With "Zionist" Rabbis Like This, Who Needs Neturei Karta?

28 b'Av 5769

Tensions at Bnei Adam; Waiting for Rabbi Levinger
Hillel Fendel, 23 b'Av/August 13, 2009, 5:16 PM

(IsraelNN.com) Despite reports to the contrary, former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu has not issued an opinion on whether the residents of Bnei Adam should go along with the decision to remove three caravans from their outpost.

On the other hand, Rabbi Chaim Druckman, one of the leading rabbis of the religious-Zionist camp for over 40 years, has ruled that they should.

The residents themselves do not feel bound by this decision (GOOD!), however, and have gone to consult with Rabbi Moshe Levinger of Hevron instead. “I don’t believe he will say that we should leave,” said long-time Yesha activist and settlement pioneer Daniella Weiss, “as it is clear what this would mean in terms of [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu’s plan to allow a Palestinian state to be established here.” (Read more....)

Everyone is now waiting with baited breath for Rabbi Levinger's ruling.

C'mon! It's not rocket science. Our own Rabbeinu Tzvi Yehudah [Kook] ztz"l sure didn't think it was.

One must do everything in order to delay and prevent the evacuation of Jewish strongholds.
- Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook ztz"l

When I little known rabbi in Ofra, Rabbi Elitzur HaLevy Seg"el, quoted this back in 2002 in response to the IDF's expulsion of Jews from Havath Gil'ad on Shabbath, there was great outrage. Even though Rabbi Sege"l, too was a student at Merkaz HaRav Yeshivah, while Rabbenu Tzvi Yehudah was the rosh yeshivah in the 1980's.

Who the heck is he?

I've never heard of him?

Of course, one may only learn the teachings of Rabbeinu Tzvi Yehudah from Rabbi Tau, Rabbi Aviner, or Rabbi Druckman.

Who the hell made up that rule? I'll tell you who: The students of Rabbi Tau, Rabbi Aviner, and Rabbi Druckman, selectively leaving out Rabbi Dov Lior, Rabbi Zalman Melamed, and Rabbi Moshe Tzuri'el.

How convenient. But it gets worse. They have also attempted to hijack the works of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhaq Kook ztz"l by stating that one may only learn his Torah from his son, and thus only from the rabbis mentioned above. Some of Rav Kook's work was suddenly discovered in the Merkaz HaRav Yeshivah, after certain rabbis had left the yeshivah. It is no coinsidence that some of this work appears to contracict much of comes out of the Mamlakhti camp.

When Rabbi Dov Lior (Hevron-Qiriyath Arba) and Rabbi Zalman Melamed (Beth-El) four full years later, no one was as courageous to shoot down the statements of two of Rabbeinu Tzvi Yehudah's very prominent students. Then Shlomo Aviner came along, and insisted on declaring that Rabbeinu Tzvi Yehudah never explicitly said "to refuse orders."

Although Rabbi Melamed walks a very careful line Beth-El for the sake of "shalom" in that town, he could not stand idly by after this statement of Aviner's. In the b'Sheva Hebrew weekly, he made the following statement, without mentioning any names.

"Rabbeinu Tzvi Yehudah did not have to say 'refuse orders,' as he said 'everything.' Anyone who ever learned by him and knew him should know that." (paraphrase)

During the last days in Azza, Rabbi Aviner and other like-minded rabbis were stationed in Neveh Deqalim synagogues keeping an eye on residents who were unknowingly being prepared for their final expulsion (Deep inside, Neveh Deqalim residents could probably feel what was coming). It is crucial to keep this fresh in all of our minds.





Rabbis Lior and Melamed, on the other hand, were barricaded on the roof of the synagogue in K'far Darom. Only when they heard that they were the last ones standing. I believe this was not a caving into the government, but rather like the decision of Rabbi Yohanan, who, acknowledging the reality of the situation, knew that Jerusalem had fallen and the there was nothing left to be done, save for damage control (Avoth d'Rabbi Nathan).

Some have suggested that we all have "our own rabbis."

So, then which rabbis would you follow?

The ones with the money, the publicity machine, and the cameras and microphones constantly at their heels, who see no contradiction between Torah and Israeli Law?

Or ones who place Torah Law before all else, contradiction or not, the ones whose "rulings" are supported by halachic sources, and hold up to scrutiny?

Here is a final note, regarding the B'nei Adam stronghold itself. In this video, Zambish Hever, head of Amana, encouraging the residents to leave B'nei Adam, instead of encouraging them to stay, like you would expect those connected with the Yesh"a Council to do.

Those hold up in the structure slated for removal are yelling various things at him, including, "You destroyed Gush Qatif!" "Put your head down!" and "Take off your kippah!"



Could the tide be changing? Could Jews be waking up, seeing who is a traitor, and fighting back? Or is this attitude still limited to the outposts surrounding Hevron and Shchem?

Update:

Bnei Adam Clash Dissipates – For Now
Hillel Fendel, 26 b'Av/August 16, 2009, 1:33 PM

(IsraelNN.com) Rabbi Moshe Levinger of Hevron ruled that a fight for an outpost can’t be waged without the agreement of the residents – who haven’t decided yet. (Read more...)

I suppose that is a reasonable ruling,... on the surface. Now we will have to see who appears on the seen to try to influence the decisions of the residents.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

"WE HAVE CREATED A NATION OF SUICIDE PEACEMAKERS!"

Reclusive Syrian Jews Denounce Hebron Eviction

By Michael Orbach
Wed. Dec 24, 2008
http://www.forward.com/articles/14797/

The recent eviction of Israeli Jewish settlers from a contested building in Hebron has provoked a loud and angry retort from the usually publicity-shy Syrian Jewish community of Brooklyn.

In a December 17 gathering that attracted some 300 Syrian Jews, including the community's leading rabbis, speakers rallied around one of their own: a local women's shoe wholesaler named Morris Abraham, who has played an unlikely role in the Hebron controversy.

"We have created a nation of suicide peacemakers," Abraham told the crowd gathered at Congregation Ahaba Ve Ahva, off Ocean Parkway, referring to the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and its supporters. Repeatedly, Abraham asserted his claim to have purchased the Hebron building from a local Palestinian.

It is Abraham's claim that now lies at the center of the controversy. And the government's treatment of his claim appears to have produced this rare public outcry from his insular community — one of the quietest, most conservative and wealthiest in New York.
"Morris is a very popular person in our community," explained Charles Dweck, a Brooklyn Syrian Jew who, like Abraham, works as a wholesaler.

The Syrians' harsh reaction could have implications for elections scheduled in Israel this February. The community is known as an important source of political contributors for hawkish Israeli political parties, as well as to Shas, a Sephardic Orthodox party.

Abraham, who is 40, says that together with his father, he bought the contested property in Hebron — called the House of Peace by Israeli West Bank settler supporters — through a middleman in 2004 for, he says, $1 million. Other reports in the press cite a price of $700,000.
The deal was midwifed by the Hebron Fund, a Brooklyn-based group that provides financial aid to Israeli settlers in Hebron. Its executive, Yossi Baumol, also spoke at the rally.

With Israeli settlers in Hebron asserting a right of permanent Jewish rule over the overwhelmingly Palestinian city, in part through land acquisitions, Palestinians who sell properties to Jews face the possibility of execution by other Palestinians. After settlers moved into the Hebron site in 2007, its Palestinian owner went to court in Israel, claiming the alleged sale was fraudulent. Abraham presents a video and documents that purport to confirm his purchase.

Last month, Israel's Supreme Court gave the government custody of the property, pending resolution of this suit. And on December 4, Israeli security forces evicted the settlers and took control of it. The evicted settlers proceeded to riot and commit arson against the town's Palestinian residents as the security forces stood by, an event Olmert condemned as "a pogrom." Seventeen Palestinians were reported injured.

Abraham, an unpretentious man with a black velvet kipa and mild Brooklyn accent, told the audience at the synagogue, "Because there were young rioters doesn't mean the government can take land away that was bought legally."

Abraham said he was motivated to purchase the Hebron property as a religious Jew. According to the Hebrew Bible, the ancient city was King David's original capital before he moved it to Jerusalem. Hebron is also home to the Cave of the Patriarchs, a site holy to Jews and Muslims, where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their wives are said to be buried.

Abraham claimed a personal connection to the city, as well. He said his grandfather lived there and escaped a 1930 massacre by Arab residents that killed 68 Jews, many of them members of Hebron's long-settled Sephardic community. He said the alleged purchase was also a business investment; the 40,000-square-foot property was to be renovated to fit 30 apartments to be rented for $300 to $500 per month each, he said.

In a community that reveres its rabbis' words as holy writ, close to 20 community rabbis and leaders attended the rally, most notably Syrian Chief Rabbi Saul Kassin.

The atmosphere was rife with disgust for what speakers declared was the anti-religious nature of the government. Parallels were drawn between the fight for the Hebron property and the Soviet Jewry struggle.

"We are more into business than politics," said Abraham Dayan, a silver haired gentleman with a heavy accent whose wife waited for him in a blue BMW as he discussed the quiet nature of the Syrian community. "But we are very Zionistic, one of the most in the world. [The community] has taken to heart what the government did and considers it unjust vis-à-vis religion and Judaism."

