Saturday, May 4, 2024
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A Secular Israeli Asks: Should Civil Rights of Observant Jews be Protected?

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

A major political issue facing Israel now is the question of whether in Israeli democracy someone has the right NOT to desecrate the Sabbath.

Yes, you read that correctly. No misprint.

There has long been tension in Israel because of the politicized “religion” of the demagogues of the various religious parties who have attempted – not very successfully – to coerce people into religious observance, such as through prohibiting bus operations and movie showings on the Sabbath. I regard this as “nuisance religion” and insist that it is not a legitimate function of the government to pressure people to be observant. I also think it arouses antagonism to religion and drives people AWAY from observance. In any case, the scope of nuisance religion is exagerated and does not affect at all most Israelis; when everyone owns cars it does not matter if buses run on Sabbath, and besides there are taxis. And when everyone has a VCR, who cares if cinemas are open or not on Friday night?

But as I say, all that is not what is now at issue, but rather whether Israelis have the right to choose NOT to desecrate the Sabbath.

The issue has come up with respect to Lev Leviov. Leviov is an immigrant to Israel who has done quite well in the Israeli business world, and is also a “hozer b’tshuva”, someone who became religiously observant. Leviov is the owner of a new shopping center in Ramat Aviv, the yuppie Leftist suburb north of Tel Aviv, in which Tel Aviv University sits, in which people like Shimon Peres and Leah Rabin live.

Leviov has decided that in the shopping center, which is his personal property, the stores and services will not operate on the Sabbath. Sure, he will lose some rent, but that is what he wishes.

But that decision has outraged the Leftist lumpenproletariat of yuppie Ramat Aviv. No fair, they screameth. Ramat Aviv is a leftist secular enclave! They insist that Leviov allow all the shops and services to operate in his shopping center mall, since after all they serve the militant secularists of Ramat Aviv, the same folks by the by who have been demonstrating against polluting the Tel Aviv University campus thru allowing a synagogue to be built there. The Labor Party and Meretz pols have joined in and are also demanding that Leviov be coerced into allowing the mall to stay open on the Sabbath, giving the teenagers of Ramat Aviv some place to hang out and play Beverly Hills 90210.

Then along comes Roni Milo, the mayor of Tel Aviv. Now Ramat Aviv is not even in Hizzohuh Da Mare’s jurisdiction, and Milo is from the Likud. But Milo, whose principles are interchangeable with those of the Labor Party left (he favors Oslo) has come out in FAVOR of the forces of darkness attempting to coerce the opening of Leviov’s mall on the Sabbath. Milo is following in the steps of his predecessor Mayor General Shlomo Lahat, who got elected to City Hall as a Liberal Party (part of Likud) candidate and then became Shimon Peres’ booster and cheerleader for Oslo. Milo wants to ride the fence and play the Leftist-metamorphosis option.

The secularists are threatening to invade religious town Bnei Barak on Sabbath with cars and noise as “retaliation” for the human rights abuse being perpetrated upon them by Leviov in his obstinate refusal to allow the Sabbath to be desecrated on his property.

And have a good Sabbath….

Dr. Steven E. Plaut
Graduate School of Business
University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel
Phone (972-4) 824-0110
Fax (972-4) 824-0059 or (972-4) 824-9194
email: rsec792@uvm.haifa.ac.il

Official Complaints Filed to US Ambasssador Martin Indyk

By
David Bedein
-

Joyce Boim, an American-Israeli citizen residing in Jerusalem, has filed an official complaint with US Ambassador Martin Indyk, following her meeting with Israel Minister of Justice Tzachi HaNegbi. Mrs Boim had requested that HaNegbi ad the name of Amjad HaNawi. who murdered her son David, age 16, last May, to the list of suspects that Israel was demanding that the Palestine Authority arrest and turn over to Israel. According to Mrs. Boim, HaNegbi simply shrugged his shoulders and refused her request…When I called the Justice Minister’s office for a response, his spokesperson said that since the official meeting did not happen between HaNegbi and his PA counterpart last Sunday, the list was never handed over and the list is no longer relevant.

Mrs. Boim has asked Indyk to intervene in this matter.

