                       A Voice from Hebron
                      by Gary M. Cooperberg
                        February 1, 1996
         Violence won't be stopped with Bumper Stickers
     
     The State of Israel, while claiming to pattern its system of government upon
democratic principles, has failed miserably to act upon those principles.  The electoral system
is archaic and designed in such a way as to deny true representative government to the people. 
Its leaders, upon achieving power, feel little, if any, obligation to the electorate.  The glue
which holds the government together are back room deals made between coalition factions to
buy their loyalty.  Our current government has been referred to as the "Mitsubishi"
government.   This refers to the fact that right wing Tzomet Knesset Member, Alex Goldfarb,
was literally purchased away from Rafael Etan to become a minister in the Labor government.  
As a minister, MK Goldfarb now drives around in a state owned Mitsubishi.   Who cares that
the will of over 20,000 voters takes second place to the personal aspirations of Mr. Goldfarb?
     While the Israeli citizen may certainly write letters and send faxes to his representatives
in the Knesset, those representatives do not feel at all responsible to the electorate as do their
American counterparts.   Their first loyalty is to the party, and not necessarily the one which
got them into office, rather the one which offers them the most.  
     And, when it comes to democratic demonstrations, especially peaceful ones which
merely express opinions via signs and slogans, we see only contempt on the part of our
government.   Former Prime Minister Rabin expressed this contempt in his classic response to
over a quarter of a million demonstrators in Jerusalem when he announced that they could all
spin around like propellers for all the effect their demonstration would have upon him.  And
when the demonstrations continued and became annoying to our governmental leadership it
was the government which created the violence by having the Israeli Police conduct
themselves like storm troopers,  physically attacking peaceful demonstrators in an effort to
reduce the number of those willing to participate.
     And, since the assassination of Rabin, this tragedy was used by the government as
license to silence all opposition.  Gestapo tactics,  including random arrests and imprisonment
without due process, and physical intimidation of demonstrators, have been employed.   
     The Jewish People in Israel have been intimidated.  They have been subject to
terrorism by our enemies who have maimed and murdered our children.   And they are subject
to intimidation by their own government which woos those very same enemies.   At the very
moment when convicted Arab terrorists are being released from jail by the thousands, innocent
Jews are being placed in prison, many  without as much as being charged with a crime! 
Shmuel Cytryn has been languishing in jail for nearly two months for no legitimate democratic
reason.  The result of his complaining about his unfair treatment was a severe beating in which
his knee was broken and he had to be hospitalized.
     Rabbi Uzi Meshulam dared to protest loudly about the government cover up of the
kidnaping of Jewish Yemenite babies by the Labor government many years ago.  His
persistence made him public enemy number one and resulted in his trial and imprisonment,
together with several of his followers.   Weak and futile attempts have been made to "prove"
that the babies really died, but strong evidence suggests that hundreds were sold.
     The black Jews of Ethiopia are among the most idealistic of our people.   They came
home to Israel to become a part of our ancient heritage. They left their homes with the clothes
on their backs and many walked most of the way. 
 Rather than find the brotherhood they longed for, they found much of the same discrimination
they left back in Ethiopia.  These pure souls could never understand why Jews are not
permitted to pray on their Temple Mount, or why such a formula as Land for Peace is as much
as considered by any Jewish government.  They, who maintained their Jewish identity for
centuries, were insulted to find themselves required to undergo "conversion" in order to be
accepted as Jews in their own homeland.  They put up with many forms of oppression and
indignities.  They are excellent soldiers, yet appalled by a country which orders its soldiers not
to shoot at its enemies.
     The final straw came just last week when, acting upon the allegation that a large
proportion of Ethiopians carry the AIDS virus, rather than simply applying normal screening
procedures, the health authorities simply decided to discard all blood donations from Ethiopian
Jews!   With cries declaring that their blood isn't black, but just as red as any other Jew's, tens
of thousands took to the streets near the Knesset and showed this country what the people can
do if they are pushed against the wall.  
     When the police tried their strong arm storm trooper tactics on these frustrated Jews
they got more than they bargained for.  The demonstration was not at all disorderly or violent
until the police, frightened by the large numbers, resorted to their customary intimidation
tactics of indiscriminate violence.   The reaction was swift and brutal.  The gas canisters fired
into the crowds along with water canon, rubber bullets and swinging night sticks, were met
with fists and rocks and the hurling back of many of the tear gas canisters.  Tens of policemen,
as well as civilians needed to be hospitalized.  There was even fear that the Knesset itself
might have been overrun by the angry crowd.
     In reaction, our dauntless Minister of internal security, Moshe Shachal, suggested that
a wall be built around the Knesset to protect it from future such demonstrations.   One cannot
help but wonder why the minister would expect further attempts by Israeli citizens to storm
the Knesset.  Apparently our leaders feel that the people are supposed to serve the government
instead of  the other way around.   And worse, they know that the people of Israel oppose
their policies, and, in spite of this, they plan on continuing to act against the will of the people. 
In any other country such behavior would invite revolution.  The government knows that Jews
do not fight against fellow Jews.  What it refuses to realize is that, even Jews have red lines
which dare not be crossed.  If an intelligent idealistic young Jew was driven to murder his own
Prime Minister, in violation of every known taboo, both religious and nationalistic, one would
expect that all sorts of alarms would go off.   Maybe something is wrong?   This assassination
was not one of simple madness, rather of extreme frustration.  Is it unreasonable to assume
that many others may share this sense of frustration and are capable of acting outside the realm
of normal behavior?  One might expect that, at the very least, the government would pause to
examine itself to discover the cause of this unprecedented tendency toward violence.   Can
anyone honestly believe that bumper stickers calling for the cessation of violence have any
meaning at all?   Violence isn't employed because people like it or think it is good.  It is a last
straw expression of desperation when no other outlet is made available.  If the government of
Israel really wants to stop violence, the only way to do so is to honestly seek to serve its
purpose by being public servants, and not the oppressors of the governed.