A MESSAGE FROM HEVRON

Time to soul-search

David Wilder
December 21, 2008

This is being written on Erev Hanukka, the holiday of light. In Hebrew we greet each other with the traditional blessing, "Chag Urim Sameach" – "Have a happy holiday of lights." I just came inside from photographing two wondrous events. First, the construction of a huge Menorah on the Abu-Sneneh hills, opposite the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. It was from these hills that infant Shalhevet Pass was murdered by a terrorist sniper over eight years ago. It was from these hills that such terrorists shot at Jews in Hebron, in their homes, on the streets, into their automobiles, for two years. Tonight, the light of Hanukka will shine forth from these hills, radiating the brilliance of the miracle of the Maccabee's victory against Hellenization, as far as the eye can see.
When I finished filming the menorah from afar, I found Hebron's kindergarten and nursery school kids playing outside in the newly renovated playground, the Hyman and Ruth Simon play center. Some of the children were adorned with crowns on their heads, the remnants of the just concluded Hanukka party. They looked so happy, their faces so full of delight, that I stopped and photographed them too.

So, on the face of it, the article should be filled with festivity and joy. But, alas, the events filling our lives are not always so enchanting. Shabbat, for example. Two young women, aged sixteen and seventeen, were walking down from Kiryat Arba in Hebron at 10:15 in the evening. When they reached the bottom of the hill, at the crossroads leading to Ma'arat HaMachpela, two Arab men started walking towards them. The girls took off. One of the Arabs caught up to B., knocked her down and sat on top of her. The other girl, behind her, started throwing rocks at him, while at the same time both began screaming. No one heard them. There weren't any soldiers to be seen. (However, about 100 meters up the road at least a dozen border police were guarding the sealed up Beit HaShalom, ensuring that no one try to retake the structure.) B. struggled with her attacker, and somehow, miraculously, in her words, managed to escape from under him.The girls finally found an army jeep and reported the attack. However the soldier and officer in the jeep didn't take them seriously enough to report the attack to their superior officers. Hebron's security chief wasn't informed about the attack until 12:30 at night. The army had totally ignored it.

The next morning the girls and their families met with the military commander of the area, Col. Udi Ben-Mocha. When they complained that there weren't any soldiers in the area he replied that he didn't have enough manpower to place soldiers everywhere (except, of course, next to Beit HaShalom.) This, in spite of the fact that numerous times Israelis are attacked at the very location where the girls were attacked, on Shabbat and during the week, when rock-throwing Arabs hurl blocks at passing automobiles.
And now to the main task at hand.

Since the expulsion from Beit HaShalom, many articles have been written lambasting the Hebron Jewish community and the struggle against the expulsion. I previously wrote an oped piece which was printed in the Jerusalem Post. However, it seems that was not enough. I don't have the time or stomach to respond to each and every article written, but I have no choice but to deal with one of the most problematic of these essays. I hope my response will satisfy all those who have requested my reaction to each and every one of these articles.

Before responding: I know that my response will upset some of those who read it, perhaps even people I work with and have dealings with. However, I cannot sit back and quietly accept such hateful slander, which is based on outright lies.

Last Shabbat one Rabbi Mitch Wohlberg, rabbi of a Baltimore 'modern orthodox' congregation, spewed out a sermon whose subject was terror. The sermon, widely disseminated on internet is titled, "Terrorists in our midst." I will try to relate to this work of self-hate point by point, but not necessarily in the order it appears in the sermon.

How does Wohlberg relate to building?: "The settlers who took over a home in Hebron under questionable circumstances, spurring confrontations with the Israeli government and with the local Arabs, called the home "Beit Ha-Shalom – House of Peace… occupied by settlers in Hebron…."

Wohlberg has already decreed that the 'occupation' is 'questionable.' Why? Brooklyn resident Morris Abraham paid some one million dollars for the building and has the documents to prove the purchase. A film of the Arab counting the money appears on internet, as does a cassette of him stating that he sold the building.

The police and soldiers were acting by orders of the government, which in turn was acting by order of the Supreme Court." This is not true. The Supreme Court did not order the government to expel the Jews from the building. They ruled that the state was legally enabled to expel us, but did not order them to do so. The decision to go ahead with the violent confrontation was made by Ehud Barak in the midst of high-level discussions with leaders of the Hebron community aimed at preventing the confrontation.

there are Jews living in Hebron and across the West Bank who do not accept the decisions of Israel's Supreme Court or of its government leaders." My article in the Jerusalem Post relates to the judicial terror used against Hebron.

"The settlers who took over a home in Hebron … spurring confrontations with the Israeli government and with the local Arabs…" This is a lie. Jewish families lived in Beit HaShalom for twenty months 'peacefully,' with almost no confrontations with the Arabs living in the area. The Jews and Arab walked the same street in front of the building, without any misconduct by any of the Jews living or visiting there.

"these same Jewish terrorists have thrown stones at Israeli police and soldiers. They have uprooted the olive trees of Arabs, attacked Arab women and old people, have vandalized mosques and Muslim cemeteries..." Again, these accusations are out and out lies. In January, 2008, Efrat Weiss writing in the Hebrew internet site ynet and the daily newspaper Yediot Achronot wrote: "The head of the Israel Police's Hebron district, Commander Avshalom Peled told Ynet that "from my experience in the Hebron and Gush Etzion area, the activity on the part of the militant left can be severe and dangerous."
Hebron police have recorded a drop in disturbances involving Jewish settlers over the past year and noted an improvement in the dialogue between the settler community and police…"In the past we did not have any problems with the leftist organizations, but all this changed recently," another police official said. "Their activity has become more extreme in nature, and it may result in (an eruption of violence)."… "The leftists antagonize the settlers in the hope that the settlers will attack them," a police official said.The left-wing organizations have become an even greater threat than the anarchists.""

What factual evidence can Wohlberg supply to prove that Jews in Hebron have uprooted olive trees, vandalized mosques and desecrated cemeteries? Unfortunately, the opposite is true. The ancient Jewish cemetery in Hebron, as well as Ma'arat HaMachpela have been desecrated time and time again, without any reaction by Israeli security forces or international media, or, for that matter, Rabbi Wohlberg.

It is true that about 2 weeks before the expulsion a small group of kids drew Jewish stars on stones at an Arab cemetery and wrote slogans on a nearby mosque. They were immediately requested to leave the building and the vicinity and the others were instructed, in no uncertain terms, that this was not to happen again. Again, for almost 2 years Jews lived in that building without any such incidents at the cemetery or mosque.
What does Wohlberg call us?: " So what should we call Jews who similarly threaten people? There is only one word: "Terrorists."

Rabbi Wohlberg, how many Arabs were injured or killed by 'Jewish terror?' Why did you neglect mentioning Eliyasaf Asban, a sixteen year old who was hit in the head by a block hurled by an Arab. Eliyasaf was standing next to Beit HaShalom speaking to his brother and friends when the attack occurred. His skull was crushed and he was nearly killed, remaining unconscious and in critical condition for days after being hit. The Arab who tried to kill him still hasn't been arrested, despite the fact that the police know his identity. Yet the Jews are terrorists, being compared in the same breath with the monsters who murdered hundreds, including Jews, in India: " The terrorists who attacked in Mumbai were members of a terrorist organization called Lashkar-E-Taiba…"
Wohlberg, at the beginning of his sermon, describes what he calls a 'pogrom.' Yet he refrains from describing the 'attempted lynch' against two Jews from Kiryat Arba who where trying to get their kids out of Beit HaShalom and were forced to shoot in order to save themselves. One of the men is under house arrest, despite demands by the prosecutor's office that he be kept in jail, because a magistrate court judge stated that it is not clear that he was responsible for the events which forced him to shoot in self defense.

There were, as has been stated by myself and other representatives of Hebron's Jewish community, incidents which occurred before and during the expulsion which were not planned, nor are they considered to be acceptable or legitimate forms of protest. However, as repugnant as some of these events were, let's examine another, similar scenario:

Last week, (as reported in ynetnews [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3640883,00.html] and other media networks) Israeli security forces conducted a mass training exercise to ostensibly practice dealing with riots. However, sources participating in the exercise told that much of the time was spent practicing how to expel people from their homes. Some of the police played themselves – expellers, while others were transformed into 'settlers' being thrown out of their homes.
As a result of this 'training exercise' fifty four police were injured due to the fact that "the rioters" apparently used excessive force on "peacekeeping" officers during a mock disturbance."

In other words, police beat police – on both sides. The expellers beat the expellees, who hit back. And this is police vs. police! So what, Rabbi Wohlberg, do you have to say to that?! If that's what happens during a 'mock disturbance' between police, what do expect kids to do in a 'real' situation?!

And of course, will you condemn the Arabs who tried to rape and murder two young Jewish women on Friday night in Hebron, Rabbi Wohlberg?

