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1. Activists Compare Netanyahu to Pharaoh
by Avi Yellin
In response to Prime Minister Netanyahu ‘s announced ten month construction freeze for Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, resistance activists have accused the prime minister of mimicking the decrees of Pharaoh in the Passover story. The parallel, according to activists who are calling themselves the Task Force in the Struggle against Pharaoh's Decrees, is that both leaders work to curtail the Jewish birthrate.
“By trying to prevent a new generation of Zionist pioneers in Judea and Samaria Netanyahu is behaving like Pharaoh. Like Pharaoh, Netanyahu preventing the Jewish nation’s development. Like Pharaoh, Netanyahu imposes draconian restrictions on us. Only unlike Pharaoh who targeted only male children, Netanyahu’s decrees apply to everyone regardless of gender.”
The Task Force has committed itself to thwarting the prime minister’s construction freeze and emphasized that its program is only in its early stages. Numerous strategies were suggested in a document released by the group to the public Thursday night. These include the rapid building of closed balconies in established communities, adding homes to hilltop villages often targeted for destruction, establishing a special school for young construction workers, reaching out to Ultra-Orthodox residents of communities also affected by the freeze and organizing protest vigils outside the homes of ministers who betrayed their voters by supporting the freeze.
The L’Herut Tzion (For the Freedom of Zion) organization, which works towards increasing political independence for the State of Israel, responded positively to the plan to struggle against the construction freeze but rejected the comparison of the prime minister with Pharaoh. A spokesperson for the organization argued that it is not Netanyahu but the American president who deserves the title of Pharaoh in this case.
“Our prime minister’s new construction freeze is just one more example of Israeli leaders giving in to the pressure of foreign governments. Netanyahu believes in our right to this land but he is clearly too weak to resist Barack Obama’s demands. We saw this at the prime minister’s Bar-Ilan speech where he broke his refusal to endorse a two-state solution and we are seeing it now with this ten month construction freeze. Even senior Likud ministers openly admit that the American pressure on Netanyahu has been immense. We must do everything in our power to keep building in our homeland but the long term solution must be political independence. Only when our elected officials are free to decide Israeli policy based on what they genuinely believe to be in the Jewish national interest will our communities in Judea and Samaria be secure.”
2. Coalition Chairman: Now My Own Home is 'Frozen'
by Gil Ronen
Coalition Chairman MK Ze'ev Elkin, a resident of Gush Etzion, told Arutz Sheva Thursday that he opposed the ten month freeze on construction in Judea and Samaria. “In the end, the freeze is on my home, too,” he noted. “I live in a caravan and am awaiting permission to build and it is clear to me that I will not receive it in the coming 10 months.”
"I understand the considerations of the prime minister,” he said, “and yet construction in Judea and Samaria is one of the Likud's top values. That is why I am in favor of continued construction even though we are talking about a short period. If I had to vote I would not support it.”
Elkin said that he would attempt to lessen the impact of the freeze. “As chairman of the Judea and Samaria Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, I will try to minimize the damage,” he explained. Elkin noted that certain educational buildings and synagogues have been approved for construction, yet Minister of Defense Ehud Barak refuses to sign the permits. Elkin said he would “exert maximum pressure” on Barak to sign the permits “so that there is a second side to the equation and not just one,” in his words.
Regarding the Knesset members who are trying to have the decision canceled through pressure on the government, Elkin said: “I have a disagreement with some of my comrades who are carrying out extra-parliamentary acts of protest that are not connected to this decision. I oppose any action that could lead to the dismantlement of the government. This is not the right way. We have experience that taking down the government leads to the rise of the Left. This is something I strenuously oppose.”
3. Lt-Col (res) Eckstein Offers 9 Rules for Abductions
by Gil Ronen
In an opinion piece for Arutz Sheva in Hebrew Thursday, Lt-Col (res.) Gershon Eckstein offered nine rules for handling abductions – like that of Sgt. Gilad Shalit and preceding ordeals – and for reducing the effectiveness of subsequent blackmail and psychological warfare by terrorists:
1. As a rule, live terrorists will not be freed in return for soldiers' bodies. Otherwise there is a risk that the lives of abducted soldiers will be deemed expendable.
2. The price tag will be one or two prisoners in exchange for an IDF soldier. It is possible to let the terrorists choose whom they want freed. No more than that.
3. No negotiations will begin before the Red Cross or another authorized body visits the abducted Israeli and provides reliable information of his well being and health.
4. Terrorists with blood on their hands who pose a security risk upon their release will not be freed.
5. The expression “free him at any cost” will be deleted from the national lexicon so as not to sacrifice Israel's strategic and national interests.
