Oh Say Can You See

Hebron-Past, Present and Forever
Oh Say Can You See

September 16, 1995

Flag-mania has hit Hebron. International news crews are aiming their cameras

at the Kordova Girls School, located directly across the street from Beit

Hadassah and Beit Schneerson in the center of Hebron. The reason for the

attention: a "palestinian flag" raised on the roof of the building by its

present occupants.

For the last week or so flag ping-pong has bounced the colored cloth

up and down the flagpole. First, a few facts. At the end of last week it was

reported that ‘settlers' had attacked and beat Palestinian school girls. This

"unprovoked attack" was denounced by the American government. What really

happened? Very simply - the girls from the school decided to hold a special

"parade" down the main street of Hebron, through the Beit Hadassah

neighborhood. One of our good neighbors from Kiryat Arba, present at the

time, saw a big palestinian flag waving in the air, and removed it. He also

made a little bit of noise in the process, speaking his mind to the girls

carrying the flag. The girls, stripped of their flag, and it seems, also of

their bravery, panicked and began running every which way, including into each

other. The resulting news reports were that settlers had beat the girls. So

much for objective reporting.

Several days before this, on the same day that 13 Likud Knesset

members visited Hebron, Abraham Avinu neighborhood residents found a

palestinian flag adorning the skyline several meters away from their

buildings. The flag was atop a Waqf office building, adjacent to the

neighborhood. (The Waqf is the religious-political arm of Islam - they

control, among other places, Temple Mount in Jerusalem and to a great degree,

Ma'arat HaMachpela in Hebron.) The flag flew over the building all day. Only

that evening was it "mysteriously" removed and burned. So far it hasn't

reappeared.

On Tuesday of this week following the reappearance of the flag over

the Kordova school, and its abrupt removal by "unidentified" perpetrators, MK

David Zucker from the Meretz Party, visited the area. He told reporters that

the "settlers are the ugly side of Israel" and encouraged the principal of the

school. He told her to keep flying the flag.

What is official Israeli policy concerning palestinian flags? Private

citizens are "allowed" to fly flags, but they may not be flown over public

buildings. Major General Ilan Biran (who, in the past has not been known as a

"good friend" of Hebron, but has as of late, began changing his tune) has

specifically issued an order forbidding that the flag be flown from the school

building.

On Wednesday the flag made its grand appearance, once again, in the

morning. This time, MK Shaul Guttman, formerly of Moledet, assisted in

removing it. Havoc broke loose. Soldiers, police, Arabs and Jews appeared on

the scene. Two young policewomen attempted to arrest one of the Jewish women

who had participated in removing the flag. She resisted, and ran away. When

they finally caught up with her and handcuffed her, MK Guttman snapped the

second handcuff on himself. When they both disappeared, the police had to

arrest someone else in her place, so they found another victim. She was

arrested and charged with beating police and clawing them. (I can attest -

she has almost no finger nails and is about 5 feet tall, maybe. - Extremely

dangerous!)

I also spent the day in the police station. Why? In the middle of the

ruckus, an Arab appeared, carrying what looked like an eleven or twelve-year

old girl in his arms. She had been "attacked and injured" during the

struggle. She was so "seriously" injured that an ambulance was requested.

After she had been prepared for the journey to the hospital (less than five

minutes away) another young "victim" appeared on the site. She also needed

"immediate, emergency" medical attention. When the ambulance driver finally

finished preparing the two "victims of the peace process" he found that the

keys to the ambulance were missing. Not wanting to admit his negligence, he

pointed his finger at someone in the crowd - "There he is - he stole the

keys." And the thief was, none other than, yours truly. Several police

surrounded me and demanded the keys. I told them that I didn't know what they

were talking about, but of course, the word of an Arab against a Jew is the

epitome of truth. So, I was searched, (twice if I recall correctly). After

not finding the missing keys, I was ordered remanded for further investigation

and taken to the Hebron Police Station. There I was held, with three other

men, from 11:45 until about 5:30 that evening. I spent the day talking to

several policemen whose feelings for Rabin, Peres and Co. are harsher (if that

can be imagined) than mine. At 5:30PM a policeman asked for my name, id card

number and address, and sent me home. I wasn't questioned, warned, or

released on bail. Very simply sent home. I have the impression that they

didn't know why I was being held. I was never accused of anything nor was I

told specifically why I was being held. So rather than working that day, I

spent the day in the company of the men in blue.