I would like to now conclude with several comments:

1. As I wrote in the Jerusalem Post: "It should be clear. Hebron's Jewish community opposes and rejects any and all violence aimed at innocent people, be they Arabs, Jews or anyone else." By the same token, we reject desecration of any kind by anyone. We are not terrorists, Rabbi Wohlberg. We are Jews who love our country, our land and our people. And we live what we believe. Our lives are dedicated entirely to G-d, to the Jewish people and to Eretz Yisrael, and we do not, nor will we ever apologize for that.

2. Jews have not ever conducted 'pogroms' against anyone. You forgot, in your Shabbat spiel, to recall a true Hebron pogrom, which took place in August of 1929, when 67 Jews were murdered by Arab masses, with the survivors then expelled from the city of Abraham by the then occupying British. You also forgot to mention the war against the Jews, when Arabs shot at us for two years, killing scores, including a ten month old baby in Hebron proper.

3. I would like to see what you would do, Rabbi Wohlberg, when, due to growing anti-Semitism in the United States, one fine Saturday morning, masses of police, FBI, and other security troops show up outside your shul, while you are in the middle of a sermon, and start forcibly removing you and your congregation from you pulpit and your seats. Will you walk out like sheep on the way to the slaughter, or will you fight back, refusing to be treated like subhuman beings? After all, 'dina d'malchuta dina' – right, Rabbi Wohlberg? If they want to expel you, they can – that could be the law of the land, right, Rabbi Wohlberg?

Don't think it couldn't happen. In Germany they didn't think it could happen. In Hungary, they didn't think it could happen. Ditto other countries in Europe.

Rabbi Wohlberg, we will not be, here in Hebron or anywhere in Israel, sheep led to slaughter. We are being dealt with as 3rd class citizens with laws being circumvented and at best, rewritten, to deal with over 300,000 people, including 'settler fanatics' who live not only in 'occupied Hebron,' but in 'the occupied Jordon Valley' and the 'occupied Golan Heights.'

Don't fool yourself or your congregation Rabbi. You too will be thought of, and dealt with, as 'occupiers' of downtown Baltimore. I suggest you stop breathing fire against kids, who despite their good intentions may have erred, and begin soul-searching yourself: who are you, what are you, and what do you really believe in? Because, judging from last week's sermon, the answer to these questions are very very unclear.

(ZOA) is deeply disappointed with Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s decision

December 10, 2008

ZOA STATEMENT:

THE FORCED EVICTION OF THE

JEWISH RESIDENTS OF HEBRON'S BEIT HASHALOM

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is deeply disappointed with Defense Minister Ehud Barak's decision to unnecessarily and forcibly evict the Jewish residents of Beit Hashalom (Peace House). Beit Hashalom is a large building in Hebron strategically overlooking Worshippers Way, the access road to the Cave of the Patriarchs. It was apparently purchased by an American Jew from its Arab owner for close to $1,000,000 and transferred to the Jewish Community of Hebron in a legal transaction that is now being challenged in the Jerusalem District Court. Up until the last moment before the eviction, it was abundantly clear that Mr. Barak could have avoided last Thursday's violent confrontation by continuing to negotiate through the good offices of the local regional council.

To the best of our knowledge, there are legal documents, videotapes and audiotapes attesting to the legitimacy of the sale of Beit Hashalom by its former Arab owner to a Jewish owner. Having at first confirmed the sale, the former Arab owner has now recanted, for fear of Arab retribution. Remember, Palestinian Authority law calls for the death penalty for selling land to a Jew.

After refusing to consider the aforementioned video and audiotape evidence, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that "it will be possible to act in accordance with Squatters' Evacuation Law" and evict the residents. Therefore, until the Jerusalem District Court decides on the legal ownership of the structure, authorities may remove the tenants. This does not mean they are required to be removed, as was confirmed in no uncertain terms by former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Yaakov Turkel who said, "The ruling does not obligate the State to act to evacuate the Jews, but rather gives them the freedom to decide whether to do so or not."

It should also be noted that Israeli Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish unfairly "biased" the panel by unilaterally removing two justices, including Orthodox Justice Edmond Levy. Our understanding is that both of the removed justices might have been more sympathetic to the Jews of Hebron. Justice Beinish substituted two justices, Ayala Procaccia and Salim Joubran, who are known to be hostile to Jews in the territories. But even with these unsympathetic justices, they did not rule that the Jews of Beit Hashalom House are required to be moved but only authorized the removal if the government made that decision.

Approximately twenty-four hours prior to the violent eviction, ZOA's Israel Director, Jeff Daube, was in Beit Hashalom for the official opening of a ZOA branch office. The intended purpose of the office was to serve as a focal point for visits to Beit Hashalom; to raise public awareness about the strategic importance of the structure's location for access to the Cave of the Patriarchs; to express solidarity with the peaceful Jewish residents of Beit Hashalom; and to affirm the right of Jews to live in peace in Hebron. Hebron is the city of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs, and the first capital of the State of Israel during the reign of King David.

Due to the escalating crisis, even this short ceremony commemorating the opening of the ZOA's office had to be curtailed. When news broke about the forced evacuation of Beit Hashalom, Mr. Daube said, "I was hopeful earlier this morning – especially when I heard that negotiations were ongoing – that a nonviolent resolution could have been found to the Beit Hashalom dispute, so I planned another visit later in the day. I was obviously wrong. As an Israeli citizen, a proud Jew and a Zionist, I am deeply troubled by my government's behavior in forcibly uprooting the residents of Beit Hashalom before the Jerusalem District Court decision has been made as to the building's legal owners. Apparently those Arabs who are dancing on their rooftops and clapping gleefully at the sight of Jews being forcibly removed from Beit Hashalom understand the implications of this rash and misguided act far better than we." This act may send a message that the Jews are less committed to the Land than the Arabs; delegitimizes the Jews of Judea & Samaria; encourages more Arab intransigence; and sends a message that the Arabs are winning, which will only cause them to demand more concessions and could even promote more Arab violence.

The ZOA cannot help but question the motivation for this tragic action in light of Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai's denunciation of Barak's "strange and wretched" decision on the same day as the Labor Party primaries. Yishai had told Barak that he should wait for a court ruling on the evacuation before ordering the security forces to carry it out (Ha'aretz, December 4).

MK Arieh Eldad also lashed out at Barak, saying that he was responsible for all those wounded in the lightening-quick raid in Hebron: "Barak sent the IDF and police as part of the left-wing's election campaign and the blood of the casualties is on his hands."

MK Uri Ariel said: "Defense Minister Barak violated all the understandings with him, and he has provided proof that he cannot be trusted."

Yechiel Leiter, former Deputy Director General of Israel's Ministry of Education and former Chief of Staff to Benjamin Netanyahu, said that to evict the Jews was not judicial but rather political. "If it was a matter of law, then the law must be distributive, i.e, must be applied to all sectors alike. There are thousands of orders against illegal Arab structures that are not being implemented..."
Even a member of the Kadima party, MK Zev Elkin, called on Minister of Defense Ehud Barak to avoid a confrontation with Peace House activists in Hebron. Elkin said: "Barak is trying to get the Left to love him and save himself and his party on the back of the Jews of Hebron. We must negotiate with the settlers otherwise Barak and Olmert will be responsible for repeating the mistakes of Amona."
Many have also asked why Defense Minister Barak has flexed his muscles against innocent civilians in Beit Hashalom, while failing to defend the Western Negev communities from Gaza terrorist rocket attacks. Ashkelon's outgoing mayor, Roni Mahatzri, perhaps said it best on Saturday: "We saw that when the defense minister wishes to show determination and resolve, he knows how to do that; he did it while handling the case of the house in Hebron. I would like to see the same determination when it comes to the rocket fire."

While the ZOA is troubled by the fact that the defense minister chose to resort to what he surely knew would be a violent confrontation, the ZOA does not condone and, in fact, strongly criticizes the random and senseless acts of violence and vandalism committed by some Jewish youth, however few. Noam Arnon, the leader of the Jewish community of Hebron, expressed the same sentiments. It is the responsibility of parents, educators and community leaders to provide these often well-meaning young people with the proper guidance to channel their energies in a manner that allows their voices of protest to be heard, without compromising their potential to serve as ambassadors of a truly inspired Zionism.

Nevertheless, as Mr. Daube reported based on his observations and conversations, the overwhelming majority of young people at Beit Hashalom were there to make a non-violent, positive statement of support. Notwithstanding the few "hotheaded" young people, there was an overall sense of a desire to avoid confrontation. "I sat in on one meeting conducted by an adult leader, who instructed a large group of teens on exactly how to act with grace and dignity in the best tradition of Ghandi and Martin Luther King, should police forces enter to forcibly evict them. They were even given emergency phone numbers in the event that they were detained," recalled Mr. Daube.

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said: "We are also troubled that the forced violent eviction took place before the Jerusalem District Court determined the legal ownership of Beit Hashalom. Even if the District Court rules against Jewish ownership, the ZOA urges that every peaceful avenue be explored before there is ever again a forcible eviction.