6. Despite the fashion regarding “the public's right to know,” a law shall be passed or an ordinance written that will forbid media reports on prisoner swaps, especially during negotiations, and maintain silence on the subject until the deal is finalized. All this is in order to achieve optimal results.
7. Decision makers including the prime minister, ministers and officials dealing directly in the negotiations will be forbidden from meeting the abducted men's families and their representatives until the end of the affair, so as not to place any pressure on the decision makers. Only a person who is not a direct part of the negotiations, who will be appointed by the government, will maintain contact with the families.
8. If a vote is held in the government on approving a swap, the vote should be a secret ballot so that ministers can vote according to their consciences without being influenced by external pressure.
9. The families of abducted individuals should not be a party to the negotiations, and they should not involve the media or engage in lobbying decision makers to persuade them to approve the deal. There should be an agreed code that makes it possible to maintain a distance between the decision makers and the families. With all due empathy for their plight, there should be ground rules regarding contact with them.
An authorized official should be able to look them in the eyes, to hold them close, but to tell them courageously: “We are sorry, dear ones, but this is the situation today, be strong.”
Legislation in this spirit will rein in the public discourse around abductions and reduce the pressure on the government. It may even gradually reduce the enemy's motivation to make use of the weapon of abductions.
4. New Holocaust Museum Focuses on Jewish Youth Uprising
by Hana Levi Julian and Kobi Finkler
A new museum, named for the commander of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Mordechai Anilewicz, has been established to memorialize the youths who rebelled against the Nazis during the Holocaust. Besides emphasizing the role of youth groups in the Warsaw Ghetto, the museum also brings to light hitherto unknown resistance by ordinary civilians.
The opening of the museum was timed for the 50th anniversary of the Heritage Museum at Kibbutz Givat Haviva.
The museum's current displays mark the 65 years since the murder of the paratroopers who were sent by the Yishuv (the name of the State of Israel prior to its official establishment) to Europe -- among them, Chaviva Reich, for whom Kibbutz Givat Chaviva, where the museum is located, was named.
Dr. Grisiella Ben Dror, Executive Director of the Heritage Institute, noted that "we live in a period of materialism and the quest for individual gratification. The idea of a nation having a joint destiny and the ideal of personal sacrifice in order to achieve that destiny cannot be taken for granted.That makes perpetuating the principles upon which the State of Israel was established a crucial goal. The triumph of the spirit that empowered the struggle against absolute evil during the darkest period in Jewish history and the civilized world, can be used as a symbol and model for the youth of today."
The museum places a particular emphasis on the steadfastness of ordinary people in the community, who guided and directed members of the youth movements during the Holocaust. Daily activities such as smuggling people, children and food, the refusal to surrender, survival of the family, spiritual resistance expressed in Jewish studies and the documentation of the atrocities, as well as armed resistance -- all are reflected in the unique visual displays of the museum.
The museum places Mordechai Anilewicz' personal story within the context of the common fate of the Jewish people. Materials displayed are taken from the rich reservoir of the Heritage Institute's vast archives, which contain rare collections of papers, documents, pictures and other objects collected over the years.
In addition to the permanent exhibitions at the museum, there will also be temporary, dynamic exhibits, featured as part of a new and unique enrichment program combining art, music, theater, creative writing and plastic art.
The museum will display a unique exhibit called "The Face of Resistance: Women in the Holocaust," which tells the story of the lives of dozens of women during World War II and the Holocaust. The exhibit includes the stories of women who enlisted in the Allied armies to fight the Nazis, and the Israeli female paratroopers who parachuted into enemy territory and were caught and murdered at the hands of the Nazis.
The museum is located in Givat Chaviva and is open free to the public, Sunday through Thursday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please call the museum in advance to arrange a guided tour, at 04-630-9201 or 04-630-9261.
5. Limor Livnat to Activists: I Do Not Envy the Prime Minister
by Avi Yellin
Minister of Culture and Sport Limor Livnat told Likud activists Thursday evening that “I do not envy the prime minister because I know he is in distress. It isn’t easy to face an American President.” The Likud Minister was addressing a meeting of party activists in Be'er Sheva.
Livnat was referring to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s press conference on Thursday where he announced that the government would temporarily freeze construction for Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria. The official announcement came after several months of intense American pressure on Netanyahu to halt all Jewish development in Israel’s heartland. Livnat insinuated that the freeze will do nothing to advance the State of Israel’s interests but that the prime minister is being forced into the discriminatory policy by the government of the United States.