Meanwhile, another American-Israeli citizen, Mrs.Esther Wachsman, the mother of Nachson Wachsman, who was abducted and murdered in October 1994, has filed a complaint with Indyk that the Israeli government is not requesting the arrest of Muhammad Deif, a Gaza resident who masterminded the abduction and murder of his son. President Clinton, who visited her son’s grave on March 14, 1996, said on that occaision that Deif was on the list of America’s most wanted criminals and that Israel should not proceed with the process without Arafat handing over Deif. Present to hear and confirm Clinton’s words were Yehudah and Esther Wachsman, US ambassador Martin Indyk, and then-prime minister of Israel, Shimon Peres.

However, there is no record of any official Israeli or American written demand to Arafat to hand over Deif. Palestine Authority Gaza security chief, Nassar Yusef reported to Yehudah Wachsman last July that Arafat had given him orders not to arrest Deif.

Does Rhetoric Replace Policy?

By
David Bedein
-

On the evening before the long-planned March 17 meeting with his counterpart in the Palestine Authority, PA justice minister Abu Medein, Israel Minister of Justice Tzachi HaNegbi talked tough, declaring to a cheering Likud audience that anyone in the PA who advocated violence with be dealt with harshly.

HaNegbi pointed a finger at PA leader Yassir Arafat, saying that Israel could easily force him out of his villa in Gaza, back to his villa in Tunis. The reaction to HaNegbi was not long in coming. The PA denounced him in harsh terms, as did the Meretz and Labor party spokesmen.

Meanwhile, the meeting with Abu Medein did not come off as scheduled. The Israeli public perceived that HaNegbi had stood his ground and talked tough policy towards his Palestinian conuterparts.

Yet a somewhat different story remains to be told.

In an interview with Abu Medein on the day of the scheduled meeting, Abu Medein noted that the meeting had already been postponed last Thursday, March 14, the day before the Israel Ministry of Justice had issued a statement that the meeting was to take place.

Abu Medein, while indicating that formal meetings with Israeli officials had for the time being been postponed, also mentioned that on the matter of the “transfer of suspects” issue that there was no reason for a meeting, and that the Israeli government did indeed pass on names of susepcted murderers who had taken refuge in the areas administered by the Palestine authority for his consideration, even though Abu Medein expressed his policy that the PA would ever agree to hand over murder suspects to Israeli custody.

Meanwhile, in the list that the Israel Ministry of Justice did indeed hand over to the PA, HaNegbi did not add the names of the killers of Nachshon Wachsman, David Boim and Yaakov Yamin to the list, even though their families had held a well attended press conference on March 13 to demand that Hanegbi request the arrest of those who murdered their loved ones. Since the attack in Jordan overshadowed the press conference held by the Wachsmans, Boims and Yamins which occurred at the moment of the massacre, their appeal to the conscience of the Israeli public was not heard. All that these families asked was that HaNegbi indeed act to demand the arrest of the Arabs who murdered their loved ones and escaped to the PA havens of refuge for killers.

Yet the Israeli public was kept in the dark on this matter – the more tragic and spectacular continuing news item of the massacre of seven Israeli school girls in Jordan and the condolence visit by King Hussein kept the issue off the news, providing HaNegbi with the cover that he needed.

Meanwhile, HaNegbi has declared on numerous occaisions that if and when the PA refuses to hand over killers who have escaped to the areas under their jurisdiction, then he will resign. Instead, HaNegbi’s protege, Israel Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, declared at the joint news conference with King Hussein on Sunday night March 16th that the policy of his administration is that if there are PLO violations of the accord, no matter what they are, they will not stop the progress of the Oslo process.

Most people in Israel assume that HaNegbi has issued an ultimatum to the Palestine Authority to arrest any killer who has taken refuge in the areas under their control.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

When Joyce Boim met with HaNegbi on Thursday March 13 to discuss her longstanding request to have the Israeli government demand the arrest of her son’s admitted murderer, HaNegbi shrugged his shoulders and murmured that he didn’t know abotu it. This, despite months of calls, consultations and letters, let alone HaNegbi’s fire and brimstone speeches

On the morning of March 17, I asked Hanegbi’s office for a reason as to why the three killers of Wachsman, Boim and Yamin were not on the list of killers that were handed over to the Palestine Authority. His spokeswoman called back in the evening with a unique response: The list was never handed over to Abu Medein because they had no meeting and therefore there is no list.

Except that the Israeli government faxxed the list to Abu-Medein. Tzachi HaNegbi forgets that there is telephone service between Jerusalem and Gaza and that Abu Medein picks up the phone.