"The ZOA sincerely hopes that ways could be found to avoid future Gush Katifs, Amonas, and Beit Hashaloms, so that we will never again witness Jews being dragged from their homes by force. This is not good for Israel. This is not good for the Jewish people."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
December 9, 2008
The Bostoner Rebbe Shlita, Rav Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, released the following statement this week regarding the expulsion of Jews from Chevron's Bet HaShalom and subsequent comments on the matter from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
"I was shocked by the rumor that the prime minister attacked the Jews of Chevron, who exhibit mesirus nefesh for Eretz Yisrael, labeling them law-breakers and their actions a pogrom. Pogrom is used for those who have abandoned any semblance of humanity and exhibit animalistic behavior. We must daven that what occurred will not occur again in the future."
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Following Letter Was Faxed to Israel's Ambassador and Consul to Canada:

December 5, 2008
The Honorable Ambassador of Israel,
Her Excellency Miriam Ziv, Ottawa, ON
And The Honorable Amir R. Gissin,
Consul General of Israel, Toronto, ON
We are writing this letter on behalf of Toronto Zionist Council. We are appalled by the continued anti settler venom being spewed forth by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and other ministers and the brutal attack that expelled the residents of Beit HaShalom, a building which was purchased 100% legally by Mr. Morris Abraham.
How dare Mr. Barak allow the forces under his command to use stun grenades and tear gas against Jews – men, women and children – who were living peacefully and legally in a building in the Jewish homeland! How dare he have the audacity to say that the state must enforce the High Court decision to evict them, when he knows very well that the High Court issued no such ruling!
Mr. Barak needs to be stripped of his position as Defense Minster at once, for his illegal and immoral actions against our brethren in Beit HaShalom . With Jewish blood being spilled like water in Mumbai at the hands of the very same terrorist murderers who threaten our brethren in the State of Israel every single day – and while Hamas missiles continue to terrorize southern Israel, it is hard to believe that Mr. Barak can waste precious Israeli soldiers and Israeli police – that are needed to safeguard the population everywhere – and sending them instead to Hevron to evict Jews who posed no threat anyone – from their home..
He has a sworn duty to protect the lives of all our brethren in Israel and not just those people who support him politically. We demand that Mr. Barak cease and desist from his war against the settlers in general, and the residents of Beit HaShalom in particular!
I am sure you are acquainted with the lethal ambush which resulted in the massacre of 12 Israeli soldiers – that the Arab friends of Barak perpetrated not that long ago – on the very same road, "Worshiper's Way" where Beit Hashalom is located and how pleased the IDF was when it was disclosed that the building was finally in Jewish hands, thus making easier their task of protecting the visitors going to Machpela Cave, the burial place of our Patriarchs.
We said it before, and we will say it again and again until this selective oppression STOPS! We will not stand idly by and watch the government of the State of Israel treat our brethren like this.
Our organization was the driving force in staging two very successful "Israel Malls" in Toronto during the worst times of the 'Intifada' when tourists were avoiding Israel and the merchants on Midrachov Ben Yehuda (and other shopping centers) were standing in front of their stores trying to entice the few pedestrians to come in and buy something.
Your government should wake up to the fact that Israel's only true friends in the world are the Zionist Jews of the diaspora. With the blatant lies that some government ministers spread about the residents of Yehuda and Shomron, the deliberate provocations against them, their labeling true Jewish patriots and pioneers as 'internal enemies of the state', and the illegal and brutal expulsions, all they will accomplish is alienating us and all other supporters of Israel.
If this persecution and abuse of our brethren won't stop, we will start a campaign to withhold all monetary support while this government is in power. Instead we will advise everyone to channel that money to help our brethren who are being made to suffer by Ehud Barak. He – and others of his ilk – see the handwriting on the wall; that their political careers will be over after the next elections – unless they manage to start a civil war before then.
Please use your positions to influence the few decent people still left in the government that this should not happen!
Sincerely,
Toronto Zionist Council, Yossi Winter, Pres. Izzy Kaplan Vice Pres.

BARAK vs. HIMMLER - IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?

DO YOU SEE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO?

DEFENSE MINISTER BARAK & GESTAPO AND SS CHIEF HEINRICH HIMMLER - IS THERE A CHARACTER DIFFERENCE?

Both are megalomaniacs and narcissistic beyond comprehension. Barak could care less about the result of his reckless actions, as long as his plans are accomplished and with the intended result. We have seen these results before in Gush Katif and we will continue to witness such despicable behavior until Mr. Barak is but a bad memory in the Government of Israel. All we have to do is to ask the simple questions...Is Barak Good For Jews? & Is Barak Good For Israel? Who can answer in the affirmative! He needs to go and all those with the same disregard for the people and the land of Israel must follow! Enough is Enough!

Arlene Kushner says it very well below:

_______________________________________________________________________________

November 4, 2008

"Shameful"

How else does one describe the actions of the government -- and most specifically of Defense Minister Barak --last night and today?

A review of the sequence of events regarding Beit HaShalom in Hevron since I wrote roughly 24 hours ago:

Late yesterday, the leadership of the PA released statements regarding the tensions surrounding Beit HaShalom. Saying that settlers were committing "a despicable crime" in attacking innocent Palestinians, they indicated that president Mahmoud Abbas was thinking of calling an urgent meeting of the Security Council to discuss the situation.

Maintaining that "the presence of the Jewish settlers in the city is a serious provocation," they demanded that the Israeli government remove them from Hevron.

Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh called the violence "an organized terror campaign," as the settlers "constitute a real danger to the Palestinians and their lands."

The PA security officer for Hevron declared, "The Israeli government's failure to stop the settlers is threatening our security plan. We have been working hard to restore law and order and our efforts have thus far been very successful. But what the settlers are doing now poses a major threat to our efforts."

~~~~~~~~~~

Now, this was grandstanding -- a political ploy, based on gross distortions and exaggerations of the situation. It is clear, has been clear for many, many years, that the Arabs don't wish to share Hevron, but wish the Jews gone completely. This attitude fueled the 1929 Hevron massacres. Now the PA saw their chance to make their case.

It was the place of our government, then, to respond to this by exposing the ridiculousness of the charges:

Palestinians weren't attacked in a "terror campaign." There were altercations between Jews and Palestinians that, according to eyewitness reports, were begun by the Palestinians. One Jewish boy was seriously injured when a rock was thrown at his head by a Palestinian on a roof.

Jews are in Hevron by right of a 4,000 year tradition as well as by law -- per an Oslo agreement. The Jews are not leaving Hevron.

Whatever has transpired has been within the area of Hevron controlled by Israel. PA security forces don't operate in this area and the situation in no way affects their ability to do their job.

~~~~~~~~~~

But the Israeli government didn't do this. Perhaps they were responding defensively, perhaps they welcomed what the PA officials said as providing a rationale for getting tougher. I cannot be sure. I was startled to read one statement about how "pogroms against Palestinians" would be prevented. Pogroms?

Then, too, there is the fact that the Labor primary was held today and Barak may have been playing "big man" for potential supporters.

Whatever the motivation, they did get tougher. It was announced that policy had changed and Border Police were going to be making arrests. The road to Beit HaShalom was closed at 5:00 PM. A resident of Kiryat Arba, who was present, recounted to me today the appearance on the scene of the Yassamnikim -- from what is called the "special reconnaissance unit." The toughest -- most ruthless -- of troops, they were very active in the Gush Katif expulsion and are called out for "special" situations such as demonstrations.

She said that they came in full gear, and she saw stun grenades (which cause a loud sound and emit a flash or smoke) tossed into a crowd that was not violent, as well as girls, who offered no resistance, picked up "like rag dolls."

~~~~~~~~~~

This morning there was a period of hopefulness, with reports that Barak was meeting with representatives of the Yesha Council and the Hevron Jewish community in order to reach a compromise. What the Hevron community proposed was that the residents of Beit HaShalom be permitted to stay in the house until the final court decision, but that all those who didn't live there be required to leave, with the understanding that the residents would also leave quietly if the final decision was against them.

Barak left the meeting and promptly declared that evacuation of the house would proceed. The Yesha Council and Hevron community, feeling a sense of betrayal, were greatly angered -- they don't believe Barak negotiated in good faith at all.

~~~~~~~~~~

Six hundred troops -- both IDF and Border Police -- came to Beit HaShalom, circling around from the back of the building (down a hillside where Arab houses sit). Tear gas was tossed into the building. Some troops went in, others remained outside. The house was evacuated with excessive use of force. My information is that 28 residents and protesters were injured.

~~~~~~~~~~

Barak is now patting himself on the back for "upholding the law" [as if the law required an evacuation of the house] and protecting the integrity of the State. Others are echoing him. Misrepresentations of the situation abound in media sources.

I cannot emphasize enough that Barak precipitated this crisis. When the High Court said that the government could choose to evacuate the house for the period before the final decision was made, or not, he had the option of doing nothing. That would have been entirely within the strictures of the Court, and had he decided to leave the situation alone, there would have been no tension, no violence. It was Barak's declared intention to do an evacuation of the house that brought out the young people.

But as late as this morning, even after all of this, there was a way to arrive at an equitable resolution without violence: What the Jewish community of Hevron proposed was fair and reasonable. It would have dissipated the crowds of supporters and reduced local tensions, and it assured that the residents would leave quietly later if findings required them to. Barak didn't choose to go this route, and his failure to negotiate in good faith further exacerbated anger.

