The Eleventh Commandment

The Eleventh Commandment

January 31, 2005

Last night some 200,000 people stood in the streets between the Knesset and the Prime Minister's office, ostensibly demanding either elections or a national referendum as a prerequisite to implementation of Sharon's expulsion policy. "Let the nation decide!"

In all actuality though, the mass gathering screamed to the heavens: please - stop this madness.

The Yesha Council did a good job getting people out, but part of the message they espoused was disappointing. As reported by Israel National News, "Yesha officials called on the crowd to reject calls for the refusal of orders in the IDF, stressing such a move would destroy the military. They also decried the raising of a hand against soldiers, police, and border police, setting the ground rules for a tough fight, but one that does not cross the lines of a law-abiding society."

What's the problem with these points? They show a complete and total misunderstanding of how to lead opposition to Sharon's plans. They suggest that we 'play by the rules,' – not Sharon's rules, rather those established by a normal society. However, Sharon is not playing by those rules: he's devising his own rules as the game progresses, doing whatever he wants, however he wants. The fact that he has totally reversed his own campaign promises, the fact that he is now implementing the policies voiced by his opponent, Amram Mitzne, who was thoroughly trounced in the last election, the fact that he ignored a supposedly binding Likud referendum as well as a vote of the Likud Central Committee, the fact that he refuses to go to the people because he is scared that he might actually lose, the fact that he is conducting a massive campaign to delegitimize the same people he once regarded as heroes, that fact that he is returning to the one-way street called Oslo, leading to an inevitable head-on collision we've already experienced, again and again and again, with over 1,500 fatalities and thousands of casualties, the fact that according to Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Minister Meir Shitrit, not to mention Peres and all the other poodles presently serving as ministers under Sharon, the expulsion and destruction of Gush Katif and the northern Shomron communities is only the beginning – the remainder of communities of Judea and Samaria are on line for the guillotine – all these facts, and many more, clearly establish two sets of rules: one for Sharon and one for everyone else.

Two examples: During my interview with David Bedein last week, he revealed that police invaded homes of Sderot residents, warning and threatening them not to protest during a governmental visit to the city – this despite continued missile attacks and fatalities there.

And last night, buses on the way to the demonstration were randomly stopped and 'searched' – what did the police expect to find – child suicide bombers? One of the buses was stopped a few kilometers outside Jerusalem, on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road, and the search crew took its time looking for hard, criminal evidence against its passengers. Losing patience, the travelers left the bus and started walking down the middle of the highway – 'if you won't let us drive, we'll go by foot.' All traffic came to a stop and the police caught the message fast. Soon the bus was on its way into Jerusalem.

This second incident provides a good example of 'not playing by the rules' – and it works. This is what the Yesha Council has yet to learn. If we continue to 'play by the rules' we are bound to lose.

First and foremost on the list of 'our rules' is refusal to obey orders to evict families from their homes. The claim that refusal to obey orders will destroy the army is a moot point. Why? Because what good is an army without a land to defend? It is the declared intent of many members of the current government, in conjunction with the United States, Russia, Europe and the United Nations, to dismember Eretz Yisrael. Forget George W. – Sharon has, time and time again, declared his allegiance to the 'roadmap,' a plan leading to the disintegration of the State of Israel and the rise of the State of Palestine, G-d forbid. We will not have to worry about whether or not our soldiers obey orders in the future; should they refuse, there will be foreign forces here to do the work for them. So states the 'roadmap!'

True, under ordinary circumstances, refusal to obey orders should and would be viewed as virtually unthinkable. However, our lives, privately and collectively, are ruled by priorities: in this case, without Eretz Yisrael, our armed forces are unnecessary – Eretz Yisrael certainly takes priority over a dictator's decree. I have difficulty comprehending why the leaders of the Yesha council do not understand this.

You know, last week everyone was making a big whop-de-do about the events marking the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Aushwitz. This too, I had trouble fathoming. Speeches in the UN, a memorial to the slaughtered, singing HaTikava, our national anthem, it didn't move me.

Why not?

Many times, during meetings with correspondents from around the world, I tell them: "There is much we must learn from the Holocaust. One of the main lessons I have learned is from the refusal of the allied forces, including Britain and the United States, to bomb the camps and stop the mass murders. This taught me that the United States and Europeans were basically telling us, in other words, 'we don't want you here.' For had they valued Jewish lives, they would not have allowed the Nazis to continue exterminating them, by the millions.

