Kiryat ArbaYouth Seriously Injured by palestinian terrorist

This afternoon a 16 year old youth from Kiryat Arba was hit in the back of his head by a large rock thrown by an Arab from the rooftop of his home adjacent to Beit HaShalom.

The young man was seriously injured and is presently in surgery. According to the doctors, his condition is critical and the surgery is very complicated. Please pray for a complete and speedy recover for Eliyasaf Amos ben Nurit.

היום בצהריים, נער בן 16 מקרית ארבע נפגע קשה בראשו מאבן גדולה שנזרק על ידי ערבי מגג ביתו ליד בית השלום. הוא הוטס לבית חולים הדסה בירושלים וכעת נמצא בניתוח מסובך. מצבו הוגדר קריטי. הציבור מתבקש להתפלל לרפואה שלמה של: אליאסף עמוס בן נורית

The Influence of Christian Interests in Setting the Route of the Security Fence in Jerusalem

No. 568 November-December 2008

The Influence of Christian Interests in
Setting the Route of the Security Fence in Jerusalem

Col. (res.) Danny Tirza

In September 2000, the Palestinian leadership initiated a terror campaign against the Israeli civilian population. From September 2000 to March 2005, 99 suicide bombings were perpetrated against Israel, in which 1,804 Israelis were killed. In Jerusalem, 30 suicide attacks killed 378 Israelis and wounded 1,600. Since that time, no Palestinian Authority force has dismantled the operational capabilities of the terrorist organizations.
In March 2002, after the mass murder of civilians gathered for the Passover Seder meal at a Netanya hotel, the government of Israel decided to take control over the West Bank as well as taking a defensive measure to block terrorists from reaching Israeli population centers. This meant establishing a physical obstacle and transit points that would permit proper security checks for those passing through. Even Israel's worst enemies confessed that the security fence saved Israeli lives.

Jerusalem's sanctity for Christianity and its historic and religious sites bring to the city hundreds of thousands of Christian pilgrims every year. The Christian communities residing in the city have established communal centers, educational institutions, hospitals, and guesthouses. Aside from monasteries and holy places, scores of Christian institutions that operate in Jerusalem have come to assist the local Muslim community in the context of their charitable work.

Great efforts were invested and solutions were provided to meet the unique needs of the Christian churches in the region to guarantee freedom of religion and religious observance, and free access to holy places. For institutions located on the seam line, decisions were necessary regarding the exact line of the fence and suitable passage arrangements. Thus, for example, the Rosary Sisters school in the Dachyat El Barid neighborhood north of Jerusalem, that serves 1,200 students from Jerusalem, was included on the Israeli side of the fence, in light of requests from the Mother Superior of the order, despite the vast attendant security difficulties.

With the intensification of Palestinian terror attacks against Israel and the weakening of central Palestinian rule, extreme Muslim forces have gathered strength and violence towards Christian communities has intensified within the Palestinian Authority in Bethlehem, Beit Jalla, Beit Sahur, and Azariya. The result is that an appreciable portion of the Christian population has abandoned the region and taken up residence abroad. Harassment of Christians has also taken the form of land and property seizures and even damage to churches and holy sites.

The establishment of the security fence was a vital measure for the security of Israel's citizens and those members of all faiths visiting Israel. Only when visitors to Jerusalem enjoy a sense of security can there be normal life, religious observance, and pilgrimage to the holy sites.

The war that the Palestinian terrorist organizations imposed on Israel in the year 2000 claimed hundreds of dead and thousands of wounded in Israeli population centers. As part of the measures that the government of Israel adopted in order to check the terror waves, it was decided in June 2002 to establish a security fence between the West Bank and Israel. Together with guaranteeing the fence's security effectiveness, the fence's planners were called upon to provide a response to a series of challenges that emanated from the potential impact of the fence on the everyday lives of the Palestinian civilian population. This required the design of the fence to provide a response to the unique needs of Christian churches and individuals.

In this document the person who headed the military administration that planned the fence describes the challenges, the process and response to the needs of Christian institutions in Jerusalem.

Prologue

In June 2000 a peace conference convened at Camp David, Maryland, with the declared objective of achieving an historic peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. After sixteen days of dramatic deliberations, it became clear that the conference was a failure; President Bill Clinton accused Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of inflexibility and an unwillingness to reach an agreement.

The Palestinian leadership, having understood that it would be impossible to achieve its political goals via diplomacy, elected to initiate a terror campaign against the Israeli civilian population with a view toward pressuring the Israeli government and attaining additional gains.

From September 2000 to March 2005, hundreds of terror attacks against Israel were perpetrated, including 99 suicide bombings in which 1,804 Israelis were killed. In Jerusalem, 30 suicide attacks were carried out in which 378 Israelis were killed and about 1,600 were wounded.1 Free access to Israel from the West Bank allowed the terror organizations, headed by the Tanzim organization of the ruling Fatah party and the military wing of the extreme Islamic organization Hamas, to dispatch scores of suicide bombers to the heart of Israel's civilian population.

For its part, the Israeli government adopted a series of military actions to check the Palestinian terror wave by locating, striking, and neutralizing the terror infrastructure in the Palestinian cities, hampering terrorist movement from the Palestinian cities to Israeli civilian centers, and guarding population centers. This was alongside repeated attempts at diplomatic measures via American mediation to halt the murderous terror activities.
In March 2002 alone, 139 Israelis were murdered in a series of terrorist attacks whose nadir was a mass murder of civilians gathered for the Passover Seder meal at a Netanya hotel.

Under heavy public pressure, the government of Israel decided to take control over the area of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and assume security responsibility for the entire area as well as taking a defensive measure to block terrorists from reaching Israeli population centers. This meant establishing a physical obstacle and transit points that would permit proper security checks for those passing through the transit points.
In its desire to refrain from setting a line that would constitute a precedent for a boundary in future political arrangements and seeking to limit the political debate over the suitable line, the government decided to charge the security bodies with delineating the line of the fence employing purely security considerations. The government declared that the fence to be erected would be a temporary fence.

In September 2002 following a suicide bombing attack on a student bus in Jerusalem, the government decided to establish a security fence around Jerusalem as well.

The first 130 kilometers of the security fence were completed in August 2003 in the northern West Bank. From September 2000 through July 2003, there were 73 major Palestinian terror operations involving suicide attacks or car bombs launched from Samaria, the region of the West Bank north of Jerusalem. These attacks led to the deaths of 293 Israelis and the injury of 1,950.

But in this same sector, after the security fence was completed, there were only five major Palestinian terror attacks, leading to the killing of 28 Israelis and the injuring of 31, during the following year. This fence unquestionably demonstrated that it could produce a sharp reduction in the number of Israeli fatalities, even though it was only partly erected.2 Moreover, the leadership of Hamas has admitted that Israel's security fence makes suicide bombings more difficult to carry out. Mousa Abu Marzouq, deputy chairman of Hamas' Political Bureau, made this admission on the Muslim Brotherhood website on June 2, 2007.3 The leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Shalah, made the same admission in a Qatari newspaper on March 23, 2008.4 Thus, even Israel's worst enemies confessed that the security fence saved Israeli lives.

