Many Mistakes and Distortions in JPost's Feature on Hebron

The Jerusalem Post's Friday edition had a big feature about Hebron, the Jews, Arabs and history. There are so many misleading distortions and mistakes that any good researcher could have corrected/prevented, I'd say not to read it at all.

I will just mention a few things here and hope that people a lot more knowledgable than myself will go through it carefully and thoroughly. Just to explain that I have more than a simple passing knowledge of Hebron and Kiryat Arba. My husband and I spent Shabbatot and even the Passover Seder in Hebron, 1970-71 and had been signed up for an apartment in the first stage of Kiryat Arba.

Distortion #1:

"Hebron was once a model of Jewish-Muslim coexistence,"

That's a totally idealized version of the history. Relations were not all that rosey. Although there are a couple of isolated stories of Jews being friendly with neighboring Arabs and then rescued by them, this was the exception to the rule. There were always tension and attacks on Jews. And when the massacre began, the Jewish community was horrified that even most of the Arabs who had always seemed friendly attacked and killed with great enthusiasm.

Totally False #1:

"In the late 19th and early 20th century, Jews and Arabs lived side by side in Hebron, sharing shops, hospitals, and holy sites."

Moslems forbade Jews to enter the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

About 700 years ago, the Muslim Mamelukes conquered Hebron, declared the structure a mosque and forbade entry to Jews, who were not allowed past the seventh step on a staircase outside the building. (Jewish Virtual Library)

Distortion #2:

"On April 4, 1968 a group of Jews led by Levinger posing as Swiss tourists checked in at the Arab-owned Hebron Park Hotel. The next day, after koshering the kitchen, the group announced that they were staying put. Then-defense minister Moshe Dayan ordered their evacuation, but compromised with a deal: they were resettled in a nearby military base, which eventually became the Kiryat Arba settlement, a suburb of the city of Hebron, now numbering over 7,000 Israelis."

Until Kiryat Arba, which isn't in Hebron, was built, a number of Jewish families lived in the police compound in Hebron, known in Hebrew as "hamemshal." That is where we visited. Kiryat Arba wasn't habitable until either late 1971 or early 1972.

Besides these inaccuracies, the most sympathetic person in the feature is the Arab, which just shows how subjective the writers and how poor and incompetent the editing and fact-checking in the article.

Jerusalem Post, (MARK NEYMAN / GPO)

If The "Condemnation" is Forced/Prompted, Then It's Fake!

Netanyahu: Palestinians Must Condemn Terror, Act to Stop it
unitedwithisrael.org

As in the past, like a broken record, again we hear our Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu begging the P.A.'s Abbas and others to condemn the dastardly murder/stabbing of 13 year old Hallel-Yaffa Ariel.

Now, honestly, how sincere is a forced condemnation?

It's very clear to me that it's fake, a farce, an absolute lie!

Rina Ariel, mourns over the body of her daughter Hallel, a 13-year-old girl who was fatally stabbed by a Palestinian terrorist in her home, during her funeral in the Kiryat Arba settlement on June 30, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) Times of Israel

Bibi sounds like some pitiful woman, who after being raped begs the rapist to marry her. 

And as I had written last night, I was horrified to see that yesterday morning, after the murder, the brutal stabbing of Hallel-Yaffa Ariel, HaYa"D, while she slept in her bed, Israeli television continued to broadcast its programs as if nothing had happened!

Turning an Arab Terrorist into an "Innocent Victim"

By blocking the sound on the video from the Arab terror attack on innocent Jews in Hebron last month, B'tzelem managed to distort reality and turn the Arab terrorist into an "innocent victim," sic, when a soldier executed him as he (the terrorist) began moving. There was legitimate fear/suspicion that under the terrorist's coat, which was a sure sign, that some weapon or bomb was hidden and ready to use against the Jews around him.

And very tragically our hapless and gullible Minister of Defense fell for the con and has been leading the B'tzelem extreme Left anti-Israeli security campaign against the quick-thinking soldier.

Family of shot terrorist threatens Israel with legal action
The family of Abd al-Fattah al-Sharif, the terrorist who was shot by a soldier in Hevron last week after a stabbing attack against Israelis, on Monday threatened the IDF with legal procedures, the Ma’an news agency reported.
In a press conference at the Hevron governor’s office, al-Sharif’s uncle Fathi al-Sharif also urged the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, to file legal procedures against Israel at the International Criminal Court, over the incident.

We are at war, and in a battle things happen, and Bogie Ya'alon seems to have forgotten it in his quest for "good press."

Soldier charged over shooting Hevron terrorist appears in court

POOL/Flash 90

IDF investigator's testimony backs soldier's versionInvestigation officer tells court there were concerns the terrorist in Hevron had a bomb belt before soldier shot him.

Jews Attacked by Arab Terrorists! Condemnations?

