CAFI Newsletter #98

[cafi-list@christianactionforisrael.org]

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* CHRISTIAN ACTION FOR ISRAEL NEWSLETTER  #98 *
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"ON YOUR WALLS, O JERUSALEM, I HAVE APPOINTED WATCHMEN"
Isaiah 62:6
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               Friday, August 23, 2002

IN THIS ISSUE:

  1.    WE ARE PEOPLE TOO
  2.    JERUSALEM CELL IS TIP OF ICEBERG
  3.    DECONSTRUCTING OSAMA:
         BIN LADEN IS STILL POPULAR IN THE ARAB WORLD. WHY?
  4.    GUN EDEN
  5.    QUOTES TO NOTE
  6.    HIGHLIGHT ARTICLES

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   1.    WE ARE PEOPLE TOO

by Moshe Sheskin  -  Arutz Sheva  -  August 22, 2002

A number of years ago, during a stint in the Israel
army reserves, I was posted at one of the bridges over
the Jordan River. It was my unit’s responsibility to
examine the travelers, coming from Jordan, prior to
their entry into Israel and the disputed territories
in order to prevent contraband from entering the country,
especially detonators. As our commanding officer remarked,
“Remember, if a bomb goes off due to your negligence, it
may also mean the life of your wife and children.” His
comments had an instantaneous effect upon us and although
the temperature in the Jordan Valley in August hovered
around the 50 degree mark and hordes of flies added to
our discomfort, we meticulously examined each and every
traveler, their documents, baggage, personal effects
and performed body searches, when necessary.

At one point, while going through the process, a young
lady shouted at me, “We are people too, you know!”

Her anger and discomfort were apparent, but the words
were penetrating. For many years, during my more liberal
period, I couldn’t shake her cry and my feeling at that
time echoed her frustration and agony. Peace was a
necessity and I was convinced that it was within the
realm of possibility, at least within the next few years.

I firmly believed that we had reached a point in our
relationship with our Arab cousins where we no longer
would control their destiny, but could live side by side,
two separate people sharing a common land and history. I
felt that the agreements reached by the Palestinian
Authority through Arafat would finally bear fruit
and that we really had a partner for peace.

The cry of that young woman melted into nothingness in
October 2000, when two of our soldiers, who had lost
their way, were brutally lynched. The elation by the
populace and those who had actually perpetrated this
sadistic act has been permanently etched in my mind.

The intafadah was born and with it, a change in my
attitude. No more did I hear that young women crying
to me, “We are people, too.” Slowly but surely, after
many months of increased conflict and the increased
loss of life in the civilian population, my liberalism
and socialist thinking gave way to a distinct hard line.
I can no longer believe in the ability of Arafat to
make peace. I no longer believe in Arafat’s commitment
to peace, evident in his refusal to honor signed
agreements. Arafat’s rhetoric only proves once more
that the goal is not only that of a Palestinian State,
but the complete destruction of Israel.

I lost faith in the Israeli Arabs, the majority of whom
not only approve of the intafadah, but support it in many
other ways. This is borne out by the numerous articles
and polls that were carried out over the last few years.
As citizens of Israel, I had expected a certain degree
of loyalty, while understanding their feelings and their
frustration with respect to our problem with their kinsmen.
The action of our Arab members of the Knesset only
showed me that we had a ‘fifth column’ in our midst.

Yes, it’s now my turn to cry out,
     “We are people too, you know!”

We don’t educate our children to hate.

We don’t revel in the death of innocent civilians.

We don’t shoot our guns in the air to celebrate an
Arab death.

We don’t march in the streets to celebrate massacres.

We don’t have the support of a United Nations with
a built-in Arab majority.

We don’t have the support of the Europeans and their
anti-Semitic attitudes.

We don’t use humans with bombs attached to commit
suicide and kill innocent people.

What we do have is the will to survive and the will
to live in peace. What we want is to take our place
in the Middle East as a recognized partner for the
sake of all. What we want is a democratic region,
where social and economic conditions will be the
right of every individual. When will this happen?
When Arabs will begin to live in peace with each
other and recognize the rights of the individual.
Until then, we have no choice but to defend
ourselves and remain strong, not only against our
immediate neighbors, but if need be, against
the world.