Setting the Contours of the Fence in Jerusalem

The city of Jerusalem, the historic capital of the Jewish people and the object of their religious and national aspirations for 3,000 years, also encompasses religious sites sacred to Christianity and Islam and stands at the heart of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Therefore, any change in the status quo within the city touches off international reverberations as well as protests among the Palestinians and in the Arab world that escape all proportion. Since Jerusalem is at the heart of the conflict, any changes require extraordinary sensitivity.

The terror organizations exploit the physical proximity between the Palestinian villages in the West Bank that surround the city and the Arab neighborhoods within the city that form a single urban continuum with the Jewish neighborhoods, to infiltrate terrorists via Jerusalem into Israel.

Attempts to close off this "security loophole" without establishing a physical barrier failed, despite the stationing of large military and police forces and the use of sophisticated technological equipment.

The planners of the security barrier confronted three alternatives:

Separation between the Jewish and Arab neighborhoods in the city. This line was ruled out for both security and diplomatic considerations. In addition, the democratic character of the state would not allow a division between residents on the basis of ethnicity.

Following Jerusalem's municipal boundary. This alternative was ruled out both due to security considerations as well as considerations involving the texture of life, since the line would bisect houses, neighborhoods, and traffic arteries.

Deploying obstacle and security arrangements along a line accompanying the municipal boundary, while providing adjustments in accordance with topography, security considerations, and the texture of the population's life, while limiting the damage to privately-owned land.

A team headed by the author, together with representatives from the various security bodies, the Civil Administration, the Jerusalem municipality, and other experts, engaged in the complex planning of the barrier route. At the same time, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon entrusted then-Trade and Industry Minister Ehud Olmert with coordinating an inter-ministerial team of agency directors-general to study and solve the civilian problems stemming from the establishment of the fence and the security separation.

Christian Interests in the "Jerusalem Perimeter"

The State of Israel - as a democratic state and the state of the Jewish people, who have suffered during the course of history from persecutions and restrictions on religious observance - is especially sensitive to freedom of religious observance for members of all faiths.

Jerusalem's sanctity for Christianity and its historic and religious sites bring to the city hundreds of thousands of Christian pilgrims every year. Beyond the boundaries of the "Old City" are scores of holy sites attached to churches and various religious orders. Certain churches have property and lands that they have retained for many years. The Christian communities residing in the city are concentrated in specific areas and have established communal centers, educational institutions, hospitals, and guesthouses. Most of these communities have close connections the religious and administrative centers in the heart of the Old City.

Aside from monasteries and holy places, scores of Christian institutions that operate in Jerusalem have come to assist the local Muslim community in the context of their charitable work.

With the intensification of Palestinian terror attacks against Israel and the weakening of central Palestinian rule, extreme Muslim forces have gathered strength and violence towards Christian communities has intensified within the Palestinian Authority in Bethlehem, Beit Jalla, Beit Sahur, and Azariya. The result is that an appreciable portion of the Christian population has abandoned the region and taken up residence abroad. Harassment of Christians has also taken the form of land and property seizures and even damage to churches and holy sites.

Christian interests in Jerusalem include access to and from Bethlehem and other sites, freedom of religious observance at the various sites, the option of staging parades and religious ceremonies, the personal security of clergy and visitors, preservation of church property, and maintenance of ties with the Christian population and the target populations of their institutions.

Planning also had to take additional considerations into account. The State of Israel and the Vatican have signed a convention to preserve freedom of religious observance and the property of churches affiliated with the Vatican. The planning of the route for the security barrier obligated the planners to strike a balance between security considerations and other needs and the rights of local residents. Finally, given the democratic norm of equality before the law, one could not extend rights and preferences to the Christian population over the Muslim population on a religious basis.

The Apparatus of Israeli-Christian Contacts

Israeli Civil Administration personnel in the field are in charge of contacts with local church bodies in the West Bank. The adviser on Christianity to Jerusalem's mayor is in direct contact with the churches and the various religious streams within the city's municipal boundaries. The Department for Religions in the Foreign Ministry is in charge of ties with church organizations in Israel and worldwide. Each of the churches has liaison with foreign countries and these countries' representatives make applications in their name to Israel via the Foreign Ministry. There is no overarching body that coordinates and organizes the various Christian bodies.

During our work we became aware of the need to handle three strata in each and every institution: the local stratum - clergyman living in the area and operating the various sites; the regional stratum - the organizational body in Israel; and the international stratum - the parent church body or the country that extends its aegis over the church.
The various strata broadcast differing and sometimes even contradictory interests. For example, while clergymen who live in the immediate area emphasize the connection to the community, the heads of the organization in Israel emphasize their apprehension over damage to property, and the heads of the organization and countries extending protection emphasize freedom of access and worship.

A special factor of utmost importance in preserving the interests of the church in various communities was the former Papal Nuncio, Pietro Sambi, who served as the Vatican ambassador to Israel and as the official in charge of Catholic Church property. Despite his opposition in principle to the security fence, he established direct contact with the head of the fence administration and with the Foreign Ministry, facilitated locating the responsible and authoritative elements in each of the churches, and helped us understand their unique needs and problems.

Israel's predominant interest was to block the path of suicide terrorists as speedily as possible, while doing minimal injury to local residents, their property, and their way of life. This occurred at a time that the terror organizations were using every means in order to strike at innocent Israelis. In April 2002, a group of Palestinian terrorists from the Fatah organization barricaded themselves in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, profaning this most holy Christian site, humiliating the clergy who resided there, and desecrating its sacred vessels. Israel refrained from entering the site and, following forty days of negotiations, permitted the terrorists to leave Israel for exile abroad.

The Tie between Jerusalem and Bethlehem

Many Christians reside in the West Bank towns of Bethlehem, Beit Jalla, and Beit Sahur, whose residents and clergymen had enjoyed daily contact with nearby Jerusalem. These towns were transferred to the full responsibility of the Palestinian Authority in accordance with the interim agreements signed between Israel and the PLO in September 1995 under the sponsorship of the United States.

With the opening of the terror war there was an urgent need to block free passage from the West Bank to Jerusalem. Nevertheless, despite the severe security situation, Israel issued periodic passage permits to Christian clergy, Muslim workers in the churches, and to church-affiliated medical staff. On Christian holidays, entry permits to Israel were issued to entire communities.

A suggestion to leave the Christian towns on the Israeli side of the security fence proved extremely impractical, as it would have meant incorporating within Israel tens of thousands of Muslim Palestinians living in these towns and adjacent areas, some of whom were hostile to Israel.

In order to facilitate the continued rapid passage, amidst security checks, of believers, pilgrims, and clergymen between the Bethlehem area and Jerusalem, a modern passenger terminal was erected to respond to civilian needs day and night at a very high standard of service and security. The site was planned to allow an increased traffic flow during the Christian holidays and on the days that the various Christian communities mark Christmas. The maximum waiting time for travelers during peak hours does not exceed thirty minutes. Israel Police, Civil Administration, and Ministry of Tourism representatives are present in the terminal to ease passage and provide answers to exceptional problems.
In general, passage between Jerusalem and Bethlehem is free, while maintaining suitable security checks. This passage is closed to traffic only for brief and rare periods as a result of terror attacks or when a severe security alert is issued that such attacks are imminent.

Freedom of Religious Observance and Freedom of Access to the Holy Places
The planning team for the security fence viewed religious observance and freedom of access to the holy places as an overriding principle, and made an effort to preserve ties with clergymen and provide a rapid response to any problem.

