September 12, 2005

So, today's a new day. I'm sitting here at my desk, wearing a ripped shirt. Not because my wife forgot to do the laundry. Rather, as a sign of mourning, a result of the abandonment of parts of Eretz Yisrael to our enemy and the torching of holy synagogues, one of which I was privileged to worship in during the 'last Shabbat' at Kfar Darom.

I've received a number of letters concerning yesterday's column in "HaAretz" newspaper by Gideon Levy called 'The real uprooting is taking place in Hebron.'

I'm really not yet sure if I'll respond to the column. Actually I prefer not to and I'll explain why.

First, let's start with HaAretz newspaper.

In an article called  'The rulers of Hebron,' published on Aug. 13, 2002, in the midst of the Oslo War, HaAretz writes: 'Ever since the occupation of the territories began, the settlers of Hebron have been noteworthy for their militancy, their racist hatred against Palestinian residents of the city and the violent contempt that they and their children demonstrate toward the rule of law and every person in uniform who acts in its name.'

Back in August of 2001, a HaAretz editorial called 'Hebron First' declared:

'The evacuation of Hebron would symbolize the only framework for a solution of the conflict between the state of Israel and the Palestinian people - an Israeli concession of its hold on the territories in exchange for a Palestinian concession of their demand for a right of return inside the Green line. Only mutual readiness to establish two viable states, with each society forgoing its dream to possess all of the Land of Israel, will put an end to the bloodshed and resolve this painful conflict that has lasted more than 100 years.'

To the best of recollection, a few months previously,HaAretz bannered an editorial "Remove the Jews from Hebron."

And then, of course, who could forget the infamous lies printed by Amira Hass in HaAretz accusing Beit Hadassah residents of 'abusing' the corpse of an Arab terrorist, shot and killed by Israeli soldiers.

How do others relate to Ha'aretz? Andrea Levine, president and executive director of CAMERA, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, published an article in the Jerusalem Post on July 15, 2001, called "Ha'aretz: The Lie of the Land." ...the content of the Ha'aretz articles posted suggests that Ha'aretz writers are in the vanguard of those making  the Palestinian case against Israel.

As for our friend Gideon Levy:

(Some of the following Gideon Levy articles appear at: [http://www.bintjbeil.com/E/occupation/levy/])

Oct. 14, 2002

There is no difference between an "illegal outpost" and a "legal settlement": the question of the settlements' legality should not even be on the public agenda. The only thing that differentiates a "legal" settlement from an "illegal" outpost is a piece of paper, usually in the form of retroactive "laundering" of the outpost by the defense establishment. Yesterday's outposts are today's settlements and both are a disaster.

Dec. 29, 2003

The suicide bomber at the Geha Junction, Shehad Hanani, was from Beit Furik, one of the most imprisoned villages in the territories that is surrounded by earth roadblocks on all sides. It's a place where women in labor and the sick have to risk walking through fields to get to the hospital in adjacent Nablus. At least one woman in labor, Rula Ashatiya, gave birth at the Beit Furik checkpoint and lost her infant. Few Israelis are capable of imagining what life is like in Beit Furik: the almost universal unemployment, poverty, endless siege and humiliations of life inside a prison. A young man like Hanani, who was 21, had no reason to get up in the morning other than to face another day of joblessness and humiliation. 

Sept. 16, 2002

Here is the whole story in one grave: For those of us who were children in the 1950s and 1960, Rachel's Tomb was our heart's desire. In those days, nearly every home had one of the bronze sculptures or oil paintings that depicted the site, souvenirs of a small, modest stone structure capped with a dome, reminiscent of a mosque. We knew then that it was a holy site for our people and that it lay beyond the hills of darkness, in forbidden Bethlehem…Then the first intifada opened our eyes and woke us up. Much blood was shed around the tomb; when the soldiers who defended it became a target in the war against the occupation, the tomb became a fortress and nothing in its appearance evoked the innocent domed tomb of our childhood any longer. Most of us stayed away f! rom the place, but the pious and settlers continued to visit the site occasionally, mainly on holidays or in the course of their defiant demonstrations: Huddled close together in armored trucks, protected by armed troops, they were rushed along the road between the checkpoint at the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem and the tomb, which was, in the meantime, swallowed up between the protective walls that were built around it. 

And concerning Hebron:

March 16, 2001

If you want to know what callousness is, if you want to know what racism is, if you want to know what evil is, if you want to know what injustice is, and if you want to know what malice looks like, Hebron during the Jewish holiday of Purim is the best place on earth to find out.

April 27, 2001

…Mohammed: "Look how they treat our children. They shoot them and they laugh. In Hebron, they destroyed a whole neighborhood, the Abu Sneina neighborhood, because of a Jewish baby girl, and they refused to bury her until they avenged her death. We are simple people, we did nothing. All we did was to take our girl to the clinic. We didn't want to hurt anyone. I don't understand how the soldiers don't go crazy after they do something like that."

In short, Gideon Levy enjoys writing columns about 'poor Arabs' and about 'terrible Jews,' especially if they live in Yesha. Needless to say, Jewish Hebron isn't one of his favorite places.

So why bother responding to the froth bubbling from his mouth? It is nothing more than an _expression Jewish self-hatred, his own finger pointed at himself, upset at being born within the Jewish people, and taking out his frustrations on others, proud to be Jews and proud to show it.

Relating seriously, point by point, to Levy's demagoguery only lends legitimacy to his nonsense, and being that the entire article is a series of lies, I see no reason to even start. Gideon Levy lovers will believe whatever he writes, regardless of my response. And everyone else, particularly those who have bothered to read the above paragraphs, already realize that the combination of HaAretz and Gideon Levy equals pure, unequivocal hate for the Jewish Community of Hebron. That being the case, there is really nothing to add.

I rest my case