We are people too, you know.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

   2.   JERUSALEM CELL IS TIP OF ICEBERG

DEBKAfile Counter Terror Analysis

21 August:  Israel’s security and police authorities
are keeping their aces well covered even after
publicizing their coup on Wednesday, August 21.
Saturday night, August 16, they captured a six- man
cell of Jerusalemite Arabs, all bearing Israeli
identity cards, who admit to complicity in executing
8 of the most devastating terrorist attacks in the
last three months, in which 35 Israelis died and dozens
were gravely wounded in different parts of the country.

Their “feats” included the remote control bombing at
the Hebrew University’s Frank Sinatra cafeteria on
Mount Scopus that killed nine, including five American
citizens (An Israeli newspaper was laid atop the bomb
bag and it was drenched in perfume to throw sniffer
dogs off the scent); the suicide blast that destroyed
the stylish Jerusalem Moment café, leaving 11 Israelis
dead; the suicide attack at a Rishon Lezion club which
murdered 15 Israelis, as well as twice planting
explosive devices on railway lines and two attempts
to sabotage fuel trucks.

The cell leader is Waal Kasem, 31, from Ras el Amud.
The Mount Scopus bomber, Muhammed O’da, from Silwan
village, knew exactly where and when to strike, having
worked at the Hebrew University for years as a house
painter. He went in to work as usual the day after the
massacre. Muhammed Arman from Hirba, near Ramallah,
was the cell’s go-between with the high operations
command in Ramallah, which sent down orders and laid
on the explosives. The group included a glazier employed
in Rishon Lezion and an air conditioning technician
working in Tel Aviv.

Without detracting from Israel’s success in rounding
up the ring, DEBKAfile’s counter-terror experts note
the word “admitted” used instead of “committed” in
the official communiqué - denoting reservations about
the capability of this six-man unit to carry out this
many operations over such a large area in so short
a time – roughly five months.

One theory is that they owned up to divert attention
from their masters who are working hard on a horrendous
cycle of fresh terror attacks after several weeks of
being frustrated in their efforts by the presence of
IDF forces in all the main West Bank Palestinian towns.
Another possibility is that the high command in
Ramallah, where Yasser Arafat has his headquarters,
is trying out Jerusalemite Palestinians as its new
instruments of terror, because of the difficulties
in deploying West Bankers.

Until now, Jerusalem Arabs stayed clear of Arafat’s
Intifada and prospered in comparison with their
brethren in Palestinian-controlled areas. However,
their usefulness clearly tempts, especially in view
of Jerusalem’s proximity to Ramallah. The Arabs of
Jerusalem enjoy the freedom to move around Israel with
Israeli identity cards and Israeli number plates on
the cars; they do no need permits to work in Israel
– and many do. The cell’s commanders were therefore
able to activate the six over an area of operation
covering all of central Israel - Jerusalem, Tel Aviv,
Holon, Rishon Lezion, Rehovot and Lod - in surveillance
and as planners, liaison, field operatives and handlers
of suicide killers, while avoiding the practice themselves.

Saturday night, August 10, the first two captive
terrorists were taken in after a firefight a stone’s
throw from the Bukharan Quarter synagogue where Rabbi
Ovadia Yosef was delivering a sermon. They soon led to
the other four. Before closing in on their quarry, Shin
Bet and special police (“The Gideons”) agents roped off
the streets in this religious neighborhood and told
people to stay indoors. After the arrests were made,
bloodstains were found on the street attesting
to a fight.

Israeli defense minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer’s plan
to induce a truce by the Israeli army’s experimental
handover to Palestinian security of responsibility for
terror prevention in the Gaza Strip, Bethlehem and
possibly Hebron, is probably doomed to a (not very)
quiet death – even after the capture of the dangerous
terror ring in Jerusalem. That is far from putting paid
to the menace. DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report
that the two bomb-cars apprehended near Jenin Saturday
night by Israeli troops were just the beginning. Five
suicide killers are known to be on their way to
mass-casualty targets in Israel. The Palestinians are
also trying to plant a truck loaded with chemical
fertilizers converted into explosives in a large
Israeli city center. Three more major strikes are
planned for Jerusalem. Following their effective
attack at the Mount Scopus campus, Palestinian terror
masters are preparing further assaults on Israeli
universities, now eyeing Haifa. There are also
reports of potential terrorist landings by sea.