So there you have it. HaNegbi shries gevalt and the PA gets away with murder.

The “NEW” Jerusalem Post

By
David Bedein
-

It is particularly difficult to critique that which a newspaper does not cover or that which the paper chooses to relegate to the back pages

The new Jerusalem Post, now under the editorship of David Bar Ilan’s appointed successor, a Meretz man, Jeff Barak, has chosen not to cover the continuing case in the Israel High Court of Justice that is being valiantly waged by Joyce and Stanley Boim, Jerusalem Post readers and American Israeli citizens whose son David, age 16, was murdered last May, 1996. Why did Barak deem this less than newsworthy?

The Boims are trying to get a judgement by the High Court that will require the Israel Ministry of Justice to demand the arrest of their son’s killer, Amjad Hamawi, who has found refuge in the safe haven of the Palestine Authority. No major organization in Israel will take up the Boims case – not Yesha, not Young Israel, not Likud, not any civil rights organization with the exception of one civil rights group now in formation called “Ohev Tzedek”. Meanwhile, the Post keeps the court case from the public eye. The public is then led to believe that the Israeli government is doing its best when it is actually doing nothing at all. Why did Barak deem this less than newsworthy?

The Post continues its policy on this matter when it sends a senior reporter and photographer to cover the press conference held on March 13 with the Boims, the Wachsmans and the Yamins, all of whom have loved ones who are murdered and the killers roam freely in the Palestine Authority without a request for their arrest. True, the Post putson one of its inside pages on March 14 a quote from a wire service that describes the press conference in a few hidden lines. However, the Post did not even see fit to pick up on a fascinating, newsworthy aspect of the story, which is that Congressman James Saxton appealed to President Clinton to follow through on Clinton’s direct and personal promise to the Wachsman family that the peace process should not proceed unless and until the Palestine Authority hands over Muhammad Deif, the mastermind of the Wachsman murder. Clinton made that commitment at the grave of Nachshon Wachsman last March 14, 1996. The letter from Saxton was read at the press conference and ignored by the Post.Why did Barak deem this less than newsworthy?

Jeff Barak appears at a public forum in Haifa on March 19th. Perhaps he should be asked about the policies of the NEW Jerusalem Post. Perhaps the owners of the Post should be asked a thing or two.

From Al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Society Jerusalem

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

The board of directors of Makassed Islamic Charitable Society (MICS) would like to call the attention to the serious developments which have recently taken place at MAKASSED HOSPITAL in Jerusalem.

A committee led by Dr. Fathi Arafat which was set up by the Palestinian Authority in late November and without prior consultation with the MICS, made several recommendations including separating the hospital from the society, its legal owner, as restructuring the hospital administration. These recommendations were later approved by the president of the PA.

The board of directors of MICS naturally objected to the above-mentioned decisions and requested to have its views heard on the matter. Instead, on 19-1-1997 we were surprised by the newly appointed directors breaking into the administration’s office and taking a control of the hospital by force, a move which was widely condemned by the majority of the specialists working in the hospital as well as by the heads of departments. The Palestinian NGO’S network has also publicly voiced its objection to this unjustified interference in the affairs of the largest Palestinian NGO.

Our efforts to restore the legal status to the hospital have failed so far. Dr. Haider Abdelshafi, the president of the MICS board, is still trying to meet with president Arafat discuss the issue.

We hereby would like to reiterate our clear objection to the imposed changes on the society and its hospital for the following reasons.

  1. MICS is an independent NGO and the Palestinian authority has illegally interfered in its activities in the absence of a law regulating the work of NGO’S in Palestine.
  2. This intervention has come at a time when the hospital has successfully maintained the highest standards of performance despite the difficult prevailing circumstances. Its services are very well appreciated by the Palestinian population. Additionally the hospital’s administration has managed to reduce the deficit in its budget by more than 75% through successful programmes of self-dependence and increased efficiency. The hospital has always managed to upgrade its various departments.
  3. The latest forced changes in the hospital are frank violations of its legal status.

The board of directors of MICS insists on its right to defend the independence of this important NGO. which has played a major role in the Palestinian health system over the last 30 years. We have therefore decided to call for an urgent meeting of the MICS GENERAL ASSEMBLY whose members are legally responsible for making main decisions concerning the society and its institutions. The general assembly will be asked to elect a new board of directors as well.

