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5 Av 5768
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
1. Using a decisive military option in Gaza rather than capitulating to terror. Arieh Eldad
2. Mattot Arim newsletter. Urgent Action items.
3. Soldier "indoctrinated" by govt to help them expel Jews, expresses remorse..
4. More on the Pollard Court Petition
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1. Using a decisive military option in Gaza rather than capitulating to terror. Arieh Eldad www.ynetnews.com*
Ongoing debate on Shalit prisoner swap diverts attention from military option
By Arieh Eldad
07.30.08
Gilad Shalit has been in captivity for more than two years now. The
media is replete with harsh descriptions regarding the conditions his
captors are holding him in – a cellar or a narrow tunnel, without any
daylight. I don't know what the source of these descriptions is and
whether they are based on intelligence information or imagination.
However, there is no doubt that we need to get Shalit back home.
The debate seemingly focuses on how many terrorists should be
released for him and how much blood we may accept on their hands. Is
it moral to free hundreds of terrorists when everyone knows that
anywhere between a third and a half of them will attempt to kill Jews
again?
In our cemeteries one can find hundreds of buried Jews who were
murdered by those released from Israeli prison in these types of
tainted deals. Yet the debate regarding the number of prisoners and
blood on their hands diverts it from what should be its main focus:
The military option.
The Gaza Strip is a terror hub established through the folly of
Israeli governments and by ignoring our national and security
interests. This terror hub can be dismantled, however. We can fix
what we ruined. Yet the
correction has to start from this point. Capitulation to Arab
terrorism in the form of Hamas' Gaza regime paves the way for a
complete Arab victory over Israel. What's hanging in the balance is
no longer Shalit's release,
but rather, the State of Israel's liberation. Israel is a hostage at
this time. Moreover, the Gaza Strip is within arm's reach; within
walking distance.
In the 1970s and 1980s Israel scored important victories against
terror; these triumphs often exacted a heavy human toll, as was the
case with the hijacked bus on the Coastal Road and the hostage-taking
in Maalot. We even went as far as Uganda in order to rescue our
hostages. Yet there is no doubt that had Olmert and his spineless
government were leading Israel at the time, we wouldn't even be
considering a military move: Because of the distance and risk.
Instead, we would have released thousands of terrorists. Yet during
those days, capitulation to terrorism wasn't an option.
Even when IDF soldier Nachshon Waxman was abducted, Israel's leaders
chose a risky military operation that ultimately ended in failure –
the captive was killed, as did Nir Poraz, a Sayeret Matkal officer
who died during the
rescue operation. Yet the message conveyed to terror groups was that
Israel does not capitulate to terror.
There is a military option There is a military option in Gaza. We can
issue an ultimatum to Hamas that Israel would assassinate one of its
leaders in Gaza or elsewhere every day if Gilad Shalit is not
released at once. We can embark on a targeted operation based on
existing intelligence information, or a broad operation if we lack
such accurate intelligence information. We can kill every terrorist
on the way, go from one house to the next, and while we're at it blow
up Qassam rocket workshops, arms caches, and tunnels. We can
pulverize Hamas in Gaza as we pulverized the PLO in the First Lebanon
War, and unlike what we did to Hizbullah in the Second Lebanon War
(the reason we didn't do it was not lack of power, but rather,
deficient political and military leadership.)
The alternative is not only capitulation to terror and the release of
thousands of murderers. The alternative is reconciling ourselves to
Hamas' military buildup and fortification, until its rockets reach
Tel Aviv and Dimona – then, we shall have to enter Gaza and pay a
much greater price because of our current cowardice, hesitation, and
flawed political considerations, which come in place of decisive
national considerations.
Gilad Shalit must not become the reason for avoiding a war on terror.
If this materializes and this is the way adopted by Israel, terror
groups will realize that they found the way not only to release the
murderers in our
jails, but also "their entire Palestine."
Tomorrow, more soldiers will be abducted for the sake of Mount Dov
(which they refer to as the Shebaa Farms,) and two days from now,
they will kidnap more troops and demand that we withdraw from Hebron.
They will demand Temple Mount in exchange for several abducted
civilians, and if, heaven forbid, they take over a kindergarten,
they'll demand Arab autonomy in the Galilee.
There is no logical reason for them to stop, unless we stop and say: No more.
Knesset Member Arieh Eldad, National Union-NRP
2. Mattot Arim newsletter. Urgent Action items.
KFAR SABA-ites: PLEASE BE IN THE KFAR SABA COURTHOUSE WHILE RIVKA MEIRCHIK IS JUDGED TOMORROW!