Perhaps the most curious feature of the official
Israeli communiqué is the way it fails to attach the
captured cell to any Palestinian group or organization,
beyond the vague mention of Ramallah.

Some sources have tried attributing the ring to Hamas,
maybe because its leaders declared they wanted no
part of Ben Eliezer’s understanding with the
Palestinian Authority. But if the cell’s trail leads
to Ramallah, it cannot be Hamas, where the Islamic
extremist group has no real standing. This West Bank
hub town just north of Jerusalem is the fief of one man
 – Yasser Arafat. The Ramallah reference is therefore
nothing but a veiled hint at the man who rules
the roost there.
DEBKA.com
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   3.   DECONSTRUCTING OSAMA
BIN LADEN IS STILL POPULAR IN THE ARAB WORLD. WHY?

BY BERNARD LEWIS - August 23, 2002   Wall Street Journal

For most Westerners, Osama bin Laden presents an ogreish
figure, equally indifferent to the suffering and death
of his enemies, of his devotees, and of uninvolved
bystanders. Some recent accounts have also suggested
unpleasant personal traits--an arrogant and domineering
personality, an inability to work with others. Yet he
remains an enormously popular figure not only with
the extremists and radicals who form his main support
group, but in much wider circles in the Muslim and more
particularly in the Arab world.

In a sense, the reason for his appeal is self-evident
--that he responds, with words and with actions, to the
seething resentment that has been growing for many years
in the Muslim world, and offers some hope of vengeance
and even of ultimate triumph. But others in the
not-too-distant past have appealed to similar sentiments,
and offered similar inducements, without evoking similar
support. Something else is involved, which marks him off
from earlier exponents of pan-Arab, pan-Islamic, and
other revolutionary movements against Western domination.

The first and most obvious reason for his popularity
is his eloquence, a skill much admired and appreciated
in the Arab world since ancient times. Many tales are
told of the great orators of the past. But in the modern
Arab world there is little sign of eloquence, and indeed
little need for it, since most rulers rely on repression
rather than persuasion to secure the obedience of their
subjects. Bin Laden is not a ruler, and therefore not
tainted with tyranny and corruption. Most of the rulers
are guilty of both, and not one of them has dared to
submit either his accession to power or his retention
of power to a genuinely free vote of his people.

Rule is personal; it is obtained and maintained by force;
it is usually for life, and increasingly, it is
hereditary even in states that call themselves republics.
Older dynasties, especially those with claims to descent
from the Prophet, like the Hashemites of Jordan and the
ruling dynasty of Morocco, enjoy some legitimacy and
can afford some relaxation. This is not enjoyed by
more recent dynasties, still less by hereditary
revolutionary presidents.

None of these has any need for persuasion and therefore
for oratory, and some indeed have shown a quite
remarkable lack of skill in handling the beautiful and
supple Arabic language. At one time, during the
political conflict between Egypt and Israel, the Arabic
experts employed by Israeli radio made a point of
recording some of President Nasser's speeches and then
playing them back to the Egyptian public with a
commentary drawing attention to his grammatical errors
and stylistic infelicities. Thereafter, his speeches
were marked by punctilious grammatical accuracy more
than by eloquence. In his use of language, bin Laden
brings a return to traditional virtues. Modern devices,
notably satellite television, can bring his eloquence
all over the Arab world.

Even more striking is the contrast demonstrated in his
personal life, between himself and the present-day
rulers of most of the Arab lands. The usual pattern--
more so in republics than in monarchies--is rags to
riches, a process by which people of humble, usually
impoverished, origin contrive, through the exercise
of military and hence of political power, to attain
often great wealth, which they pass on to their
children and extend to their kinsfolk. Osama bin
Laden presents the inspiring spectacle of one who,
by his own free choice, has forsaken a life of
riches and comfort for one of hardship and danger.

But why would Arab governments, themselves threatened
by his appeal to their subjects, show him such a
remarkable degree of tolerance? Here there is a
more practical consideration, involving rulers rather
than subjects, and inducing them, at the very least,
to take a more lenient line towards bin Laden and
towards propaganda in his favor. More often than not,
they confront a situation in which they have to choose
between offending bin Laden and offending the U.S.

In such a dilemma, the choice is not difficult.

