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From: National Unity Coalition for Israel
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Israel News and Commentary


           National Unity Coalition for Israel

         http://www.israel-unitycoalition.com/


1.  Jerusalem Post: Puddle Ducks of a Feather
2.  Jerusalem Post: A Palestinian State Now?
3.  The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle: The Peace Process
4.  Widespread Arab Incitement continues against Jews and Israelis
5.  The Washingon Post: Peace and Poison in the Middle East


THE JERUSALEM POST OPINION April 21, 2000

Puddle-ducks of a feather - Another Tack - by Sara Honing

Most people selectively filter out what belies their beliefs. They would
rather not see what unsettles them, like the ostrich with its head in the
sand.

Ostrich-like, we downplay the ample warnings that Palestinians - on both
sides of the Green Line - systematically serve up. Yasser Arafat, for
instance, pulls no punches and disguises no intentions. He couldn't have
outlined his strategy more candidly than in his address to 40 Arab diplomats
at Stockholm's Grand Hotel on January 30, 1996 (several years after Oslo).

So spake Arafat: "We Palestinians will take over everything including all of
Jerusalem... The compensated rich Jews will all journey to America...We of
the PLO will now concentrate on splitting Israel psychologically...We plan
to eliminate the state of Israel and establish a purely Palestinian
state...I have no use for Jews: they are and remain Jews."

Official Israel preferred not to take Arafat at his word because his words
embarrassed it. So while we bury our collective head, Arafat busily goes
about keeping his word.

His impressive track record cannot be underestimated it. Its signs are over
the place. Palestinian flags fly at full mast at Arab school graduation
ceremonies within Green-Line Israel. Most gatherings in Israeli Arab towns
open with the Palestinian anthem.

PA auspices are conferred upon a whole host of mundane events inside Israel
- educational, athletic, religious, etc. The bottom line is inescapable.
Even those Arabs encumbered with Israeli rule owe their allegiance to
Palestine.

They openly identify with the state's enemies. They praise the Hizbullah,
but refuse refuge to South Lebanese Army soldiers. Knesset member Hashem
Mahameed exhorted Land Day protesters to "learn from Hizbullah. As it kicked
Israel out, so we will protect our land."

In Umm el-Fahm they stand at attention in memory of suicide bombers.

They vote as the PA instructs. They consider themselves Arafat's subjects,
and do his bidding. This is what allowed Arafat to boast recently that
without his help, Barak wouldn't have been elected. The more Israel appeases
its Arabs, the more Arafat succeeds in pulling them away.

A recent opinion poll showed that 67% of Israel's Arab citizens define
themselves as Palestinians rather than Israelis, as compared to only 27% a
mere five years ago. Knesset member Abdul-Malik Dahamshe speaks of " this
country, currently called Israel "

Presumably he envisions a time when the name would be different.

This coincides with the now overt demand in the Arab sector for autonomy in
the Galilee, Negev and Triangle. The only debate is whether to start with
mere cultural separation or go for full territorial self-rule right off.
Eventually these areas are to be annexed to the burgeoning Palestinian
state.

Increasingly, Israel's Arabs imply they sense the beginning of the end of
the Jewish state. Judea and Samaria are already beginning of the end of the
Jewish state, Judea and Samaria are already being wrested from it, and
sizable chunks of Israel proper will be next.

ISRAELI OSTRICHES would rather not see such unpleasantness. But without this
background they cannot put into context recent Land Day marches and the
corollary Haifa and Hebrew University riots. Instead, they heaved a sign of
relief that things weren't worse, and that another Land Day elapsed without
bloodshed.

But feeble responses invite escalation. Propagandists don't crave quiet.
They gleefully harped on the death of 72-year old Sheiha Abu-Sallah of
Sakhnin, and attributed it to Israeli tear gas. The fact that their claim
held as much water as Suha Arafat's well-poisoning speech mattered little.
The lady's name was ceremoniously inscribed on a monument for Land Day
martyrs, and her kin proclaimed pride in her sacrifice for the cause.