So, what did Jews do? They came to live in Eretz Yisrael and established the State of Israel. Now, we are being told that we cannot continue to live in our land – and the same people who refused to stop the Nazi extermination are leading the call to expel us from our homeland.

So, I ask the reporters, where do they want us to go – they don't want us in their countries, but they refuse to allow us to live with security in our own land – so where should we go?"

The journalists look at me with a blank stare and, as a rule, do not respond.

My problem with the 60^th anniversary events is exactly that – why did it take SIXTY YEARS for the nations of the world to stand up and recognize, in some manner, what they were responsible for. The proceedings at the UN should not have taken sixty years to occur. They should have taken place annually since the founding of the organization.

More significantly, in my opinion, in truth, Aushwitz has not been liberated. We are still there, behind barbed wire fences, being led like sheep to the crematorium. Then, the Jews had little recourse – there was no IDF, there was no State of Israel. But today there is. Yet, we are continuing to be led by the nose, by the same peoples who assisted, either actively or passively, with the Nazi extermination machine sixty years ago. The massive world attempt to force us to rid ourselves of our land is certainly nothing less than Aushwitz – because the world still does not recognize the legitimate, G-d-given right of our people to our land. There really is no doubt: Gush Katif will lead to Beit El and Shilo, and they will lead to Hebron and Hebron will lead to Jerusalem. Tel Aviv and Haifa are only a matter of time. That is the way they see it – those who refused to destroy Aushwitz – they are the same people, the same cultures, the same mentality. They haven't changed. And it seems, neither have we. We still haven't learned.

This past Shabbat morning, sitting in Ma'arat HaMachpela, I listened as we read in the Torah, the Ten Commandments. It is normally a very spiritually uplifting experience, especially at such a holy place. But this year, hearing the ancient words chanted, I couldn't help but think, what about the eleventh commandment. Why have we forgotten the eleventh commandment? Why don't we remember – we are we so good at forgetting? Again, meetings between Dachlan and Mufaz, Abu Mazen and Sharon, terrorist prisoner releases, pulling the army out of the 'cities, ' the same show we've seen so many times before. And we know what the results will be.

The Eleventh Commandment: Never Forget.

With blessings from Hebron.

Weapons-confiscation is only the beginning

Weapons-confiscation is only the beginning

January 24, 2005

There are those who believe that we are paranoid. How could we possibly suspect the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, or any of his underlings, of attempting to diminish our security? Rubbish!

Well, last Thursday, the civilian head of Hebron's security apparatus, Yoni Bleichbard, who is EMPLOYED by the Defense Ministry, received a phone call from an officer in the Hebron brigade. She notified Yoni that his weapon's license, permitting him to carry an M-16 rifle, had been voided and that he was now classified as 'weapons-negated.' The reason: unknown. The source of the decision: somewhere up there – Central Command or higher. The result: yesterday, Yoni was forced to 'return' his rifle to the authorities that be. In other words, Hebron's security chief is forbidden to carry the primary tool of his trade, that tool which is used to offer protection and defense, should the need arise, to any of the Hebron community's hundreds of residents or thousands of visitors.

So, you might ask, perhaps Yoni is a suspected criminal, and is too dangerous to be allowed to walk around with a weapon. Perhaps, except that Yoni has not been recently arrested, indicted, tried or convicted of any serious crimes. Not only isn't Yoni suspected of "Jewish terrorism." To the contrary. He has proven his heroism. Two years ago, when terrorists struck, killing twelve men, including nine officers and soldiers, and three Kiryat Arba civilians, Yoni was one of the first people on the scene, and put his life on the line to save others. Working together with other security personnel, Yoni attempted to weed out the attacking Arab murderers, while also intentionally putting himself in the line of fire, carrying wounded out of the battle zone. It is difficult to image greater courage or bravery.

Yet, late last week Yoni was notified that he is relieved of his weapon.

However, Yoni shouldn't feel too bad. Actually, he is in good company. He wasn't the only one ordered to hand in his rifle. So too were the security officers of Yeshivat Shavei Hevron, Kiryat Arba and southern Hebron Hills community Ma'ale Hever.

But don't let anyone tell you that this is political. Of course not. It's strictly security-related. For sure.

