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Our Jerusalem
http://www.ahavat-israel.com/protest/ourjer.php
 "Jerusalem: The eternal capital of the Jewish People, and
the eternal capital of the State of Israel."
This sentence is eternally repeated by Israeli
politicians just before the elections. They say what the Jews in Israel
believe and want to hear. They want to get elected. Regretfully, the true
behavior of Israel's ruling elite appears to be the exact opposite.
Just before being elected, Ehud Barak made the
same assertion, and promised Israeli voters he would never divide
Jerusalem, nor would he allow Jewish sovereignty over the Holy City to be
compromised in any way. But shortly after being elected Prime Minister, he
offered "Eastern" Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and its Western
Wall, to Israel's enemies.
On January 8, 2001, over 500,000 people protested
against the government's plans to give away Jerusalem.
 Foolish
Israelis were shocked by this! They complained to him! They told him:
"But... you promised!" How is this possible? Why does the Labor party
want to give the heart of Jerusalem to Israel's enemies? Yossi
Beilin, a senior member of the Labor party had this to say: "We always
wanted to give Jerusalem to the Arabs. But if we would have told people
the truth before the election, they would have never voted for us."
Shimon Peres, an influential leader in the Labor party added: "As my
teacher David Ben-Gurion taught me, sometimes the people don't know what
is best for them. A true leader has to do what is best for the people,
even if the people don't want it."
At this time you are probably thinking: "With rulers
like these, who needs enemies?!?!" But before jumping to
conclusions, it is important to learn about the history and government
policies that have led us to this tragic situation.
 During the
War of Independence in 1948-49, Jewish military units had the ability of
liberating Jerusalem. Forces led by Menahem Begin were planning
Jerusalem's liberation, but they were betrayed by David Ben-Gurion, and
his government.
During the Six Day War in 1967, orders were given to
the army by the ruling government to avoid entering the Old City of
Jerusalem, and only protect the "Western" part of the city. Luckily for
all of us these ridiculous orders were ignored, and Jerusalem was
liberated.
Ever since that date, all leftist led Israeli
governments have been trying to get rid of "Eastern" Jerusalem, which is
part of Judea and Samaria, the "West Bank". As Moshe Dayan used to say:
"We don't want these lands, we are just waiting for a phone call from King
Hussein of Jordan, to give these lands to him in exchange of a peace
treaty."
The Altalena Affair
The Altalena, purchased by Irgun members abroad, was
originally intended to reach Israel on May 15, 1948, loaded with fighters
and military equipment. For organizational reasons, the sailing was
postponed for June 11th, when the Altalena raised anchor with about 1,000
Jewish volunteers and a large quantity of weapons on board.
Representatives of the Israel Government were informed about the ship and
its sailing schedule.
David Ben-Gurion gave Menahem Begin his consent to the
landing of the ship. Ben-Gurion also agreed to Begin's initial request
that 20% of the weapons be sent to the Jerusalem Battalion. If those arms
would have reached the Jerusalem Battalion, Jerusalem could have been
liberated in 1948. But Ben-Gurion's government prevented that effort from
succeeding.
The Altalena on fire |
The Altalena reached Kfar Vitkin in the late afternoon
of Sunday, June 20th. Ben-Gurion reported on the government meetings which
had preceded the arrival of the Altalena, that he was adamant in his
demand that Begin surrender and hand over of all the weapons. It was
resolved to empower the army to use force if necessary to overcome the
Irgun and to confiscate the ship and its cargo.
Fighting ensued and there were a number of casualties.
In order to prevent further bloodshed, the Kfar Vitkin settlers initiated
negotiations which ended in a general ceasefire and the transfer of the
weapons on shore to the local IDF commander.
Begin had meanwhile boarded the Altalena, which was now
heading for Tel Aviv. He hoped that it would be possible to enter into a
dialogue with the Provisional Government and to unload the remaining
weapons peacefully. But this was not the case. Ben-Gurion ordered to
concentrate large forces on the Tel Aviv beach and to take the ship by
force. Heavy guns were transferred to the area and at four in the
afternoon, Ben-Gurion ordered the shelling of the Altalena.
The Altalena on fire |
One of the shells hit the ship, which began to burn.
There was danger that the fire would spread to the holds which contained
explosives, and the captain ordered all aboard to abandon ship. People
jumped into the water, while their comrades on shore set out to meet them
on rafts. Although the captain flew the white flag of surrender, automatic
fire continued to be directed at the unarmed survivors. Begin, who was on
deck, agreed to leave the ship only after the last of the wounded had been
evacuated.
Sixteen Irgun fighters were killed in the confrontation
with the army; six were killed in the Kfar Vitkin area and ten on Tel Aviv
beach. Three IDF soldiers were killed: two at Kfar Vitkin and one in Tel
Aviv.
After the shelling of the Altalena, more than 200 Irgun
fighters were arrested on Ben-Gurion's orders. Most of them were released
several weeks later, with the exception of five senior commanders, who
were detained for more than two months. They were released, thanks to
public pressure, on August 27, 1948.
The Six Day War
Students at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva
being joined by their Rosh Yeshiva after
liberating Jerusalem in 1967 |
During the war of independence in 1948, several Arab
armies invaded Israel with the intention of exterminating the Jewish
population. By a miracle, Israel won the war and the invading armies were
driven out. Another miracle occurred in 1967, when many people thought it
would be the end of Israel. Jewish heroes who fought in the war, tell
their stories about what happened during those six faithful days. When you
put their stories together, you can begin to understand the great miracle
that took place.
The official government policy during the 1967 war, was
not to liberate Jerusalem. The Israeli government wanted to avoid conflict
with Jordan at all cost. They pleaded with King Hussein not to attack
Israel. But the Jordanian leader ignored Israel's request, and decided to
participate in the war to destroy Israel. Brave military officers decided
it was a good opportunity to liberate Jerusalem together with the rest of
Judea and Samaria.
Shortly after the war was over, the government
initiated a policy of giving away the liberated Jewish land in exchange of
a peace treaty. As part of that policy, Labor led Israeli governments have
made it very difficult for Jews to live in the liberated territories. Even
worse. At the end of the war, the Arabs were on their way to Jordan. Many
of them were already in Jordan. They escaped fearing Israeli retaliation
for their involvement in the killing of Jews.
The mufti of Jerusalem symbolically gave the keys of
the Temple Mount to the Israelis. A tractor started bulldozing structures
in an area that today is known as the Western Wall Plaza. Most Arabs were
gone from the Old City and the rest of Jerusalem. There was not one Arab
left in Ramallah and other Arab towns in Israel.
But then the leftist politicians came in. Eshkol, Dayan
and Rabin. They brought the Arabs back saying we could all live together
in peace. They gave back the keys of the Temple Mount to the Jew-hating
mufti. On that day, they started a process that would cause thousands of
dead and injured Jews and Arabs.
The Temple Mount was in our hands. At least for a short
time. The Labor led leftist government gave it to the Arabs. They tried to
prevent Jews from settling the newly liberated areas of Eretz Israel, and
immediately tried to give all liberated lands to the Arabs.
Remember this historical facts next time you want to
vote in favor of keeping Jerusalem the eternal capital of the Jewish
Nation and the State of Israel. |
