                       A Voice from Hebron
                      by Gary M. Cooperberg
                        January 3, 1996
            Yes, Mr. Peres, there is an Alternative
                                
          Prime Minister Peres must be given due credit for his creative energies to achieve
peace.  Recognizing peace as a commodity which takes precedence over all else, the Prime
Minister came to the conclusion that there is no alternative to his process of achieving peace
through appeasing our enemies.  Everyone has a price.  All we have to do is find out what the
price for peace is and then pay it.  Pride, self respect, nationalism, and religion are all prices which
nations have historically always refused to pay to their enemies.  While it may not be possible to
convince our enemies to give up on one or more of these impediments, there is no reason why the
Jewish people cannot set the example for the world by being the first in history to give up on all of
them.  Thus, concludes Mr. Peres,  we will show the world the way to true peace.
     While even Menachem Begin was prepared to make some compromises, such as to
recognize the legitimacy of the manufactured "palestinian people" and to grant them the right to
govern themselves with autonomy under Jewish sovereignty, Peres was determined to go much
further.  Peres actually apologized for oppressing this people and taking over their land!  In effect
he admitted that Israel was wrong and that it was we, the Jewish People, who forced the
downtrodden palestinians to fight for their freedom by murdering our citizens.   I suppose that
Mr. Peres should also have apologized to all of the Jewish victims of his oppression of those
Arabs whom he forced to murder our women and children.
     Well, not to worry.  Our daring maker of peace has found a way to make up for all of his
former wrongs.  He has engineered a process by which he has already begun to transfer Israeli
sovereignty of the Jewish State over to its rightful owners, the PLO.   "Gaza and Jericho first"
was but the beginning of a long roller coaster ride which will not end until either all of Israel is
turned over to Arafat, or taken from him.   What the brilliant maker of peace failed to understand
is the fact that there is no possibility of real compromise. 
     If the Jewish People has no right to the Land of Israel, then it all must go to the Arabs.  
And, conversely, if the Land of Israel does belong to the Jewish People, then we cannot give any
of it to another nation.   This formula may have passed by Peres' nose, but Arafat has no illusions
or misgivings.  He misses no opportunity to openly state the axiom.   In every section of the
Jewish State handed over to him, he took the posture of a conquering hero and declared his full
intention to continue liberating the rest of "palestine."  Peres sees and listens but chooses to
ignore that which is unpleasant.  Meanwhile he continues to surrender to the PLO and Arafat is
only too happy to accommodate him.   What mutual respect and understanding.
     Suddenly Shimon sees a little problem.  The terrorist king of palestine is far more logical
than the dandy prince of the peace process.  If  Peres admits that Israel has unlawfully taken land
from the palestinians and oppressed them, then how can he deny the demand that reparations be
paid to the victims of this oppression?  It is not enough merely to restore their rights, they should
be reimbursed for their suffering as well.   It is understood that the children of the intifada were
heros of liberation and fully justified in attacking their oppressors.  The Israeli soldiers, therefore
had no justification in shooting rubber bullets or arresting them.  
     Shimon's weak protests, that Israelis were victims too, who were often murdered by
Arabs, are meaningless.  Whose fault was it that Israeli citizens were murdered? 



Why Shimon's, of course.  It was he who drove the fighters of liberation to commit such
desperate acts in order to achieve what Shimon is now admitting they deserved.   Arafat is
perfectly correct.  If the Palestinian people are the legitimate, sovereign owners of "palestine,"
and if Israel illegally occupied their country and oppressed their people, by all means it should pay
reparations.  Further, this "process" of righting all of these "wrongs" cannot be complete until the
Jewish State ceases to exist altogether and restores sovereignty completely to the righteous PLO. 
     But if all of this absurd "peace process" is merely an idiotic attempt to pacify terrorists by
submitting to blackmail, then the whole thing will eventually blow up in all of our faces.  Terror
and blackmail can only be dealt with by destroying those who employ such tactics.  Otherwise,
they will be the destroyers.  
     When the Jewish State was first established in 1948, its founders should have clearly
rejected all rights of foreigners to any form of sovereignty in the Jewish State.   Residence to be
granted only to those who accepted and recognized exclusive Jewish sovereignty to the Land of
Israel.  In 1967, with the liberation of Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip, all of
our enemies should have been expelled and Jewish sovereignty immediately established over all of
our legitimate homeland.  And, in the Peace for Galilee operation, the PLO should have been
destroyed and Arafat executed.  Jewish sovereignty should have been extended to the Litani
River.  All of this could have been accomplished and would have resulted not only in genuine
peace, but would have prevented the deaths of hundreds of both Arabs and Jews.  Admittedly our
Arab neighbors would hate us, but at least they would have respected us and been afraid to attack
us.  Now, our Arab neighbors (even those with whom we have signed "peace" treaties) still hate
us.  The difference is that they hold us beneath contempt and aside from continuing to attack us,
they openly plan a grand war to destroy us completely.
     Can anyone be surprised at the thought that the Islamic nations which surround us seek to
remove us from, what they consider to be, holy Islamic soil?  Can there be a doubt that Arafat is
already making plans with Mubarak, Asad and yes, even the cute little King of Jordan, to wage an
all out war of destruction against Israel?   How can even the mighty Israeli war machine hold up
against a full scale war on all of its borders, accompanied by full scale attacks from within its own
heartland by the well armed and well-trained PLO army?  Of what value are paper agreements
when the age old dream of the Arab nations, the only concept which truly enables them to work
together as a unit and put aside their own animosities, the very real chance to destroy the Jewish
State, so clearly and powerfully entices our enemies? 
     No, Mr. Peres.  You have not created conditions whereupon the lion will graze with the
lamb.  Quite the contrary.  All you have accomplished is to elaborately set the table for the lion
who is patiently waiting for his opportunity to dine upon, not with, his tasty partner.  
     The Jewish State exists for one reason only.  It is the Will of the Creator of the Universe. 
It is He who watches over us day and night here.  While He will not permit the Jewish State to
ever be destroyed, those who participate in efforts to enable its destruction will not go
unpunished.  It matters not whether those efforts are made by our enemies or our own leaders,
they will fail, and bring tragedy upon those who dared to implement them.
     Yes, Mr. Peres, there is an alternative.   Although every day this process continues brings
further tragedy upon us, it is never too late to reverse the process.  If we stop it now and take
back that which we have surrendered we can avoid much of the horror which awaits us if we
don't.  
     War is coming in any event.  It would be better to have all of our enemies outside of our
borders when that horrible day comes.