                                                           B"sd

                      A Voice from Hebron
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg
                     If Arafat is forgiven 
                  We should free his Murderers
                       December 11, 1998
                                
     Logic has a strange way of coming back and smacking you in the face.  Lately we are
growing accustomed to watching violent Arab riots.  Mobs of rioters stone Jewish cars and
Jewish soldiers in a literal rebirth of the intifada in protest of the continued imprisonment of
convicted Arab murderers.  At the unruly funeral of one of the rioters who was shot and killed by
Israeli forces, our dauntless television reporters succeeded in getting one of the participants to
express his views.

     The man simply stated the facts.  Arafat and the PLO are currently engaged in peace
negotiations with Israel.  Arafat is recognized as the legitimate leader of the PLO and as a 
statesman.  He is the one who sent the convicted murderers to commit their "valiant acts" in order
to liberate "palestine" from the Jews.  If all is forgiven and we are making peace, why then are the
"freedom fighters" still in jail?

     I fail to find any fault in this logic.  The man was absolutely correct.  Netanyahu claims
that no prisoner with blood on his hands will be released.  But we already released women
murderers in the past.  And, indeed, if Arafat and Jabril Rajoub, two of the biggest murderers of
all, are recognized as participants in a legitimate struggle and thus accorded the honor and respect
of diplomats, then why indeed, are the soldiers for this legitimate struggle still in jail?

     There should be no need for street riots.  Logic clearly dictates that all the murderers be
turned loose without any conditions.  After all, our leadership has determined that terror and
murder were justified in the legitimate struggle for PLO rights in Israel.   Were this not so, then
we would not have given away parts of our homeland to the PLO and we would not be
"negotiating" our surrender with Arafat.  As long as we contend that there is something to discuss
with Arafat. . . that any of his claims are legitimate, then we have no legitimate claim to imprison
his heros.

     If this doesn't sound right then maybe it is time for us to be honest with ourselves.  If we
do not feel it proper to turn murderers loose, then let us go back and fix the equation so that the
logic balances.   Arafat is a murderer of Jews.  The PLO is an illegitimate body which was created
for the sole purpose of taking Israel from the Jewish people.  The concept of a "palestinian"
people is a total fraud as there never was such a nation.  Those who claim membership in this
newly declared peoplehood came from outside of Israel and are foreign squatters on Jewish soil. 
The Jewish people has absolutely no obligation to provide them with anything, much less a
homeland.  Every Arab who calls himself a "palestinian" is an enemy of the Jewish people who
must be removed from Jewish soil.  If we do not remove our enemies, they will continue to fight
to remove us.  There is no future in negotiations because there is only one solution. . . either we
stay or they do.

     If you still think that the Arabs have a legitimate right to our homeland, then, by all means
we should release the murderers from our prisons, and leave Israel.  If you feel that Israel is the
Jewish homeland, then the only way to protect it is to completely remove our enemies.  To
compromise is to surrender our rights and to pave the way for our self destruction.  This we have
done, and this we must stop doing before it is too late.