Meanwhile, we declare the newly appointed management as illegal and we call upon all concerned parties to directly deal with the MICS on issues related to the hospital at the following address.

Makassed Islamic Charitable Society
P.O. Box 19481
Jerusalem
Fax: (+972) 2-628-0853
Tel: (+972) 2-628-4746

The Media vs. Tenenbaum

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

My friend is facing the trial of his life. His trial is not in front of any judge, tribunal or legally mandated court. It’s in the electronic soundbites and newspaper headlines where he is defending the charge that he provided classified secrets to Israel while working for the U.S. government. In the world media he has already been charged and convicted through innuendos and distortions of the worse possible nature.

The Jerusalem Post (2/20/97) wrote that he failed a polygraph test. Fascinating. Where is the source? The fact is that none exists, for this is no more than a conclusion that was only inferred. The same paper reported (2/24/97) that he was, “accused of illegally passing classified information.” Yet David has not been accused by any government agency. Absolutely no indictment exists. Yet he has been indicted by a media outlet. Worse, The Voice of Israel in it’s 7a.m. news (2/20/97), omitted the key characteristic ‘inadvertantly’ in describing the probe. Suddenly some in the media were assuming the worse case scenario of innocent words spoken, and concluded a systematic espionage plan was unravelled. In Detroit, (Detroit News 2/19/97) the press demonstrated the same level journalistic ethics with unfounded news reports that the FBI removed seven boxes of classified documents from his house. The common thread is that all of these stories are false.

Of course, David can’t defend himself facing accusatory headlines like “POLLARD 2”. If there indeed exist mislabeled classified military documents in David’s posession, one in his position is prohibited from showing them to the public. If there are hopelessly confusing or misleading bureacratic directives from the Army, he certainly can’t present this to the media. Nor can he divulge the transcript from the FBI interrogation, possibly showing questions that were misleading or confusing. In short, David Tenenbaum is caught between a soundbite and a headline.

Every single aspect of David’s life has seemingly been examined by the media. Yediot Ahronot (2/23/97) described how he talks to his children, how his wife supplements their income, and even the make and year of his car. David’s wife has told me about how reporters have been calling incessantly at all hours.

This is not about a story of a routine FBI examination, it’s about a ruthless media prosecution. It’s about time that we examine the role the press has in destroying people’s lives. If society can require plumbers and barbers to be licenced, why not journalists? We demand the accuracy of the sodium content in our breakfast cereals. Why can’t we take measures directed at the accuracy of reports that affect careers and reputations, let alone international relations? My friend David is a man of impecable honesty and integrity. In the end his name will be cleared. I am not sure about some of my colleagues in the press.

Nachum (Neal) Duchin has edited news for several foreign televison networks as well as for local news in Detroit, and can be reached on (+972-2) 652-7482 or e-mail, duchin@actcom.co.il.

Background on Har Homa

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

The decision to develop Har Homa has caused a furor among Palestinian leaders, who charge that by unilaterally deciding to build in East Jerusalem the government is endangering the peace process. David Myr also opposes the government’s decision, but for an entirely different reason. He is the manager of Makor, a publicly owned company that owns approximately 60% of Har Homa. Since purchasing the land in 1970, he has tried unsuccessfully to bring his vision for Har Homa – which includes a shopping center, hotels, a golf course, country club, and public park – to fruition, weaving his way through Israel’s vast bureaucratic machine.

It’s made by Cellucor, a very trusted and regarded producer that has existed since 2002 and from that point forward has gotten wide acclaim and praise for an assortment of their items, particularly their lead pre-exercise supplement called C4 Reviews, which is an antecedent to this one.

In 1991, after Makor and the government finally arrived at an agreement for building much needed apartment units, the government reneged on the deal, confiscating the Makor owned land as well as land from the other Jewish and Arab landowners.

In order to avoid the political storm that would result from confiscating privately owned land, Makor proposed an alternate plan. Created by Ram Karmi, the same architect who also had drafted the previous plan at the behest of both Makor and the government, the case went before the Israeli High Court in May 1993. The court decided to cancel the confiscation on the condition that Makor and the government agree on the planning and a timetable for the construction, and that Makor bear infrustructure costs.

After the government rejected Makor’s offer to develop the land a second time, it came up with its own plan, which according to Myr would come at a higher cost to the Israeli economy. He proposed a way to save $800 million, under which Makor would pay for public buildings and infrustructure, reduce the price of apartments by 10%, and turn over all profits to a humanitarian fund. The government refused the offer, and began to look for other investors.

