Hamas War

Monday, April 30, 2012

The Political Pressure Against Maoz Tzur, Beit El, Playing With Fire

Once upon a time there was a very popular "unofficial" radio station.  You could hear its programs on public buses, homes and offices all over the country... at least wherever technically possible.  It had a legendary program every Friday.  People all over planned their schedules around it in order not to miss it.  It was hosted by Adir Zik, ZaTza"L.

Nobody was worried about the station's future, because a few years earlier Abie Nathan had a station of similar "legality," and he hadn't been hounded by the law.

Everything was going great for that radio station and it even began to produce its own independent newscasts.  Considering that its politics were Right and the Likud was in power, nobody was worried.  That was until Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pushed through his Disengagement plan to destroy the Jewish communities in Gush Katif and Northern Shomron and banish the Jewish residents.  The radio station was a very effective opposition voice.  It had to be stopped, and the Likud shut down the radio.
A Likud government headed by Ariel Sharon, however, closed the popular right-wing pirate radio station Arutz 7 ("Channel 7"). Arutz 7 was popular with the Jewish settler movement and often criticised the government from a right-wing perspective. (complete article)
Sharon managed to manipulate the government to pass whatever laws he needed/wanted, and the courts supported him.  Human rights and Tzedek Chevrati Social Justice when it came to Jews living in YESHA, Judea, Samaria and Gaza area were ignored.  Also the very concept of Zionism, Jewish History and Jewish Rights to the Land of Israel were ignored.

I'm sure you know that I've been writing about Arutz 7.  Now it's just an internet news site with an internet "radio."  It's a project of Rabbi Melamed and his wife Shulamit.

Yaakov Katz, known as Ketzaleh, spoke with Arutz-7 this morning, following the sentencing yesterday of the "Arutz-7 Ten." Fines of hundreds of thousands of shekels, and several months of community service for Ketzaleh, Yoel Tzur, and Shulamit Melamed, were levied upon the defendants for having operated the Arutz-7 radio station - for the benefit of its hundreds of thousands of listeners - without a license.
Despite lighter sentences than had been feared, "I am not happy with the conviction, the sentences, or the entire trial itself," Ketzaleh said. "Instead of being on trial, Rabbi Zalman Melamed and his wife Shulamit, and the national hero Yoel Tzur, should have been brought to the President's Home to receive the Israel Prize for their holy work, and for the cultural revolution they have carried out here... The trial was not based on hard evidence but rather on intuition and feelings that would not have withstood an objective test anywhere else." (complete articke)

Note the name Yoel Tzur mentioned in the article.  The name of the threatened Beit El neighborhood is Maoz Tzur, named in memory of his wife and son murdered in a terror attack.  This attack happened well over a decade ago.  The neighborhood is established and thriving.  Why now is it suddenly under legal threats?  And you'll notice another familiar name in the article, Yaakov Katz, yes the same Yaakov Katz who is a Knesset Member representing the Ichud Le'umi, National Union.

The threats against Maoz Tzur are serious, because it would be even easier for an Arab to claim that Ramat Aviv, a Left-wing stronghold in pre-1967 Israel, to claim it as theirs.  Watch out, Israel, you're playing with fire.


9 comments:

Neshama said...

This is an appalling and despicable situation. Whenever I read how this govt wants to destroy Jewish homes and families, it reminds me of WW II and the hatred that was perpetrated against Jews for being Jews. I feel anger begin to boil and rise up, and I have to push it back down and reserve it for the day G-d takes revenge on those who unduly persecute our people.

Batya said...

Neshama, exactly, beyond belief, sinat chinam, blind unjust hatred, Jew against Jew.

NormanF said...

All of this began with the destruction of Yamit 30 years ago last week and every Israeli government since then has convinced itself kicking out Jews was/is the only way to bring about peace with Israel's neighbors.

There is no sign of a shift in the government's attitudes and I'm expecting more mini-Yamits to happen in the future.

Alex said...

If we don't have a right to Beit El, a place clearly stated in the Torah, then we have no right to Tel Aviv, a city founded just a century ago. Same thing goes for Hebron, Shchem, Beit Lechem/Kever Rochel, the list goes on.

It's no coincidence that our heartland of Yehuda and Shomron, in addition to our capital Yerushalayim are in land which is disputed. HaShem is testing us to see if we know who we are and how much we revere his word!!! Sadly, with cases like this, the government of the "Jewish" State is failing.

What is to stop an Arab family from claiming the trendiest of Peace Now hangout bars? Nothing, really. That is the essence of the Right of Return. None of it is Israel, all of it is Palestine with this simple and far more honest logic.

The problem is that the Israeli government makes these cute distinctions between Israel, the territories, Green Line, etc etc. The Arabs do not make this distinction long term. Sure the PLO says they want a state but its only a launching point to wipe us out entirely in the future.

If we understand that HaShem gave us this land as a gift, we would cherish it with every fiber of our being. We wouldn't kick our own people out, we would kick out those who don't belong!

Batya said...

Norman, it started as soon as the 1967 Six Days War was over when the govt announced that it would use most of the "conquored territories" for negotiating "peace" and refused to support Jewish life in most of the Land. The agriculture business wanted the Golan, Jordan Valley and northern Sinai. Others wanted the Old Cit, and parts of Jerusalem. Everything else was offered to the Arabs.

Alex, good points. Read my comment to Norman

Alex said...

Batya,

You raise a very important point about the time after the Six Day War. The common misconception is that "Land for Peace" began with the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty. This, however, is a fallacy.

The lie of Land for Peace began in 1967 when Israel gave over the Temple Mount (our most holy place and the most important piece of real estate in Eretz Yisrael!) to the Arab Muslims as a goodwill gesture. From that moment on, Israel has pursued this schizophrenic policy of building new Jewish towns while calling into question its sovereignty over the land.

Israel says: Its ours but its their land too. Its sort of ours. Its sort of theirs. Its only ours here but kind of theirs over there.

Palestinians say: Its all ours. None of it is theirs.

Any average Goy looking at this will compare the two and say that, its theirs. They claim it all. Israel can't make up its mind.

Neither can Israel make up its mind over who the enemy is. Oslo is the best example. Gee, let's give a group (PLO) who is committed to our destruction: money, guns, land, government structure and most importantly LEGITIMACY OF THEIR LIE NARRATIVE. Yeah, that'll turn out well...

What we Jews have is Emes through and through. What they have is Sheker through and through. But if we don't know who we are and what we have, it will be squandered.

-Alex

Batya said...

Alex, the real truth is that it "started" even earlier than the Six Days War, because the war plan was just to defend those unsafe borders, possibly liberate the Old City, and that was it. Neither the govt nor the army had any plans to liberate all the Land we found ourselves with. G-d changed it all and controled the results. The secular Left andno center, too, are still fighting G-d on this.

Alex said...

Well said, Batya. They are indeed fighting G-d on this and on many other issues.

Batya said...

thanks
We must do our best and not look back.