It was to decry her "murder" that Arab students rioted at Haifa U. a few
days later. They boisterously sang the Palestinian anthem, hoisted the
Palestinian flag, yelled "death to the Jews" and wielded brass knuckles and
knives.

Those Israelis who dared counter with defiant renditions of "Hatikva" (a
near-illegitimate provocation in the Jewish state) were brutally beaten. It
was patently clear who was in control of the campus and who was on the
defensive.

The next day, when four cops attempted to detain the ringleader, the Arab
students rioted again, roughed up the officers and then trapped them in
their squad car. The police were plainly humiliated and the lawmen were
eventually whisked out by Hadash Knesset member Issam Mahoul, a past student
rioter himself.

His agitation and violence obviously paid off. Virulent anti-Israel rowdyism
is considered heroic in his milieu, while the risks of Israeli retribution
are laughable.

Unintimidated rioters entertained no doubt about what righteous wrath would
be rained upon Jewish students had they dared rampage like their Arab
counterparts, with the same whooping war-cries and incitement to homicide.
All the outspoken spokesmen for politically correct causes would clamor for
their immediate expulsion. They would be driven off campus as vile
miscreants.

No one would for a minute condone mollycoddling them.

Only vis-à-vis Arabs do Jews turn into ostriches. But zoology students would
probably protest the comparison; it's unfair to ostriches. Persistent myth
notwithstanding, they don't bury their heads when cornered, but put up a
fierce fight.

A more valid analogy would be to another bird-brain - Jemima Puddle-duck.
With her eyes wide open she took up with no less than a fox. She should have
known that the intentions of the wily unreformed predator towards her were
far from friendly.

But Jemima wouldn't let facts interfere with her grand conception. So she
gullibly accepted his dinner invitation and even brought the herbs and
onions for his roast.

She recklessly ignored all danger signs, like the feathers strewn all over
the floor of his ramshackle shed.

The difference between Jemima and the Jews is that Beatrix Potter took care
of her and sent a pack of dogs to rescue the fool at the very last minute.
But our peril, alas, isn't the figment of a benign author's charming whimsy.
She cannot devise the happy ending to save us from our stupidity.

***********************************************************************

THE JERUSALEM POST  - April 21, 2000

A PALESTINIAN STATE NOW? By Zalman Shoval

The writer is a former Likud MK and ambassador to the US.

(April 21) - Inspired leaks in Washington and Jerusalem, and an array of
ministerial interviews indicate that the Barak government has decided to
recognize a Palestinian state in September of this year - or even earlier.
Israel has come a long way in this matter since the signing of the Oslo
agreements in 1993.

Before that, Israel's position had been clear: No second state west of the
Jordan river. Indeed, the very concept of a "functional" compromise as
espoused by Menachem Begin, Moshe Dayan (and for a certain time, Shimon
Peres) among others, as opposed to "territorial" compromise, was based on
the principle that though the Palestinians would run most of their own
affairs independently of Israel - this would not occur within the framework
of separate statehood.

This wasn't only Israel's position, but that of America as well; in its
letter of assurance to Israel in preparation of the 1991 Madrid Conference,
the US specifically stated that it would not support the establishment of a
separate Palestinian state; that commitment was conveniently forgotten
during President Clinton's visit to Gaza in 1998 when he made a number of
statements which indicated at least a quasi-recognition of statehood.

There are now rumors that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has
been promised America's outright recognition in September. For the sake of
fairness, it must be said that Clinton and his administration are only
following in the tracks of senior Israeli politicians who have said more
than once that Israel would not object to a Palestinian state.

There are those who believe that a Palestinian state will be the solution to
all the problems relating to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict - but
conversely, it could also be the creation of a much more serious and
long-term problem.

"But isn't a Palestinian state by now inevitable?" - many will ask. The
answer probably is "yes." However, there are events throughout history,
which may be deemed to have been inevitable - but "inevitable" does not
necessarily mean desirable. The Bolshevik revolution in Russia or Khomeini
in Iran may have been inevitable, but in retrospect, were they desirable?
Surely not.

