By Nadia Matar
October 3, 2004
This is the 3rd part of a 3-part series. Links to the previous parts appear at left.
Now that we have shown that there definitely is cause for a historical comparison between the [Expulsion Authority chief Yonatan Bassi] letter to the residents of Gush Katif and the letter from the Judenrat to the Jews of Berlin, and we have demonstrated that many others in the public sphere in Israel use terminology from the period of the Holocaust, we must attack the second argument against my letter: as if my statements constitute incitement to violence.
The following is the relevant section of the Penal Code, 1977 (as amended in Amendment no. 66, on May 22, 2002): 144d2. Incitement to Violence or Terror [amendment: 2002(3)] (a) One who publicly calls to commit an act of violence or terror, or issues a statement of praise, sympathy, or encouragement for an act of violence or terror, support of it or identification with it (in this section: inciting publication), and in accordance with the content of the inciting publication and the circumstances in which it was publicized, there is a real possibility that it will lead to the performance of an act of violence or terror, is punishable by five years imprisonment. (b)In this section, "an act of violence or terror" is an offense that harms a person's body or places a person in danger of death or in danger of serious injury.
In other words, a call that is liable to constitute the offense of incitement must include an explicit call for inflicting serious bodily injury to someone. What connection does this have to my letter to Bassi, in which all I did was draw a historical parallel between two documents, and appeal to Bassi to resign from his contemptible position?
But now that the subject of incitement has entered the public discourse -- I wish to direct the attention of Police Minister Gideon Ezra and the Attorney-General to clear calls of incitement to murder and violence, that for some reason have not been subject to any legal treatment. The inciters have not yet been questioned or placed on trial. Could this ensue from the fact that the inciters are situated on the left side of the Israeli political map? The following is a collection from among a lengthy list of such incitement (some of the quotations were found in the archives of the Hatzofeh newspaper):
- Prof. Zeev Sternhal, Haaretz, May 11, 2001: justifies Arab terror against settlers, calls upon the Arabs to murder settlers, and encourages them to place explosive charges, but only on the eastern side of the Green Line. "There is no doubt regarding the legitimacy of the armed resistance in the territories themselves. If the Palestinians had a bit of sense, they would concentrate their struggle against the settlements. [...] They would similarly refrain from placing explosive charges on the western side of the Green Line." The Women in Green movement lodged a complaint with the police against Sternhal, accusing him of encouraging an act of terror and incitement to murder settlers. The response of the police was: "there is no criminal guilt" in Sternhal's statements.
- Yonatan Gefen, Maariv, May 1998: "Secular Israel is the occupied territories of the religious parties. If the secular desire to live here, they have no choice but to start an intifada. Yes, I am prepared to throw the first stone." Here, as well, the police decided that there was no need to investigate these statements.
- Sheike Levi, Yedioth Tikshoret, November 2003: "The settlers are lunatics, I get angry even if I only hear about them. [...] I cannot tolerate small children with peyot [sidelocks], that they have a mori [a traditional Yemenite teacher], who teaches them to be Yemenites and not Israelis. I wanted to grab their mori and break his bones."
- Ha-Kibbutz newsletter, August 1995: "They [the settlers] are not my brothers. [...] A civil war will be a war [...] I will run to it [...] and I will crush their flesh with mighty blows, to rout them. [...] I will go forth to the foe in order to fight, for once, a justified war. [...] Much blood will be shed."
- Michael Roeh, Meretz faction, June 1998: "We have established anti-ultra-Orthodox reconnaissance units that will knock off the heads of the ultra-Orthodox."
- Yonatan Gefen, Maariv, 1996: dreams of the assassination of Netanyahu: "I was angry, and I wrote that I had a wet dream that I shot Bibi Netanyahu twice. They didn't print this. And why is it permitted to print [...], while they continually reject my wet dream about rubbing out Bibi Netanyahu?"
- Hadashot newspaper, October 1992: "The ultra-Orthodox should be hung from electric poles."
- Haolam Hazeh, Uri Avneri, November 1988: "The time has come to bury them [the settlers]."
- Davar, Zeev Sternhal, April 1988: "Fascism cannot be stopped with rational arguments. This can be stopped only by force, and when there is willingness to risk a civil war. When necessary, we shall have to forcibly deal with the settlers in Ofrah or in Eilon Moreh. Only a person who is willing to advance against Ofrah with tanks will be capable of curbing the fascist drift that threatens to inundate Israeli democracy."
