                                                               
                      A Voice from Hebron
by Gary M. Cooperberg           
                       December 12, 1996
                  Mr. Netanyahu, at long last
                       RECOGNIZE THE WAR!

     Yassir Arafat has convinced even Prime Minister Netanyahu that he has a humane
personality.  When you speak with the man and get to know him he really doesn't seem like the
monster he really is.  The media in Israel has gone overboard to make the Israeli public see the
personal side of the Arab dictators who would have us believe that they really want to live in
peace with a Jewish State.
     If you can make Arafat seem like a nice guy, there is no problem elevating the images of
Mubarak, Hussein, and even Asad.  What the media in Israel is really doing is anaesthetizing the
normal instinct of fear on the part of much of the Jewish population which would like to believe
that we can make peace with those who still plot our destruction.
     The fact that just a few short weeks ago several of our soldiers were murdered in Shechem
by PLO policemen using guns that we gave them to help us fight terror, failed to stop even this
government's continuation of a process which only leads to the weakening of our defenses.  Even
today, after the brutal and wicked ambush of a Jewish family which saw a mother and her young
boy shot down in cold blood by Arab terrorists, who then escaped to the safety of PLO Ramallah,
we hear Jewish radio commentators suggest that the PLO police are working with the IDF to
capture the culprits.  How gullible can people be?  Never has one murderer been turned over to
Israel by the PLO.  They have no intention of ever doing so.  There can be no doubt that the PLO
shelters its own even as it feigns to work against them.  If things get really hot, they have a mock
trial, issue extreme prison sentences, and then, when things quiet down, release the murderers.  Of
course it is easy for them to explain the releases.  Even Israel releases convicted terrorists.  They
have even agreed to accept these criminals as police officers in the PLO army!  So what do you
want from the PLO itself?
     The transparent charade of cooperation is understandable on the part of the PLO.  But
how can we explain our government's willingness to go along with it?  How many Jews need to
be murdered before a Netanyahu is willing to say, "enough!"?
     Noam Federman, who dared to suggest that he would lead walking tours through all of
Hebron, was arrested and placed under administrative detention by the IDF commander who felt
such statements as creating a danger to the implementation of the peace agreements.  
     Feisal Husseini, however, was given prime time on Israeli television to warn the Jewish
government not to go ahead with plans to build a new Jewish community on Jewish soil in
Jerusalem.  Husseini threatened a new intifada and pointed to the riots after the opening of the
Hasmonian tunnel as a precedent which would repeat itself if his threats went unheeded.  Husseini
has not been arrested or detained.  Are his statements to the press somehow less of a threat to the
peace than were Federman's?
     From the moment he was elected, Mr. Netanyahu had every reason to nullify Oslo and, at
the very least, bring the surrender process to a halt.  Time and time again new reasons cropped up
to make it easy for him to do so.  Yet, time after time, he overlooked violations of the agreement
as well as outright murder of his citizens.  It is high time for normal Jews and friends of the Jewish
State to voice their opposition to the continuation of the Oslo suicide pact.  It must stop now. 
How dare any self respecting government claim to offer autonomy to a minority and then build
bypass roads to try to protect its citizens from this same minority?  Under what logic does one
need to protect himself from his guests?  When a guest becomes an enemy, the only normal
reaction is to eject him.  One has no obligation to honor the rights of those who would take 
your rights from you.  On the contrary.  When someone attacks you in your home even a fool has
the common sense to defend himself.  How then does one explain the apparent lunacy of a
supposedly intelligent people who sits down with a weaker enemy to negotiate the terms of its
self-destruction.   It defies explanation.  The only possible way to explain it is to assume that our
leaders do not accept Jewish sovereignty and independence; that they really feel themselves as
dependent upon American good will.  Certainly our governmental policies seem to develop
primarily around our leaders' perception as to whether or not those policies would find favor with
the American president.
     This is no way to run a country.  But worse, it is an insult, not only to the G-d of Israel,
but to the entire Jewish People and to all G-d fearing people everywhere.  
     Mr. Netanyahu the time for political polemics is over. At long last it is time to stand up as
a proud Jewish leader and demonstrate that the Jewish State will not continue on the path of
national suicide.  Ephraim and Etta Tzur, a twelve year old boy and his mother, died as soldiers in
the war being waged by the Arabs against the Jewish State.  How dare you or anyone else suggest
that the PLO will bring their own "heros"in this war to justice?!
     RECOGNIZE THE WAR!!  If this country continues to talk peace with our enemies, even
as they continue to wage war against us, there is little hope for us to win.  If, on the other hand,
we finally take off  the blinders and see the reality of the war being waged against us, we can
certainly defeat our enemies decisively and then truly begin a process of genuine peace . . . on our
terms.  
     The G-d of Israel has brought us home to our ancient Land for a purpose.  He will never
allow it to be taken from us again.  But if we act in fear of our enemies in the futile attempt to
undo His miracles, we will not go unpunished.  Don't think that your economic problems are
unaffected by the measure of Jewish pride and self respect displayed in your policies.  
     Feisal Husseini threatened you with a new intifada.  Hussein suggested a new war. 
Mubarak threatened to end our "peace" with Egypt.  Mitterand warned that developing our
homeland is "illegal".  If our enemies are willing to tell you to your face that we have no right to
exist, it is high time to forget about "diplomacy" and spit back into such faces. 