Yesterday some American Jewish tourists made a wrong turn in Hebron and were attacked by Arabs out to murder them. They were injured and then rescued. Have you heard any international or even mainstream Israeli condemnation of the terror attack?

Five Americans were attacked by a Palestinian mob in Hebron. Photo: Moshe Butavya / Tazpit News Agency.

IDF Rescues US Jews from Arab Lynch Mob in Hevron 

Five men were in a car that strayed into Arab Hevron and attacked by a mob with firebombs. Two suffered moderate to light injuries.

I haven't.


And we all know that if Arabs had inadvertently strayed, like these guys did, into a Jewish neighborhood and had been attacked, most Israelis, Right, Left and Center, and the world, every country plus the United Nations and other international bodies would have blanketly condemned all Israeli Jews.

Nu? Have you heard anything?

Honestly, how can one even think of peace with such a culture of violence? And we know, here's proof again, that we shouldn't expect fairness and justice from others.

The Jewish People, the Jewish Nation and the State of Israel cannot rely on anyone but ourselves and Gd Almighty!

Shabbat Shalom uMevorach

May You have a  Peaceful and Blessed Shabbat

Did Abraham Err in Buying The Land in Hebron? Is it Like Celebrating November 29, 1947?

Many times I've blogged that I consider the Israeli celebration of the "29th of November," the anniversary of the day when the infant United Nations member states approved the establishment of the State of Israel to be a terrible mistake.  We, Jewish Zionists, should never have asked the world permission to establish our state. It has made us dependent on international approval and seriously undermines our sovereignty.

I admit that some people may find what I'm now going to say rather "sacrilegious," but I feel it must be said.

In this week's Parshat Shavua, Weekly Torah Portion, Chayei Sarah, we read of the Matriarch Sarah's death and that Abraham, her husband goes to great lengths to buy a specific piece of  Land in Hebron with a burial cave, now known as Ma'arat HaMachpela.

Genesis Chapter 23 בְּרֵאשִׁית

יא  לֹא-אֲדֹנִי שְׁמָעֵנִי--הַשָּׂדֶה נָתַתִּי לָךְ, וְהַמְּעָרָה אֲשֶׁר-בּוֹ לְךָ נְתַתִּיהָ; לְעֵינֵי בְנֵי-עַמִּי נְתַתִּיהָ לָּךְ, קְבֹר מֵתֶךָ.	11 'Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee; bury thy dead.'
יב  וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ, אַבְרָהָם, לִפְנֵי, עַם הָאָרֶץ.	12 And Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.
יג  וַיְדַבֵּר אֶל-עֶפְרוֹן בְּאָזְנֵי עַם-הָאָרֶץ, לֵאמֹר, אַךְ אִם-אַתָּה לוּ, שְׁמָעֵנִי:  נָתַתִּי כֶּסֶף הַשָּׂדֶה, קַח מִמֶּנִּי, וְאֶקְבְּרָה אֶת-מֵתִי, שָׁמָּה.	13 And he spoke unto Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying: 'But if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me: I will give the price of the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.'
יד  וַיַּעַן עֶפְרוֹן אֶת-אַבְרָהָם, לֵאמֹר לוֹ.	14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him:
טו  אֲדֹנִי שְׁמָעֵנִי, אֶרֶץ אַרְבַּע מֵאֹת שֶׁקֶל-כֶּסֶף בֵּינִי וּבֵינְךָ מַה-הִוא; וְאֶת-מֵתְךָ, קְבֹר.	15 'My lord, hearken unto me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.'
טז  וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָהָם, אֶל-עֶפְרוֹן, וַיִּשְׁקֹל אַבְרָהָם לְעֶפְרֹן, אֶת-הַכֶּסֶף אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר בְּאָזְנֵי בְנֵי-חֵת--אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שֶׁקֶל כֶּסֶף, עֹבֵר לַסֹּחֵר.	16 And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

Now please think about it.  There are three places in the Land of Israel that were bought by Jewish Leaders in Biblical times.  It's all in the Bible.  They are that piece of land in Hebron, Har Habayit (the Temple Mount,) and Shechem.  I remember going to a shiur, class, a few years ago that brought up the subject that davka those three places which were legally, according to the laws of man, were repurchased by Jews.  But davka, those three places are most contested.

If the purchase had been the correct thing to do, then those locations would be recognized as Jewish owned over the millennium to this very day.  The fact that no other religion or people take those purchases seriously, including the Christians who "swear on the Bible" makes me wonder about the wisdom of paying people for our Land.

Davka, it was Abraham who had followed G-d's instructions in Lech Lecha to go the Land G-d would show him, which G-d would give to him and all his descendants. G-d is the true owner of all of the Land and all of the earth.  By making such a point to buy the piece of land to bury Sarah there, and getting permission from a human being for this denies G-d's ultimate ownership.

We're still making the same mistakes.  Our Israeli courts are making it more difficult for Jews to prove Land ownership than for Arabs.  That is what's behind the Givat Asaf and Migron problems and various other plots of land and buildings in Jerusalem, Hebron and other locations.