Kfar Saba court-case of still-under-arrest Rivka Meirchik, dissident from an outpost. TOMORROW 6 August, 11:30 AM, Kfar Saba courthouse 3 minutes walk from Zomet Raanana. It's behind the police station -- ask any local person. Call 09-7474747 which is the Court switchboard, before you leave the house tomorrow morning, just in case the time has changed. Afterwards, if possible, write your detailed impressions to sddym@bezeqint.net since this is sometimes useful for Honenu to have. Thanks.
TISHA BE-AV -- HERE'S A KINA FOR GUSH KATIF Courtesy of Machon Meir. Thanks to Weizmann Institute's Clifford Felder for reminding us about this one. Print out 20 - 30 copies from here: http://machonshilo.org/PDF/Machon_Shilo_Gush_Katif_Kinna.pdf and bring it to your Bet Knesset on Tisha beAv. Thank you.
TISHA B'AV NITE (SAT NITE): WALK AROUND THE WALLS OF THE OLD CITY WITH WOMEN IN GREEN
Commemorating the destruction of the Temple; Yamit; Gush Katif & Northern Samaria. This Sat. nite (Motzei Shabat Hazon), August 9
21:45: Eicha reading, Safra Sq. 22:30 Walk, led by Rabbi Israel Ariel, MK Prof. Arieh Eldad, Atty Elyakim Haetzni & Dudu Elharar, near the New, Damascus & the Flower Gates. Ending at the Dung gate near the Kotel. We have a police permit. http://www.womeningreen.org Women in Green
WHAT TO DO IN YOUR VACATION -- Tours in English to historical Eastern Jerusalem & Kever Rachel. Come be inspired by the people that are keeping Jerusalem undivided. Tours last approximately 4.5 hours in the morning (9-1:30). Route: Inbal Hotel, Mt. of Olives, Kever Rachel, and the reclaimed neighborhoods. Suggested donation: 65 NIS. East Jerusalem and Kever Rachel Tours, www.jcdf.org 052-579-0958 reuven@jcdf.org
ALSO -- tours to the East of the Jordan (which is also part of Eretz Yisrael, just to refresh our collective memories) and Hebron thru the Gush Etzion Field School: 02-9935133 או http://www.k-etzion.co.il/.
THE JEWISH PARTISANS OF LITHUANIA -- LIKE THE YESHA SETTLERS -- ARE NOW BEING CRIMINALIZED
The double standard you see all the time in Israel (settlers are "criminal", Palestinians -- despite their 70% approval rating of suicide bombing -- are not), has now reached Europe. The Government of Lithuania has recently instituted judicial investigations into "crimes" committed by Jewish partisans during World War II. Lithuania killed one of the highest proportions of Jews to population from all of Europe, but only three of these Nazi collaborators were ever tried. Instead, Jewish partisans, two from Lithuania and one from Israel, are being interrogated. "The murderers are now becoming national heroes and we, the few surviving victims who took arms and fought murderers, are under investigation as criminals," said former Yad Vashem chairman Yitzhak Arad, the Israeli partisan being investigated.
Write to the Lithuanian Ambassador audrius.bruzga@ltembassyus.org, cc Rosian@Zerner.com (daughter of partisan Paul Bagriansky) demanding that all the charges against the partisans be dropped. Example text: "I am writing on behalf of Holocaust survivors, their descendants and others who consider the partisans of World War II as heroes. We urge you to immediately cease the interrogation of Jewish partisans in Lithuania. This probe seems obviously anti-Semitic, against brave men and women who fought for the freedom of all Lithuanians from totalitarian Fascism." (name, address, if you are a Holocaust survivor please include your country/camps).
MARK YOUR CALENDAR -- SEPTEMBER 1, 2008, BAGATZ TO STOP KNESSET PAYMENTS (!) to ACCUSED HIZBULLAH SPY: Arab Knesset member Azmi Beshara is suspect of spying for Hezbolla during the 2nd Lebanon war. The World Likud movement has appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court asking it to order the Knesset to stop all benefits and pension payments Beshara was entitled to as a former MK up until now. 1 September 2008 in the High Court of Justice in Jerusalem. Danny Danon from World Likud invites everybody to attend. Read more: World Likud Campaigns against Bishara (From the Jerusalem Post
*
3. Soldier "indoctrinated" by govt to help them expel Jews, expresses remorse..
One of the soldiers who took part in the expulsion, a female now in her 20s, wrote a letter expressing her pain, profound remorse, and the need to share her feelings of guilt
for taking part in the government'Äôs uprooting of Jews from their home.