Freedom of religious observance in each of the sites was guaranteed without disturbance and without exception. Access to each of the sites was guaranteed both to those arriving from Israeli territory to sites within the Palestinian Authority, as well as from the West Bank to sites within Israel, with the exception of special security situations, such as the takeover at the Church of the Nativity.

East of Jerusalem near the Tomb of Lazarus, a special gate was erected for the use of clergymen and pilgrims visiting sites that were left on the Palestinian side of the fence. Special gates were also installed in the security fence to accommodate the traditional parades that take place annually during the Christmas ceremonies of the Catholic, Orthodox and Armenian communities, as well as the Easter procession from the grave of Lazarus in Azariya via Bethphage and the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. A special access route was also made to the Monastery of the Emmanuel Sisters north of Bethlehem, paved by the Defense Ministry to the satisfaction of the monastery's sisters.

Preserving Ties with the Community

Various mission institutions located in Jerusalem and its vicinity were built by various Christian orders with the view of serving both the Christian and Muslim communities. The establishment of the security fence created a conflict of interest among some of the mission institutions that wanted to preserve the security of the staff and church property while continuing to serve the Muslim community ion the West Bank. A daily reality of total freedom of movement changed totally. There was a need to define the passage arrangements which would enable the continuation of ties to the community.

There were institutions located in the heart of Jerusalem, such as the Lutheran Hospital or Augusta Victoria Hospital, that provide free medical services to the Palestinian refugee population in the West Bank. Here the solution focused on providing passage permits, and providing aid and assistance to strengthening the medical infirmaries in the West Bank. Another example is the Lutheran school Talitha Kumi near Beit Jalla, where a special access road was built for those arriving from Jerusalem.

For institutions located on the seam line, decisions were necessary regarding the exact line of the fence and suitable passage arrangements. Thus, for example, the Rosary Sisters school in the Dachyat El Barid neighborhood north of Jerusalem, that serves 1,200 students from Jerusalem, was included on the Israeli side of the fence, in light of requests from the Mother Superior of the order, despite the vast attendant security difficulties.

This action exemplified Israel's overall policy in designing the route of the security fence in the Jerusalem area. Several Christian institutions expressed concern over being cut off from Jerusalem, despite the many crossing-points in the fence. Taking these requests into account, the Israeli defense establishment managed to include nineteen out of twenty-two Christian sites in Jerusalem's environs within the fence. Many of these institutions clearly preferred to be located on the Israeli side. More could not be included without moving the line of the fence deep into the West Bank and compromising Muslim property rights.

The Preservation of Church Property

Extensive areas in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, and especially along the seam line, are owned by the large churches. The establishment of the security fence obligated the security bodies to seize strips of land of varying widths (between 45 to 100 meters) for limited periods. This did not involve expropriation or assuming ownership of the land from its legal owners. In exchange for use of the land, the state offered the landowners compensation for damage as well as annual usage fees. The extent of compensation is set by a government assessor and his decisions may be appealed via an orderly process.

The establishment of the security fence aroused apprehension on the part of various churches that the seizure of the land would turn into expropriation. There were also concerns that, due to the contours of the fence, lands remaining on the Palestinian side would be abandoned without supervision and that Palestinians would infiltrate them.
In this sphere, a major effort at dialogue was mounted to limit the damage. It was clear from the outset that one could not shift the route of the fence from lands under Christian ownership to land owned by Muslims, because this consideration did not meet the test of plausibility and equality before the law.

In order to limit damages, the territorial interests of each and every church were mapped out and a joint effort was made to have the fence go along the margins of the plot, in an extremly complex engineering, security, and legal effort. Thus, for example, in erecting the fence around the Franciscan plot in Azariya, and in order to leave the entire area on the Israeli side as the church requested, the route of the fence was significantly lengthened, bends in the road were added, and a protective fence was built to preserve an area of a few dozen square meters that remained beyond the fence.

In a number of areas, disputes remained between church representatives and the security and defense establishment regarding the extent of damage, which were referred to the relevant courts.

The Personal Security of the Clergy

Christian clergymen who live in a combat zone as a matter of religious faith are unarmed and find it difficult to protect their personal security. Israel works assiduously to preserve the neutrality of the churches and their independence, and to prevent injury to the clergymen, their property, and their dignity. On the other hand, some Palestinians exploit Israeli sensitivity and pass through church courtyards for purposes of infiltration into Israel to promote terror. In their passage, the infiltrators have inflicted heavy damage on church property, and have deliberately destroyed ornamental gardens and stone walls hundreds of years old.

The priests, who try to avoid taking a stand in the conflict, remain exposed to repeated injury and breaking and entering on the part of the infiltrators, and find themselves in a difficult predicament where they have no physical protector. Attempts by the monks to talk with the Palestinians have on a few occasions provoked physical violence and threats against them. In their travails, the monks have been compelled to turn to the Israeli authorities. In the first stage, Israeli security personnel reinforced the ancient walls around the churches and raised them. When these actions proved of no avail, special police units were stationed to prevent the infiltrations and preserve the security of the priests.

Conflict Resolution

The setting of the fence route produced a substantial change in daily life in the area from what everyone had become accustomed to since June 1967. The need to erect an obstacle along the entire length of the seam line between the West Bank and Israel to prevent the passage of terrorists obligated defense planners to resolve many complex issues and decide between conflicting interests.

Thus, for example, the guesthouse and regional center of the Franciscan order "Kamboni Negrachia Sisters" is located in Azariya and borders an ancient Muslim cemetery. In order to include the church on the Israeli side of the fence and leave the Muslim cemetery on the Palestinian side, it was necessary to build an especially thin, yet strong, wall on top of the ancient wall between them in a complex feat of engineering.

In the Greek Orthodox Church, a bitter debate took place between Patriarch Ireneos I, who was deposed by the Synod Council, and the new archbishop, Theophilos Giannopoulos, who was appointed without Israeli consent. While the government of Israel does not recognize the deposing of the former, de facto the latter controls the apparatus and the church properties. Therefore, defense planners had no option but to discuss the matter with both parties, each one separately, and try to reach agreements without entering into the struggle for control.

Setting the fence route in Azariya initially left a series of Christian sites on the Palestinian side of the fence. An urgent appeal by the churches led defense planners to plunge into the thorny thicket of conflicting interests, not only between Muslims and Christians but between the churches themselves, as each church tried to limit the damage to its property and attempted to push the fence over to the land of the other. After a prolonged effort, with the assistance of go-betweens, attorneys, influentials, the Foreign Ministry, and the Vatican Ambassador, we managed to convene the church leaders for a joint meeting in Jerusalem and arrive at an agreed-upon solution. Even after the basic route was finalized, each of the churches added harsh reservations that forced us to update and modify the route, add security devices and access routes, and compromise on security demands.

Upon the conclusion of planning and after protracted negotiations with the Vatican Ambassador and representatives of the various churches, this writer visited the Vatican and met with the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Holy See, with the participation of the resident Israeli ambassador, to present the complex solutions to the problems that surfaced in the area. The Deputy Foreign Minister emphasized the Vatican's reservations over the establishment of the fence and the various needs of the churches. Nevertheless, he did so with an understanding for the security situation that had befallen Israel and in the realization that the fence would be established in any case. He ratified the understandings with the churches as "the minimal damage."