For general background purposes: It should be clear. First of all, our security is in the hands of the Almighty. Without Him, nothing would help. That having been said, practically speaking, our day-to-day security is deposited with multi-branched Israeli security forces, divided between the army, the police, the border police, intelligence, etc. It is their job to make sure we are safe. That is, of course, a collective 'we,' basically including all citizens of the State of Israel. In Hebron, and throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza, the security presence is necessarily higher and perhaps more blatant than elsewhere. Due to the abundance of 'security activity,' the Defense Ministry, through the Israel Defense Forces, appoints local civilians, all of whom have served in combat units in the army, to work with them. These men work night and day, patrolling, organizing and training civilian emergency teams, coordinating emergency medical needs, and also act as pipelines between the residents of their communities and local military commanders. I can personally testify to the fact that Yoni Bleichbard works from very early in the morning to very late at night, and is virtually always on call, seven days a week. At the very least, a walkie-talkie, beeper, and cell phone are always at hand. And up until yesterday, an M-16.

To be clear: weapons in Yesha are, unfortunately, the norm. I can remember, when I first came to Israel in 1974, seeing men my age walking around the streets of Jerusalem with Uzis (the pre-M-16 era). It was, for me, coming from suburbia USA, a very strange sight and it took me a long long time to get used to it. Seeing a pistol on a cop's belt, no big deal. But an automatic machine gun in the hands of 19 and 20 year olds, in the middle of Jerusalem – it blew my mind.

However, over the years I learned. There is little, if any, choice. People have to be ready to defend themselves. Just as a person in a jungle must be armed for reasons of self-protection, always prepared for a lion, tiger, or any other four-legged wild animal, so too, Israelis must be ready, except that here the beasts have only two legs. In Yesha, over the years, civilians may apply to carry weapons via the Interior ministry or through defense channels. The latter may license and issue an Uzi, M-16, or other such weapons, to properly prepared civilians, all of whom have either served in the army or have undergone weapons training.

Despite leftist claims of Yesha-residents 'militancy,' I can assuredly state that an overwhelming majority of weapons-licensed civilians, probably even more than a majority, somewhere in the 90 percent plus category, have never ever used their rifles, excepting army-regulated target practice. As opposed to our Arab neighbors, with very few exceptions, Israeli civilians do not use their guns to randomly attack; rather a weapon is a means of self-defense only. In this sense, guns save lives – Jewish lives.

It is possible that the confiscation orders concerning Yoni's weapon, and those of the other three security personnel mentioned, is a mistake. Mistakes do happen. However, that assumption is, in my book, very naïve. Somebody is playing games with us – and with our lives. Four Hebron-area security chiefs aren't ordered to hand over their weapons 'just like that.' And it certainly wouldn't surprise me if the orders originate very high up.

Years ago, following the Rabin assassination, I wrote a couple of articles dealing with 'Witch-hunts.' Anyone who remembers that time period knows that it was excruciatingly difficult. Yet I presently have a feeling that the post-Rabin witch-hunts will be nothing compared with what Sharon has in store for us – and weapons-confiscation is only the beginning.

With blessings from Hebron.

You Cannot Erase History

You Cannot Erase History

January 10, 2005

Wow aren't you excited? Everyone seems to be jumping up and down. Some, really happy. Others – not so much.

After all, it looks like we have two innovative, democratically elected governments, new horizons, fresh out of the bag. Who could ask for more? I mean, who could be upset?

Well, why don't you ask Yishai Maimon? Presently mayor of Tzfat in the hills of the western Galil, Maimon is not overjoyed with the newly elected Arab chieftain. Thirty years ago Abu Mazen initiated one of the deadliest massacres in Israeli history. Mazen-terrorists attacked a school in Ma'alot, in northern Israel. Sleeping in the school, at the time, were dozens of schoolchildren from Tzfat. Twenty-two children were murdered, after having been taken hostage by the blood-thirsty savages. Yishai Maimon was there, in the school, and will never forget the cries of pain and anguish. Speaking of Abu Mazen, Maimon said, “I will never forget his part in the attack. The man is a murderer with the blood of Jews on his hands disguised as a peace merchant…It is important for the People of Israel to know with whom we are seeking to make peace. He is worse than Arafat.” [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=74895]

The facts about Abu Mazen are widely known. He is a holocaust denier. Last week he called Israel 'the Zionist enemy.' He hugged and kissed armed Hamas terrorists in front of the cameras and declared never to disarm them. Last night he announced that 'the little Jihad has ended and the big Jihad has begun.' The facts speak for themselves: Abu Mazen is a terrorist, was a terrorist and always will be a terrorist. He might not adorn his head with a kafiya, preferring a suit and tie. But his dress and bright-white smile shouldn't confuse the facts.