Myr suspects that hidden interests lie at the heart of the Har Homa matter. In 1994 he attempted to buy out the other Jewish landowners, offering them 5% above the government price. Their refusal continues to baffle Myr, who says that the government must have made them offers of which he is unaware. He cannot understand why the government continues to dismiss his plan, which has been agreed to by Palestinian land owners at Har Homa, since it would allow them to build on their own property.

Myr is now waiting to hear from the Israeli Supreme Court, hoping it will cancel the land confiscation. After 27 years he still clings to his dream of turning Har Homa into a residential neighborhood. Unfortunately, Har Homa appears more likely to be associated with demonstrations and riots in the near future, instead of a place where people live.

The Palestine Authority & the Death of a Prisoner

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Last week [Thursday, 21st February, 1997], the Palestinian paramilitary police arrested three people charged with direct involvement in the death of Yousef Baba [Yussef Ismail al Baba], 32, who died as a result of torture during interrogation in a Palestinian Authority (PA)-controlled Shchem/Nablus prison earlier this month source: https://thegoutcodereview.org/. In addition to the suspected perpetrators in the PA Military Intelligence Service, the police also arrested a doctor, his assistant and two nurses working at Rafidya Hospital where Baba died.

The arrest of the medical personnel is probably meant to quell further leaks of information about how al Baba died; the perpetrators will soon be released but their detention will appease criticism that has been leveled at the fledgling Palestinian administration for yet another abuse of human rights and jurisdictional privileges said Khader Shkirat, Lucky Patcher is an application that gives you genuine control over the consents you provide for the applications introduced on your Android. Lucky Patcher APK Download you can erase unreasonable promoting, change the authorizations, make reinforcements of different applications, and significantly more. All things considered, you do require an attached gadget keeping in mind the end goal to appreciate these elementsdirector of the Jerusalem-based Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (LAW). The arrests came the same day that Washington, DC-based Human Rights Watch petitioned the leaders of the EU to confront Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat with the “arbitrary and abusive” activity of his security forces. Since the EU is the primary funding source of the PA [[having provided about one billion dollars in unmonitored aid to the Palestinians over the last three years]] it has a special reponsibility to assure that it goes to support “peaceful rather than police” activity said Kenneth Roth, Watch executive director.

For months, Bassem Eid, founder of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, has been urging the European community to impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to moderate its “flagrant violations of human rights in areas under its control” emphasizing that “torture and arbritrary arrest are routine”. He too asked for “earmarked donations for social projects or requirements of accountability noting that there are officially 80,000 “police” in 11 separate government security forces, for a population of 2 million and that close to 2000 political prisoners have been held in PA jails for over 6 months without charge and that most were tortured “as if routine”.

al Baba, a land dealer suspected of making an improper property sale, was arrested on January 3. He is the 11th Palestinian prisoner known to have been tortured to death in PA custody since 1993. Rafidiya Hospital sources said that he first arrived at the hospital on January 30, with welts and cigarette burns along the length of his body, rope marks around his hands and feet, and his arms bruised and swollen. Despite his serious condition, his interrogators took him back to prison the same day, but returned him two days later, where he died within an hour of massive internal hemorrhage.

His body was given to his family for burial, only after it had been thoroughly autopsied and was in a state of considerable decay said Shkirat, who was allowed to photograph the body; it was still possible to see that he had been tortured. al Baba’s entire medical record disappeared from their files “as if he didn’t exist” a fact confirmed by PA Justice Minister Freih Abu Medein who also acknowledged his arbitrary arrest and that the conditions to release the corpse included no further autopsy and agreement to bury the body immediately.

Amnesty International reported that “on no [previous] occasion has the report of any investigation or inquiry known to have been published or even made available to victims or human rights organizations; usually no report is even known to have been made.”

Dr Rachelle H. B. Fishman
Medical Analyst
Zichron Ya’akov 30900
Israel

Voice: +972-6-639-6651, Fax: +972-6-639-8880
e-mail: rayfish@cc.huji.ac.il

For the man whose knowledge is not in order, the more which he has of it, the greater will be his confusion.
Inspired by Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

P.A. Agrees to Transfer Burned Boy to Hadassah

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

The Palestinian Authority has finally agreed to transfer to Hadassah-University Hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit a four-and-a-half-year-old Bethlehem boy in critical condition, with burns suffered in an accident over a week ago.