We still haven't fully accepted G-d's Lech Lecha challenge.  G-d has given the Land to us, and we do not need the approval or purchase receipt from humans.

Shavua Tov

Have a Wonderful Week

Jewish Rights in The Land of Israel. Stop the Anti-Jewish Apartheid Now!

Finally some good news from the Israeli Justice system.  The courts have recognized the purchase of a house in Hebron by Jews as legitimate.

Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

A military appeals panel on Monday legally validated the Hebron Jewish community’s purchase in 2012 of a three-story building across from the Cave of the Patriarchs, known as Beit Hamachpela.
But families could only move into the building if Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon authorizes the purchase and gives them permission to do so.

Why should a simple commercial action make the headlines? 

Unfortunately, the Israeli Government complicates such purchases by following extreme Left policies/ideology that preaches anti-Jewish apartheid practices, severely restricting where Jews can live.

When Arabs buy in a Jewish town or building, the courts protect the Arab, but when Jews buy property previously owned by Arabs, or inhabited by Arab squatters, the courts twist everything in their powers to delegitimize Jewish ownership.  That is the true, unpleasant and undemocratic and actually illegal situation in Israel.  We Jews are at a legal disadvantage.

Even worse, there are signs in various places warning Jewish Israelis to stay out of Arab roads and towns.  And if a Jew does enter and is injured or killed, G-d forbid, it's the victim, the Jew, who is blamed.  Nobody seems outraged or surprised that Arabs attack Jews.  This mentality, policy is what is preventing the Arabs from developing a pro-peace culture.

Peace, true, genuine peace will only develop when we demand respect and stop begging, understanding and justifying Arab aggression.

We will only have peace when Jews can live safely and securely among Arabs.  The Jews of Hebron, like those who have been planning to live in the Beit Hamachpela are doing everything they can to bring true peace of our Land.  They are on a much higher level than those of us who live in towns like Shiloh, which are protected "bubbles" generally a distance from Arab villages.  True peace will come more from Hebron than from Tel Aviv, but it will only begin when the anti-Jewish apartheid ends.

How Can The Kids Learn Respect?

I grew up in America, in the 1950's, a very calm, optimistic, even boring time. It was pretty easy to teach us to respect authority, because in most places authority was benign.

Today's Israeli teens, especially those who try to follow the Torah, Jewish Law, see a very different government, military establishment.

Kids see things in black and white, and it looks very black.

The Israeli Government treats those who promote Jewish Rights in Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel, as enemies.

The government and military use force they wouldn't dare use against Arabs. The Israeli Judicial isn't interested in promoting even equal rights for Jews.

How can the kids learn respect when the government treats them as enemies?

Refuah Shleimah

A complete recovery

to all those injured by the armed forces

police, border guards, soldiers

While Protecting Jewish Rights

To Live In Hebron!

Thinking About Abe Lincoln's Gettsyburg Address

Sometimes there actually are useful things in The New York Times. The email headlines edition ends with an event that happened on the same day, but a different year. Today it was Lincoln's Gettsyburg Address.


When I was a student we memorized the opening lines, but then I was just a kid, and I didn't fully understand it.

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth.

Here in Israel, there's a civil war, too. It's not a physically bloody as the American one, but it's vicious, even more vicious. Jewish Law and Philosphy disagrees with the little rhyme I was raised with in America:

Sticks and stones can break my bones
But words can never harm me.

According to Judaism words have powers stronger than the physical. Our minds control our bodies.

The Left, Israel's "elite," accademics, media, etc have been trying from the very beginning of Zionism to make a "new Jew," disengaged from religious restrictions, a Jew engaged in farming the Land, not meek tailor or peddler from Europe. They've evolved into urban, white-collared worker, but the disdain for traditional Judaism is still a central part of their philosphy.

Ironically, today it's the Torah Jew who embraces the Land as a crucial and irreplaceable living part of our heritage. We're being forced to fight for our rights, ordinary civil rights, as if there wasn't a Jewish State. Disengagement Protestors to be Tried After All .

A building in Hebron, bought by a Jew, is being threatened by the Israeli Government. According to the government and the courts, Jews are forbidden to live there. What if this was happening in Philidelphia, Boston, New York or Sacramento? Would anyone protest? It happened in Nazi Germany, and nobody cared, but I thought the world, the Jewish People realized the injustice and that it would never happen again.

Many Jews were killed during Israel's War of Independence and our wars of survival here and the still ongoing terror attacks. Have they "died in vain?"

L'Ilui Nishmata shel Rachella Druk, HaYa"D
In Loving Memory
And the Elevation of Rachella Druk's Soul
17 Years After Her Brutal Murder By Arab Terrorists

Photos of Hebron Destruction from Yoni Gormezano

These Jewish homes in Hebron were destroyed by the Israeli Government. For more pictures, look here.