But, unfortunately, in Israel, facts are irrelevant. It makes no difference what was. Only pertinent is what will be. Nothing can be, or is to be, learned from the past.

Every once in a while I'm asked why I keep writing. In truth, sometimes I ask myself the same question. At times, looking back at articles written weeks, months and years ago, it seems that nothing has changed and the messages remain the same. So why keep writing them, albeit using different themes and words, again and again?

For instance, I found the following in an article called 'Question Mark' written in July, 1995, almost ten years ago. I think it quite appropriate to reprint the story, narrated numerous times by Adir Zik on his Arutz 7 radio program, "Zikukim shel Adir" (Sparks from Adir):

During the days of the Roman Emperor Caesar Caliguila, in 32CE, before the destruction of the 2nd Temple, Jews lived together with Greeks in the small city of Yavneh. The Greeks wanted to construct a large statue to be placed in a public place and used for idol worship in honor of the Emperor.

The Jews of Yavneh strenuously objected, causing the foreigners to complain to Caliguila, stating that the Jews didn't accept his supreme rule. Caliguila reacted by ordering construction of a large statue, to be stationed in the Temple in Jerusalem. Knowing that the Jews would resist, he ordered his general Petronus to go to Israel with half of the Roman army, to take charge of the operation and to enforce the decree. Eight years later the statue was ready and Petronus arrived, with his army, at Acre, in Israel.

The Israel's, aware of the impending crisis, were upset beyond description. A statue, for idol worship, in the holy Temple, was unthinkable. All the people of Israel, tens of thousands of citizens, men, women, children, and babies, arrived in Acre. They stationed themselves before Petronus' camp, and refused to leave. When Petronus appeared before them, the entire crowd fell on the ground before him. He ordered them to rise, and when they did, they covered their heads with dust from the ground, a sign of mourning. He asked, "Do you rebel against the Emperor?" They replied that they would not fight the Emperor's army, but they would die before they would allow a statue to be placed in the Temple. Petronus was overwhelmed with the demonstration and was unable to reply. Instead, he moved his camp to the city of Tiberia.

The Jews wouldn't give up. They came in droves, from all over the country. It was planting season - they should all have been in the fields. But instead they gathered in Tiberia, thousands upon thousands. The stood by Petronus' camp for 40 days, without moving, paying no attention to weather, hunger, or the economic devastation they were bringing on themselves, by not planting in their fields. After 40 days, Petronus, overcome, asked them again, if they were rebelling against the Emperor. They replied in the negative, repeating that if he planned to fulfill the Emperor's orders they would first commit mass suicide.

Petronus, a general who had mercy on no soul, was dumbfounded. He sent a message to Caliguila in Rome, asking him to rescind the order. Caliguila responded by ordering Petronus to commit suicide. However, this order was delayed in arriving because of weather conditions. In the meantime, Caliguila was murdered in Rome and his orders were canceled.
Of course, you're aware of the difference between then and today. Petronus and Caliguila were Romans. The Petronus and Caliguila of today are Israeli Jews.

We might expect that Arik and Shimon would have learned, but no, the past no longer exists. Arafat is gone, and the great Arab hope has surfaced. History starts today.

So why write: Simply to make sure that people never forget, and they shouldn't have any excuses. We have to keep saying it, time and time again, like a mantra: Eretz Yisrael belongs to Am Yisrael, only to Am Yisrael!

This afternoon, as this commentary is being aired, tens of thousands of people will be lining the streets of Jerusalem, outside the Knesset, across from the Prime Minister's office. The scene won't differ much from the above-told story. Thousands and thousands, beseeching the L-rd our G-d to bring about an end to the nightmare plaguing His people.

In January of 1996, on the eve of the signing of the Hebron Accords, I wrote, "Tonight not only is Hebron on the chopping block. Tonight almost all of the land area of Judea, Samaria and Gaza is up for grabs… Netanyahu is not only beheading

The Jewish Community of Hebron. He is castrating the Land of Israel… abandonment of land in Israel is contrary to our very existence. We came back to Eretz Yisrael to settle the land, to live on the land - not to divide it and hand it over to our enemies, to terrorists. The direction of the present `moment of truth' is clearly negative. But eventually, this will change and the crossroads we are turning down now will reach a dead-end, and we won't have any choice but to turn around, come back, and turn the other way. Whatever the cost, we must know this, and live accordingly.”

