                                                   A Voice From Hebron
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg
                       September 5, 1995
                          Self Respect
                                
     What is so important about self respect?  Isn't peace more important?  If man doesn't have
self respect, he certainly will not have the respect of others.  Without respect, without dignity, and
without pride life has little meaning and, even assuming that peace could be purchased as such a
price, (which it cannot), it too would be meaningless.
     All of the problems we have today in the Jewish State can be traced to the refusal of our
leadership, from the very inception of the reborn Jewish homeland, to conduct national and
international policy with self respect.
     For fear of what America would think we insisted upon including our Arab enemies as
(almost) equal citizens in our Jewish State.  It was like getting a blood transfusion with just a little
cancer included.  Were this country not watched over, day and night, by the Living G-d of Israel,
we would have perished from the face of the Earth years ago.
     The Arabs of Israel have feared Jewish return even before there was a Jewish State.  And
once it was reestablished they determined to destroy it by any means possible.   When war after
war failed to achieve their heinous goal, they embarked upon a new strategy . . . "peace".
     For "peace" Egypt won far more land than it could by war.  It also got financial and
military aid from the United States.  It taught the Arab world a dangerous lesson.   If you are
prepared to lie and sign a meaningless peace of paper, you can get "concessions" from Israel and
financial reward from the United 
States.   Further, if several Arab states were to take advantage of this new strategy it just might be
possible to weaken Israel enough, and strengthen the Arab world enough to tip the balance of
power in favor of the Arabs and enable them to, once and for all, finish off Israel in a holy war.
     In spite of the fact that the State of Israel is much tinier than any of the Arab nations
surrounding her, this country's leaders have accepted the absurd concept that Israel needs to
concede her territory to Arab nations in order to achieve peace!   Further, this convoluted concept
of peace dictates that no Jews can even think to live together with those whom they are making
peace.  
     We have already come to the most self debasing logical conclusion to this insane policy
when our foreign minister, Mr. Peres, had the gall to apologize to 
Arafat for "oppressing" the "palestinians"!  In effect the Israeli government has legitimized every
act of terror . . . every murder of Jewish men, women and children carried out over the years by the
PLO.  After all, we were oppressing the Arabs and denying them their right to replace Israel with
an Arab Palestine.  Peres didn't make "peace", with Arafat.  He surrendered to him.   All we are
doing now is negotiating the terms of that surrender.
     While it is easy to heap all of the blame upon Rabin and Peres, in all honesty they could
not have committed these crimes against the Jewish people had the path not been cleared for them
by every previous government in Israel.      Even under Begin and Shamir the basic right of Jews
to pray at their most holy site, the Temple Mount, was forbidden.   Why?  Because Moslems,
unlike Jews, fear the Jewish G-d.  They know that when Jews pray with all of their heart, and
especially at this holy place, the Living G-d of Israel will answer their prayers and redeem them.  
Knowing this, they have risked their lives and freedom to prevent Jewish prayer here.  
     When the established Israeli law, permitting access to prayer for all peoples at their
respective holy places, was held before the Israeli High Court of (in)Justice, the court had to admit
that Jews do, indeed, have a right to pray on the Temple Mount, and they ruled accordingly.  
BUT, as an addendum to their ruling, they authorized the police to prevent Jewish prayer in the
event that it would create a security problem.   What they really did was to announce to the Arab
world that, although Jews do have a right to pray on their holy mountain, Arabs have the right to
prevent them by creating security problems.  Why shouldn't the Arabs alight upon our holy
mountain with chains and knives and rocks if they know, in advance, that by doing so they can
stop Jewish prayer?
     Were we a normal country with self respect, even had we agreed to permit Moslem prayer
at our holy places, we certainly would never tolerate disturbances of our rights there.   Does our
Police Commissioner mean to tell us that it cannot contain Arab violence on our Temple Mount?  
If so, why not remove the Arabs and not permit them to be there?   Whose country is this?   How
dare our entire justice system reward Arab terror and punish Jewish victims?
     And what is the biggest obstacle to "peace" today?  Why the fact that Jews have the nerve
to be living in the holy Jewish city of  Hebron.   Peres, after sitting for hours with Arafat, has
announced that Arafat is very serious about Hebron.  Clearly Peres is not so serious about it.  He is
willing to part from his mother's grave for his absurd conception of "peace".  The problem is that
the Jewish people are not so willing.   In recent months Jews from all over Israel have been
demonstrating their connection to Hebron.   Tens of buses have been taking Jewish worshipers
every Friday, before dawn, to pray at the graves of our Patriarchs at Machpelah.   At least two
busloads have been arriving on a daily basis.  
     Hebron is home to the most extreme Moslem haters of Israel and they cannot tolerate the
concept of Jews living here.  So, naturally, for "peace", they are demanding that the Jews be
removed.  The very fact that our government is "negotiating" with such an enemy indicates that
they would like to comply.  As such one has great difficulty differing between the goals of our
enemies, and that of our own "democratic" government.
     The People of Israel didn't have any say in the secret meetings which led to Oslo.  No
referendum was ever held upon the question of making peace with Arafat.   The people of Israel
did not agree to give away Gaza and Jericho to the Palestinian Army.  And the People of Israel are
not being consulted now, as we face the prospect of further emasculating the Jewish State by
inviting our bitterest enemies to take over strategic sites throughout Judea and Samaria as well . . .
for "peace" of course.
     The Jewish people want peace.  But they are not stupid, nor does their tolerance lack
limitation.  Peres and Rabin know this and realize that the next step in their "peace" package may
well be an invitation for a civil war the likes of which the Jewish people have no precedent.   Yes,
there is self respect.  If not in our government, it resides within the bosom of the Jewish People.