Before the boy’s plight was publicized, the PA had wanted to move him to a Jordanian hospital, apparently for political and financial reasons, but doctors at Jerusalem’s Hospital said such a trip could endanger his life.

The boy, Amir Buja, was standing next to his 14-year-old cousin, who was preparing a bonfire to mark the end of the Ramadan fast. The cousin poured paint thinner over the wood, and it exploded in Buja’s face, causing severe burns. He was rushed in critical condition to Bethlehem Hospital, which transferred him to Mokassed, even though it doesn’t have a burns unit.

Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director of Hadassah-University Hospital in Ein Kerem, agreed to find a place for him in the pediatric intensive care unit of its new Mother-and-Child Center and reduce the diagnostic-related group charge set by the Health Ministry for burns cases from NIS 100,000 to NIS 60,000.

MK Taleb a-Sanaa appealed to Health Minister Yehoshua Matza, who used the incident to illustrate the problem of the PA’s “takeover” of Mokassed and four other eastern Jerusalem hospitals in recent months. Yesterday, the PA told an intermediary that it would pay NIS 60,000 for the boy’s treatment and Hadassah said it would find a bed for him today or tomorrow.

Mor-Yosef noted that referrals to Hadassah by the Palestinian Authority of patients living in the territories dropped last month by 50%, compared to the same month a year ago. (JP 11th Feb)

Dr R.H.B. Fishman
SCIENCE/COMMUNICATION
The SeaView
P.O. Box 387
Zichron Ya’akov 30900
Israel

Voice: +972-6-639-6651, Fax: +972-6-639-8880
e-mail: rayfish@cc.huji.ac.il

For the man whose knowledge is not in order, the more which he has of it, the greater will be his confusion.
Inspired by Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

A Note on “Reciprocity” in Very Personal terms from an American-Israeli Mother

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Our nation is now embroiled in a fierce and passionate debate about whether or not to unilaterally leave the Security Zone on the Lebanese Border. The issue has of course, taken on greater urgency, as a result of the most recent tragic helicopter crash that occurred on a day of the heavist Arab terrorist bombardment on our northern border. Seventy three of our sons lost their lives on their way to a “mission” in Lebanon. Even the citizens living on the Lebanese border have expressed views stating that this was too dear a price to pay for their security. Are we willing to sacrifice the lives of 18,19, and 20 year olds for the sake of other lives?

There is no clear-cut answer, and our nation is tormented. Does the Security Zone protect the North? Do Judea and Samaria protect Tel Aviv and Jerusalem? Did Sinai protect the Negev? These are not questions of sentiments and ideology concerning the Promised Land, but of pragmatism and security. We now have a Palestinian entity in the heart of Israel. Is this a good neighbor or an enemy? We are in the midst of a peace process, a process begun by P.M. Rabin, and continued by P.M. Binyamin Netanyahu. But P.M. Netanyahu was selected on a platform of “peace with security”. This promise of “reciprocity” was a key element in his victory.

Meanwhile what are the facts? To speak from a personal perspective of reciprocity, the mastermind of my son Nachshon’s October 1994 abduction and murder, Muhammad Deif still runs free, and our government is not actively requesting his capture, arrest or extradition. When I met with President Clinton last February at the site of my son’s grave on Mount Herzl, he assured me, as the guarantors of the Oslo Accords, that Deif’s capture was a top American priority. He went even further, at that time, and stated that the continuation of the peace process, specifically the redeployment in Hebron was contingent on Deif’s arrest. The former P.M. Shimon Peres, was present and witness to that promise.

Subsequently, many more cold-blooded murders of Jews have occurred, and the perpetuators received sanctuary and a hero’s welcome within the areas of the Palestinian Authority. The most recent of these, was the murder of a Jerusalem contractor, Yaakov Yemin, whose killer calmly hailed a cab to Bethlehem, where he was given sanctuary, and no one is demanding justice. Even when killers are caught – as was the case in several abominable acts of terror, they are given quick trials and sentences, so as not to be handed over to Israel, and according to Amnesty and the US State Department annual human rights report, they are released shortly afterwards and swallowed up in the Palestinian controlled towns. Many of these terrorists are then recruited to the Palestinian Police Force, another travesty of morality and justice.