~~~~~~~~~~

There are reports now of "settlers" rioting and damaging Palestinian houses in the area, in anger and frustration at what has transpired. I am loathe to give these reports full credence -- I simply don't know at this point.

What I do know is that attorney Yossi Fuchs, who's as decent and straight as they come, has filed a complaint against the Hevron police commander and the regional IDF spokesman for a false report they issued today stating that a Jewish activist had sprayed a police officer with acid and caused him serious injuries -- a report that was picked up by media sources.

Fuchs was able to determine, with a simple check, that no ambulance had been called to Hevron, no medical personnel drawn upon, to treat a police officer with acid burns. He suspects the deliberate spreading of a libelous falsehood.

And as this did happen, it is important to view other reports with a jaundiced eye until there is final verification of facts.

~~~~~~~~~~

Will the court finally find in favor of the Jewish community of Hevron and acknowledge that Beit HaShalom was legally purchased and is theirs? If there is justice, it will. But I am not necessarily expecting that justice, nor is the community. (May we all be pleasantly surprised!) In any event the Jewish community of Hevron has made it clear that they are working on other house purchases.

They are still my heroes.

~~~~~~~~~~

And so "shameful" remains a good way to describe what went on in Hevron today. One week after Jews in India were attacked by Islamic jihadist terrorists because they were Jews, we see Jews facing off against Jews here in Israel. The father of Rivka Holtzberg (z"l) asked the government to keep things quiet at least for the shiva week, but it was not to be.

"Painful" is another.

~~~~~~~~~~
see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info

A Cave in Hebron for $750,000.00.....

The House that Morris built
Printed in the Jewish Press - Nov. 28, 2008

David Wilder (November 26, 2008)

A professor from Bar Ilan University, an expert on ancient affairs, investigated the value of silver thousands of years ago. He concluded that the price our Patriarch Abraham paid for Ma'arat HaMachpela, four hundred silver shekels , the caves where the Patriarchs and Matriarchs are buried, is worth, in today's terms, some $750,000. That's just a little less than what Morris Abraham and his father Mickey paid for Beit HaShalom in Hebron.

Beit HaShalom, (the "Peace house" in English) is a huge, 40,000 square foot structure, just above the main road leading from Hebron to Kiryat Arba. When it became known that the Arab owner of the building, some five years ago, was putting it up for sale, and the Abraham family heard about it, it was a done deal.

Well, not quite. It took a few years to actually complete the transaction. Jews purchasing property from Arabs in Hebron is not an everyday occurrence, and is not easily accomplished. It is a task which requires, among other things, a tremendous amount of money, fine attorneys, much time, nerves of platinum, and most of all, a huge quantity of Divine assistance.

Thank G-d, it all came together, and about 20 months ago, having received a green light from the lawyers, residents from Hebron's Jewish community moved in.

It wasn't easy. From literally the moment we moved in, there was someone trying to have us removed. There were those who claimed that we 'stole the building' from the Arab owner. There were others who said, 'we don't care if they bought it legally. Jews shouldn't be in Hebron, period. Throw them out!"

However, we had a lot going for us. First of all, the building was purchased legally. At one point the community released a film of the Arab counting the cash he received. (When he later denied the sale during a police investigation, and the police showed him the video, he exclaimed, "I later cancelled the deal and gave them the money back!")

Hebron's commanding IDF officer was ecstatic about the purchase, being that the building is located at a very strategic position, overlooking all of Kiryat Arba, just across the road, and most of Hebron. And an initial police investigation of the documents was positive. The documents were authentic.

But facts don't necessarily mean much in Israel. A court ruled that there was enough seeming evidence to prevent us from being evicted, but too many question marks to allow 'life as usual.' So a status quo was ordered. We could stay, but without making any major changes in the building. That meant, for example, that windows could not be installed in the empty spaces in the walls. Nor could the building be hooked up the Hebron electric grid. So, as winter approached, the people inside were a little cold. A small generator was running, providing minimum electricity to keep the heaters running. But a building without windows, in a snow storm, is quite a bit to weather. Big sheets of plastic in place of glass don't really do the trick.

Finally, in the middle of a snow storm, and as a result of massive public pressure, cabinet ministers started pounding on Defense Minister Ehud Barak's desk, demanding that the government allow windows to be immediately installed. The pressure worked, and finally windows were brought in. They refused to allow window shades or shutters; that was too much. But glass windows were okayed.

But the left refused to give up and intensified efforts to have the Jews residents expelled from the building. Police suddenly decided that many of the sale documents were counterfeit, but refused to reveal which ones were faked. Finally the court forced them to allow the community an opportunity to defend itself and they had no choice but to divulge which papers were suspect. The community, via a former police officer, an expert on such affairs, was able to easily dispel the doubts as to the authenticity of the documents.

At a recent Supreme Court hearing, the judges, (two of the most left-wing members of the court together with an Arab judge, hearing the case), accused the community of 'taking the building by force' from its Arab owner. In response the community gave the court new, startling evidence: an audio recording of the Arab owners saying, in plain language, that he sold the place and received full compensation for the building. He also declared that he had come under great pressure from Palestinian authority intelligence forces to 'change his story.'

Last week the Supreme Court announced its decision. The decided to ignore the facts in the case, not letting them get in the way of their own political biases. They announced that they would not get involved in the previous government decision to expel the building's residents until the question of ownership was decided in a lower court. They gave the people living there 72 hours to leave of their own accord. If they did not voluntarily evict themselves, the government would then have legal permission to expel them.

As of this writing, new families and many youth are moving into Beit HaShalom, in order to reinforce Jewish presence at that building , which clearly belongs to Hebron's Jewish community. One family, Nahum and Revital Almagor and their 15 year old daughter came from Brooklyn to participate in the struggle for the building.

Last week, a retired judge, Uri Struzman, harshly criticized the Supreme Court ruling, calling it political and a sham. Another retired Supreme Court judge, Ya'akov Turkal, said that the Supreme Court decision did not demand that the families be removed from the building, rather that the government could remove them, if they so desired. In other words, the decision of expulsion is in the hands of Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

At the moment, the building's many families: men, women and children, are willing to put up with a cold winter; (we expect that the cost to heat Beit HaShalom this winter at over $150,000 – money which the community does not presently have;) but they have no intentions of leaving their beloved home, Beit HaShalom, the building that Morris Abraham gave to the Jewish people of Hebron. A representative council of men and women from Hebron and Kiryat Arba, and other activists, has announced that the group will not initiate any violent acts against Israeli security forces, but should those forces attempt to expel them, there will be fierce resistance. However, the level of violence will be determined by the expulsion forces. MK Uri Ariel, speaking at an emergency community meeting last week, with over 1,000 people present, clearly stated that should those in the building be attacked and beaten, that they have a right to defend themselves.
Last Shabbat close to 25,000 people visited Hebron, hearing the Torah tell how Avraham Avinu purchased the Caves of Machpela some 3,800 years ago. Many of those people also visited Beit HaShalom, showing their support and encouragement. How fitting that a family named Abraham should buy a building for almost the same price Avraham Avinu paid for Ma'arat HaMachpela, a piece of property just five minutes from the first Jewish-owned land in Eretz Yisrael. comments ***************************************************************************
The real issue in Hebron
By Moshe Arens
Printed in HaAretz Newspaper
25/11/08 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1040823.html

Incongruously named Beit Hashalom (House of Peace), that building on the road from Kiryat Arba to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron has become a source of confrontation and altercations between the Defense Ministry and Israel Defense Forces, on the one hand, and the local settlers and their supporters, on the other.

What is this all about? Is it about the right of Jews to have access to one of the holiest sites of Judaism, or is it about the IDF's duty to prevent the occupation by settlers of a building that, it is claimed, has been purchased from its Arab owner under legally questionable circumstances? Since under the military law prevailing in Judea and Samaria, the acquisition of real estate there requires the approval of the commanding general of the area - in other words, of the minister of defense - and since that approval has not been granted at this point, the purchase, even if it was properly executed, is not considered legal.

Hence, the government considers the Jewish occupants of the building as being in violation of the law and has declared its intention of forcibly expelling them from it. The first question that arises, then, is what is the government's policy regarding access of Jews to the Cave of the Patriarchs (or Machpelah, in Hebrew), and what is the reason for the defense minister's not having approved the purchase of Beit Hashalom?

Next to Jerusalem, Hebron, the city of our forefathers, is the city to which Jews have the greatest historical and religious attachment. Next to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron is Judaism's holiest site.

Nevertheless, following the massacre of the Jewish community in Hebron in 1929, Jewish access to the city was severely limited, and from then until the end of the British Mandate, Jews were denied entry to the Cave and were not permitted to ascend beyond the seventh step on the stairs leading to it. During the days of Jordanian occupation the city was closed to Jews altogether.

Only after the Six-Day War could Jews pray again at the Cave of the Patriarchs, and the Jewish Quarter in Hebron was reestablished. Were it not for the presence of Jewish settlers in the city, in the Jewish Quarter and in nearby Kiryat Arba, access for Jews to the Cave would probably not have been possible in recent years. In other words, Jewish access to the Cave of the Patriarchs is dependent on the presence of the settlers in the Hebron area. This will probably be true in future years as well, regardless of any agreements that might be reached with the Palestinians or the Jordanians. Seen in this light, the acquisition of Beit Hashalom, on the road leading to the Machpelah, is a significant contribution to that end.

If it is the government's policy to assure the right of Jews to pray in the Cave, the defense minister should have instructed the commanding general to grant approval of the purchase of the building. In the absence of such an instruction, the impression is created that the defense minister and presumably the government in general have no interest in assuring this access. On the contrary, it seems they would like the settlers to leave the area, and are reconciled to Jews in the future being denied access to the Cave of the Patriarchs and the city of Hebron in general. If that is the government's intention, then its tactics in recent days are certainly succeeding. Provocative statements, daily threats of imminent forcible evacuation, and the use of invectives like a "cancerous growth" to describe the settlers are provoking the expected reaction. The fringe element of youngsters from the settlement movement are drawn to the site, engage in acts of hooliganism, and promote antagonism to the settlement movement that is likely to provide support for a forcible evacuation of Beit Shalom in the days to come. The government has to make a clear decision on whether it considers Jewish access to the Cave of the Patriarchs an inherent and legitimate right of the Jewish people, one that the State of Israel must guarantee now and in the future, or whether it considers it to be of no particular importance and is prepared to take steps that will lead to conditions that will make it difficult to exercise this right. That is the real issue in Hebron today.

"SETTING PRIORITIES"

December 31, 2007

"Setting Priorities"
akushner@netvision.net.il

That is what I've had to do in recent days, my friends. I have refrained from taking the time to post because I have beeen at work on a major report on Fatah, and determined that this had to come first. Documenting the fact that Fatah is neither moderate nor a viable partner for peace, it has been timed for the arrival here of President Bush. Once it is up on a website (it also is being printed hard-copy), I will share a link so all may see it.

For now, I would like to include at the bottom of this posting one particular piece of information included in the report that is very pertinent to Fatah's true intentions. You will not see this in any media -- it was acquired via someone doing private translating from PA radio. Even without the body of my report, it tells the story that must be told.

