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Yehudit Tayar lives in the Shomron with her husband and children, and is a veteran spokesperson for the Settlement Movement.
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By Yehudit Tayar
December 13, 2006
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I have had the dubious opportunity of meeting with many varied representatives of foreign countries during the last thirty or so years since I have served as one of the spokespeople of the Settlement Movement in particular, and Israel in general.
There have been many occasions when I was doubtful if I should actually meet with these people who are on the most part locked in their own agenda and ignorant of the history of my people and Land. Why knock my head against the wall?, I wonder each time. Then, feeling that since we Jews have little or no platform to air our case, I usually give in and meet with these "all-knowing superior-feeling human rights" people.
Last week I again against my better judgment agreed not only to meet with three such people, but agreed to take them around in Hevron, and Samaria .
During the trip which was coordinated by Gro Wenske; perhaps one of the truest and most loyal friends of the Jewish people and Israel; I took the time and care to present our guests with the history of the areas wherein we traveled, giving both Biblical and modern history.
In Hevron we met with my friend; David Wilder; our spokesman for Hevron who took the time and effort to meet us in and take us through the Museum in Bet Hadassah, which today serves as the memorial museum for the Jewish community in Hevron destroyed by the pogroms carried out by the Moslems in 1929.
The three young people, two men and a woman are here from Norway and live amongst the Moslems in Bethlehem , Hevron and the Old City of Jerusalem. They belong to a so-called international human rights organization and this was basically the first opportunity they had to be exposed to "our side" of the situation.
I understand the well meaning people who travel thousands of miles in order to try and alleviate some of the suffering of people who are living in very difficult circumstances. I understand the frustration felt by these "naïve" foreigners when shown how the Moslem Arabs are living in the areas under the Palestinian Authority/Hamas.
I do not understand at all how they accept the fact that terror organizations like the Fatah and Hamas use civilians as human shields and specifically hide themselves, their terror cells and weaponry inside of these civilian populations. I do not accept the accusation that we Israelis, we Jews are culpable for the terror. I do not accept the blame for the suffering of the Moslems who are used by pawns by those who instead of protecting their rights and trying to achieve peaceful coexistence have been intentionally preventing the situation from improving and educate and call for continuous violence directed against the Jewish citizens and State of Israel.
I was appalled to hear one of these visitors ask me if I did not think that it was a lot of nerve that the Bible, Israel and the United States opposed the world on the issue of Jerusalem and other "conquered" lands -- this from one who maintains that he is a member of the clergy.
Touring around and recounting our personal and national experiences of loss and showing the grim proof of the terror attacks directed against us, and telling of our pain and losses of loved ones meant nothing to these human rights activists.
They continued to see and hear only what they are programmed to see and hear. They continue to view the barricades, road blocks, barb wire, and enormous fences put up by Israel in the useless, failing attempt to prevent the loss of precious innocent lives as something that the Jews want. They construe that Israel put all of this there in order to make the lives of the Moslems miserable, and difficult.
How sad and how infuriating it is that this is how the world views us. After the long and heartbreaking road of continuous pogroms directed against us throughout the decades, we are finally back home by moral right and not by force.
We allow these foreigners in to our country and let them go to the Moslems and give them support, we stupidly give them permission to go to the border checks where our sons and daughters in uniform are forced to endanger themselves in order to prevent the next terror attack from happening. This they do not wish to see or understand. They merely see Jewish soldiers with guns forcing Arabs to wait in line to get in or out of certain areas.
How can they be so blind to the truth? How can they be silent to those that are the cause of the misery and death to both sides? How dare they come here and talk against our G-d, our Bible, our Land, and our people?
Toward the end of their visit one of them had the audacity to say, "you pack people up and ship them to your country in order to ensure an Jewish majority". This sentence does more than anything else in portraying what these "human rights activists" believe. They believe that we, the Jewish people have no rights to exist as a nation in our sovereign Land. They believe that we have no right to protect ourselves from terror. They disclaim our history, our Bible, our Land, our nation and our G-d.
I don't know if it was right to meet with them or not. I do know I will not be silent. Never again will we allow lies, distorted half-truths, hatred and blindness to go unanswered. So I guess the next time I am asked to meet with some of these visitors I again will meet with them and at least do my best to tell the truth and show the reality of the situation.
Never will I take for granted the fact that we, the Jewish people have finally come home to our Land. The Land promised to us. I only pray that we are worthy of it.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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