Of course on Thursday it happened again. This time the police and

soldiers took things into their own hands and removed the flag before anyone

else had the opportunity. The results of that were demonstrations by about 60

Arabs on the street in front of Beit Hadassah and by Beit Romano, the home of

Yeshivat Shavei Hebron. Both demonstrations were broken up by security

forces.

Why do we make such a big deal over the flag? Is it really worth all

the trouble? The palestinian flag represents two major fronts which we will

not compromise with. First, it represents foreign sovereignty in Hebron.

Hebron is a Jewish city, the first Jewish City, and it is an integral part of

the State of Israel. We totally reject any display of foreign sovereignty in

our city.

The flag also represents terrorism, blood and murder. The flag

represents an institution which comprises terrorists who have, in the past,

proclaimed that the Jews must be "thrown into the sea." They have murdered

and continue to murder. They wipe their hands of Jewish blood on their flag.

While it is true that it is almost impossible for us to remove all of

the palestinian flags in the city or throughout Yesha, we see no reason to

allow them to be flown in front of our noses in the middle of our

neighborhoods. Any acceptance on our part of the palestinian flag in

neighborhoods where we live is tantamount to acceptance of palestinian

sovereignty in Hebron. This will never happen.

The Ways of the Righteous

Hebron-Past, Present and Forever
The Ways of the Righteous

September 6, 1995

If yesterday I wrote about Satan dressed up as humans, today I am obligated to speak about the other side. And there is another side.

A half hour ago I came home from an unbelievably joyous occasion -

happy for several reasons: 1. A wedding in Hebron is always a festive event;

2. This wedding took place in the courtyard directly outside the Caves of the

Patriarchs, attended by about 1,000 guests; 3. The wedding was that of Kfir

Katzover and his new bride Orit. Kfir is the son of Kiryat Arba Mayor Zvi

Katzover. 4.The special guest of honor was none other than Ariel Sharon, who

made a special trip to Hebron for the wedding.

Zvi Katzover has been mayor of Kiryat Arba for the past five plus

years. He has had to deal with some of the most complicated issues one can

possibly imagine. From the ‘intifada' to murderous terrorist attacks, from

the government's policy of ‘let's dry them up' and ‘give them back to the

Arabs' to the Baruch Goldstein affair, Zvi has had to function. And he has

done so with overwhelming success. That success can be measured by the

results of the local elections held in Kiryat Arba several months ago. Zvi

received 80% of the popular vote for Mayor, and his list for the town council

won six of nine seats. And if one takes into account the political

divergences among the Kiryat Arba population, made up of about 6,000 citizen,

consisting of Jews of every background possible, this is truly amazing.

Before entering politics Zvi spent most of his waking hours in Hebron.

One of the first people to reenter Hebron, Zvi opened up the popular ‘Jewish

Settlers' Restaurant and Gift Shop', outside Ma'arat HaMachpela. Before the

beginning of the ‘intifada' Zvi employed seven employees on a regular basis,

selling not only souvenirs, but also dealing with fine jewelry and precious

stones. One of his veteran workers told me that even during the dry spells,

Zvi refused to fire employees. They would sit in the store, drinking coffee

or tea, playing backgammon. The dry spells always ended, and the visitors

arrived, that is, until the intifada drastically cut back tourist visits to

the area.

