                      A Voice from Hebron
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg
              Conducting "Peace" on the Gaza Strip
                          July 3, 1998

        We all heard about the unfortunate incident in the Gaza Strip where the PLO army
effectively closed all traffic to and from the Jewish Communities in the area for over ten hours. 
Whether or not anyone wishes to take note, the manner in which this crisis was handled created
dangerous precedents and signaled a clear unwillingness on the part of the IDF to act swiftly and
decisively to a serious military threat.   

        Had the exact same event taken place ten years ago, the road would not have remained
closed for ten minutes, much less ten hours.  The difference being that today we have a "peace
agreement" which, in effect, prevents our army from taking decisive measures to protect us. 
We watched, on Israeli television, how, as a result of current peace negotiations, the PLO army
was aiming its rifles at our soldiers with total impunity!  One would expect, at the very least, that
once the situation was resolved, that drastic changes would be made to safeguard the future
security of the citizens of Israel by our army.  Of course nothing of the sort has happened.

        Our dauntless defense minister, upon learning of the incident, rather than ordering the IDF to
take control, picked up his telephone to talk with Dennis Ross and Arafat's second in command to
try and negotiate a resolution of the "problem".  Clearly this move indicated, to friend and foe
alike, that the top government officials in Israel have decided to place the security of our nation in
the hands of American and PLO negotiators in time of military confrontation.

        Of course we are all pleased that the incident ended without any casualties, but there was
one casualty which we fail to see.  This was just one more, in a very long list of intolerable acts of
aggression by the PLO which is tolerated by the Israeli authorities.  For a PLO army to exist on
Jewish soil is bad enough.  But for the IDF to be threatened under the sites of their weapons is an
act which must not be tolerated.   This should have been reason enough for our troops to move in
and disarm the PLO by force.  What we have done now is only to encourage our enemies to
believe that they have tactical advantages when they are prepared to actually launch a real attack
against our country.  And, in fact, our behavior has shown that we already have given them these
advantages. 

        When will we remember that we are not negotiating with a legitimate entity?  The PLO is a
band of Arab hoodlums which has only one goal in mind, to replace Jewish Israel with Arab
palestine.  Our naive leaders thought to pacify this goal by granting Arafat limited rights of
self-rule under overall Israeli sovereignty.  No one seemed to notice when, rather than accept this
offer graciously, the PLO army literally captured Jewish land, lowered the Jewish flag and raised
the PLO one in its place, and created a defacto PLO state on Jewish soil in total abrogation of the
concept of limited autonomy. 

        Rather than discussing how, and under what circumstances our army will restore Jewish
sovereignty to the areas from which it was taken from us, our government has accepted the
usurping of Jewish sovereignty without challenge!  Furthermore, it is trying to force our enemies
to live up to their broken agreements in an effort to give away yet more Jewish land to them! 
This is the most absurd scenario imaginable!  Our enemies, who should be destroyed rather than
appeased, have violated both the letter and the spirit of our offers to them, are not only tolerated,
but given another and another and another chance to live up to all agreements which they have
consistently violated for years, in an unceasing effort on our part to surrender to them!  Why?  

        Why do we fail to understand that we are engaged in a clear war over the Land of Israel? 
Why do we feel guilty because, at the present time, we have the physical ability to win the war,
and thus refuse to do so?  Why does our minister of defense warn us, in the name of the PLO, that
if we do not give away more land to them, they will resort to violence, and therefor we must give
them more of our homeland?  Those are the words of one who is defeated in battle... certainly not
of a victor.  

        There was a time when the Jewish people understood and believed in the Promise of G-d to
our Father, Abraham, that the Land of Israel was to be an eternal inheritance for the Jewish
people.  Generations kept faith with that Divine Promise, despite the fact that we were exiled to
all four corners of the world.  At every meal the Jew would thank G-d, not just for our
sustenance, but for that Promise to give us the Land of Israel.  Every Passover at the end of our
seder, and every Yom Kippur, at the end of our fasting, we declared our dream and our hope,
"Next year in Jerusalem".   And, at every Jewish wedding, at the moment of his greatest joy, the
Jewish bridegroom would smash a glass in commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem in
keeping with the words of the psalmist not to forget the pain of the destruction of our holy
Temple, even at our most happy moment in life.

        With a two thousand year old legacy like that, how is it possible that we, the beneficiaries of
Jewish faith which saw our fathers proudly march to their death rather than give up on Zion, can
sit down with the likes of an Arafat and seek to give away even part of our holy inheritance to
him?  What is worse is the obvious fact that the PLO openly admits its goal.  They hardly even
pretend to seek peace.  We are engaged in surrender negotiations which, historically, have only
taken place after one loses a war.  In effect, we have accepted a situation which finds us as losers
to the PLO and now we are conducting negotiations on the terms of our surrender to them!  This
is what Oslo really is!!!!   Why can we not see this?   

        The answer seems to be one which has haunted us for years.  Rather than recognize the
miracle of fulfillment of prophesy with the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty in our ancient
homeland along with the beginning of the return of Jewish exiles from all over the world, our
leaders refuse to see the miracles.  To one who views miracles as mere quirks of "luck", there is
tremendous fear for the future.  How long can our luck hold out?  For such people it is clear that
only by the good graces of American foreign aid can this country continue to exist.  And, as
American interests clash with our most vital ones, we find ourselves in a situation under which we
"have no choice" but to seek to placate American interests to our own detriment.  The question
is, "How far can we pursue such a policy?"  The day will come when it will be clear to all that our
very existence is at stake.  But will that moment come before or after we have completely given
control of our security to others?

        While my message is, primarily one of urging that we trust in the Creator of the Universe to
protect us, aside from that we should also see the total lack of logic in our current policy.  There
is not one shred of hope that this Oslo process will result in anything but the most bloody war this
country has yet seen.  Yet we close our eyes and ears to reality and insist upon believing that
Arafat will protect us  from terror!  Is this honest or reasonable?

        Our soldiers were murdered in cold blood by the PLO army in Shechem.  This did not stop
us from continuing on the mad  path to disaster.   Now, the PLO has begun to flex its muscles in
the Gaza Strip, and, once again, we refuse to see the writing on the wall.  How far do our enemies
have to push us before we realize that the only way to make peace is by winning the war?