Contacts were carried out relating to the other churches and concluded with agreements that allowed the establishment of the security fence with maximal consideration for the unique needs of the churches and the various Christian communities.

Postscript

Under duress, the State of Israel became involved in a Palestinian terror offensive that obligated it to adopt defensive measures including the establishment of a physical fence to halt the passage of suicide terrorists. Critics of Israel have taken up the cause of the security fence. Even former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has joined the anti-fence chorus, noting in his book: "The wall ravages many places along its devious route that are important to Christians."5

Despite the constraints of time and the pressing security needs, many efforts were invested and solutions were provided to meet the unique needs of the Christian churches in the region to guarantee the fundamental values of Western democracy - freedom of religion and religious observance, and free access to holy places, while at the same time limiting damage to property and preserving the churches' ties with their target communities. All this occurred while conducting a thorough study of needs and engaging in direct dialogue.

The establishment of the security fence was a vital measure for the security of Israel's citizens and those visiting Israel. Only when visitors to Jerusalem enjoy a sense of security can there be normal life, religious observance, and pilgrimage to the holy sites. The planning team spared no effort to reach this objective in a suitable legal and humanitarian manner to the maximum extent possible, under the difficult circumstances of a terror war.

Clergymen and pilgrims in Israel enjoy a sense of security, which has allowed hundreds of thousands of Christians to visit Jerusalem in recent years. They can reach the holy sites with confidence and realize their religious aspirations.

Let me conclude with the hope that the day will arrive when a way to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians will be discovered; it will be a peace with security that will eradicate the threat of terror and remove divisions between peoples.
* * *
Notes

1. Data courtesy of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.
2. Israel Security Agency, Four Years of Conflict: Israel's War Against Terrorists, October 3, 2004.
3. "Moussa Abu Marzouq, Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, Admits that the Hamas Government Supports Terrorism and Confirms that the Israeli Security Fence in the West Bank Makes Suicide Bombing Attacks More Difficult," Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center, June 2, 2007, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/hamas_060607e.pdf.
4. "The Leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Again Admits that the Israeli Security Fence Built by Israel in Judea and Samaria Prevents the Terrorist Organizations from Reaching the Heart of Israel to Carry Out Suicide Bombing Attacks," Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, March 26, 2008, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/ct_250308e.htm.
5. Jimmy Carter, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006), p. 194.
* * *
Col. (res.) Danny Tirza was in charge of planning the security fence between the West Bank and Israel, Israel's largest infrastructure project. Since 1994, Col. Tirza has headed a special staff in the IDF Central Command in charge of regional strategic planning. He has taken part in formulating Israel's security positions in negotiations with the Palestinians and has participated in various stages of the negotiations. Col. Tirza specializes in the geography of Judea and Samaria, the Jordan Valley, and Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Letter and Jerusalem Viewpoints are published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 13 Tel-Hai St., Jerusalem, Israel; Tel. 972-2-5619281, Fax. 972-2-5619112, Internet: jcpa@netvision.net.il. In U.S.A.: Center for Jewish Community Studies, 5800 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215 USA, Tel. (410) 664-5222; Fax. (410) 664-1228. © Copyright. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0792-7304.
The opinions expressed by the authors of Jerusalem Viewpoints do not necessarily reflect those of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
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PALESTINIANS DESECRATE JEWISH HOLY SITE

Blogmaster's Rant: First of all, I have an issue with the A7 headline...Why didn't they get it right and say that "PALESTINIANS DEFILE (DESECRATE) PATRIARCHS' CAVE"? Political correctness again giving a break to the barbarians! What would have happened if a Jew had desecrated a muslim holy site or pissed on the koran? There would be a nation wide uproar with the PM and MPs calling for the heads of those responsible, the arabs would be rioting in the street and most likely as a result, Jewish lives and property would be in peril. What happens when a Jewish holy site is desecrated? As you can see, not much...nothing, nothing at all! Isn't it about time the public forced our police to investigate and arrest the violators...or has this double standard become so commonplace that it is now the acceptable norm? I hope that we have more fortitude than to allow that to happen. Are we Sheep or Sheep Dogs (the protectors of our flock)? Hevron Police say that "no complaint has been filed". What does it take for the police to investigate a crime? I thought that the only information necessary to initiate an investigation was the knowledge that a crime had been committed!

Muslims Urinated Next to Torah Scrolls at Cave of Patriarchs





















7 Elul 5768, 07 September 08 12:12
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu



(IsraelNN.com) Muslims converged on the Cave of Patriarchs in Hevron Friday for Ramadan prayers, urinated next to Torah scrolls and left behind Hamas flags.
The Cave of the Patriarchs is the tomb of the biblical founders of the Jewish faith, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their wives, Sarah, Rivka, and Leah.

The desecration occurred on one of the 10 days during the year that the holy site is open only to Muslims and is closed to Jews. The same arrangement also is accorded to Jews on 10 holy Jewish days.

Uri Karzen, a Hevron resident, reported that a Kohen, who recites the priestly blessings during the Sabbath morning service, told him he smelled urine next to the Holy Ark containing Torah scrolls. Karzen and other worshippers moved the table, where the Torah scrolls are placed during the reciting of the portion of the week, in order to avoid the foul smell.

The Hamas flags were discovered in the windows that mark the burial sites of Abraham and Isaac and the matriarchs, Sarah, Rivka and Leah.

Hevron resident Asher Horowitz explained that he and others spotted the flags when they were returning holy books, which had been taken into safe storage before the prohibition from Jews entering the Cave of the Patriarchs went into effect. He used a stick to pull one of the flags from the marker of the burial site of Avraham and friends told him they found flags at other markers.

Ever since Muslims destroyed Torah scrolls in the Cave of the Patriarchs in the 1980s, Jews always remove holy books and lock the Holy Ark when they are prohibited from entering.

Noam Arnon, spokesman for the Jewish community in Hevron, said there is always some sort of damage discovered upon their return every time Jews are prohibited from entering the holy site. "It is not all the Muslims," he said. "But there always are a few who in the past have ripped mezuzot off the entrances to the rooms of worship or simply leave behind vandalism. Complaints have been filed with the police in the past, but no one ever has been arrested."

He added that two policemen are always on guard when Jews pray, especially when Arabs are prohibited from entering, but there are no policemen present when Jews are excluded.

Surveillance cameras are mounted, but Karzen said the place where urine was smelled may have been out of range of the cameras. The cameras should have caught on film the placement of Hamas flags, according to Horowitz.

Hevron police said they know nothing about the incidents and that an official complaint may not have been filed yet out of respect for the Sabbath.

Jerusalem - The Prime Target of Terrorists

Behind the Headlines:

Terrorism in Jerusalem

Incitement of hatred of Israel in general, and of its Jewish population in particular, is the apparent cause of the disturbing increase in terror activities involving Arab residents of East Jerusalem

Aftermath of March 6 terror attack at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva

(Photo: GPO)

Recently, Jerusalem has been the victim of a spate of terror attacks. In recent months, there have been five such attacks, starting with the January 24th fatal shooting of a border guard at a checkpoint at the northern entrance to Shuafat, north of Jerusalem. This was followed by the March 6th shooting of eight young yeshiva (seminary) students at Mercaz HaRav; followed by the July 2nd bulldozer rampage on Jaffa Road which killed three Israeli civilians and wounded dozens more; the July 11th shooting at the Old City's Lion Gate which left one border guard officer dead and another moderately injured; and the second bulldozer attack on July 22nd which wounded dozens. Most of these attacks were carried out by lone terrorists, residents of eastern Jerusalem.