What sort of country will that Palestinian state be? It is not very
realistic to expect it to be altogether different from the political culture
in most of the Arab countries surrounding it.

It suffices to look at the administrative, political and economic record of
the PA to expect that this "state" will be another undemocratic, and
economically non-viable entity. As the Washington Post wrote some months
ago: "Many Palestinians are deeply resentful that the autonomy they wanted
for so long brought corruption, mismanagement, favoritism and an obtrusive
police and security apparatus."

But there could also be a far worse scenario, the creation of another Middle
Eastern rogue state, perhaps repressively Islamic - certainly anti-Israel,
probably anti-American, possibly identifying with the most extreme regimes
in the region. It could also be a breeding ground for international
terrorism, as the PLO semi-state in Lebanon was at the time. Christian
Arabs, by the way, have already seen the writing on the wall: Tens of
thousands of Palestinian Christians have already left the country,
especially Bethlehem - and more will follow.

It is no secret that views on the Oslo agreement are divided. Some saw it as
a significant step towards Palestinian-Israeli peace - others as the
beginning of the countdown to the next Arab-Israeli war.

The Netanyahu government had achieved a major strategic victory in
redefining some of the terms of reference of "Oslo" and in lowering the
Palestinians' expectations to more realistic levels, but if the
aforementioned "leaks" are true, the present government may now be
squandering its predecessor's achievement.

This is so with regard to the tactics employed - practically offering the
Palestinians their most cherished goal, recognized statehood, without
demanding anything in return - and more importantly in the matter of the
geographical dimensions of a future state.

Some ministers speak of handing over to the Palestinians 90% of the
territories, others of "only" 80%. Geography and topography continue to be
vital factors in Israeli security - even more so in the missile age - and
there is a widespread consensus that even for purely military reasons,
Israel's future borders must be very different from the pre-'67 armistice
lines.

What do we hear now? That though most of the settlements located in large
"blocs" will remain under Israeli sovereignty, those areas will not
necessarily be contiguous - thus becoming isolated and vulnerable "islands"
inside the Palestinian state.

Conventional political wisdom has it that Clinton is determined to have an
Israel-Palestinian agreement before his term ends - but I have no doubt that
he would not consciously put pressure on Israel to make decisions which will
endanger its very existence in the future.

As Henry Kissinger put it: "The Arab side must shed the illusion that it
can, with American help, maneuver Israel into yielding, step-by-step, most
of its ultimate program. Such a strategy is more likely to lead to an
explosion than to a settlement."

********************************************************************

April 28, 2000

THE KANSAS CITY JEWISH CHRONICLE

National @ International News/Opinion

PEACE PROCESS

Kansas City woman discusses why Jews need to think before giving away
precious land

By Shoula Romano Horing

Contributing Writer

Despite Israeli Prime Minister Barak's promises that "Jerusalem will
remain united under Israeli sovereignty forever", it seems the Israeli
government is ready again to cross another sacred line, which will
lead to a de-facto division of the city, in pursuit of so called
"peace."

Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh told reporters last month the
logical solution to the Jerusalem question is to have district
autonomy for Arab neighborhoods of the city with the Old City, which
includes the Temple, Mount, Western Wall and City of David. This would
also give the Palestinian Authority political sovereignty over the Old
City, while the overriding security responsibilities would remain with
Israel.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak's chief of staff, Dany Yatom, signaled in
March the Israeli government's readiness to transfer certain areas
surrounding Jerusalem such as Abu Dis to the Palestinians as part of
the third redeployment scheduled for June, and as part of a permanent
agreement. Abu Dis is only 700 meters away from the Temple Mount,
facing the Old City.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority are in the midst of negotiations
to reach a final agreement concerning the permanent status of the
territories of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, including their Jewish
settlements, and Jerusalem.