My son’s kidnappers – the two who were not blown up in the IDF military action – were tried by an Israeli military court, and neither one was given the maximum penalty, which in Israel is not the death sentence, but life imprisonment. Who is to say that in some future “deal” as a concession to the peace process they too will not be released? Last week the body of Nachshon’s murderer was returned to his family in Gaza. According to Moslem law, without a proper religious Moslem burial, this murderer could not attain the status of a “shihad” or holy martyr. The Israeli-government, of its own free will, granted him this status.

Our family was neither notified, nor briefed in advance of the Israel’ government’s shortsighted intention of returning that body. We got the news from the media, who called and asked for our reaction to that heinous act, which ironically occurred on the very day that the Israeli Knesset committee on Internal Affairs met to deal with the phenomenon of the “cold-blooded killer”, Baruch Goldstein’s grave becoming a Mecca for some Jews who go there to pray, and the monument erected on that site was declared by the Knesset that day to be an obscene shame to our country. The hypocrisy of denouncing Goldstein’s acquiring holiness, while at the same time creating a Palestinian holy martyr, creates a double standard, offends all logic. 192.168.o.1
The family of a “cold-blooded Palestinian murderer” must know that they will never bury their son, and he will never achieve holiness. By returning my son’s killer’s body, the Israeli government unwittingly encourages more acts of terror, by creating more heroes who died for the Palestinian cause.

During World War II, when the US faced Moslem “jihad” terror in the Philippines, they smeared the bodies with pig fat, thus nullifying their sanctity, and the terror subsided. Our government’s insensitivity was a slap in the face to our family, and a degradation of Jewish life, by rewarding terror and murder.

And now – the latest “concession”. For as long as I can remember, every government in Israel while releasing terrorists, firmly asserted that those with “blood on their hands” would never be released. Today’s news tells us that we are about to release female terrorists “with blood on their hands”. The message – crime does pay, and terror pays even more. Every potential killer for “nationalistic” ideals now knows that with enough pressure, he will eventually go free, even from Israeli prisons. Jewish blood has become cheap in the Jewish Homeland, and I can only say, “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the earth”, and there is no forgiveness for those who murdered Jews – each one an entire world onto himself. Our sages tell us that each individual in an entire world, and he who murdered him also murdered all his potential descendants. Nachshon and all the other victims of terror will never build families to carry on their names, and their killers rejoice, while their parents mourn. I am not against peace. On the contrary, I pray for peace three times a day every day of my life. But it must be a just and lasting peace, with a partner smartphones under 5000 who yearns for peace. I have heard Chairman Arafat speak of peace on the White House lawn, in Oslo, as the recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize, and on many other occasions. Yet I also hear him speak to his own people of Jihad, a holy war, of an armed struggle, of the Zionist enemy. I have heard preachers in the mosques throughout the land speak words of incitement and hate.

Most disturbingly, I hear Arafat revere and honor those “freedom fighters” whose lives were dedicated to terror and bloodshed, and call them heroes of Palestine. These are not the words or acts of a peace-loving leader. While the Israeli Board of Education has formulated endless programs and study hours to preparing our people – especially the next generation – for peaceful co-existence with our neighbors, no such similar educational programs have been implemented by our partners in peace. On the contrary. Palestinian children are being indoctrinated by the new Palestine Aurhority with hate, revenge, and enmity. How can we blindly go on with a one-sided race towards peace? The question that our prime minister must ask at this point will be: Where is the reciprocity?

Finally, returning to my opening comments, I feel that it is essential to emphasize pragmatism and security, rather than sentimentality regarding the Jewish Homeland. In view of the endless debate here in Israel regarding lack of motivation of our youth to serve in combat units of the IDF, to be willing to defend their homeland; in an atmosphere of Post-Zionism, and personal fulfillment, rather than feelings of patriotism or idealism; at a time when love of our land has become an outdated cliche, may I comment that there are still great numbers of Israeli families educating their children, as I was educated, on the principles of “Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, Al Pi Torat Yisrael” – translated as love of our people in our land, according to our Torah. Without remembering our roots, our heritage, our history, and our collective Jewish destiny, what indeed are we doing here?

Israel is the only country we have, and we are all links in the chain of Jewish identity. Our fate and destiny as a people remain intertwined with our tradition and our land, and let us never forget that. “For from Zion, shall the Tora go out, and the word of G-d from Jerusalem.” May G-d have mercy on His people and guide the leaders of Zion in the path of wisdom and strength.

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