The involvement of residents of eastern Jerusalem in terrorism is not a new phenomenon, but this recent wave of attacks - which Hamas has hailed as the "Jerusalem Intifada" - is a worrying trend. This is especially disturbing, as some 290,000 Palestinian holders of Israeli ID cards reside in the greater Jerusalem area, and the number of East Jerusalem residents involved in terror activities increased significantly during 2006; 9 arrests in 2005 as opposed 61 arrests in 2006, an increase of 670%.

From 2001 to the end of 2007, a total of 270 East Jerusalem residents involved in terror activities were detained by security forces. In the first half of 2008 (1 January until 30 June), 71 East Jerusalem terror activists were detained, raising the total from January 2001 to 341. An additional five attacks s took place in July. While not all of the terrorists in these attacks were apprehended, it is clear that most of the perpetrators were from East Jerusalem.

In addition, a six-man al-Qaeda cell was discovered operating out of Jerusalem. During June and July 2008, the Israel Security Agency and the Israel Police uncovered a 6-member group of Israeli Arabs and residents of East Jerusalem who were planning to establish an Al-Qaeda terrorist cell in Israel. The terror activists, some of whom were students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, were all members of a closed religious group who would meet and plan their activities at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

One of the detainees, who resided in a dormitory at the Hebrew University overlooking the helicopter landing pad used by President Bush on his visit in January 2008, used his cell phone to make videos of helicopter take-offs and landings and then posted queries on al-Qaeda related websites asking for information on how to shoot down the President's helicopter. Additionally, instructions for preparing bombs were found on personal computers belonging to some of the detainees.

The exposure of this group is one of a series of recently uncovered incidents involving Israeli Arabs who support extreme Islamic ideologies and intended to carry out hostile terrorist activities inside Israel.

This is a trend that is difficult for many to understand, given the rights and privileges enjoyed by the residents of eastern Jerusalem.

Immediately following Israel's reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, Jerusalem's Arab residents were offered full Israeli citizenship, (although most declined to accept it). Even without full citizenship, residents of eastern Jerusalem are free to visit and work in all parts of Israel, as they are considered permanent residents. Moreover, they retain the right, as residents of the city, to participate in municipal elections and are afforded all the economic, cultural and social benefits given to Israeli citizens, such as membership in Israeli health funds (comprehensive medical insurance) and social security payments. Additionally, they have the civil right to maintain their own educational, humanitarian and social institutions.

Their religious rights are also vigorously protected. As Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in his speech on Jerusalem Day (June 2, 2008): "We respect all believers, preserve their holy places and are wholly committed to freedom of religion, religious worship and conscience for all residents, visitors and lovers of Jerusalem." Indeed, at no other time in history have the worshippers of all faiths enjoyed such a high degree of religious freedom in Jerusalem.

While the individual motivations of each terrorist remain uncertain, one fact is crystal clear – each has been exposed to incitement against Israel. This incitement to hatred of Israel in general, and its Jewish population in particular, is prevalent in certain media outlets and is widely available over the Internet. The longing to commit terrorist acts stems neither from economic deprivation nor political oppression, but from incitement and hatred.

Fortunately, the anti-terrorism fence and other preventive actions taken by Israel have thwarted almost all of the terror attacks emanating from the West Bank. However, Israel faces a more difficult situation when dealing with terrorists living in Jerusalem given their legal rights to move freely throughout Israel. This situation is made ever more complicated when dealing with suicide terrorists, as normal deterrents such as prison sentences have no effects.

A public debate is currently being held in Israel to find the means to prevent such terrorists from carrying out their barbaric attacks. The dilemma the Israeli authorities face is how to deter suicide terrorists, yet do so in a way that is effective as well as legally and morally responsible. Whatever method is ultimately adopted, it will be one aimed not at collective punishment, but rather at effective deterrence. Only measures which deter terrorists before they act can stop the violence being aimed at the citizens of Jerusalem.

If I forget thee...

If I forget thee...

by David Wilder
The Jewish Community of Hebron
July 15, 2008

Tomorrow's planned prisoner exchange is very bittersweet. Almost everyone has an opinion and all sides have some element of legitimacy. On one hand, the price is so very high; on the other hand, we have a responsibility to bring our soldiers home, dead or alive. A soldier, entering battle, must know that anything and everything will be done to bring him home, be it to his family, or to 'kever Yisrael' – to a Jewish grave. Yet, perhaps the swap will serve as motivation to capture more soldiers, and exchange them for other terrorist killers. But, who can forget the unbelievable 'mesirut nefesh' – total dedication, of Rabbi Shlomo Goren, then Chief Rabbi of the IDF, to wade through enemy mine fields to recover bodies of Israeli soldiers killed in action.

It's something of a catch 22 – whatever you do is right, and whatever you do is wrong. I know that I've asked myself countless times, 'what would I do if, (G-d forbid), it was one of my sons.' In truth, I don't know.

Of course, with the release of two Israeli soldiers, either dead or alive, a huge dark cloud shadows their return: where is Ron Arad, whose fate is still unknown? Is he dead or alive? Is he in Lebanon or Iran? According to Israeli intelligence sources, having studied the newly-released photos of Arad, taken about 20 years ago, the pictures were taken not in Lebanon, rather in Iran. Perhaps Ron Arad is still alive, wasting away in an Iranian dungeon?

However, with enigma surrounding Ron Arad and the as of yet unknown condition of Regev and Goldwasser, at least people know their names, show some concern for them and their families. Unfortunately, it's not that way with all Israeli MIAs, POWS. There are those, who, for one reason or another, have been forgotten, despite that fact that they wore the same uniform as the others, fought for the same country as the others, and whose fate is just as unknown as the others.

Ron Arad was captured in October, 1986. Four years earlier, in June, 1882, during the battle of Sultan Ya'akub, Israel lost three of its finest. During the battle, commanded by Ehud Barak, three tank warriors, Tzvi Feldman, born in 1956, Yehuda Katz, born in 1959, and Zacharia Baumel, born in 1960, disappeared. They may have been killed during the brutal fighting. However, there were accounts of people who saw them displayed during a parade in Syria. Their families have gathered accounts over the years, which, at the very least, raise a reasonable doubt as to their fate. Perhaps they are long gone. But perhaps not. And, if we use the Regev-Goldwasser measuring stick, what difference does it make? Why have the IDF and the Israeli government totally forgotten about these three men? Why aren't they household names, as is Ron Arad? Why didn't Israel demand a full report from Hizballah concerning the fate and location of these three men just as they did concerning Ron Arad? Why doesn't the Israeli media exert pressure on the government and IDF concerning then, as they did concerning Regev, Goldwasser, Arad and Gilad Shalit? Why does Gilad Shalit's name continue to make headlines, while most Israelis, 22 years later, have no idea who Katz, Feldman and Baumel are?

I have an answer, but don't really like it. As a matter of fact, I despise what I think. It really stinks.

It's even worse than that. But I can't think of any other viable reason.