If they offend Osama, the consequences can be very dire
indeed. If they offend the U.S., they will suffer no
penalties and may even--if the right people in Washington
have their way--receive some reward. It therefore makes
obvious good sense to do nothing against bin Laden, and
even to pay him some hush money, a practice widely
followed in some of the wealthier Arab countries.

All these helped to burnish his image as a latter-day
Islamic Robin Hood, defending the poor and the downtrodden
against a distant tyrant and his nearby henchmen. In the
Middle East as in Europe, there is a strong tradition of
bandit heroes, challenging authority and eluding capture.
The tradition is indeed longer and stronger than in Europe,
since it has continued from the Middle Ages into modern times.

The role of the Middle Eastern Robin Hood, unlike his
Western prototype, is not to rob the rich and give to the
poor, though some such expectation may lurk in the background;
it is rather to defy the strong and to protect--and
ultimately avenge--the weak. For Osama bin Laden and his
merry men, the Sheriff of Nottingham is their local potentate,
whichever that may be. The ultimate enemy, King John, lives
far away, as he has always done--in Constantinople and
Vienna, London and Paris, and now in Washington and
New York.

This vision, comforting though it may be to those who
hold it, is flawed at both ends. King John was not a
democrat, and Robin Hood was not a terrorist. We live
in a different world, and at a different level of reality.
Those who cherish such delusions will sooner or later
suffer a painful but salutary awakening.


Mr. Lewis, professor emeritus of Near Eastern Studies
at Princeton, is the author, most recently, of
"What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle
Eastern Response"   (OUP, 2002).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

     4.   GUN EDEN

by Yehoshua Mizrachi

"4277800". This number represents a new milestone along
my path of integration into Israeli life. No it's not my
tuedat zehut (identity card) number, or my kupat cholim
(health insurance) number. It's the registration
number. Stamped on the Uzi submachine gun I was just issued.

Getting the gun came as no surprise; I've spent time on
a firing range recently with other Israeli citizens who,
for one reason or another, didn't serve in the IDF and
therefore didn't receive army weapons training. We
learned to disassemble it, clean it, re-assemble it;
shoot it standing, kneeling and lying down. We learned
the proper stance for effective shooting; you know, kind
of like golf. We learned the rules of gun safety and the
protocols of the firing range. We learned how to load
the guns, how to release jams. But mainly, we learned
how to shoot - how to neutralize someone coming at you
with deadly intent. After all this training, the Security
Coordinator of our community took me back out to the
firing range to observe me handle and shoot the weapon.
I passed the test, so now I have the Uzi.

The license permits me to carry the gun anywhere in the
country, and those so licensed are encouraged to carry
their weapon at all times. Many suicide bombings and
other terrorist attacks have been either pre-empted or
shortened by a quick thinking citizen with a gun on his
back. So this I shall do, although I admit it's still
a bit awkward. But I'll get used to carrying it soon
enough: to the mall, food shopping, to shul, even on
Shabbos - yes, we have a heter (religious dispensation)
to carry guns on Shabbos.

There is purpose to all this. Thus trained and equipped,
I can begin standing shmirah, sentry duty for the
community. Every man must do shmirah, but as an oleh
chadash I have been exempted from these responsibilities.
Now I can take my place, do my part, and take some of
the burden off my neighbors in helping to protect my
family and theirs. After all, that is the reason I
came - to share the burden of protecting our common
future on this Land.

Carrying a gun demands something more - a change of
consciousness. You have to walk differently, constantly
scan your surroundings, look at everyone who approaches
as a possible assailant. There is no letting down your
guard. The gun never lets you forget your name and
address. Like the kippah on my head, it is a constant
companion and physical reminder of where my priorities lie.

Jews and guns - a funny mix, from the American perspective.
Even in the face of rising anti-semitism, American Jews
are squeamish about Jewish self-defense. The terminally
misguided American Jewish establishment has always
parroted the arguments of the gun control lobby. Guns,
not people, are evil. Eliminate guns, and you eliminate
crime. It's easy to debate pros and cons of gun control
from the comfortable salons of Boston and New York,
where the only people actually killed with guns are
pushers and prostitutes, nobody you'd ever invite home
for dinner.  But in Israel we don't have that luxury.

Here, they kill the people you do invite over for
dinner - your neighbors, and innocent five-year old
girls cowering under beds, and infants right in
theirmothers' arms;
   every Jew has an invisible target painted on his back.

