are any longer in power. The funds have now been diverted to forces loyal to Yasser Arafat. THAT LEAVES US SECURITY PERSONNEL IN A POSITION OF TRAINING AND ADVISING PLO ARMED FORCES, WHO NOW COORDINATE TERROR ATTACKS THROUGHOUT ISRAEL.
The question is:
WHY does the Bush Administration continue to bestow large financial grants WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT to the Palestinian Authority and Arafat, the career terrorist, who are the prime movers in this Arab terror? (The International Monitory Fund has reported that Arafat has diverted $900 million to his special account.)
WHY does Israel comply with American dictates NOT to remove Arafat, even though the Israeli Cabinet has decided that this must be done?
WHY does Israel comply when President Bush compels it not to include Ariel, a city of 22,000 inhabitants, behind the so-called security fence? Why does Ariel have to have a separate security fence with a large OPENING? So as not to annoy the Arabs? So as to make it easier for terrorists to enter?
Did you know that the United States has built a high fence, 60 miles long, with plans to add another 260 miles, to more effectively seal its border with Mexico? The U.S. thus has a formidable security barrier at the Mexican border, even though there are no Mexican terrorists intent on exploding bombs on buses in America.
WHY does Israel comply with American dictates with regard to Jews living and building in Judea and Samaria, in their own Biblical Homeland? Why does Israel cave in when the U.S. threatens to deduct any settlement spending from the total amount of U.S. loan guarantees?
In this regard, I found a very interesting article written by Israel Harel, the former Chairman of the Council that represents Jews living in Judea and Samaria, entitled "LET JEWS LIVE ON HOMELANDS". Interestingly enough, USA TODAY published this article on September 21. I think we should express our appreciation to the editor of USA TODAY at editor@usatoday.com, for having the moral courage to publish the truth.
LET JEWS LIVE ON HOMELANDS
By Israel Harel
The term Judenrein means an area cleansed of Jews. In the past, this German concept was applied throughout Europe. Now we hear American and other liberals saying that Jewish communities on the biblical land of Judea and Samaria, the cradle of the Jewish nation, must be emptied of all their inhabitants, so that even in a Jewish homeland there can be Judenrein areas. The expulsion of the Jews from Europe, which reached its height during World War II, was a manifestly barbaric and inhumane act. But there, at least, the Jews were unwelcome guests, having lived in that area for merely a thousand years or so. However, to drive out the Jewish community of Hebron, where the matriarchs and patriarchs of the Jewish people are buried and King David first ruled 3,000 years ago, is unthinkable.
The United States is dotted with towns named for biblical cities in Israel: Hebron, Shilo, Bethlehem. But according to the terminology of many in the U.S. press, the Israeli Shilo, the original one, is a "settlement," and consequently must be cleansed of Jews.
If someone decided to expel Jews from Shiloh, Ohio, or Hebron, Neb., USA TODAY might be among the first to come out against what it would likely term racism. Why then does it support the expulsion of Jews from the original Shilo - the Jewish one? Why are Jews living in their own homeland considered "an obstacle to peace"?
Why is the only place in the world where Jews cannot live - according to liberals - the very place where the Jewish faith was born, where it developed monotheism, where the Judeo-Christian civilization took shape - and where the Jewish people returned after 2,000 years of exile?
It is not the presence of Jews in the settlements that is a provocation to Palestinians; it is the presence of Jews anywhere in Israel on either side of the Green Line, the 1949 armistice line.
So, if you support the expulsion of Jews from Europe, America or anywhere else, you're a racist. But if you advocate the expulsion of Jews from the heart of their homeland, you're a liberal.
Liberals' demand to drive Jews off their own land to create a Judenrein area, in the land of the Jews, of all places, is the height of hypocrisy by those who claim to be fair-minded advocates of justice in the world.
* * *
Indeed, Israel has become a virtual Banana Republic of the United States. I do blame the Bush Administration for its heavy handed interference in Israeli affairs. But I do put even more blame on the Sharon Government. It is the responsibility of any government, above all, to protect the lives of its own citizens and its own national interest. The Sharon Government has failed miserably on both counts.
The key question, unfortunately, that guides the Sharon Government, is not whether the benefit of any particular action -- be it protecting its citizens from terror or holding on to its own Biblical Homeland, Judea and Samaria -- is worth the price of annoying or distancing the United States. In truth, Israel has become America's Banana Republic.
Is this relationship with Israel beneficial for the United States? Absolutely not, neither diplomatically, nor in terms of America's war against terrorism. The United States has declared a global war against terrorism, but like it or not, Israel is on the same globe as America, and thus cannot be made an exception in the fight against terror.
Why are there daily murders of American soldiers in Iraq? Where did all the foreign terrorist fighters against American soldiers in Iraq come from? The United States has admitted that many are Palestinian Arabs, making their way to Iraq through surrounding Arab countries. Where did all these suicide bombers in Iraq come from? They took their lead from Palestinian terrorism - the main source of inspiration for terrorism around the world. The Palestinian Arabs boast already well over 100 suicide attacks - and what did the United States do? It granted them the largest possible prize - a State! Unfortunately, to their own detriment, the Americans are proving that terrorism pays off!
Dear friends: If we close our eyes to this dangerous situation, we share in the guilt of not preventing a future holocaust. Get in touch with your Congressman and your Senators and most importantly, with President Bush, and express your strong feelings against:
* Using American tax payer's money to support Arafat's terrorist organizations, including Fatah, Al Aqsa Martyrs, Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
* Interfering in Israeli Government decisions intended to protect its citizens from terror.
* Collaborating in making the Jewish Homeland Judenrein.
For your information I am including President Bush's phone number which is 202-456-1414. His fax number is 202-456-2461. His email address is president@whitehouse.gov and his snail mail address is President George W. Bush, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500. To get information about how to reach your Senators and Congressman, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Don't delay! The present relationship between the United States and Israel may well turn out to be tragic, not only for Israel, but for the United States as well.
With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth Matar
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Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