These three men came from the wrong side of Israeli society. They all had Kippas on their heads. They belonged to religious tank units. Their families were not left-wing supporters of 'peace,' Labor, and Arabs. The men weren't media lovelies. Rather, they were young idealistic patriots, who fought for their country, their people and their belief. Their belief hasn't betrayed them, but their country and their people have.

But that's not all.

It's clear that serious negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit will continue between Israel and Hamas. Clearly, Israel should demand information and release of the three above-discussed men. But in my opinion, that's not enough.

Hamas terrorists are not stupid. If, as is expected, Israel receives two bodies for killer Kuntar, Hamas is going to demand an even higher price for a 'live' Israeli. That price will almost undoubtedly include Marwan Barghuti, a convicted murderer and leader of the '2nd intidada' which claimed thousands of Israeli lives, dead, maimed and wounded.

The present Israeli government will almost assuredly OK the deal. However, Israel must demand more than the release of POW Gilad Shalit. After all, Barghuti will only be one of the hundreds of terrorists freed by Israel. Israel must look towards its best friend and ally, put its foot down, and tell the United States: look at what we are being forced into in order to release one Israeli soldier. What is the price of one man? Is there a price? Yet, the price is too high. We must bring home more than one POW.

When we release Barghuti and Hamas releases Shalit, you must free Jonathan Pollard. If we can do it, so can you.

At every Jewish wedding, the happiest day in a person's life, we repeat the words, 'If I forget thee Jerusalem….' I add :

If we forget thee, Tzvi…
If we forget thee Yehuda…
If we forget thee Zacharia…
If we forget thee Jonathan…
If we forget all of you, who are we, what are we, why are we?

PALESTINIAN TEXT BOOKS = HATRED OF JEWS

Texts of Hate
By Arlene Kushner
FrontPageMagazine.com 3/13/2008

Although questions are frequently raised regarding the ostensible moderation of PA president Mahmoud Abbas, somehow the entire issue of textbooks produced by the Palestinian Authority is given short shrift, as if it is of little import. Perhaps this is because there is the mistaken notion that, while the books once were problematic, they have been satisfactorily revised and no longer merit attention.

In point of fact, the contents of these books and the background to their publication are enormously telling: When we understand what the PA produces for its children, Abbas’s intentions are laid bare, without the possibility of guile.

Serious work on these texts has been done by the Institute for Measuring the Impact of Peace and Tolerance in School Education (formerly known as CMIP), located in Jerusalem. The Institute has released a number of reports over the years, and is scheduled to soon release its latest, which is being supported by the American Jewish Committee. Dr. Arnon Groiss, who heads research, provided the material that forms the basis for this review:

It was in 2000 that the PA began publishing its own textbooks – two grades per year – to replace the Jordanian and Egyptian texts that had been in use in its schools since its inception. By 2004, texts for all subjects in grades 1 through 10 had been released. This work was done during the Arafat era.

The books, on examination, were found to promote:
Delegitimization of Israel. Palestinians, who are said to be descendants of Canaanites, are represented as the only legitimate possessors of the land. The presence of Jews as residents in Israel is ignored. It is so blatant that when population figures are given, the Jews are simply omitted. Jews are seen as having been invaders in antiquity and colonialists now.

All Jewish holy places in Israel – including the Kotel, the Western Wall – are presented as purely Islamic sites. Israeli cities, such as Haifa, are referred to as Arab cities. There is not a single map that has Israel marked on it. Nor is Israel mentioned by name in texts. Instead there are phrases used such as "the area occupied in 1948," and "area of the 1948 war."
Demonization of Jews. Objective information on the history or culture of Jews is lacking. Individual Jews are never mentioned, only groups; Jews are thus denied their humanity. Jews in Israel are represented as evil and without a single positive trait. Jews are said to commit treaty violations, use tricks, kill people, seek the expulsion and extermination of Palestinians. In an 8th grade text, we find: “Your enemies kill your children, split open women’s bellies.”

Violence. There is no open support for peace based on reconciliation. “Liberation” of all of the land of Palestine is encouraged and praised. “Return” is seen as a violent process, part of the liberation. The emphasis on violence is intensified because of focus on the traditional Islamic ideals of Jihad and martyrdom

In 2005, after Abbas had become PA president, books for grade 11were released. There was some minimal improvement in them, but it was relative.

For instance, two maps are included that mention Israel by name. This is not done in a positive sense, however, to teach children that here is Israel, and here is the Palestinian state. The maps are Israeli maps showing plans for the division of the land, and the accompanying text is negative: This is what the colonial occupiers are planning.
In the 11th grade texts, as well, for the very first time, Jews are mentioned as being in Jerusalem. And, for the first time, in a PA history text, Kings David and Saul are mentioned, and there is an occasional reference to pre-1967 Israel.

It is, perhaps, this hint of change for the better that has led some to conclude that all is well. That conclusion, however, would be greatly premature. For, by the time the 12th grade books were introduced in 2006, Hamas was part of the PA unity government, and with one single exception, any small beginning sign of moderation had disappeared.
In addition, what we must not lose sight of is the fact that books for grades 1 through 10, produced under Arafat, continue to be in use. And so, students must wait until grade 11 to see a map that has Israel on it, and to learn that there officially are Jews in Jerusalem. By 11th grade (age 16 or 17), perceptions and understandings – molded by the earlier texts – are likely to be firmly embedded.

And here we come to the most telling part of this entire process: In 2007, after the Hamas - Fatah split, when Fayyad had become prime minister, all of the textbooks were reprinted. Here was Abbas's opportunity to ensure that meaningful changes in these books were made for all grades. It didn't happen. Most alterations were simply in page layout and format. Very few substantive changes were made – and of those that were, some were improvements, while others made matters worse.

When one examines all that is objectionable in these texts, what is perhaps most striking is the veneration of martyrdom. The Palestinian youth are being taught to seek death and violence rather than peace and life.

The texts – in all subject matter – are rife with exhortations to pursue martyrdom and Jihad.

From Our Beautiful Language, Grade 7, Part 1 (2001), p. 97. A section from a poem, called "The Martyr" that is to be studied:
"I shall carry my soul in my palm
And toss it into the abyss of destruction
...Hearing [weapons'] clash is pleasant to my ear
And the flow of blood gladdens my soul."

From Our Beautiful Language, Grade 5, part 1, p. 70 (2004):
"The fighter goes to battle with two happy ends in front of him:
either victory or martyrdom."

From Our Beautiful Language, Grade 5, part 2, p. 32 (2004):
"The martyrs kiss it [the Palestinian flag] with their blood."

And, finally, from Reading and Texts, Grade 8, part 2, page 16 (2002), what is perhaps the most potent and disturbing example of them all:
"Your enemies seek life and you seek death...
"These drops of blood that flow from your bodies will be transformed into red fiery shooting stars that will come down on the heads of your enemies."

The student is not being told to analyze this material that is part of a poem. Rather, the student is being welcomed into a culture of death and asked to participate in its bloody and destructive rituals.
American-born Arlene Kushner is an investigative writer and author in Jerusalem. UNRWA is a frequent topic of investigation for her. She has done major reports on this subject for the Center for Near East Policy Research, and has written articles on UNRWA for Azure Magazine, The Jerusalem Post, and Front Page Magazine.

Kapo-Capitulation to CondiSleeza Rice, Bush and the EU... Enough!!!

Kapo-Capitulation to CondiSleeza Rice, Bush and the EU... Enough!!!

