                                                               
                      A Voice from Hebron
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg
                                
        " If We wanted to take back Hebron and any other
"Palestinian city" we can easily do it.  But we don't want to."
                     Israel Defense Minister Yitzchak Mordechai
                         April 10, 1997

      Were you to have asked Goliath, he would have explained to you the very lethal quality
of stones.  But he is long dead, and no one seems to care how he died.  In Israel today, it is an
accepted assumption that throwing rocks, at least on the part of Arabs, is a harmless expression of
dissent; a peaceful method of demonstrating discontent.
     Several years ago Rabbi Moshe Levinger, while walking in Hebron with his grandson,
came under a vicious Arab stoning attack.   Preferring to adhere to the impression of Goliath, an
impression which tends to be reinforced when one is personally showered with such deadly
missiles, Rabbi Levinger responded to the danger to his and his grandson's lives by firing his pistol
in the direction of his attackers.  As fate would have it one bullet found its mark and killed an
Arab.  For his "crime" the Rabbi was sentenced to a jail term.
     Dinah ben Har, a Kiryat Arba resident, had the misfortune to be riding in a public bus a
few years ago when Arab "demonstrators" stoned them.  The bus stopped and Dinah, as well as
other passengers, left the bus.  The passengers, who claimed equal democratic freedom of
expression, picked up rocks and threw them back at the Arabs.  In a clear expression of  racist
discrimination, the Israeli police arrested Dinah who was convicted in an Israeli court and
sentenced to public service for the crime of doing the same thing that Arabs are permitted to do in
spite of the fact that Dinah didn't hurt anyone!
     Elana Padolsky, a new immigrant from Russia, a young married woman who lives in
Kiryat Arba, was driving to Jerusalem in the family car.  Suddenly she was attacked by a mob of
innocent Arabs throwing rocks at her.  Her car was blocked in traffic and she could not escape the
barrage of stones.  Her mother, a holocaust survivor who was a passenger, became hysterical with
fear.  Having no choice Elana exited the car and fired her pistol dispersing the mob and killing a
"peaceful demonstrator."  She was just recently sentenced to spend a year and half in jail for the
crime of defending her life!
     Last week Yossi Levi of the Shomron community of Dolev came under attack by
"peaceful" Arab "demonstrators" who stoned his car as he was driving home.  He had the
audacity to defend himself by firing into the air.  Yossi is currently in jail being "questioned" for
his efforts to save his own life.
     And this week all of Hebron became a great big "demonstration" as thousands of   
"innocent" Arabs hurled rocks and fire bombs at IDF soldiers who responded with tear gas and
rubber bullets.   Of course these "demonstrations" are "understandable" owing to the fact that it
was in response to two yeshiva boys who fired their guns while under a heavy hail of rocks.    Three "peaceful Arab demonstrators" had been killed.  The circumstances which brought
about the killing of those three Arabs are irrelevant.   Who cares that they were among a mob of
other "peaceful Arab demonstrators" who nearly succeeded in murdering two yeshiva boys who
were walking to the Cave of Machpelah to pray.  What is relevant is that the armed yeshiva boys
killed the Arabs with "criminal intent" to save their own lives.
     The axiom has been set.  Arabs have the right to attack Jews.  Jews risk being arrested if
they dare to defend their lives with weapons licensed to them by the state for the purpose of self-defense!  Of course our own IDF has set the example by refusing to shoot down Arabs who pelt
them with rocks and molotov cocktails.  On international television broadcasts we see fully armed
combat-ready soldiers facing mobs of "peaceful" Arab rock throwers.  The impression the viewer
gets is that the poor yet valiant Arabs are facing a violent army with mere stones.  What is not
perceived is the fact that the army has orders not to use live ammunition and to avoid shooting
wherever possible.  When the danger becomes so great as to require a response, the IDF is
condemned for using violence against the "peaceful demonstrators".  Thus the all-around
impression is that the brave stone throwers are defeating the mighty IDF.   And, the fact of the
matter is that this is true!   If throwing rocks won the Arabs an Oslo agreement, maybe if they
throw more rocks they can get rid of the Jews altogether!  Generations of Jewish governments
have taught this concept to our enemies. 
     Israel's Minister of Defense, Yitzchak Mordechai, echoed the bankrupt policy of his
government today when he announced that the IDF is easily capable of taking back all of Hebron
and any other city under PLO control.  He quickly added that we don't want to do this.  We want
to continue negotiations and find a way where both parties can live in peace together.  Who ever
heard of a military leader who didn't want to defeat his enemies?  Were Arafat in a position to
defeat the IDF he would not waste his breath talking about it. . . he would just do it.
     So why should we be surprised or indignant when a foreign news agency, like CNN, while
allegedly "reporting" the news, deliberately expresses its own prejudice against Jews?  Jerrold
Kessel, on April 7, under the headline "Israeli opens fire on Palestinian stone-throwers"
offered the following loaded statements:
     "A Jewish settler opened fire on a crowd of Palestinian students. . . after Palestinians
reportedly pelted his van with stones."  
     The Jew shot his gun at students, while the Arabs only "reportedly"pelted his van.   
     "Israeli police arrested a Jewish settler suspected of the attack later in the day."
      Arabs "pelt with stones" and Jews "attack" to defend themselves.  That sounds perfectly
well balanced.  It was later suggested that the Jew brought the "stoning" upon himself because he
had the nerve to drive through the Arab village rather than take a by-pass road.  Clearly an
outrageous provocation deserving a good stoning.
     If it wasn't enough for Kessel to blame the Jewish "settler" for causing all the trouble, he
offered to put at least some of the blame on Prime Minister Netanyahu for sending in "bulldozers
to begin a controversial Jewish settlement in largely Arab East Jerusalem."  
     Kessel is certainly not alone in his natural expressions of one-sidedness against Israel.  The
New York Times and other foreign organs get their material from plenty of Israeli self-hating
sources.  And, of course, if Jews are stupid enough to set themselves up for a bashing, why should
we not expect to get bashed?
     If Jews are licensed to carry weapons to defend themselves, clearly the government must
recognize that such a need exists.  When such weapons are used for the purpose for which they
were licensed, why are Jews consistently being arrested for defending their lives?  And, similarly,
if a soldier is enlisted in the army and given a weapon to defend himself and his country, why is he
given orders not to shoot when under attack ?  Any honest government would issue clear orders,
and make them public knowledge, that anyone who would dare attack a soldier will be shot on
sight.  Such orders would, in and of themselves, save more lives than we have already lost by
"restraint".
      Respect from enemies will never result from overt expressions of self disrespect.  First we
must get our priorities straight.  Let us, once again, be the proud Jewish nation which stood up
against the entire world and announced our independence back in 1948.  It is not our duty to
please the United States or the Arab enemies of Israel.  It is our duty to continue the Zionist
process which created this country in the first place.  Giving control of any part of our homeland
to others is an act of treason and a clear violation of the concept of Zionism.   
     Oslo is an expression of the negation of Zionism and of our exclusive right to the Land of
Israel.  Any Jewish government which embraces such a concept has no right to represent the
Jewish people.  Until our government truly defends our most basic right to be a free people in our
own exclusive country, we can hardly expect our enemies to accept that right.