                                   February 21, 1992
                                   17 Adar I 5752
To: Editor of the New York Times
From: Gary M. Cooperberg
       Director, Public Relations
       Nir College of Judaic Studies, Hebron, Israel
Re: Article by Anthony Lewis in Feb. 2, 1992 Sunday issue
       "The Divided Society"

                  How can Israel Hope for Peace
                And Continue to Build Settlements?

       As an Israeli who lives in Kiryat Arba, Hebron, in Judea, and represents an
educational institution here which projects the ideology Mr. Lewis so bitterly attacked in his
article, I wish to rebut his glib generalizations and outright distortions of fact.      I have been living in the town of Kiryat Arba for over ten years now.  I work as
director of public relations in the religious men's college here, live in a third floor apartment,
and my children attend the local schools here.  I have never lived in a tent, ploughed a field,
nor am I one of the founding fathers of this town.  What is it about my situation that causes
me to be referred to as a "settler"? 
       By virtue of the location of my home it is a forgone conclusion that I am a militant
extremist who oppresses and dispossesses indigent Arabs who have a prior right to my
homeland.  Further, it is clear that, by choosing to live in the City of our Fathers, Abraham
Isaac and Jacob, I have determined that "settlements" are "more important than peace".
       "... there is a real chance for a deal with the Palestinians, an interim arrangement
that would ease the decades old conflict."
       What a sugar coated non-statement that is!  First of all, one doesn't "deal" with
blackmailers.  Second of all, even Lewis couldn't bring himself to suggest the possibility of a
peace agreement with "Palestinians" which he knows will never happen.  
Instead he would like us to capitulate to our sworn enemies who seek our destruction, in
return for an "interim arrangement" which will make their heinous aims even easier to
accomplish.
       Of course we are expanding our rural communities.  Didn't you notice the massive
influx of new immigrants?  Where would you like us to put them?  Certainly not in the United
States.  Our cities are already overcrowded.  It is only natural for us to develop the
underdeveloped areas in our country by building towns and cities there.  It is our right and our
obligation to do so, and not a subject for discussion with outsiders. 
       Peace will not be the result of a "settlement freeze", or even the outright giving
away of Judea, Samaria, Gaza and East Jerusalem.  In case you have forgotten, prior to 1967
all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, as well as East Jerusalem, were in Arab hands.  Do you
remember the peace we had then?  Do you remember the Palestine State and the Palestinan
People who ruled there whom we dispossessed?  I don't because there was none.

       Despite the fact that we had the bad taste not to succumb to the attempts by our
enemies to destroy us back then, when they had all that they claim they want now, we have,
ever since then, made tireless, if futile, efforts to peacefully co-exist with our enemies.
       Kiryat Arba is located on what was formerly a vacant and barren hillside in Hebron. 
Not one Arab goat was dispossessed as a result of its establishment in 1970.  In all of our holy
cities the example was followed.  Jewish settlements were built on barren hilltops leaving
Jewish holy towns and villages possessed by Arabs exclusively.  It was only in 1980 that the
first and only successful effort was made for Jews to live side by side with Arabs in our city of
Hebron, albeit under the protection of the IDF.
       What you call the "Arab neighborhood of Silwan", is, in fact the Jewish City of
David.  Its Jewish residents were murdered by Arabs who stole their homes and have been
living there ever since.  The Jews who repossessed those homes did not simply walk in and
evict the Arab thieves.  That would never sit well with our police.  (Yes, we have a police
force which is extremely careful not to permit Jews to break the law).  
       The fact is that even though the homes they took over were owned by Jews, these
"settlers" paid the Arab squatters for residency rights under Jordanian law and have rights, by
any and every term of definition, to live in those homes.  It is an outright lie to suggest that
any Jew could get away with arbitrarily throwing an Arab out of his home, even if it belonged
to a Jew.
       I would further refer you to the situation in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of
Jerusalem.  Although a Jewish organization legally purchased tenancy rights to the former St.
John's Hospice, to the tune of five million dollars, they have been denied the right to use the
premises until the court determines the legality of the transaction which has been challenged.
       Unlike the outrageous suggestion of Mr. Lewis, I have no desire to live in perpetual
conflict.  I detest the implication that because Jews live here Arabs have a right to try to
murder us.  We have offered them the opportunity to live here peacefully with us.  They will
settle for nothing less than Moslem control over all of Israel.
       The Jewish families living in Judea, Samaria and Gaza want peace even more than
those who don't live here.  Do you suppose we enjoy facing rocks and bullets every time we
drive the roads?  We are not living in occupied Palestine.  There never was such a country to
occupy.  This is our country.  Denial of loan    guarantees cannot change that fact.  But, far
more important to understand is the very clear fact that, should all settlements be dismantled
and handed over to Hanan Ashrawi tomorrow, there is absolutely no logical reason to assume
peace would magically result.      
       For nearly 44 years now we have gone well beyond reasonable tolerance in a
superhuman effort to live together with those who cannot tolerate our existence.  Those
efforts have been repaid by countless daily acts of terror and murder.  How much Jewish blood
needs to be shed before we understand that we have no choice but to stop it?
       Settlements or immigrants?  How dare you tell me to choose between my home and
my family?!  I will reject neither.   It is not peace we are rejecting.  It is only the coercion to
become active participants in our self-destruction that we reject. 
  