“I'm having trouble feeling good about this unilateral decision which prevents the people of Judea and Samaria from even building a porch onto their homes. In return we got nothing. No one will appreciate the great sacrifice we are making. This policy will hurt us and I do not envy the prime minister.”
Minister without portfolio Yossi Peled also attended the conference and expressed skepticism as to whether negotiations with the American backed Palestinian Authority would even result from the government’s decision to freeze construction. “I wish I was wrong,” he said. “But it is important to remember that this policy is limited to the next ten months. I will not lend a hand to endangering the existence of the State of Israel.”
6. Min. Begin Promises Vigorous Construction after 10 Month Freeze
by Gil Ronen
The decision to vote in favor of a government decision to temporarily freeze construction in Judea and Samaria was not an easy one, Minister Benny Begin told Arutz Sheva Thursday. “We considered the matter carefully and in the overall balance, despite the great difficulty in the decision, we need to weigh its advantages as opposed to its disadvantages,” he said.
Begin stated that the freeze would indeed end ten months from now. “In the decision there is a clear clause that says that after the suspension, the government will go back to implementation of the policy of previous governments, in whose times there was a marked increase in settlement.”
"After the ten months construction will be renewed, and it will be renewed not to the level it has been at in recent months, but to the level it was at before August 2008,” he promised.
It could have been worse
"On the one hand,” the minister explained, “things need to be examined in the context of the situation we were in seven months ago, when [US Presiden Obama confronted us with an international demand to impose upon ourselves a total freeze of all construction. They wanted a situation in which not a single brick would be laid. Of course we could not agree to this demand. In the meantime we thought, and I agreed to this, that if this decision will strengthen Israel's international standing, and houses and buildings will continue to be built in Judea and Samaria, and new residents will enter the communities, then this decision will also have advantages.”
The minister-without-portfolio said that the nationalist public should form its opinion on the Netanyahu government by comparing it to previous governments. “In 2000 [E Barak offered to cede the PLO 95% of the territory and to carry out a land swap on all the rest. He also wanted to give up Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount. [E Olmert's Kadima government proposed a deal that would concede 98% of the total territory of Judea, Samaria and Gaza and to forgo Israeli sovereignty on the Mount of Olives. The 'Holy Basin' was to be administered by Arab states. The Likud would never think of making such offers,” he noted.
7. New Iranian Protests Slated for December 7
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Despite dropping out of major world headlines, the Iranian pro-democracy dissident movement is still active. New anti-regime protests are slated for December 7, Iran's official Student Day. In a preemptive crackdown, the Islamic Republic has been arresting students across the country.
According to figures from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI), dozens of Iranian university students have been arbitrarily arrested and prosecuted this month. Students have been detained by police throughout Iran, including at four separate academic institutions in the capital Tehran. In many cases, the authorities are not releasing any information about those individuals taken into custody.
Some of the students have already been sentenced to prison terms or lashings. Other students have been expelled from their universities or subjected to university disciplinary procedures due to their alleged anti-regime activities.
ICHRI links the new crackdown to protests expected on December 7.
"In order to silence the student movement, a wholesale crackdown on Iranian students is underway, which not only violates their rights, but also disrupts their studies and the lives of their families," said Hadi Ghaemi, a spokesperson for the ICHRI.
Iranian citizens initially took to the streets in mass numbers in the aftermath of Iran's tenth presidential election, held June 12, when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected in what opponents say was a planned fraud. Iranian authorities deployed police and elite Basij militia forces, as well as imported Hizbullah and Hamas units, to violently put down the protests, which had taken on a broadly anti-regime tone. According to pro-democracy sources, hundreds of people were killed by Iranian government forces, with thousands of others injured. Smaller anti-Islamic Republic protests and activities have continued sporadically and in different forms for the past five months, despite the arrests and trials of many dissidents.
According to the United Persian Organization (UPO), an organization promoting regime change in Iran, the "people of Iran are beyond disputed election results. They demand an Iran without theocracy, without [t Islamic Republic." The UPO, which is promoting mass participation in the December protests, says that "Iranians from all walks of life will join students in demonstrations all across Iran to demand freedom, democracy and secularism, and an end to the current regime."
The UPO and Iranian pro-democracy movement activists inside and outside Iran are calling on people around the world to hold rallies in support of the Iranian dissidents on December 7. "Americans, Europeans, Asians and Africans - we all have to stand behind [t Iranian people. It is our duty as human beings," UPO declared. In particular, university students have been called upon to hold rallies on their campuses worldwide.
