Dear Editor:

I recently attended the World Zionist Congress Conference in Jerusalem. I
was there the week of June 17-20, during which a suicide bomber blew himself
up on a crowded bus in Gilo on that Tuesday, killing 19 and wounding 70.
Another suicide bomber blew himself up near a hitchhiking stop in French
Hill on Wednesday, killing 7 and wounding 40. On June 20 a vicious attack
occurred in the home of the Shabo family in Itamar where a mother and three
children were murdered in cold blood. Two other children from the same
family were seriously wounded.

Despite this blood bath, the majority of Jews attending the Conference
continued to argue for a “democratic” state of Israel where Arabs should be
treated equally with Jews, and should have equal rights and privileges.
Although this vision of the “Peaceable Kingdom” flies in the face of all
evidence, especially the bloody rampage through which Israel is suffering,
the scheduled speakers at the Congress continued to parade their dream world
before us. Prof. Aharon Barak, President of the Supreme Court, MK Yossi
Sarid, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Minister of Defense were just three of the
scheduled speakers whose talks were filled with promises of “synthesis”,
“harmony”, “compatibility”, “loving”, and “peace.” They were so removed from
reality that it was painful to be subjected to their words.

The most offensive speaker, however,was Chaim Chesler, Treasurer of the
World Zionist Organization and Chairman of the Labor Meretz Movement. Mr.
Chesler stressed the importance of accepting all immigrants from the Former
Soviet Union even if they were non-Jews. He said, “I prefer them to those
Jews who pray three times a day and remain in Brooklyn.” This remark
prompted a storm of protest in the plenum. Despite this Mr. Chesler became
more adamant in his anti-Jewish position.

I thought that this sickening display was unique until the July 8 Jerusalem
Post report about MK Yosef Lapid and his reaction to the aliyah of 400
Americans to Israel last week. He was quoted as saying that Israel could
“do without” ultra-religious Jews. “Part of the problem is the character of
the immigration from the United States: it’s more orthodox,” said the Shinui
party head. The truth then struck me with tragic force. There are Jews in
Israel who hate Orthodox Jews. There are Jews in Israel who would deny
their Jewishness, preferring to be known as Israelis. These are the groupies
of the Shimon Peres camp. They would also follow the lead of someone like
Hebrew U. Prof. Moshe Maoz, who went on a government sponsored speaking tour
announcing that Jews fabricate their holy sites, referring specifically to
Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem, which he calls a Jewish “invention.”

So our enemies are in our midst. They are not only the Arab terrorists who
gleefully take Jewish lives, but the Jewish anti-Semites who would destroy
the Jewish character of the State of Israel. Just as the Arab killers must
be routed out of the country, so, too, must those who would de-Judaize
Israel lose their positions of power and influence. The State of Israel
will survive only as a Jewish State. It is time its enemies understood that
truth.

Helen Freedman

Executive Director

Americans For a Safe Israel

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 26th, 2002 and is filed under opinion.