The same thing, then and today. You may ask, how are we 'living accordingly?' In a couple of the days Hebron's Yahalom family with celebrate the Brit Milah of their fifth child. Their oldest child, a girl, is almost five years old. The Yahalom family lives in a two bedroom caravan, next to Yeshivat Shavei Hevron, where Moshe Yahalom studies. Moshe and his wife Tehilla decided that at present, 'living accordingly' does not mean performing the Brit ceremony at Ma'arat HaMachpela, the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, as is traditional here in Hebron. Rather, they decided to conduct the ceremony elsewhere, specifically, at Netzarim, in Gush Katif.

This community, which is, according to media reports, slated to be the first to be deleted from the map, G-d forbid, was, in the past, highly praised by Ariel Sharon, being of major security importance to the state of Israel. Arik may have changed, but Netzarim hasn't. Neither have the people of Israel, people like Moshe and Tehilla Yahalom, who understand the value of our land. Their singular act of courage should be a lesson to all those who have decided to change history, to rewrite the books, to obliterate fifteen hundred dead, to forget Ma'alot, to start from today. The Yahaloms, together with multitudes on the streets of Jerusalem, will proclaim: You cannot erase history, we will not forgive your abandonment of our land, we will not forget our land, we will not surrender our essence. Abu-Mazens, Shimons and Ariks will come and go, but Eretz Yisrael will remain ours forever.

With blessings from Hebron.

You Cannot Erase History

You Cannot Erase History

by David Wilder

The Jewish Community of Hebron

January 10, 2005

Wow aren't you excited? Everyone seems to be jumping up and down. Some, really happy. Others – not so much.

After all, it looks like we have two innovative, democratically elected governments, new horizons, fresh out of the bag. Who could ask for more? I mean, who could be upset?

Well, why don't you ask Yishai Maimon? Presently mayor of Tzfat in the hills of the western Galil, Maimon is not overjoyed with the newly elected Arab chieftain. Thirty years ago Abu Mazen initiated one of the deadliest massacres in Israeli history. Mazen-terrorists attacked a school in Ma'alot, in northern Israel. Sleeping in the school, at the time, were dozens of schoolchildren from Tzfat. Twenty-two children were murdered, after having been taken hostage by the blood-thirsty savages. Yishai Maimon was there, in the school, and will never forget the cries of pain and anguish. Speaking of Abu Mazen, Maimon said, “I will never forget his part in the attack. The man is a murderer with the blood of Jews on his hands disguised as a peace merchant…It is important for the People of Israel to know with whom we are seeking to make peace. He is worse than Arafat.” [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=74895]

The facts about Abu Mazen are widely known. He is a holocaust denier. Last week he called Israel 'the Zionist enemy.' He hugged and kissed armed Hamas terrorists in front of the cameras and declared never to disarm them. Last night he announced that 'the little Jihad has ended and the big Jihad has begun.' The facts speak for themselves: Abu Mazen is a terrorist, was a terrorist and always will be a terrorist. He might not adorn his head with a kafiya, preferring a suit and tie. But his dress and bright-white smile shouldn't confuse the facts.

But, unfortunately, in Israel, facts are irrelevant. It makes no difference what was. Only pertinent is what will be. Nothing can be, or is to be, learned from the past.

Every once in a while I'm asked why I keep writing. In truth, sometimes I ask myself the same question. At times, looking back at articles written weeks, months and years ago, it seems that nothing has changed and the messages remain the same. So why keep writing them, albeit using different themes and words, again and again?

For instance, I found the following in an article called 'Question Mark' written in July, 1995, almost ten years ago. I think it quite appropriate to reprint the story, narrated numerous times by Adir Zik on his Arutz 7 radio program, "Zikukim shel Adir" (Sparks from Adir):

During the days of the Roman Emperor Caesar Caliguila, in 32CE, before  the destruction of the 2nd Temple, Jews lived together with Greeks in the small city of Yavneh. The Greeks wanted to construct a large statue to be placed in a public place and used for idol worship in honor of the Emperor.

The Jews of Yavneh strenuously objected, causing the foreigners to complain to Caliguila, stating that the Jews didn't accept his supreme rule. Caliguila reacted by ordering construction of a large statue, to be stationed in the Temple in Jerusalem. Knowing that the Jews would resist, he ordered his general Petronus to go to Israel with half of the Roman army, to take charge of the operation and to enforce the decree. Eight years later the statue was ready and Petronus arrived, with his army, at Acre, in Israel.