This is a time in our long history that the Jewish people need to
consciously decide if they are willing to forget the past and change
history forever in pursuit of the illusion of peace and world
approval.

If a Palestinian state were to be established in Judea, Samaria and
Gaza, with Jewish settlements removed and Jerusalem de-facto divided,
there would be no turning back for generations to come.

Like many successive Israel governments and leaders, I have been
guilty of not bothering to articulate the emotional and historical
connection that so many Israelis and Jews have felt toward Judea and
Samaria, choosing instead to stress the more rational security
arguments against relinquishing the land. The Arabs whole-heartedly
express their attachment and claims.

The Arab's shameless lies have combined to produce the view the Jews
have no moral right to live in Judea and Samaria, and should return it
to its "rightful owners," the Arabs.

To entertain such ideas require an astonishing historical amnesia.
These were places where Jews have lived for millenniums. All of these
" West Bank settlements" were founded before the Arabs invented the
term "West Bank". Over 90 percent of the places mentioned in the Bible
are located in Judea and Samaria.

However, in the past six years, since the Oslo agreement was; signed,
Israel has given away Bethlehem, the birth place and home of King
David and where Rachel's tomb is located; Scheme (Nabulus), where
Joshua read the law to the people, where the tomb of Joseph still
stands and where the 10 tribes established the first capital of the
northern Kingdom of Israel. Also given to the Palestinian Authority
were Jericho, where Joshua entered the land of Israel and 80 percent
of Hebron, where according to tradition Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and
their wives Sarah, Rebekah and Leah, were buried in the Cave of
Patriarchs and in which King David was anointed, making it his capital
for seven years before choosing Jerusalem.

In any final agreement Israel seems to be willing to give away more
land in Judea and Samaria, in addition to the 40 percent it has
already given.

We must decide if we are willing to give away the Jewish settlements
of Elon Moreh, where Abraham was promised the land, of Beth El, where
Jacob dreamed of the ladder to heaven, of Shiloh, which housed the
tabernacle and served as the center of the Jewish people for four
centuries before Jerusalem, of Beth Horon, where the Macabees defeated
the Greeks, and of Betar, where the second great Jewish revolt against
Rome was finally crushed.

Above all, there is the Old City of Jerusalem, the heart of the Jewish
people for over 3000 years, which the Arabs call "Arab East
Jerusalem". Historically, neither East Jerusalem nor any other part of
Jerusalem, has ever been a capital of an Arab or Muslim state, but it
was the capital of ancient Israel for 12 centuries and there was
always a continued Jewish presence in the Old City,

Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era, Jews resided in
cities in Judea and Samaria. They were forced to leave as a result of
Arab massacres and riots. In the 20th century, the right of Jews to
live in Hebron, Shechem, and East Jerusalem was recognized by the
nations of the world in the Balfour Declaration, the Treaty of
Versailles, and the League of Nations British Mandate. In 1947, The
Arabs rejected the United Nations partition plan of coexistence with
the Jews and proceeded to attack Israel.

The Jordanians conquered Judea and Samaria and east Jerusalem
including the Old City and expelled its ancient Jewish Community,
destroyed synagogues and Jewish cemeteries and forbade Jews for the
next 19 years to live or visit the holy places in the city. They never
established a Palestinian state nor did they make Jerusalem its
capital.

Now, Arafat and the Arab world are united in their efforts to claim
Jerusalem, while some of us are willing to see a Palestinian flag over
our beloved Old City. In February, 300 Rabbis in the US signed a
letter asking Israel to share Jerusalem with the (Arabs, and Americans
for Peace Now sponsored an event on Capitol Hill' with an Arab
American group in which top American Intelligence official discussed
with them strategies.for ending Israeli control over parts of
Jerusalem.

During the recent Papal visit, the chief Moslem religious leader, the
Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheik Ikrema, Sabri, an Arafat appointee, told
reporters that the figure of six million Jews killed in the Holocaust
is "exaggerated and used by Israel to gain International sympathy,"
adding "It is not my fault if Hitler hated Jews Anyway, they hate them
just about every where".