Today, Zvi's building has been taken over by the Jewish Community of

Hebron and is being transformed into a guest house. And Zvi is Mayor of

Kiryat Arab. Tonight Zvi and his wife Yehudit married their first son, under

the stars, by Ma'arat HaMachpela. Over 100 tables, colored lights, a band,

and hundreds of people, singing and dancing, filled the courtyard outside the

Caves of the Patriarchs. Such an unbelievable sight, just overwhelming. Zvi

and Yehudit Katzover brought people from all over the country to celebrate in

Hebron, the city of the Patriarchs. In Hebrew we call this a ‘Kiddush HaShem'

or a Sanctification of the Divine Name. There is no stronger way to express

our connection to a location than by celebrating there - exhibiting our

happiness publicly, for all to see. And believe me, it was well seen.

Something like this is very hard to ignore. The Arabs, the police, the

soldiers, everyone, they all saw and heard Jews singing and dancing and

celebrating the birth of a new couple, the beginnings of a new family, in the

middle of Hebron.

The Guest of Honor was, as I mentioned earlier, Ariel Sharon. This man is

truly amazing. He was in Hebron last Friday morning with MK Moshe Peled, to

show support for the Jewish Community in the city. He arrives in Hebron time

after time, bringing with him visitors from all over the world. Some of them,

like Australian Chabad Rabbi Joseph Gutnick, have become major supporters of

the Hebron Jewish Community. Rabbi Gutnick has contributed to both the guest

house and also to the reconstruction efforts of Yeshivat Shavei Hebron, housed

in Beit Romano. The Yeshiva presently claims a student body of 200 pupils.

When the construction is finished, the building will be able to house five

hundred Torah Scholars. And Arik Sharon is largely responsible for this.

Sharon is one of the few people around today who is willing to speak

the truth. Tonite, for instance, he said: "If the Arabs want to live with us

together, they can. It isn't easy, but it can be done. But only if they

realize that the Jews are here to stay. If they want to live with us, fine,

but if they think they can push us into a corner, there is a limit as to how

far they'll be able to go. If they push too hard they must realize that it

won't be the Jews that will no longer be in Hebron - it will be them that will

be forced to leave."

Referring to comments made that too many soldiers have to protect such

a ‘small' number of Jews in Hebron, Sharon replied: "First of all, Hebron

isn't just four or five hundred Jews. Kiryat Arba is Hebron too. Kiryat Arba

and Hebron are one. But aside from that, the army isn't here just to protect

the Jews in Hebron. They are here because of the Jewish Cemetery, containing

graves of Jews that lived here hundreds of years ago. The army is here

because this is the city where King David ruled for seven years before

settling Jerusalem. This land, today called Tel Rumeida, should always be in

Jewish hands. The army must be here because of Beit Hadassah and Beit Kastel

and Beit Hasson, the army must be here because of the Jewish Quarter and the

Avraham Avinu Synagogue. And of course, because of the Caves of the

Patriarchs. Who can imaging that the Caves of the Patriarchs will not be in

Jewish hands?!"

Mentioning government plans to redeploy, Arik Sharon declared: "I hope

that the government will not remove the army from Hebron. But if they do,

they should know that hundreds of volunteers will come here to help protect

the Jews that live in the City of the Patriarchs".

Ariel Sharon has made mistakes in the past, but I don't know of too

many people that haven't. Today, he is, in my book, a true hero. He isn't

afraid of the truth and he isn't afraid to speak the truth. Most politicians

act like they are walking on eggs - Arik doesn't. He says what has to be said,

and more importantly, he acts - he does. He is a doer. In the Israeli

vernacular, he is a bulldozer. And credit should be given, where credit is

due.

In the past I have advertised fax numbers, with requests that you

demonstrate solidarity with Hebron via fax protests. Today I request the

opposite. Please fax Zvi Katzover, Mayor of Kiryat Arba, with a letter of

Mazal Tov - good wishes on the marriage of his son Kfir. Tell him how happy

you are the wedding was conducted by the walls of Ma'arat HaMachpela in the

center of Hebron. And fax Arik Sharon, wishing him well, and expressing your

support of his many activities for Hebron. Even people like Ariel Sharon like

to know that they are appreciated. And Arik deserves our whole-hearted

appreciation. As does Zvi Katzover.

Fax Ariel Sharon at: 972-2-753896

Fax Zvi Katzover at: 972-2-9964277