Many people, upon reading this, might wonder if living
in Israel is worth it. After all, Jews in the States
don't need to sling guns on their back as a condition
of life. No bullet-proof vests are necessary for the
ride in to work. Why bother to live in Israel, when
you can be a perfectly good Jew in Monsey or Baltimore?

We Jews are fond of ascribing every minor setback to
Divine Providence. It's bashert that the lasagna burnt;
it's bashert that I missed my connecting flight. But
to quote my friend and neighbor Rav Yitchak Rubinstein:
how is it conceivable that the same G-d who is invested
in a ripped fingernail or a fallen hem is not involved
in the most significant event in 2,000 years of
Jewish history
 - the restoration of Jewish sovereignty in Eretz Israel?

As Baltimore Rabbi Moshe Hauer has reiterated, the
future of the Jewish people is being decided here,
in Israel, and not in America. To live oblivious to
this truth is to live as one asleep. Zionism - Jewish
nationalism - can no longer be dismissed with pious
suspicion or outright contempt; it is the
beginnings of the ultimate geulah (redemption).

It's all about raising your consciousness. It's about
being aware, not only of the things going on around
you, but of their portent. Like me with the gun, none
of us can afford to slumber. Yet so many people go
through life in a trance, studiously ignoring
Elijah's gentle tug on our shoulder. For those
fortunate few who get it, Zionism is the wake up
call to Jewish Identity.

And the beginnings of Jewish Nationalism is Jewish
Self-Defense. So I will carry my gun, not to kill,
but to be allowed to build. I will do everything
in my power to contribute to the great and holy
enterprise of strengthening our hold upon this Land.

I will carry my Uzi. I will do shmirah. And I will
cover your shmirot until you get here.

Good Shabbos from the Gush Etzion, where we are
living your dreams,

Yehoshua Mizrachi
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

     5.   QUOTES TO NOTE

    "When I see a young woman driving in her car on
     these roads with her children, while I drive with
     armed protection, I turn my head in embarrassment."

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the dedication ceremony
of his new office in the Barkan Industrial Zone,
in western Shomron.
        ---------------------------------

    "I am a man of peace. I tried to do everything
     for peace between the two peoples. I believe
     that the best solution is two states for two peoples."

Marawn Barghouti, the West Bank Fatah and Tanzim
leader at an August 14 Tel Aviv District Court hearing
where a charge sheet accusing him of murder,
conspiracy to murder and other
terrorism-related charges was read out.
                   ------------------

   "If Iraq came across the Jordan River, I would
    grab a rifle and get in the trench and fight and die."

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton, at a
Hadassah-WIZO fundraising dinner in Toronto.
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     6.    HIGHLIGHT ARTICLES ON OUR SITE

WHY THE PALESTINIANS ARE WINNING THE MEDIA WAR
Palestinian media professionals have no qualms about
deceiving the media for political advantage. In
their attempt to convince the world that the IDF
massacred hundreds of civilians in the Jenin
refugee camp during Operation Defensive Shield,
they used animal carcasses to fill the air with the
stench of rotting flesh in places where reporters
and UN officials were likely to visit.
http://christianactionforisrael.org/isreport/aug02/media.html

A TIME TO CHOOSE
Among those nations that support terrorism, the
conviction of the rightness of their cause is firm
and unshakable. No matter how horrific the acts of
terrorism become, no sense of moral stock-taking
seems to occur. In the West, by contrast, self-doubt
reigns and a tense inner struggle is occurring.
http://christianactionforisrael.org/isreport/aug02/choose.html

WERE JEWS AND ARABS DESTINED TO HATE EACH OTHER?
Just as French collaborators and Nazis are still
brought before tribunals and charged with "crimes
against humanity" so too should members of the
British colonial office who directed the overall
policy in Mandated Palestine to pit the Jews and
the Arabs against each other. As this policy kept
the Jews from being able to help their brothers
fleeing from Nazi Germany, the crime is also of Genocide.
http://christianactionforisrael.org/isreport/aug02/destined.html
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Become a WITNESS TO THE NATIONS and let them know what
great things our Lord is doing for Israel and what great
things He will continue to do for her, His firstborn.
http://christianactionforisrael.org/witness/home1.html
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