                                                               
                      A Voice from Hebron
by Gary M. Cooperberg           
        Making Peace with Terror is not a Jewish Concept
                         July 18, 1997

     It was a real shock to our government leaders when they learned that the three PLO
policemen who sought to murder Jews in the Shomron Jewish community of Har Bracha were
sent by the chief PLO police officer in Shechem, Jihad Masini.  Why this was such a shock it is
hard to determine.  No one, even now, would dare suggest that, perhaps the great Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate himself, Yasser the Magnificent, may have been the major decision maker in
planning the murder of Jews.  Perish the thought.  How could anyone dream that the former
terrorist butcher, now turned diplomat, would harbor an evil thought?
     And the charade doesn't limit itself to Israel, which is bad enough.  The White House is
doing cartwheels to support the good reputation of Yasser the Magnificent.  The United States
Senate seems to be sincerely trying to prevent American funds from going to the PLO, citing that
organization's blatant violation of agreed conditions upon which those funds would be released. .
including the extradition to Israel of terrorists, and the alteration of the PLO covenant.  In spite of
this the White House and the State Department, in the name of the defunct "peace process" insist
upon ignoring these, and other, violations.
     All of this insanity reminds one of the fable, "The Emperor's New Clothes".  All of the
intellectuals in the kingdom refused to acknowledge the obvious for fear of being called fools. 
Yet, by denying what their very eyes told them, in the end they proved themselves to be fools.   
     How many Jews need to be murdered?  How many bombs need to be thrown?  How much
proof is needed that the PLO is not interested in making peace with an Israel of any size?  How
long will Jews continue to deceive themselves?
     The prevailing theory is that there are evil people called "terrorists" who hate peace and
just like murdering people.  Aside from this, there are "good" people, who love peace and would
never dream of hurting anyone.  Now, if we can remove all of the "terrorists", we can have peace
on earth and everyone will live happily ever after!   Isn't that wonderful?  Of course that is why
Clinton and Netanyahu are working so hard to make peace and end terror.
     Yet, these two leaders are not simpletons.  They are highly educated and very intelligent. 
How then can anyone explain their disregard for the reasons those "evil" people commit terror? 
Can anyone really believe that they don't know that Islam cannot and will not tolerate Jewish 
sovereignty on what they term Moslem land?  Can anyone really believe that neither gentleman
reads the newspapers and knows that Moslems all over the world seek to destroy Israel?
       Israeli Minister of Defense, Yitzchak Mordechai, assures us that Arafat is personally
looking into the case.  Does anyone seriously think that Arafat opposes the murder of Jews?  The
PLO, of course, denies everything.  Yet Israeli security services have proof that PLO top officials
were involved.  The time for continuing this sham has finally come to an end.  Now is the time to
stop it once and for all.  After all, if your peace partner is caught planning terrorist attacks against
you, what is left to discuss?



     So what is the position of our government in view of this outrage?  On the pragmatic
level, it has reacted by forbidding Jews to enter into any area controlled by the PLO.  Yet, on the
political level it continues to talk to Arafat!  It seeks to appease his anger at our refusal to stop
building in our own country by offering to give him an airport and a seaport which is yet another
nail in the coffin of Israel's security.   
     Who would have dreamed that even a left wing government would be so self-hating as to
invite the most vicious Jew-hating enemy of all to set up its war machine inside the heartland of
our country?  How can such an eloquent expert on terrorism, like our prime minister, not only fail
to stop the lunacy, but deliberately compound it?
     The answer is that, no matter how intelligent or how eloquent our leaders may be, when
they reject genuine Judaism, the reason why we have a Jewish State, they bring about all the
tragedies which we need not experience.
     Balaam, the gentile seer, who sought to curse Israel, yet ended up blessing her, revealed
the secret of Israel's potential strength.  He stated that Israel is a nation which will remain apart
from all of the other nations of the world.  This has been our blessing for thousands of years. 
Without this blessing we would have disappeared among the many nations to which we had been
exiled.  Today we have leaders who seek to reject the blessing and have Israel take a place
"among" the nations of the world.  Such a goal would be a curse to the Jewish people, and is not
part of Jewish destiny.
     In his second blessing, Balaam states that G-d has seen no misuse of power in Jacob, and,
therefore He has seen no misfortune in Israel.  Clearly today we see misuse of power in the Jewish
State.  From the words of this gentile seer we can understand why there is so much misfortune in
Israel today.  
     Balaam failed to curse Israel.  Instead he found a way to get them to curse themselves.  It
is only when we reject our majesty, our given role as a kingdom of priests, that we bring tragedy
upon ourselves.  We are G-d's chosen people.  This is not a term of status or favoritism.  It is a
Divine calling to serve our G-d and the nations of the world.  It is through us, the Jewish people,
that blessing will come upon all the families of the world.  When we reject our role, we are
holding back blessings. . . not only from ourselves, but from the entire world.
     It is not a selfish or opportunistic desire which finds us back home in the Land of Israel
after two thousand years of Exile.   It is the beginning of fulfillment of G-d's desire to bring true
redemption and peace to His world.  All who oppose the Divine Process, not only defy G-d, but
are actually acting against their own self interest.  For the fulfillment of this process will result in
real peace, not the insanity we live with today.
     What is most frustrating about all of this is the fact that it is really so simple, yet we go out
of our way to ignore the method of bringing genuine G-dly peace to the world.  Instead we seek
strange methods which are doomed to fail and bring tragedy in their wake.   
     Peace will not come by giving the Golan to Syria.  It will not come by giving Jerusalem to
Arafat.  It will come when a Jewish leader arises and speaks and behaves as a Jew.  
     