~~~~~~~~~~

And so I return to the on-going news, at least beginning to deal with the morass of information that flows to us.

I do this mindful of the fact that tonight New Year's Eve is celebrated in the N. America and elsewhere (while in the main ignored here), and that many of you may be away from your computers. And I do it with wishes to all for a good 2008. Wishes? My most fervent prayers, actually.

~~~~~~~~~~

Two beautiful young men -- David Rubin and Achikam Amichai -- from Kiryat Arba (a Jewish community adjacent to Hevron) were killed by terrorists on Friday, as they hiked in a secluded area west of Hevron. The two, who were friends, were both on leave from an elite IDF unit; Achikam was the son and grandson of rabbis. The incredible, sinful human waste of this!

They were buried Saturday night on Har Hertzel (the military cemetery) in Jerusalem.

~~~~~~~~~~

According to Khaled Abu Toameh of the Post, some of those responsible for these terrorist murders are connected to Fatah. On Saturday, the IDF arrested terrorists suspected of being involved; they are associated with a militia called the Yasser Arafat Groups -- including the leader of the group in Hevron, Ahmed Abu Sittah.

Please note this from Abu Toameh, as well:
"Fatah activists said the attack may be linked to the faction's preparations to celebrate its 43rd anniversary this week. The attackers, they explained, were apparently hoping to send a message to the Palestinian public that, contrary to claims by Hamas, Fatah has not abandoned the path of armed struggle."
Our peace partners.
~~~~~~~~~~
All of this mightily embarrassed PA officials, and PA prime minister Salaam Fayyad went out of his way to express condolences, and to assure everyone that PA security is doing everything possible to investigate and apprehend those involved. There was some announcement about the PA returning to Israel the guns of the young victims, which had been taken from them.

That smacked to me of the sort of typically empty gestures that the PA advances, in lieu of genuine efforts, to show they're "doing something." My report is full of documentation of such gestures, so I'm particularly cynical. I even have a quote from Barry Rubin that "The PA has never really punished anyone for murdering or trying to kill an Israeli..."
~~~~~~~~~~
And sure enough, by Sunday, the PA was saying that the Hevron murders were "criminally motivated." It was suggested that the attack was the result of a "dispute" between arms dealers, the implication being that the two young Israeli soldiers had gone hiking to sell arms.

The PA security forces in Hevron -- ignoring the fact that Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad had all claimed credit for the attack -- said there was no evidence of any reason for the attack other than that arms dispute. Could make one gag.
~~~~~~~~~~

And there's more: On Saturday PA Interior Minister Abdel Razzak al-Yahya announced that Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades had ceased to exist. Another effort to show that the PA security was handling matters and had eliminated a Fatah branch that was terrorist.

Well, this didn't sit too well with Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades. First they distributed thousands of leaflets saying they were continuing the armed struggle. And then, yesterday, they called for the elimination of Fayyad, a "collaborator" with the US and Israel.
~~~~~~~~~~

This dovetails so neatly with what I wrote in my report that I must refer to it here: The prevailing thesis among those who adhere to wishful thinking (and they are legion!) is that Fatah is a moderate foil to Hamas and thus must be strengthened. What I am arguing is that the presence of Hamas as both a political and military strength has shifted the entire Palestinian dialogue to the right -- forced it to be even more radical and even less conciliatory.

Even if -- and I'm not saying it is so, because I don't believe it -- Abbas and Fayyad were sincere moderates, they are beholden to the street and to the other members of their party. And Hamas thinking -- which calls moderation weakness -- has affected all of this. Hamas implies that anyone who doesn't continue the "armed resistance" is a traitor. Who wants to be labeled a traitor?

I suggest that in this climate, true negotiations, which require compromise and conciliation, are not remotely possible.
~~~~~~~~~~

The PA Foreign Minister Riad Malki has announced that PA security forces have arrested a Hamas cell that was planning a suicide attack; he said they had a videotape of one of the members of the cell detailing their plans. "We confiscated huge amounts of mercury (used in detonators) in Nablus," he elaborated.However, the videotape wasn't shown, Malki wouldn't answer reporters' questions, and no names of those arrested were provided.

These guys have no shame. Of course the fact that Bush is coming next week and the PA has to show it is doing its part for security has nothing to do with this
.
The IDF -- which has excellent intelligence in the area -- says it has no knowledge of this incident.
~~~~~~~~~~

This past week, the IDF picked up 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate, a banned explosive material, as it was being smuggled through a checkpoint in sacks that identified it as sugar from the EU. Note: this was stopped at a checkpoint. Six tons would have made a lot of Kassams and bombs.

~~~~~~~~~~

Abbas spoke in Ramallah today during celebrations marking Fatah's 43rd anniversary. He said the PA would never cede a single inch in negotiations with regard to Jerusalem. And he made conciliatory gestures to Hamas: he called for "dialogue, dialogue, dialogue," and held out the hope of reconciliation (based still on Hamas relinquishing its control over Gaza).
~~~~~~~~~~

"Friday sermons delivered at the Al Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount are broadcast on PA radio. On Friday, December 28, 2007 (just one month after Annapolis), Sheikh Mohammed Hussein delivered the sermon. It included the following fabrications and incitement to violence:

“Al Aksa Mosque has become the target of Israeli settlers. They have become accustomed to entering Al Aksa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli security forces. This refutes Israeli claims to protecting our holy places.

“The Israeli authorities are not satisfied with the excavations already performed… [In addition] they have been digging tunnels under Al Aksa Mosque’s foundations and walls, allowing the herds of settlers to enter its squares and gates in their plan to turn the holy city of Jerusalem into a Jewish one.

“I'd like to warn against the criminal Israeli plans for the holy city. We have confirmed that there is a real danger to Jerusalem. The Arab nation should not stand [with] hands folded when it comes to Jerusalem.

“Jerusalem stands for the Islamic history and doctrine that establishes an inseparable relationship between Muslims and Jerusalem. Allah chose us, a nation religiously and historically connected with this land, to be faithful guards to the holy places in Palestine. This obligation drove Prophet Mohammed's followers to arrive here, in Palestine, and spread the Islamic religion. This is the holy land of Allah, and Muslims are only the guardians of these holy places.

"The Israelis aren't interested only in Al Aksa Mosque but want the whole city of Jerusalem to become Jewish. They have confiscated the Jerusalemite's lands, built new settlements in and around the city to isolate it from its Arab surroundings, and have expanded settlements."