- Yoel Marcus, Haaretz, July 9, 2004, an article entitled "Don't Try and Frighten Us with Bloodshed": "They should not try to frighten a nation - tens of thousands of whose sons were killed in wars to ensure its very existence -- with [the prospect of] the shedding of blood in the cause of peace."
- MK Abu Vilan, from the Yahad party, in an interview with Ari Shavit, Haaretz, September 5, 2004: "If, Heaven forbid, they will force us, we will be compelled to open fire [against the settlers]. [...] It will be necessary to pull the trigger, slowly, responsibly, coolheadedly, and intelligently."
- Ami Ayalon, the former head of the General Security Service, in an interview in Yedioth Ahronoth, November 14, 2003: suggests eliminating the "problematic" settlers who would refuse to willingly be evacuated of their own free will: "I will say this in clear words: There is more than one Altalena in the life of every state or nation. [...] The political leadership in the State of Israel has already taken difficult decisions when the alternative was clear, and in the future the political leadership will have to take difficult decisions when the alternative is clear." Anyone who is familiar with the Altalena episode (in which sixteen Jews, Ben-Gurion's political rivals, who were swimming, unarmed, in the sea towards the coast, were coldbloodedly murdered by the Palmah under the command of Yitzhak Rabin) knows that the call to conduct an "Altalena" against a political rival is incitement to murder that rival. The Women in Green lodged a complaint with the Attorney-General for Ayalon's inciting statements.
Talia Sasson wrote in her reply: "After an examination of this matter, it was decided that what Mr. Ami Ayalon said in the context of the interview that is the subject of the complaint does not constitute a criminal transgression. It is our understanding that Mr. Ami Ayalon did not call for the implementation of a violent act against settlers, but rather estimated that when it will be necessary to evacuate settlements, there will be a certain percentage of inhabitants who will not consent to be evacuated from the settlements of their own free will. In such a situation, he maintains, the state will have no alternative other than to confront anyone who will not obey the legal order of the elected government. As was noted, I did not find any transgression in these statements." In other words, Talia Sasson, on behalf of the State Attorney's Office, justifies the cold blooded murder of settlers, just because they would refuse to be evacuated of their own free will.
In light of all the above, the conclusion to be drawn is unequivocal: the offensive launched against my letter has a single purpose -- this is a Bolshevik attempt to stifle the National Camp, and prevent it from expressing its strong opposition to Ariel Sharon's deportation plan, a plan that Sharon is dictatorially imposing on the public, against the wishes of the majority of the people. In the last elections, a majority of the people voted for Sharon, because he convinced us that Amram Mitzna's unilateral withdrawal plan from Gaza would be disastrous for the country. To our amazement, after his victory, Sharon decided to push through Amram Mitzna's plan! In this manner Sharon stole our votes and deceived the people!
The broad support from the people that I received in light of the blatant attempt to block my freedom of expression -- the many telephone calls, the e-mails, and the faxes of support and encouragement - prove to me, once again, that the majority of the public has a healthy spirit, loves the Jewish People, and loves its Homeland and its Heritage. Our problem is with our weak and galut (diaspora-like) political leadership, which demeans itself before the enemy in an attempt to curry favor. This is a political leadership lacking a Jewish backbone, without roots, without values, without loyalty to the people of Israel, the Torah of Israel, and the Land of Israel.
This corrupt leadership will never succeed in silencing us. We shall continue to proclaim before the whole world: Eretz Israel belongs to the People of Israel, in accordance with the Torah of Israel, and no Jew has the right to hand it over to the enemy. With God's help, the people of Israel shall be victorious. I will conclude with Ariel Sharon's words from nine years ago, in the interview in Kfar Habad:
"On the occasion of the New Year, I want to address the people (not the government, because there's no one to talk to there): In this difficult hour, you must reveal courage and spiritual powers, and understand that if you desire independent existence, you must be prepared to struggle for Eretz Israel. Eretz Israel is the 'desirable land,' but it is also a harsh land in which we must contend, both with ourselves and with our brothers. I naturally would want to wish you all that true peace, tranquility, and security would reign here -- but what the Jews really need as the new year approaches is to return to themselves, to walk with Jewish pride, and to act as a real people; and above all, to be ready for the struggle as the time of testing approaches.
I want to wish the entire Jewish people, in Israel and in the Diaspora, that this shall truly be a good year, and that we will finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, with the removal of the current government and the establishment of a Jewish government that shall act as such in all realms."
To these words by Ariel Sharon from nine years ago, we can only add: Amen, May it be G-d's Will!
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