Are we willing to let such people have the custody of our history?

Shoula Romano Horing is an Israeli, an attorney and the host of "Oh
Jerusalem", a radio talk show o KCXL in Kansas City, Mo. You can call
Shoula at (816) 941 4868 or Email her at  <mailto:shoulal@aol.com>
shoulal@aol.com.

**********************************************************************

WIDESPREAD ARAB INCITEMENT CONTINUES AGAINST JEWS AND ISRAELIS

Egyptian, Syrian and Palestinian anti-Semitism is rampant

in their official media.

Malicious slander targeting Prime Minister Barak, Jews and Israelis
continues to proliferate in official Egyptian, Syrian and Palestinian
media. Very recent examples abound.

On May 2nd an article by David A. Harris, executive director of the
American Jewish Committee, published in the Washington Post, began by
stating "As Israeli and Palestinian negotiators move toward a
much-awaited permanent settlement, there has been a shocking rise in
vitriolic anti-Semitism across the Arab world. This extraordinary
paradox of Israeli and Arab political leaders attempting to build
peace while official Arab media, schools, religious leaders and
intellectuals actively demonize the Jewish people is startling."

The article gives many illustrations of his basic premise and
concludes by asking "Is there no acknowledgment of linkage of people's
perception of Israel and the daily venom fed them through the Arab
media and school curriculum-all sanctioned by the respective Arab
governments?...The antagonistic posture of the Arabs"... hardly
contributes to the climate and culture that are desperately needed to
turn the region from conflict to cooperation."

A large advertisement sponsored by CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in
Middle East Reporting in America), appearing in the April 28th Forward
newspaper, carries the headline "PA Textbooks Teach Palestinian
Children to Hate Jews and Pursue War Against Israel". The ad further
states "The American Media Ignores the Story-Palestinian Textbooks
demonize Jews, deny Israel's right to exist and promote war"..."Media
omission of this critical story fosters continuing anti-Semitism and
violence."

"WHY THE MEDIA BLACKOUT?"

A Special Dispatch from MEMRI (The Middle East Media Research
Institute) dated

May 2nd details "Anti-Barak Rhetoric in the Egyptian Media. The
criticism takes the form of typical anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and
anti-Semitic rhetoric, marking a serious change in the attitude
towards the present Israeli government." The lengthy statements quoted
are extremely inflammatory and libelous.

The National Unity Coalition for Israel on February 24, 1999 held a
Press Conference at the Capitol in Washington, DC featuring six
important Members of the House of Representatives. They spoke on the
issue of Palestinian media incitement to violence. Itamar Marcus,
director of Palestinian Media Watch, presented a 30 page report
titled: "Promoting Hatred: The Systematic Use of Lies in the
Palestinian Media Since the Wye Accord. " His detailed report evoked a
strong response from the congressmen. (Report available upon request.)

Under the Wye Agreement a 12 member Trilateral Commission, of which
Itamar Marcus was a member, has been established. The Commission
comprises four Palestinians, four Israelis and four Americans charged
with the responsibility of investigating Palestinian incitement to
violence and issuing their findings in the form of a written report.


 The National Unity Coalition for Israel, with its 200 member
organizations representing 40 million Americans, demands a complete
accounting of Palestinian incitement to violence. This report must be
immediately forthcoming from the Trilateral Commission, as guaranteed
in the WYE Agreement. Any future agreements or compliance with past
agreements must be contingent upon receipt of such report.

 We call for a full Trilateral Commission disclosure of Palestinian
incitement to violence. Certainly the Clinton administration should be
held accountable for this important requirement of the Wye Agreement.
It is scandalous that this mandatory report has never been issued.

-------------------------

The May 2 Washington Post article that follows is finally bringing
some of this Arab incitement information to public attention. Below is
the very important article that needs to be widely circulated.

**********************************************************************

THE WASHINGTON POST
Tuesday, May 2, 2000; Page A23

PEACE AND POISON IN THE MIDDLE EAST

By David A. Harris
The writer is executive director of the American Jewish Committee.

