                                                                 B"sd

                         A Voice from Hebron
                        by Gary M. Cooperberg
                                   
                       A Blessing and a Curse
                            August 17, 1998
                                  
     "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing  if you obey the commandments
of the L-rd your G-d, which I command you this day: and a curse, if you will not obey the commandments.
. ."  Deuteronomy XI 26-28 

     "For you shall pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the Land which the L-rd your G-d giveth
you, and you shall possess it, and dwell therein."  Deuteronomy XI 31

     The return to Zion is not a nostalgic coincidence.  It is fulfillment of Divine Will.  It is not a mere
longing on the part of the Jewish People, rather an eternal commandment of G-d which we are bound to
obey.  And yes, the blessing and the curse still stand.  If we try to fulfill His Will to the best of our ability,
we will reap limitless blessing.  If we fail to recognize His Divine intervention in our lives and try to shape
our destiny according to foreign ideology, not only will we fail to achieve our foolish goals, we will also
bring a curse upon ourselves, G-d forbid.
     The reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty in the Land in 1948 brought with it the potential for
unprecedented greatness.   Had we understood the implications of this momentous historical moment and
acted upon it as a proud Jewish nation, we could have brought immediate redemption and  peace to all of
mankind.   Had we accepted the commandment to enter and live in the Land, and behaved as the exclusive
sovereign rulers thereof at that time, we could have prevented most, if not all, of the ensuing wars. 
     Instead our leaders chose to cast aside greatness and opt for mediocrity.   Instead of accepting our
role as a nation which stands alone, not to be reckoned among the nations of the world, and elevating
ourselves to become a light unto the nations, our leaders had "a better idea".   They decided that the new
Jewish State would try to become like all the other nations.  They traded Torah for Thomas Jefferson as
they preferred to emulate the function of the United States, which was conceived as a nation of immigrants
from all nations, sharing equally in the experiment called "democracy".  They rejected our ancient goal of
Zionism, to return to our homeland and live according the G-d's Law, uniting the People of Israel, the Land
of Israel and the Torah of Israel. . . a formula which would bring world peace, and replaced it with a new
and futile goal to share our inheritance with those who seek our destruction.
     Without Torah as our guiding light there is no peace, no security, and not even any direction for the
future.  On a political level we complained in the past that the left was destroying us by its willingness to
barter away our homeland for promises of peace.  Yet, when we succeeded in electing the right into office,
we found little difference nor much more regard for our sacred obligations to the Torah.  By refusing to
use our Torah as the only true guide upon which to base our policies, both foreign and domestic, we have
rejected the blessing and invited the curse.  The key to this rejection of greatness lies in our refusal to
accept the concept that the Land of Israel belongs exclusively to the Jewish people.  When our founding
fathers declared that Arab residents of Israel should be granted citizenship in the Jewish State they brought
upon us the curse with which we continue to live.  
     Why does Arab terror continue?  Are terrorists really evil people?  Is there a significant difference
between Arab terrorists and "peaceful" Arab inhabitants of Israel?  These are lies which we have told
ourselves over and over again until we actually believed them.   An Arab terrorist does not view himself as
evil.  He really believes that he is a freedom fighter who is redeeming his land from the Jewish thieves who
stole it from him.  Since Israel has become a sovereign entity with a powerful army to protect itself, the
Arab feels perfectly justified to use any means at his disposal to attack his enemy and drive him off of, what
he believes to be, his land.
     The secular Jewish mentality which seeks to make peace with our Arab neighbors fails to take into
account the fact that even the overture to compromise indicates an admission that the Jewish government
recognizes that, at least part of, its claim to the Land is fraudulent.  If we really believed that the Land of 
Israel belongs to us, why would we even think about sharing it with those who seek to take it from us,
especially when we are in a position of superior strength?   We are insulting our Arab partners by, in effect,
telling them that we admit that we are thieves, but we are willing to give back some of what we stole.  If
we are thieves, then we should give everything back.  And, if we are not thieves then we have nothing to
give away.   Our posturing for "peace" is nothing more than waving a red flag of incitement to our enemies
who grow more frustrated and angry with every concession we make.   It is altogether reasonable and
understandable that the entire concept of negotiations under these circumstances can accomplish nothing
other than to reinforce the resolve of our enemies to destroy us.
     Not only are we building up the psychological atmosphere for a new and greater war effort to
destroy the Jewish State, but we are actively participating in the transformation of a terrorist organization
into a legitimate internationally recognized pseudo nation, complete with a standing army and all the
accompanying infrastructure, all on Jewish soil!  And we continue to deceive ourselves by referring to this
treasonous behavior as a "peace process"!
     If this "peace process" is so wonderful, why is it that our children are continuing to be murdered by
our enemies and now they even have a safe area, on Jewish soil, where they not only escape punishment,
but find reward?  Why is it that today, at the Tomb of Joseph in Shechem, where our soldiers were
murdered by their PLO peace partners last year, Jewish soldiers are not permitted to wear their uniforms
for fear of insulting the PLO, yet the PLO struts around in full battle dress and that doesn't insult us?  And
worse, the PLO army decides who comes and goes to visit Joseph's Tomb.   There are fifteen yeshiva boys
there right now who all have been denied the right to leave, by the PLO.  And this is in an area where Israel
still has jurisdiction!
     Why is it that our Minister for Internal Security has drawn up a costly plan to dig trenches along
the border crossings between Israel and the "autonomous areas" in order to prevent car thefts?  Our peace
partners, whose army officers drive around in stolen Israeli vehicles, have created an economic disaster in
Israel by stealing an unprecedented number of cars and escaping to the safety of PLO "autonomy".  Rather
than recognize that we are dealing with enemies and not "partners" and end this fiasco, we spend more
money to dig "trenches for peace".
     And why is it that our own Prime Minister has so vehemently denied getting an official report
warning of the potential strategic military threat to this country by  Israel's ever growing Arab population? 
He would never dream of making plans to remove this threat, which is very real and which continues to
grow in quality and quantity.   Not only has he denied knowledge of this report, but has gone out of his
way to assure everyone how wonderful and loyal our Arabs are. How can anyone think that a loyal Israeli
Arab would prefer to salute the PLO flag rather than the Jewish one? 
     Arabs are not evil people.  They have twenty two nations which make up most of the Middle East. 
We have only one tiny country to call our own.  If we refuse to accept our exclusive sovereignty over all of
our homeland, our "friends" will have no difficulty supporting the claims of our enemies to take our
homeland from us.  There is no such thing as "Land for Peace" or "Security for Peace".    Peace only
comes from being prepared to fight for what is yours.  Arafat is prepared to fight to destroy our nation. 
When will we accept the fact that we must be prepared to fight to protect her?  Rather than building up the
PLO we should be destroying it.  The so- called "peace" we "enjoy" today is not peace, it is the worst of
curses.  Only when we recognize our obligation to our G-d to possess the Land and to fight to protect it
will we earn the blessing of genuine peace.