The Israel's, aware of the impending crisis, were upset beyond description. A statue, for idol worship, in the holy Temple, was unthinkable. All the people of Israel, tens of thousands of citizens, men, women, children, and babies, arrived in Acre. They stationed themselves before Petronus' camp, and refused to leave. When Petronus appeared before them, the entire crowd fell on the ground before him. He ordered them to rise, and when they did, they covered their heads with dust from the ground, a sign of mourning. He asked, "Do you rebel against the Emperor?" They replied that they would not fight the Emperor's army, but they would die before they would allow a statue to be placed in the Temple. Petronus was overwhelmed with the demonstration and was unable to reply. Instead, he moved his camp to the city of Tiberia.

The Jews wouldn't give up. They came in droves, from all over the country. It was planting season - they should all have been in the fields. But instead they gathered in Tiberia, thousands upon thousands. The stood by Petronus' camp for 40 days, without moving, paying no attention to weather, hunger, or the economic devastation they were bringing on themselves, by not planting in their fields. After 40 days, Petronus, overcome, asked them again, if they were rebelling against the Emperor. They replied in the negative, repeating that if he planned to fulfill the Emperor's orders they would first commit mass suicide.

Petronus, a general who had mercy on no soul, was dumbfounded. He sent a message to Caliguila in Rome, asking him to rescind the order. Caliguila responded by ordering Petronus to commit suicide. However, this order was delayed in arriving because of weather conditions. In the meantime, Caliguila was murdered in Rome and his orders were canceled.

Of course, you're aware of the difference between then and today. Petronus and Caliguila were Romans. The Petronus and Caliguila of today are Israeli Jews. 

We might expect that Arik and Shimon would have learned, but no, the past no longer exists. Arafat is gone, and the great Arab hope has surfaced. History starts today.

So why write: Simply to make sure that people never forget, and they shouldn't have any excuses. We have to keep saying it, time and time again, like a mantra: Eretz Yisrael belongs to Am Yisrael, only to Am Yisrael!

This afternoon, as this commentary is being aired, tens of thousands of people will be lining the streets of Jerusalem, outside the Knesset, across from the Prime Minister's office. The scene won't differ much from the above-told story. Thousands and thousands, beseeching the L-rd our G-d to bring about an end to the nightmare plaguing His people.  

In January of 1996, on the eve of the signing of the Hebron Accords, I wrote, "Tonight not only is Hebron on the chopping  block. Tonight almost all of the land area of Judea, Samaria and Gaza is up for grabs… Netanyahu is not only  beheading

The  Jewish  Community of Hebron.  He is  castrating  the Land of Israel… abandonment of land in Israel is contrary to our very  existence.  We came back to Eretz Yisrael to settle the land, to live on the land - not to divide it and hand it  over to our enemies, to terrorists. The direction  of the  present `moment of truth' is clearly negative.   But eventually,  this will change and the crossroads  we  are turning down now will reach a dead-end, and we won't have any  choice but to turn around, come back, and  turn  the other  way.   Whatever the cost, we must know  this,  and live accordingly.”

The same thing, then and today. You may ask, how are we 'living accordingly?' In a couple of the days Hebron's Yahalom family with celebrate the Brit Milah of their fifth child. Their oldest child, a girl, is almost five years old. The Yahalom family lives in a two bedroom caravan, next to Yeshivat Shavei Hevron, where Moshe Yahalom studies. Moshe and his wife Tehilla decided that at present, 'living accordingly' does not mean performing the Brit ceremony at Ma'arat HaMachpela, the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, as is traditional here in Hebron. Rather, they decided to conduct the ceremony elsewhere, specifically, at Netzarim, in Gush Katif.

This community, which is, according to media reports, slated to be the first to be deleted from the map, G-d forbid, was, in the past, highly praised by Ariel Sharon, being of major security importance to the state of Israel. Arik may have changed, but Netzarim hasn't. Neither have the people of Israel, people like Moshe and Tehilla Yahalom, who understand the value of our land. Their singular act of courage should be a lesson to all those who have decided to change history, to rewrite the books, to obliterate fifteen hundred dead, to forget Ma'alot, to start from today. The Yahaloms, together with multitudes on the streets of Jerusalem, will proclaim: You cannot erase history, we will not forgive your abandonment of our land, we will not forget our land, we will not surrender our essence. Abu-Mazens, Shimons and Ariks will come and go, but Eretz Yisrael will remain ours forever.

