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Essays from Rabbi Meir Kahane zt"l hy"d
Excerpts from:
"It Cannot Continue..."14 Iyar 5739 - May 11, 1979 The Jewish Press
A message from Rabbi Meir Kahane and the Kach Movement (JDL of Israel) to: The Arabs of Eretz Yisrael:
The Almighty, G-d of Israel, who created Heaven and Earth and all that is in them; who guides history and in whose hands are the souls and destiny of all men; who chose the People of Israel to be His unique and special people; who created all lands and chose as His most desired one, the Land of Israel - gave the land, Eretz Yisraei, unto His people, in order to build there a Chosen state and society that would be a light unto the nations.
Arabs of Eretz Yisrael! We live today in a time of destiny. Through the mercy of the Almighty, the Jewish people have returned home and we live today in the beginning of the Final Redemption, may it come swiftly. And at the same time, there has begun a struggle. It is a struggle between the people of Israel on the one hand, and the Arab people, Ishmael, on the other. Both claim the Land.
We wish to speak to you about this struggle, because we know that so many others speak to you nonsense. We want you to know for yourselves what Jews of real faith and real Judaism believe, intend to do and why. Above all, we want the Jewish-Arab struggle placed within its true perspective. Let the world understand the religious nature of this struggle.
The pity is that most Jews do not understand you or your true feelings. People really believe that you can be bought with economic or social "progress." What contempt for you lies in a person who expects you to give up your national and religious demands in return for electricity and television! Not by bread alone does the Arab live. You are a proud people that truly believes that we have stolen the land from you. The fact that this is not true and that the land is Jewish does not change the fact that you truly believe otherwise. You will never give up that claim in return for being bought with materialism.
We know that the issue is not Hebron, or Shchem, or Judea or Samaria. We know that it is JERUSALEM, east and west. We know that it is Tel Aviv and Haifa. We know that it is, ultimately, the very existence of the Jewish state you see as a foreign body in the so-called Arab homeland. We know that only a fool or a knave expects you to agree to take half of what you believe to be your entire land. Above all, we know that the struggle for the land, Eretz Yisrael, is a struggle between the truth of Judaism or Islam.
It is not we who "incite" you. It is not "extremist" Jewish groups who cause you to hate Israel, as foolish politicians and writers say. We know that it was HerzI who incited you and Ben Gurion. And Golda, and Begin. And the Kibbutzim of Hashomer Hatzair. And Zionism itself. It is the Israeli soldier and flag and very state that infuriates you and moves you to vengeance. We know, despite all the self-delusion, that no Arab feels equal in a state whose national anthem speaks of the "soul of a Jew" yearning, and of Hatikva, the Jewish hope of return that was, for you, a nightmare. We know that a state in which the Law of Return applies to Jews and not to you is, for you, an alien land. We know that Israel, which was quite rightly and properly formed as a Jewish state so that we might have what you have in 20 of your own - can never be home for you.
And we remember how you tried to strangle this state at birth. We remember your refusal to even accept the U.N. Partition Plan of 1947 that would have created a tiny, grotesque state with a population already one-third Arab. We remember the 6,000 Jews who fell in that war you began, and we remember the 600 Jews who died in your riots of 1936-38 when there was no Jewish state. And we remember the Mufti, of cursed memory, and al-Kaukji. And we remember the Hebron pogrom of 1929 and the massacres of Jews in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Safed and all the others in 1920 and 1921. And we remember Trumpeldor and Tel Hai. And we have not the slightest doubt that you would do it again if we were ever so foolish to allow you. AND WE UNDERSTAND. AND WE UNDERSTAND YOU.
And because we are the few who are willing to see and understand, we know, above all, that there can never be real peace. Unlike those who think they can deceive you and who succeed only in deluding themselves, we know that no concessions short of the elimination of Israel will suffice for you, For you, there cannot be peace as long as there is a Jewish state, for the main issue in your minds is NOT peace but what you consider to be your rights, your entire land, your national destiny, your religious victory.
All this we understand and we understand you and how you think and why, and because we do, we will not move to commit national suicide in the manner of so many others. We know that every concession and every failure to assert our Jewish rights and obligations is seen by you as weakness and this only emboldens you. We know that our failure all these years to transfer Arabs from Eretz Yisrael has left in our midst a proud and hating people that is a time bomb waiting to explode. We know that as long as you are here there will be many more bombs in our streets. We know that the Arab birthrate guarantees the creation of yet another Cyprus or Northern Ireland here, as well as threatening the Jewish majority of Eretz Yisrael. We know that education makes you more dangerous, not less, and that the PLO leaders of the future will come from the universities we allow you to attend. We know that our liberal weakness leads to bolder attacks on Jewish women and men, assaults on Jews in Jerusalem. We know that the insane "autonomy" plan must lead to a "Palestine" entity that will be a magnet for the Israeli Arab and his radicalization.
And so, understanding your national and religious pride; knowing that you believe us to be thieves and the land to be yours; certain that there can never be any real peace between us - we hereby proclaim to you our words of halacha and true Judaism.
Listen to the beliefs of Jews of true and deep faith:1) Eretz Yisrael, in its entirety was given by G-d, the creator of all lands, unto His Chosen people, Israel.
2) There is no "Palestine" or "Palestinian people." We recognize you to be part of the Arab nation who settled illegally in our land when, against our will, we were forced into an Exile of 2,000 years, during which not a day went by without the Jew praying for the Great Return.
3) Jews have an OBLIGATION to reclaim all the Land of G-d and to declare Jewish sovereignty over any part that has been reclaimed. We have an obligation to settle everywhere in the Land, including the cities of the Bible. We have an obligation to reclaim Jewish property seized by the murderers of Jews in the days of Jewish weakness.
4) Failure to assert Jewish rights and obligations, especially through fear of the gentile, is a Hillul Hashem, desecration of the Name of the L-rd.
5) By Torah law, we offer you the status of Ger Toshav (resident stranger) in the Land, if you wish to remain. If you accept upon yourself the sovereignty of the Jewish people and G-d over the land of Israel in its entirety, you are welcome to remain with religious, cultural, social and economic rights but no political ones. If you are unwilling to accept this, we will do our utmost to complete the transfer of population begun in 1948 when hundreds of thousands of Jews fled Arab lands. We will move to transfer you to your own countries so that both peoples can live separately in peace.
6) We will seek to have Arab students unwilling to accept Jewish sovereignty removed from universities and ask that a fixed number of Arabs be expelled after every terrorist bomb outrage.
7) We call upon you to help end attacks on Jewish women and men in Jerusalem and elsewhere, for we will put an end to them. We will also act to end the relationships between Arab men and Jewish women that is now growing and that so desecrates the Name of G-d.
8) We will seek to remove all strangers from the Temple Mount until the time that the Holy Temple is rebuilt.
Again, we repeat our understanding of your views and beliefs. It is not in order to incite that we write these words. It is rather that we agree with you that a great religious struggle is being fought here and the proof of the L-rd, G-d of Israel, will be seen in total victory of the Jewish people in their entire land.
WE OFFER YOU THE HAND OF PEACE IF YOU SEEK TO REMAIN IN OUR LAND AS RESIDENT STRANGERS. IF NOT, WE OFFER TO AID EVERY ARAB WHO COMES TO US, TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY AND SETTLE ELSEWHERE. MAY THE ALMIGHTY OPEN ALL EYES TO THE TRUTH.
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