                      A Voice from Hebron
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg
                         Jerusalem Day
                A Day of Pride?  or Humiliation
                          May 25, 1998

        Yesterday the world witnessed a chilul Hashem, a humiliation of the G-d of Israel, at the
PLO headquarters in Jerusalem, Orient House.  As I remember, it was Knesset Member Binyamin
Netanyahu who was most vocal in his vehement objection to this outright violation of Oslo and
cowardly capitulation to the demands of our enemies by the former Rabin and Peres
governments.  To this day Orient House stands as the symbol of a PLO sovereign presence in the
city of Jerusalem.  The right wing Netanyahu government has done nothing to remove this blight
from our city, the eternal capital of our homeland.

        On Yom Yerushalayim, celebrating thirty-one years since our liberation of all of our holy
city, we find that we have a long way to go before we can honestly declare our sovereignty over
her.  On our holiest place in the world, the Temple Mount, our enemies have declared their
sovereign control and we have, defacto, accepted it.   The mayor of Jerusalem himself was thrown
off the mountain for giving an interview to a newsman there without permission from the Arabs. 
Rocks were thrown at the Jewish worshipers at the kotel, once again.  And Gershom Solomon's
Temple Mount Faithful were refused permission to as much as visit the site, much less pray there
even as Jews celebrated the anniversary of our liberation of our holy city.  And all of this is under
the guidance of an alleged "extremist"right-wing government.

        It was on this day that a new group calling itself "Jerusalem shelanu", Our Jerusalem,
decided  to hold a peaceful demonstration outside Orient House.  The problem is that the
demonstrators forgot to take into account that the PLO are not politicians.  They are hoodlums,
thugs and murderers.  When you "demonstrate" against them, you must be prepared for anything. 
At the very least the demonstrators should have been armed, and, even better, they should have
been accompanied by tough Jews who know how to fight.

        Because they treated the PLO as political enemies, rather than physical ones, they set the
stage for the humiliation of the Jewish State the Jewish People and the G-d of Israel.  As they
waved their flags and declared that the Jewish flag will once again fly over Orient House and
all of Jerusalem, the thugs jumped over the fence, tore the flags from the hands of the
demonstrators and began to beat them, even as the cameras were buzzing away.  One of the most
arrogant of the thugs took the torn Israeli flag, loosened his pants, wiped his backside with the
Jewish flag and then flung it to the ground in contempt.  All this as the world watched on their
television screens.

        The time for rhetoric is long since past.  We are no longer living in Warsaw or Birkenau. 
We are talking about the holy city of Jerusalem, under Jewish sovereignty, on the anniversary of
her liberation.  If we had a self respecting Jewish government, which we don't, this incident
couldn't have happened.  The only rational "demonstration" which could undo the humiliation of
yesterday's fiasco is for Orient House to be physically closed down permanently.  Hundreds of
thousands of Jews should converge on that den of iniquity and chase out the jackals, showing
them in the only  language which they understand, that they are not welcome in our city, nor will
they be tolerated here any longer.

        The government will never do this because they are comprised of fools and cowards.  Our
defense minister, the highest ranking officer in our country who is responsible for our safety and
security, made clear what criteria he uses to measure the steps which Israel should take to
preserve her security.  And what were these criteria?  First and foremost, we must not endanger
our good relations with the United States.  And, secondly, we must not upset the PLO as they
may react by fomenting more violence against us.   

        I ask you, Do we need an army or a government in order to have such priorities?  Couldn't
we hold these same positions even if we were not a sovereign state?   If we have no pride, if we
have no dignity, if we have no self-respect, and if we don't even have faith in our ability to defend
ourselves from declared enemies, why not just hand over the keys to Clinton and have him decide
how to protect us?

        These are your leaders, Oh Israel.  Listen to them and weep.  Never in the history of the
Jewish people have we been stronger.  And never in the history of our people have our leaders
acted so cowardly.  Miracles have been performed for us and we continue to work feverishly to
undo them.  Netanyahu continues to talk about peace and security.  But how do we achieve these
goals?  Do we make peace by giving pieces of our homeland to terrorists?  That is absurd.  

        If we would but read last week's Torah portion of Bechukotai, we would learn exactly how
to achieve peace and security immediately. . . and without giving away one inch of our homeland.  

        "If you will walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and carry them out.. . . you
will dwell securely in your land.  I will give peace to the land. . . I will make wild beasts disappear
from the land and no sword will pass through your land."  Leviticus 26: 3, 5, 6

        If we persist in "making peace" by spitting in the face of our G-d and our Torah, it is we who
invite tragedy, G-d forbid.  Netanyahu just stated that Oslo died two years ago.  Why then is he
pursuing the futile effort to resurrect it?   Man cannot make peace.  Only G-d makes peace.  All
we can do is try to obey His Will.  That is the only path to peace.  All other paths lead to death
and destruction.  May we all wake up soon.