The Fundamental, Eternal Values of our People

The Fundamental, Eternal Values of our People

January 3, 2005

Shalom.

Last week, expulsion forces, led by "annihilation authority" director Yonatan Bassi, made their way to communities in the northern Shomron, communities marked for destruction by the Sharon government. Traveling the roads wasn't easy. At the Shavei Shomron community, not far from their destination, furious Israelis lined the road, protesting, attempting to prevent the convey from continuing onward. Despite the scuffles and temporary delay, the expulsion force continued and soon reached their goal: Sa'nur.

Founded in the 1970's Sa'nur was populated for the next 30 years by various groups of people, and included an artist's colony, initiated in the late 1980s. In 2001 a group of Habad Chassidim moved into Sa'nur, and brought about a reopening of roads that had been closed in the area and a revitalization the community. However, due to the problems entailed by the Oslo war, the community shrunk in size.

In 2002, Yaron and Miriam Adler, then living in Kiryat Arba, moved to Sa'nur, making the community's total population four families. Today, two years later, twenty families and over 50 children live there, including 10 families who moved in following Ariel Sharon's announcement that Sa'nur is on the chopping block and scheduled for execution sometime this coming summer. The community has reopened the artist's gallery, and groups of foreign and Israeli tourists frequent the site.

Last week, Bassi's annihilation authority forces decided to visit Sa'nur, ostensibly to check out logistics, etc. However, the real reason was to determine the extent of Israeli resistance to their presence. They weren't to be disappointed. Many Sa'nur residents blocked the road leading into the community, and locked the main gate, preventing the convoy from entering. An IDF officer managed to cut through the gate, opened it, and the vehicles progressed. Miriam Adler, mother of six children aged 8 and a half to nine months, decided that she could not stand on the side and watch the expulsion forces roll into her home. With three of her children, Miriam lay down in the street, in front of the vehicles, preventing them from traveling any further. Her husband Yaron, was with another child, also in the road.

Police and other security forces didn't hesitate. A mother of six children is evidently a danger to the state. Miriam was brutally dragged from the site and her nine month old daughter Yael forcibly taken from her. Miriam was arrested. Her husband's finger was intentionally broken by security forces.

Finally, following almost five hours of interrogation Miriam Adler was released. One of the main topics of the interrogation was 'endangering a minor' i.e. child neglect. Media reports have indicated that she will be charged with this grave crime.

When I asked Miriam about this she said, "We will continue to educate our children to love Eretz Yisrael and to struggle to save Eretz Yisrael. If police and soldiers think that they can scare us, they are wrong. Any brute who attacks us will be sued, civilly and criminally. They will not be able to chase us off our land." (Anyone wishing to visit Sa'nur can call: Ariel at 057-7304402 or Yossi at 057-7304401 (from outside Israel - 972-57-.....).

Child neglect is a very interesting charge, indeed. One might expect that parents whose children cavort at sex and drug parties, while Mom and Dad frolic somewhere in the Caribbean, might be charged with child neglect. Perhaps parents who abandon newborns in the hospital or others who can't seem to find time to attend parent-teacher conferences at school, these kinds of people might be candidates for criminal 'child neglect.'

But not in Israel.

Two years ago, Nati Uzeri HY"D was brutally murdered by Arab terrorists in his home, just outside Kiryat Arba. The animals knocked on his door during the family's Friday night Sabbath meal. When Nati Uzeri opened the door, massive gunfire killed him instantly. The terrorists continued shooting into the house, intending to murder all there. They had come prepared with enough fuel to transform the house into little more than ashes. Thank G-d, they didn't have a chance. Two unarmed men inside the home managed to escape through a back door and attacked the animals, who were eventually eliminated.

Only a few months later, at midnight on March 24, 2001, on a rainy, ice-cold night, the Uzeri home was swamped with dozens of soldiers, police and other security forces. The road between Kiryat Arba and Gush Etzion was closed to Israeli traffic. A curfew was declared in Kiryat Arba and the Givat HaHarsina neighborhood. The area surrounding the Uzeri home was declared a ‘closed military zone.’ Nati's widow Livnat, her children and several others living in three shacks, were forcibly evicted. All in pajamas, the mother and children weren't allowed to change clothes, put on warm coats, pack clothing for the next day, or take anything from the house. IDF bulldozers swiftly destroyed the home. All keepsakes of their father and husband, Nati, were ground into the earth. 