“The Palestinians are the defenders of this land. We should face up to our responsibilities and fulfill our duty. Our sacrifices are many; the number of martyrs and wounded is growing. [We see] the destruction of the Palestinian life and infrastructure, the arrests of Palestinians by the Israeli forces. All this will not deter us from fulfilling our duties. On the contrary, they serve as evidence to our willingness to sacrifice for our goals."

~~~~~~~~~~
see my website www.arlenefromisrael.info

HEBRON IS TODAY’S AMONA

Blogmaster's Note: I recieved the posting below in this morning's email. I am passing it on to you because it is a very worthwhile read. Lest we forget about the first Jewish City in Israel...

HEBRON IS TODAY’S AMONA

mattot.arim@gmail.com wrote: GOOD MORNING, RIGHTWING VOICES Please call the 2 rightwing ministers about what's going on in Hebron. Mention that you have not heard them voicing their opinion in the media against repeating Gush Katif scenarios, this time in Hebron:http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3431720,00.htmlhttp://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/615/424.htmlAvigdor Liberman's Office: tel. 02 6547100 fax 02 6547101 Eli Yishai's Office Fax 02-6662255; Tel 02-6662909 Please forward any interesting replies straight to mattot.arim@gmail.com; hebron.mail@hebron.org.il ; The Jewish Community of Hebron / P.O. Box 105, Kiryat Arba 90100 Israel / Tel: 972-2-9965333; Fax: 972-2-9965304 / info@hebron.com and to janetlehr@veredart.com
Also, please click on the above 2 articles and add talkback comments at the bottom. Our politicians NEED to know how upset you are³ and yes, they DEFINITELY read (and count) talkback. mattotarim-subscribe@eretz.org mattotarim-subscribe@eretz.org if you got this from a friend & would like to join our distribution list, send a blank email tomattot.arim@gmail.com Comments? Or: Want your friends in USA etc. to join our foreign list? Contact mattot.arim@gmail.com

Background
1by Arlene Kushner with historical detail added by Janet Lehr
Arlene sends almost daily briefings – to subscribe: akushner@netvision.net.il

On July 7th 2007 a large army and police contingent evicted two Jewish families from a marketplace in Hevron just days after 60 Combat solders of the elite combat unit (Dukhifat) refused orders to forceably remove these Jews.

The market stands on Jewish land. It was purchased, in front of Arab witnesses, in 1807 by Rabbi Haim Bajaoi, at a time when there was a thriving Jewish Quarter in the ancient city; the five dunams he purchased were adjacent to the Quarter and dedicated to the use of the Jewish community.

Jews disappeared from Hevron in 1929, after a horrendous Arab massacre (instigated, it should be noted by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Muhammad al-Husseini, who was Arafat's mentor, some sources say he was Arafat’s Uncle). Those Jews who survived were moved out by the British, who then controlled the area under the Mandate for Palestine: It was easier to remove them than protect them.

Hebron is the first Jewish city in the land of Israel, home of our patriarchs and matriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. It is located 32 km. (approximately 18 miles) south of Jerusalem in the Judean hills. King David ruled from Hebron for more than seven years before moving the capital to Jerusalem.

Jews have lived in Hebron almost continuously for thousands of years. At Tel Hebron, commonly known as "Tel Rumeida," artifacts were discovered dating to the era of the Patriarch Abraham. "L'Melech" (King) seals, 2,700 years old, inscribed with the word "Hevron" in ancient Hebrew were uncovered there by archeologists.

Hebron is first mentioned in the book of Genesis (13:18), where Abraham is found pitching his tent. Later when Sara, his wife, dies - in Kiryat Arba that is Hebron, Genesis 23:2 - he buys a field and the burial cave of Machpela for her (Genesis 23:9, 17-20). Numbers 13-22 states that (Canaanite) Hebron was founded seven years before the Egyptian town of Zoan, i.e. around 1720 BCE In fact all the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and - three of the four - mothers, Sara, Rebecca, and Leah lived there, and were buried there in the Cave of Machpela. According to a Jewish tradition — Adam and Eve are also buried there. It was so important to Jacob, that seeing his end nearing, he called his 12 sons to gather around him, and promise that when he dies, they will leave Egypt to bring his body back to Hebron for burial (Genesis 49:29-31). What nation has such a clear link to its progenitors, where they lived, died, and are buried?
Hebron continued to be an important and holy site to Jews. In fact, so much so that one of Jacob's great-grandsons - Levi's grandson and Kehat's son - was named Hebron (Numbers 3:19). Moses and Aaron had an Uncle Hebron. After the exodus from Egypt, when Moses sent the 12 spies to check out the land, one of them Calev, took a little detour to Hebron to pray at the family tomb - the Cave of Machpela (Numbers 13:22). Later, King David established Hebron as his first capital city. "In Hebron he reined over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reined thirty three years over all Israel and Judah" (Samuel II 5:5). Clearly Hebron and Jerusalem are intertwined in the Jewish people's historical memory.

Hebron is mentioned 87 times in the Bible, and is the world's oldest Jewish community. Joshua assigned Hebron to Caleb from the tribe of Judah (Joshua 14:13-14), who subsequently led his tribe in conquering the city and its environs (Judges 1:1-20). As Joshua 14:15 notes, "the former name of Hebron was Kiryat Arba..."
Following the death of King Saul, God instructed David to go to Hebron, where he was anointed King of Judah (II Samuel 2:1-4). A little more than 7.5 years later, David was anointed King over all Israel, in Hebron (II Samuel 5:1-3).
The city was part of the united kingdom and — later — the southern Kingdom of Judah, until the latter fell to the Babylonians in 586 BCE. Despite the loss of Jewish independence, Jews continued to live in Hebron (Nehemiah 11:25), and the city was later incorporated into the (Jewish) Hasmonean kingdom by John Hyrcanus. King Herod (reigned 37-4 BCE) built the base of the present structure — the 12 meter high wall — over the Tomb the Patriarchs.
The city was the scene of extensive fighting during the Jewish Revolt against the Romans (65-70, see Josephus 4:529, 554), but Jews continued to live there after the Revolt, through the later Bar Kochba Revolt (132-135 CE), and into the Byzantine period. The remains of a synagogue from the Byzantine period have been excavated in the city, and the Byzantines built a large church over the Tomb of the Patriarchs, incorporating the pre- existing Herodian structure.
Jews continued to live in Hebron after the city's conquest by the Arabs (in 638), whose generally tolerant rule was welcomed, especially after the often harsh Byzantine rule — although the Byzantines never forbade Jews from praying at the Tomb. The Arabs converted the Byzantine church at the Tomb the Patriarchs into a mosque.
Upon capturing the city in 1100, the Crusaders expelled the Jewish community, and converted the mosque at the Tomb back into a church. The Jewish community was re-established following the Mamelukes' conquest of the city in 1260, and the Mamelukes reconverted the church at the Tomb of the Patriarchs back into a mosque. However, the restored Islamic (Mameluke) ascendancy was less tolerant than the pre-Crusader Islamic (Arab) regimes — a 1266 decree barred Jews (and Christians) from entering the Tomb of the Patriarchs, allowing them only to ascend to the fifth, later the seventh, step outside the eastern wall. The Jewish cemetery -- on a hill west of the Tomb — was first mentioned in a letter dated to 1290.
The Ottoman Turks' conquest of the city in 1517 was marked by a violent pogrom which included many deaths, rapes, and the plundering of Jewish homes. The surviving Jews fled to Beirut and did not return until 1533. In 1540, Jewish exiles from Spain acquired the site of the "Court of the Jews" and built the Avraham Avinu ("Abraham Our Father") synagogue. (One year — according to local legend — when the requisite quorum for prayer was lacking, the Patriarch Abraham himself appeared to complete the quorum; hence, the name of the synagogue.)
Despite the events of 1517, its general poverty and a devastating plague in 1619, the Hebron Jewish community grew. Throughout the Turkish period (1517-1917), groups of Jews from other parts of the Land of Israel, and the Diaspora, moved to Hebron from time to time, joining the existing community, and the city became a rabbinic center of note.
In 1775, the Hebron Jewish community was rocked by a blood libel, in which Jews were falsely accused of murdering the son of a local sheikh. The community -- which was largely sustained by donations from abroad -- was made to pay a crushing fine, which further worsened its already shaky economic situation. Despite its poverty, the community managed, in 1807, to purchase a 5-dunam plot -- upon which the city's wholesale market stands today -- and after several years the sale was recognized by the Hebron Waqf. In 1811, 800 dunams of land were acquired to expand the cemetery. In 1817, the Jewish community numbered approximately 500, and by 1838, it had grown to 700, despite a pogrom which took place in 1834, during Mohammed Ali's rebellion against the Ottomans (1831-1840).
In 1870, a wealthy Turkish Jew, Haim Yisrael Romano, moved to Hebron and purchased a plot of land upon which his family built a large residence and guest house, which came to be called Beit Romano. The building later housed a synagogue and served as a yeshiva, before it was seized by the Turks. During the Mandatory period, the building served the British administration as a police station, remand center, and court house.
In 1893, the building later known as Beit Hadassah was built by the Hebron Jewish community as a clinic, and a second floor was added in 1909. The American Zionist Hadassah organization contributed the salaries of the clinic's medical staff, who served both the city's Jewish and Arab populations.
During World War I, before the British occupation, the Jewish community suffered greatly under the wartime Turkish administration. Young men were forcibly conscripted into the Turkish army, overseas financial assistance was cut off, and the community was threatened by hunger and disease. However, with the establishment of the British administration in 1918, the community, reduced to 430 people, began to recover. In 1925, Rabbi Mordechai Epstein established a new yeshiva, and by 1929, the population had risen to 700 again.
Our community offices are in a neighborhood founded in 1540 by Jews exiled from Spain in 1492. Jewish presence in Hebron came to an abrupt end only in August 1929, when Arab riots led to the murder of 67 Jews and the wounding of 70. All survivors were exiled from the city by the ruling British.

Following the riots, massacre and exile in 1929, a small group of Jews returned to Hebron in 1931. About thirty families, principally women and children, lived in the city until just after Passover, 1936, when they were forcibly expelled by the British.

In the 1920s and the 1930s there was no Jewish state, no Jewish army, no Jewish ability to truly defend themselves. Today, 78 years later, we have Jewish police, Jewish military, a Jewish government, a Jewish state. It seems that they prefer not to follow in the footsteps of the first Jew, Abraham, who, being commanded by G-d to "Lech Lecha" to "Go" to walk the land, the length and width of Eretz Yisrael, did just that, stopping only in Hebron, making this city his home, the first Jewish city in the Land of Israel. Rather, the Israeli state, using all of the resources available to such a sovereign body, prefers to follow in the footsteps of the Mufti and the British. The Mufti slaughtered people. Very clearly, Amin el Husseini's goal was the expulsion of Jews, starting with Hebron, and reaching Jerusalem, and other cities in Israel. He wanted Jews out, and cared not how it happened. He had plans to annihilate all the Jews living in Eretz Yisrael following Rommel's expected invasion of Israel during World War Two. He met with Hitler in Berlin in the 1930s and clearly discussed more than formation of the Muslim Brigades, which fought against the allied forces in Europe.

In 1948, the Jordanians occupied this area; an Arab market was established on the land that Bajaoi had purchased. During the Jordanian occupation, which lasted until 1967, Jews were not permitted to live in the city, nor -- despite the Armistice Agreement -- to visit or pray at the Jewish holy sites in the city. Additionally, the Jordanian authorities and local residents undertook a systematic campaign to eliminate any evidence of the Jewish presence in the city. They razed the Jewish Quarter, desecrated the Jewish cemetery and built an animal pen on the ruins of the Avraham Avinu synagogue. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Jews again had access to the first Jewish city in Israel. It must be clearly understood: when returned to Hebron in 1967, Jews did not occupy a foreign city; rather, they came back home.

In 1968 Jews officially came back to Hebron . The day before Passover in April, 1968 a group of families arrived at the Park Hotel in Hebron. The proprietor rented them half of the kitchen, which they promptly koshered. The women and children slept in the rooms; the men and boys slept in the lobby and on the floor. It was the first Jewish Pesach in Hebron in decades.

Moshe Dayan, then Minister of Defense, arrived in Hebron shortly after Passover. Following several weeks of discussions he offered the group two choices: either be forcibly removed from the city, or go live in the Hebron military compound, several kilometers outside the center of the city. This building, originally a British police station, had been transformed into the Israeli military Headquarters of Judea. It was not overly conducive to a civilian lifestyle. Dayan must have expected that the young families, including women and babies, would soon throw up their arms in frustration at the poor living conditions and leave of their own accord.

Dayan was partially correct. The group did eventually leave. But first they lived in the military headquarters for two and half years, until the first neighborhood of the newly founded Hebron suburb, Kiryat Arba, was completed.

There was, however, a yearning to return to Hebron , to Beit Hadassah, to the 450 year old Jewish Quarter, home of the ancient Avraham Avinu Shul, to reside adjacent to Ma'arat HaMachpela. Attempts were made, again and again, all leading to failure. Only in 1979, when Menachem Begin was Prime Minister, did a group of 10 women and 40 children succeed in setting up house in the basement of the old medical center, Beit Hadassah, in the middle of the city. Living in adverse conditions for close to a year, these women and childen became the nucleus of Hebron 's renewed Jewish community. In 1980, following the murder of six young men outside Beit Hadassah, the Israeli government finally gave official recognition and authorization of Hebron 's Jewish Community.

When Israel secured control of Hevron in 1967, the Arabs were permitted to continue to operate the market -- even though they were on privately owned Jewish land. This was so even after Jews moved back into the city, into the old Jewish area, known as the Avraham Aveinu neighborhood. Twelve years ago, for security reasons, the IDF evicted the Arabs who maintained the stalls in the market. The market stood empty.

By 1998, as part of the Oslo Accords, Israel had pulled out of 80% of Hevron, but the 20% that remained in Israeli hands included the Avraham Aveinu neighborhood and the adjacent market place.

In March of 2001, a one-year old child, Shalhevet Pass, was shot point-blank in the head by an Arab sniper who had positioned himself in the area of the empty market. The Hevron Jewish community then decided that a Jewish presence there was necessary. They invested many thousands of dollars in converting the old market stalls into small apartments. Nine Hevron families moved in, and a religious study hall was established. This area was named Mitzpe (outlook) Shalhevet, in memory of the child.

Once the Jewish residents moved in, Arabs went to court claiming the buildings. The attorney general responded that the Arabs had no further claim, but that the Jewish "trespassers" would be evicted; the court accepted this and made no additional ruling. Eviction orders were issued by the attorney general's office.