In an interview on Kol Chai Radio, the anonymous former soldier, now
in her 20s, explained how she was indoctrinated by the government,
bringing her to a level of insensitively which permitted her to act in
accordance to the government's, police and IDF orders. Today, she
seeks the forgiveness of those whose lives she helped to destroy,
calling on soldiers to disobey orders should there ever be a repeat of
the expulsion events chas v'sholom. She painfully recounted her
actions in Kfar Darom, explaining how the children cried and she tried
to understand why this was all happening.
She opened an email account and has asked people to write to her to
express their feelings regarding her legitimate effort to mend fences.
Imsorry6@gmail.com
(Yechiel Spira 'Äì YWN Israel) sent by rosewalk@ooncentric.net
4. More on the Pollard Court Petition
Israeli agent, Jonathan Pollard, who is completing his 23rd year of a
life sentence in the United States for his service to Israel, on
Monday, filed a lawsuit in Tel-Aviv District Court seeking
Declaratory Relief.
Pollard's lawsuit aims to set the record, once and for all, that he
and his wife, Esther, have never received any money whatsoever from
the State of Israel, from the day of his arrest to the present.
In his lawsuit Pollard states from the outset, that neither he nor
his wife are interested in receiving money from the State - that his
sole purpose in bring suit against the Government of Israel is to put
an end to the lies it disseminates, lies which have been severely
undermining the public struggle for his release.
In an unprecedented move Pollard turns to the Tel Aviv District Court
today in order to refute the state's allegations, according to which,
Jonathan and his wife Esther have been getting money from Israel for
years. Pollard demonstrates in his lawsuit that the Government is
lying to the media, to the public and the to the Courts when it
states, repeatedly and in every public venue imaginable, that it
supports him and his wife, that it makes resources available to them
and that it provides them with funds. Pollard states unequivocally
and offers proof that neither he nor his wife has ever received a
cent from the Government of Israel.
Pollard's lawsuit demonstrates that the false statements and claims
of the State about the issue of money are intended to obscure from
public scrutiny the fact that the State has not made the most minimal
effort to secure his release from prison; and that they are also
intended to blacken his reputation and that of his wife, Esther
Pollard, in the eyes of the public, by portraying them as people
whose sole motivation is a desire to elicit monetary support from the
State - which is patently false. In defaming him this way, Pollard
states, the State of Israel is effectively preventing him from
galvanizing public support to help secure his release from prison.
Pollard is represented by attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director
of "Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center", and attorney Roy Kohavi.
According to the lawsuit, Pollard has done everything he possibly
could to get the State of Israel to stop lying, by claiming that it
helps him financially or in any other way. He has turned to the
Supreme Court, which refused to help on the grounds that the issue is
political. He has turned to the State Comptroller, who told his
attorney that he is not empowered to investigate this issue, that his
mandate from the Knesset limits him only to expressing an opinion,
not to investigating. Again in order to try to stop the lies, Pollard
(via his attorney) turned to the State and asked for a detailed
accounting of the funds they claim they are providing to him and his
wife. The requests for information made to the Prime Minister's
office were declined based on bizarre excuses such as "the
individual's right to privacy", "sensitivity issues", and "for fear
it will harm Pollard's own good and Israel's efforts to assist him".
The lawsuit maintains that Pollard and his wife, Esther, have been
abandoned by the State. It points out that they live in grave
distress, both financially and in general. All of their expenses are
funded by what little money Pollard's wife, Esther, has, and with the
support of a few close friends.
The lawsuit reveals, for the first time, a letter from then-Prime
Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to MK Rechavam Ze'evi, which
states unequivocally that the State of Israel does NOT give any money
to Pollard and does not have a bank account for him.
According to Pollard's attorney, attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner,
"the State is throwing sand in the public's eyes and is shamelessly
lying to the court when it claims it financially supports Pollard and
his wife. The state cannot go on deceiving the public by making it
believe that it does anything for Pollard. Not only did the State
abandon Pollard for 23 years, it also has the audacity to lie about
it. If the State ever gave one shekel to Pollard or his wife - let it
prove it! We know the truth, and it will come to light in the
courtroom."
According to Esther Pollard, "This week, it is Jonathan's 54th
birthday. Had the State of Israel made the slightest effort, Jonathan
would be here, celebrating his birthday at home in Jerusalem.
Instead, he is "celebrating" by being forced to sue the State of
Israel to try to stop the campaign of lies it is waging against him."
(Yechiel Spira ñ YWN Israel)
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=21876
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