Kol HaKavod! ...To Baruch Marzel, Itamar Ben-Gvir and the courageous men of the “Jewish Front”! Are these the only righteous Jews in Jerusalem who are willing to stand for what is morally and lawfully correct? Shame upon the Officers and men of the Border Police who acted with violence against those who would stop the Hilul Hashem pagan celebration of the Yeshiva Massacre in Jerusalem. All Jews, Orthodox and Secular should be enraged by the murder of our children. Why do we shame ourselves by allowing those responsible to revel in the blood of our Brothers? The tent must be torn down, the home of this terrorist destroyed, and all related to this murderer deported to the West Bank. Blogmaster.

'Jewish Front' Activists Arrested on Way to Destroy Terror Tent
by Hillel Fendel and Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) Six members of the "Jewish Front" were arrested Sunday and held for questioning after they began to march toward the mourning tent for the terrorist who massacred eight Merkaz HaRav students.
Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who led the march, said they would try themselves to dismantle the tent that was erected by the family in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber to honor 25-year-old Ala Abu Dheim. Both men were arrested by Jerusalem District Police, along with Michael Pollack and three others.

The Arab neighborhood which is home to the family is just east of the Jewish neighborhood of Talpiyot Mizrach in the capital. The police have allowed the tent to stand, saying there is no law against. Officials from the municipality did order Abu Dheim's father to take down the Hamas and Hizbullah flags adorning the tent. The elder Abu Dheim, known in the past to be a member of the Hamas terrorist organization, complied with the order.

"Only in Israel could there be a situation where terrorist family members erect a tent to praise and glorify a murderer who perpetrated a massacre against the Jewish Nation," said activist Itamar Ben-Gvir. "Even in Jordan, they didn't allow such a tent. If the police don't do it, then we ourselves will lift the law up from the floor."

Likud Knesset member Gilad Erdan announced Sunday morning he will propose a ban on any form of public mourning for a terrorist, saying that the State of Israel is "more like a suicidal democracy than a democracy that is defending itself."

Abu Dheim's family in Jordan was forbidden by Amman to erect a mourning tent or publicly mourn him with an open house, saying public mourning would not be allowed for someone who promoted violence against civilians.

A relative who lived elsewhere in the Hashemite Kingdom noted with irony that the Israeli government did not stop his immediate family from doing so in Jerusalem.

YESHIVA STUDENTS MURDERED BY PALESTINIAN TERRORIST GUNMAN

Arab Terrorist Attacks Jerusalem's Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva: 8 Dead










The book that one student victim was studying from in the
Merkaz HaRav library, 06Mar08GPO (Royalty-free)

30 Adar 5768, 07 March 08 05:34by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
(IsraelNN.com) Warning: this article includes graphic content.

An Arab terrorist infiltrated Jerusalem's Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva at around 8:30 Thursday night and murdered eight Jews. At least 10 people were wounded; five are in serious to critical condition, a sixth victim was wounded moderately and four others, lightly.
The attacker entered the yeshiva and opened fire on students before he was gunned down himself by an armed civilian. Witnesses say that the attack began in the seminary's library with the terrorist spraying bullets in every direction before anyone could react.
The part-time yeshiva student who killed the terrorist, 40-year-old Yitzchak Dadon, said that he shot the attacker in the head with his personal weapon. David Shapira, a yeshiva graduate and officer in the paratroopers, heard the shots from his nearby home, ran to the yeshiva and "finished [the terrorist] off."
















Blood-stained fringed garment (tallis) worn by
Jewish student victimGPO (Royalty-free)


















Lifeless body of Jewish victim seen through bullet-riddled
window, Merkaz Harav, 06Mar08GPO (Royalty-free)


Asked by a Channel 2 TV reporter what weapon the Palestinian Authority terrorist had, Dadon said, "A Kalachnikov," and turning to the camera, he angrily added,
"The Kalachnikov that you gave him, President Peres..."

Initial reports indicated that a second terrorist was hiding in the yeshiva building, responding security forces determined that the reports were false. Police deployed in the surrounding neighborhood, and scoured the yeshiva and connected buildings. Most students in the building were evacuated after taking cover in the yeshiva's bomb shelter, according to police spokesmen.

Fifty ambulances responded to the scene, which emergency responders called "a major incident." The wounded were evacuated to Hadassah Ein Karem and Shaarei Tzedek Hospitals.
In Gaza City, Arab residents went out into the streets and fired rifles in the air in celebration of the attack against the Jews of Jerusalem.


































Zaka volunteers collecting body parts and soaking up
blood for Jewish burialPhoto: Zaka

Police forces have been increased throughout the capital and placed on heightened alert around the country.

The Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva is located near the entrance to Jerusalem, in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood. The yeshiva, founded by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, is at the heart of the national-religious movement in Israel.

Four People Injured in Other AttacksFour people were wounded in a rocket attack on Sderot on Thursday evening. One of the victims, who was in his house when it sustained a direct hit, suffered moderate head wounds. Three other people suffered light injuries.
A second rocket hit a gas tank, causing a fire. Firefighters managed to gain control of the blaze. No injuries were reported.
Arabs attacked Israeli drivers on Thursday night, rolling flaming tires onto Route 60 as cars drove past. The attack took place west of Hevron, near the town of Otniel. IDF soldiers witnessed the group beginning its attack and fired on one of the attacker's legs. The attacker was hit and wounded moderately.

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WHAT SHOULD ISRAEL DO...LIVE OR COMMIT SUICIDE

Nine immoral solutions for Gaza -
a guideBy Bradley Burston

For a moral compass, Gaza is the North Pole. The needle spins so continually, and at such speed, that no reading is possible.

For Israelis, the quandary of Gaza is a powerful Rorshach of the role and the burdens of Israel, of mood and injury, of personal tragedy and official befuddlement, of social conscience, ethical outlook, and sense of history.

The Gaza Strip, unwanted by the world, unwanted by Israel, unwanted by the Arabs and even by many Palestinians, forlorn, violent, seething, unlivable, has become the great moral test for the Jewish people.

All it took was rockets.

Seven years of rockets. Rockets launched toward civilian populations, schools, a college, rockets that slammed through private homes, children's bedrooms in the blue collar Israeli town of Sderot. More than a thousand rockets a year for seven years, directed at kibbutzim which for decades had supported an end to occupation and the rise of a Palestinian state. Eight thousand rockets, fired when Israel had 25 settlements and 20,000 troops in the Gaza Strip, and when Israel expelled the settlers and withdrew its troops, rockets fired from the ruins of the settlements and former emplacements of the IDF.

For Palestinians, Gaza was a prison before the disengagement, and a maximum security lockup thereafter. For Palestinians, the end of Israeli rule and the subsequent rise of Hamas were a human rights tragedy turned human rights catastrophe. For Palestinians, there is no more work in Israel, no more work in Gaza, no more hope anywhere.

When Israel ended its operation in the Strip on Monday, a Hamas radio announcer declared victory, saying that despite all of the destruction and death, Hamas gunners were still hitting Sderot and Ashkelon and even Netivot. Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar addressed a rally to mark what he called Hamas' success in the Five Day War. Taking the trouble to thank the news media in general for its coverage of Palestinian casualties, Al Jazeera and Hamas' own Al Aqsa TV in particular, he told a cheering, chanting crowd, in effect: We showed them. The Israelis?ll think twice before invading ever again.