~~~~~~~~~~

Before eviction could take place, the Jewish community appealed. Then the court ruled that the land was privately owned by Jews (the family of Rabbi Bajaoi had produced papers and indicated their desire that the Hevron Jewish community use the land). However, they also ruled that the market stalls, which had been put up by Jordan, were captured property that legally fell under the jurisdiction of the Israeli government.

The court recommended that the structures be leased by the government to the residents of Mitzpe Shalhevet. Attorney General Mazuz refused, determined to "punish" those who had used this property without permission. He pushed for eviction.

Eighteen months ago, when that eviction was about to take place, there was a gathering of protestors and violence seemed imminent. Crisis was averted when IDF officials on the scene -- headed by General Yair Golan -- negotiated a compromise with the residents, saying that if they moved out peacefully, legal Jewish occupancy of the market would be expedited and Jews from Hevron would soon be permitted to move in. Based on this agreement, the residents moved out voluntarily.

Subsequently, Attorney General Mazuz voided the agreement, saying that the IDF had no right to negotiate it. Mitzpe Shalhevet stood empty.

The Hevron Jewish community petitioned the Israeli government several times to be permitted to rent the remaining structures left in the market place but their request was consistently denied.

The Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs was off-limits to Jews for 700 years. During that time Jews, (as well as Christians), were not allowed inside the 2,000 year old Herodian structure atop the Caves of Machpela. Today we are told by Hebron's Arab Mayor and deputy mayor that should the Palestinian Authority ever regain control all of Hebron , again this holy site will be closed to anyone not Moslem.

There are those who are skeptical. How then, can one explain what happened to Joseph's Tomb in Shechem. According to the Olso Accords this holy site was to remain accessible to Jews. However, following the killing of an Israeli soldier at the tomb, was forced to abandon it. The result was the total destruction of the building which was burned to the ground. And if the Arabs had their way, Kever Rachel would have long ago been turned over to the Palestinian Authority.

The only reason that Ma'arat HaMachpela is still accessible to Jews is because there is a permanent Jewish presence in the city. The disappearance of the Jewish Community of Hebron would be tantamount to abandoning our Patriarchs and Matriarchs. Could any Jew, be they religious or secular, dream of abandoning the Fathers and Mothers of our people?

Current Events...
This brings us to the current crisis. Recently two families grew tired of the waiting, and the failed promises, and moved back into Mitzpe Shalhevet. And once more the government is out to remove them. "We've been fooled too many times," the families are saying, "This time we're not going peacefully." The community is mindful of the fact that the court had provided a way out with its recommendation, and the government refused to take it, preferring confrontation.

Defense Minister Barak is making the decision in this regard now. Responding to pressure from the left (and mindful, undoubtedly, of elections coming up before too very long) he has decided to take action against these two families.

What makes this even more shameful is that the representatives of seven factions within the Knesset had appealed to Barak to not go this route. Last month they wrote a letter to him:

“We are marking 78 years since the 1929 riots, you are faced with a fateful decision concerning one of the sites which represents, more than anything else, the murder and the thievery [committed upon] the Hebron Jewish community of those days: the site of the 'shuk' [market place] in Hebron, where presently several families are living…We are dealing with Jewish-owned land, which was stolen as a result of the terrible slaughter. It is incumbent on the government to act to return the stolen property as would be expected in relationship to stolen Jewish property anywhere in the world.
“We the undersigned, chairmen of various parties in the Knesset, turn to you with this request to refrain from expelling these Jewish families living in the 'shuk'and to study alternative ways to resolve Jewish quarters at this site, legally… “The residents of Hebron prevented violence and conflict...when they voluntarily moved out of these homes, based upon promises that they would be allowed to return, honoring and respecting promises of representatives of the state, IDF officers. This type of approach is to be encouraged and rewarded, not discouraged… “For all the above reasons, we request, that you order that the issue of Jewish residency in the 'shuk' be studied seriously, and that in any case, you prevent, for the time being, any eviction of Jewish residents from the site.”
Barak's decision, then, is shameful. I titled this posting "Essential Errors," and without a shadow of a doubt, what Barak is doing qualifies in this respect.