A day later, a group of people from Hebron and Kiryat Arba arrived at Hill 26, as the Uzeri site was known, to protest. The cold, wet winter weather didn’t stop them. Neither did the army-police announcement that the area was off-limits, a 'closed military zone.' Three Hebron women, Elisheva Federman, Yifat Alkobi, and Miriam Fleishmen, refused to leave, and locked themselves, together with some of their children, in an abandoned car. Of course, eventually they were apprehended and evicted from the site. But that was not enough. They too were charged with a serious crime: child neglect.

Understanding the political implications involved and the absurdity of the charges, the women refused to participate in the trial, refusing to offer any defense. A few weeks ago a Jerusalem court judge, Yehezkel Barkali, convicted the three women of child neglect. Realizing the present they had just been given, it seems that the police have decided to indict all parents whose children appear at protests with this horrific crime: child neglect.

Early yesterday afternoon the women appeared in court for a pre-sentencing hearing. Inside the small courtroom they sat, together with their children. A few friends were present, as well a small number of journalists. The prosecution opened the hearing by changing their original demand, that the women be punished by having to perform a certain number of hours of community service. They now requested that the women be given conditional jail sentences. In other words, should they again appear at a protest with their children, they would be imprisoned.

The weather in Jerusalem yesterday was cold and rainy. During the hearing the heavens opened up and it poured. Despite this, over one hundred women and children stood outside the courthouse, chanting and demonstrating, protesting the Israeli version of justice, occurring inside.

Each one of the spoke in turn. Please read some of the remarks made by Yifat Alkobi:

Yifat began: "I would like to bring to the court's attention a small portion of the history upon which we were raised and educated…A family living in Tzfat, in the year 1838, a year after the massive earthquake which left over 2,000 people dead, came to live in Israel and in Tzafat, despite the famine and plagues…or the 10 year old boy, Nissim Gigi, in Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter, who ran through the streets in-between missiles and gunfire, whose mother worried, but knew that they were fighting for their home, for their house, a mother who wanted to remain there, in Jerusalem, with her children, all those already born and those not yet born…or perhaps the case of the mother, who in 1994 turned on the radio, only to hear that a bus had exploded in the center of Tel Aviv, a bus her daughter had boarded a short time ago."

Speaking about the Uzeri home and family: "We protested: how can a Jewish house be so destroyed in Israel? Is this the prize Nati's murderers received? How can a widow and orphans be expelled from their home, the home where their father was murdered in front of their eyes? How could we look in our children's eyes when they would ask us, in our pleasant home, under warm blankets, where are Nati's orphaned children sleeping, how is it possible that in Eretz Yisrael, the Jewish homeland, Jewish family articles are covered by mud – didn't we once witness this in other, foreign lands before the creation of our state?...Is a mother negligent if she chooses to adhere to the way of so many other dedicated mothers throughout history, who always claimed, and lived in such a way that their children were united with them in building Eretz Yisrael?…"

"According to many of our leaders today, Eretz Yisrael is guilty of everything. Because of Eretz Yisrael there isn't security, there isn't peace, there is violence, there isn't enough employment, there are diseases, there are educational problems, in other words, in their opinion, Eretz Yisrael is responsible for all our problems. But this is not true and Am Yisrael knew this throughout our history and was never confused. They know that Eretz Yisrael is the basis for everything, the foundation of the existence of Am Yisrael, the foundation of our success, of our growth, of our security, of our happiness, in short, Eretz Yisrael is the Living land of the Jewish people. This is how I was educated, how my father and mother were educated, how my grandparents were educated, who arrived here from Galut, from the Diaspora in unimaginable ways, to this land. And this is how I educate my children, to love this land, to live for its sake, and to do everything in order to enable Am Yisrael to live here…"

"Together with my husband and family, rather than expel we will expand, rather than uproot we will plant, rather than destroy we will build…If the court decides to continue to associate me with the ridiculous charge of child neglect, at least it should be due to my bond to Eretz Yisrael, to our people, to our Torah, and not, G-d forbid, because of an aloofness to the fundamental, eternal values, from which Am Yisrael lives and has lived for generations, and from which we will continue to live and remain in this Land."

The judge will pass sentence on Yifat, Miriam and Elisheva next Sunday, at one o'clock in the afternoon, in Jerusalem.

With blessings from Hebron.