He's right. Israelis will think twice, and many times again. This is why: Hamas, with the direct or inadvertent cooperation of Hezbollah, Iran, the Islamic Jihad, Fatah fatcats, Fatah rebels, the Bush administration, and, of course, Israel itself, has created a situation in which every one of Israel's moral and strategic options is a bad one.

This is the test for Israel: There is no way to ace it, and there are countless ways to fail. Here are a few.

Choose your poison:

1. A massive IDF ground offensive.

Arguments in favor: There is no alternative but to use overwhelming if tactically directed force to root out terror groups which fire the rockets, and to break the back of the Hamas government and remove it from power.

Marshalled example: Operation Defensive Shield, 2002

Arguments against: The risk-benefit equation suggests that large numbers of Gaza non-combatants as well as Israeli forces would be killed and wounded, without truly material success in curbing Qassam and Katyusha attacks.

International outrage could cause Israel great political, economic, even strategic harm.

2. Reoccupy the Gaza Strip

Arguments in favor: Israel cannot abide a terrorist state less than an hour's drive from Tel Aviv. Hamas, if allowed to rule, will eventually take over the West Bank and, effectively, East Jerusalem as well. Even a large-scale IDF offensive, if only temporary, will leave the field open to rearmament and continued attacks.

Arguments against: Israel militarily occupied the Gaza Strip for nearly forty years, but was unable to prevent the manufacture and firing of Qassams. Qassam firing continued under Israeli occupation for more than three years until the disengagement in 2005. Finally, Israel lacks the will and the forces to occupy Gaza indefinitely.

3. Shell sources of rocket fire

Arguments in favor: Use of long-range artillery will save the lives of soldiers who would be out at risk in a ground offensive. If Israel puts Gazans on notice that artillery will immediately and consistently shell any area from which rockets are fired, they will either prevent Hamas gunners from using their homes and yards, or will flee before the firing begins.

Arguments against: Artillery has proven markedly inaccurate as retaliatory fire against small crews of armed men, often with disastrous consequences. Cases of innocent civilians killed in error, tragic in themselves, have in many cases also made it impossible for the IDF to continue to pursue its military targets.

4. Assassinate Hamas leaders

Arguments in favor: Assassinations of commanders and political leaders can paralyze the organization, sending leading figures underground, cutting lines of communication, interrupting chains of command, while at the same time causing less danger to Palestinian civilians and to IDF soldiers. When Israel assassinated Hamas founders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abed Aziz Rantisi in 2004, threats os monumental retaliation never materialized, and the organization subsequently offered a limited truce.

Arguments against: Civilians are often killed by mistake in assassination attempts. Assassination is also a dangerous policy, as it invites counter-attempts, such as the murder of then-cabinet minister Rehavam Ze'evi in Jerusalem in 2001. Finally, it fails to address core concerns, and may cause deadly reprisals, as in the suicide bombings that killed 60 people in Israel after the 1996 assassination of Hamas bomb mastermind Yihye Ayyash.

5. Negotiate with Hamas

Arguments for: Hamas is not only the democratically elected ruler of Gaza, it also still enjoys broad, if somewhat dimished, popular support in the Strip. Because it trades on an ideology of martyrdom and steadfastness in the face of attack, it will be defeated neither by economic sanctions nor military confrontation. There is no alternative to talks toward a cease-fire, which Hamas has been proposing for years, holding out the offer of the return of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in an exchange for jailed Hamas men.

Arguments against: Negotiations would constitute a major victory for Hamas, and tacit Israeli recognition of the organization, further undermining the standing of Mahmoud Abbas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority and perhaps paving way for future Hamas control of the West Bank.

The Hamas charter continues to call explicitly for the violent destruction of the state of Israel, and any expansion of Hamas hegemony to the West Bank could put large swathes of central Israel, the bulk of Israel's population, in range of Katyusha-Grad rockets.

6. Tighten the economic siege over Gaza

Arguments for: How can a nation at war justify supplying its enemy with fuel, electricity, water, and even supplies which may be used for producing rockets and other armaments?

Arguments against: The people of Gaza as a whole should not be punished for the actions of a small number of armed men. Collective punishment, moreover, increases hatred toward Israel and will, in the end, persuade more youths to become terrorists.

7. Lift the economic siege over Gaza

Arguments in favor: Such a step could, if carried out in cooperation with Abbas and the PA, strengthen Abbas' hand. (Also see arguments against, numbers 6 and, if carried out in cooperation with Hamas, 5 above)

Arguments against: Such a step could bolster Hamas, whioch could list it as a strategic victory and an indication that its policies were correct all along.

8. Increase IDF operations in the West Bank

Arguments in favor: Israel must do everything it can to confront and contain Hamas in the West Bank, to keep it from taking over.

Arguments against: Such operations sap the limited sovereignty of Abbas and the PA, which has taken action of its own against Hamas in the West Bank. Such operations also cast Abbas in the role of collaborator with Israel, cutting his support among Palestinians.

9. Do nothing

Arguments for: This stance, which, while it may have adherents in practice, has no proponents.

Arguments against. Israel does not have the option of doing nothing. To do nothing is, in effect, a violation of the human rights of the people of Sderot and the western Megev, who are the targets of Hamas war crimes.

WE WANT YOU DEAD

MFA Newsletter

The Hamas' true message to Israelis:

We want you dead

Don’t allow yourself to be fooled by their media manipulation of woman and children, the Hamas’ true message to Israelis is unequivocally clear: "You are our target - We want you dead."Israel's goals are also clear - Staying alive.

On the same day in which the Hamas staged its "peaceful" propaganda march of women and children toward Israel's border crossings (26 Feb 2008), the Hamas' official website featured a poster, portraying its gunmen in battle dress, declaring in English and Hebrew "Death is Coming", and depicting Israeli casualties in the background.

As Hamas continues in its rocket campaign against Israel’s cities, it has also stepped up its PR campaign to explain to Israeli civilians that Hamas wants them dead.
Here are three posters, displayed prominently on Hamas web sites, with captions that leave no room for misunderstandings.

Compiled by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC)
2 March 2008
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EMPEROR FIDDLES WHILE SDEROT BURNS!

EMPEROR FIDDLES WHILE SDEROT BURNS!

By B’nai Elim Blogmaster
‏יום ראשון 02 מרץ 2008

Israel’s politburo-security cabinet has put off until Wednesday a meeting to discuss the IDF operation to stop the rocketing of Sderot, Ashqelon, and Southern Israel.

It seems that the real Prime Minister, Mrs. USA... CondiSleeza Rice is scheduled to swoop down on Israel to knock Olmert around and convince him that any major operation by the IDF into Gaza to stop more murders of innocent Israelis would be counter-productive to the Bush peace process. Rice plans to force Olmert to direct that the politburo reexamine the humanitarian repercussions of a major IDF effort to silence the palestinian freedom fighters rocket barrages to the palestinian population.

Rice doesn’t want the world to see Israel pushing around a bunch of weak refugees and throwing her plans for a palestinian state off schedule. Word is that she will threaten to close Olmert’s U.S. bank accounts if he refuses to play ball and keep the IDF out of Gaza. Oh, and while she is at it, she will also tell him in no uncertain terms that under no circumstances should he resign and give the Israeli people an opportunity to actually vote for a leader of their own choosing.