As Israeli and Palestinian negotiators move toward a much-awaited
permanent settlement, there has been a shocking rise in vitriolic
anti-Semitism across the Arab world. This extraordinary paradox of
Israeli and Arab political leaders attempting to build peace while
official Arab media, schools, religious leaders and intellectuals
actively demonize the Jewish people is startling.

When the Islamic mufti of Jerusalem made deeply painful comments
repudiating the facts of the Holocaust, they received wide attention
in the Western world because they came during the remarkable visit to
Israel of Pope John Paul II. Likewise, when the official Syrian
government newspaper Tishreen recently asserted that "Zionists created
the Holocaust myth to blackmail and terrorize the world's
intellectuals and politicians," the editorial gained broad attention
and condemnation because it appeared amid efforts to jump-start the
stalled Israeli-Syrian peace talks. Less noted was the fact these two
outrages are the rule, not the exception.

Across the Arab world the language of Holocaust denial has become
common. Editorials and columns similar to the one in Tishreen can be
found in Al-Ahram, Al-Akhbar and Al-Gumhuriya, three of the official
daily newspapers in Egypt. In recent weeks, Arab papers have stepped
up their attacks on Israel--and on the Jewish people--by labeling in
vile words and in gross caricatures Israel's prime minister and
foreign minister as Nazis, and accusing Israel of the most bizarre
machinations.

The official newspaper in Qatar, one of two forward-looking gulf
nations to open commercial ties with Israel, has warned that Israel
dispatches beautiful women to advance trade--and undermine the
sheikdom. "Whether these women are from Israel or from Russia, they
have one thing in common: the transmitting of disease and evil in
order to cause the collapse of our economy," states Al-Sharq. The
official Qatari paper goes on to quote from the notorious anti-Semitic
forgery, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," which is widely
available in the Arab world and is often cited by papers in other Arab
countries.

While the Palestinian Authority is obligated through signed agreements
with Israel to work against incitement, its official news organs do
not hesitate to join in the vituperation of Israel and Jews.

Arab schools are in dutiful step with the editorial writers and
columnists. For example, a new study by the Middle East Media Research
Institute reveals that Syrian textbooks for grades 4 to 11 are replete
with anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, demonization of Israel and, most
appalling, an open call to exterminate Jews from the earth. Arab media
extol the skewed and widely repudiated views of Holocaust deniers.

While the United Nations has declared anti-Semitism a form of racism
that must be condemned, Arab intellectuals are preaching it as gospel.
As the noted Johns Hopkins University scholar Fouad Ajami has observed
in "The Dream Palace of the Arabs," "the custodians of political
power" in the Arab world determined some time ago that "diplomatic
accommodation would be the order of the day, but the intellectual
class was given a green light to agitate against the peace." This has
long been the situation in Egypt, where as recently as March 28
several Israeli diplomats invited to a conference at the University of
Cairo were denied entry when they arrived.

But it also is true in Jordan, where, despite the Hashemite Kingdom's
landmark peace with Israel, professional associations remain adamantly
opposed to any interaction with Israelis.

When we raised our concerns about anti-Semitism in the Arab media
during an American Jewish Committee mission to five Arab countries
last month, our interlocutors proclaimed this the price of a "free"
press and assured us that comprehensive peace would moderate the
media.

At the same time, when pressed on improving their relations with
Israel, government officials plead for patience because, after all,
while the government is more than willing to deepen ties with the
Jewish state, "public opinion" is not yet ready.

What a peculiar situation. Is there no acknowledgment of linkage
between people's perception of Israel and the daily venom fed them
through the Arab media and school curriculum--all sanctioned by the
respective Arab governments?

Israel is prepared to take calculated risks to achieve peace. But the
antagonistic posture of the Arab media, schools, religious leaders and
intellectuals hardly contributes to the climate and culture that are
desperately needed to turn the region from conflict to cooperation.

************************************************************************

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