                      A Voice From Hebron
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg
                       November 22, 1995
     The Slichos Prayers of Shimon Peres remain Unanswered 

      As Jews all over the world were gathering in synagogues to say the slichos prayers
for forgiveness of our sins on the Saturday nite a week prior to Rosh HaShannah, Shimon
Peres ran off  to Taba to say his own brand of "slichos" to the murderer of his people,
Yassir Arafat.  
      "Please forgive me for the sin of oppressing the Palestinian People and forcing you
to murder our women and children," whined our foreign minister as he desperately
searched for a way to get the Butcher of Tunis to sign yet another agreement of Israeli
surrender to terror. 
      "Please, Mr. Chairman," implored the self effacing Jewish minister of foreign
ideology,  "President Clinton has just trimmed the White House lawn, King Hussein has
just trimmed his beard, and Rabin and I are prepared to trim more and more of the Jewish
State if only you will agree to accept our terms of surrender to you."
     "Shimon baby," chided Arafat, "Don't rush me!  Of course I want to sign your
document of self humiliation, but first I must make sure that you include all of Israel on
your endless list of concessions to the Palestinian People.  We both know that you have no
alternative, which is why you are in such a hurry to get this over with.  What you keep
forgetting is the fact that we Arabs do have alternatives and, as such, need to examine all of
our options before rushing into agreements."
     Poor Shimon stayed up all night;  Saturday night and even Sunday night.  But
Yassir wouldn't budge. He conferred with Egyptian President Mubarak and Hebron
Mayor Mustafa Natche, both of whom insisted that Arafat wait for more concessions.  
Frantically Shimon finally agreed to allow armed terrorists to patrol in areas of Jewish
population in Hebron, including the field surrounding the Cave of Machpelah.  When this
was not enough he then agreed to accept the definition of the holy Jewish city of our
Patriarchs as a "palestinian city."   
     Arafat was astounded.  "If you recognize El Halil as a Palestinian city, then how can
you tell me that Israel should have authority there?  Mayor Natche is willing to allow your
Jews to stay in the city, but only under Palestinian rule.  If you cannot accept this, then you
must remove the Jewish population altogether.  As for the Ibrihimi Mosque, surely you do
not expect me to accept Jewish rule over our mosque!"  
     Peres was speechless.  While he, personally, would be prepared to turn over the
graves of his fathers to those who would feed him to the dogs, he well understood that his
Jewish brothers would eat him for breakfast should he dare commit such a treasonous act.   
It was a red line which even a weasel like Peres knew better than try to cross.
     As the hours ticked away it finally became evident that the target date of Thursday
would not be met.  The slichos prayers of  Peres remained unanswered.  A dejected Shimon
put on his famous plastic smile and announced to the press that he is still optimistic and
that he will continue to meet with the chairman to work out their "differences" as soon as
possible.   
     Although he did stand his ground on Hebron this time, Peres knew that more
concessions had to be made . . . for peace.  He was afraid to think of what the reaction of
his people might be in such a case.  Just to be on the safe side, the Israeli Police mounted an
early morning raid on the homes of Jewish citizens suspected of organizing protests against
Shimon's "negotiations."  Jews who dared to openly declare that the Land of Israel belongs
to the Jewish People have been found to present a clear and present danger to the peace
process and therefore must be dealt with.  
      Leaders of the "Zu Artzenu" (This is our Land) movement were arbitrarily arrested
as police burst into their homes in the early morning hours.   Jews from cities and
developments all over Judea and Samaria were subject to arrest and random searches of
their homes by a government which refuses to accept the concept of democratic dissent. 
After all, even democracy must stand aside for the Peace of Peres. 
     As Jews all over the world gather in synagogues to say the slichos prayers for
forgiveness of our sins, let us all pray that we, as a people, can earn the forgiveness of the
sin of accepting the madness of self hating leaders who have rejected greatness and plunged
our people into needless misery, even as we sit in the shadow of the dawn of redemption.  