Dear Family and Friends Shalom,

One week ago we celebrated Jerusalem Day, recalling that day, in 1967, when a divided Jerusalem was united. Although many prefer to forget the circumstances, and recalling them is not 'politically correct' I'll take the plunge.

Syria and Egypt had united to form the United Arab Republic. In May 1967, Egypt declared war on Israel by 1) closing the Suez canal to all ships, flying whatever flag, who had stopped at, or intended to stop at any Israeli port; 2) demanding the removal of UN troops, stationed in Sinai since 1956, by order of the UN Security council, without even convening the UN security council; and 3) closing the straights of Tiran, an international body of water leading to the Israel port of Eilat, to all vessels heading for Eilat. Three separate 'causus belli'.

When weeks of international diplomacy had no effect Israel, fearing for its very existence, fired the opening shots of that war which had been declared by Egypt and Syria, calling on Jordan to remain on the side-lines. Disregarding messages from the international community, King Hussein ordered his army to open fire, from the West Bank, then under his complete control, on Israel. Israeli Jerusalem was shelled from eastern Jerusalem, under Jordanian control. To remind you, there was not even a dream then of a Palestinian state. There was no PA even though there was anti-Israel terrorism.

The coastal towns of Nathania, Herzliah, Tel Aviv, where the width of Israel was between 10 and 20 miles, were also shelled. But in six days the tables turned. The rest is history. The modern history of the Six Day War.

This week we celebrated Shavuot, the festival of Weeks, the culmination of seven weeks of counting the omer (barley) beginning the day after Passover. The festival of the giving of the Law, well over three thousand years ago. When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, this became the festival when the first fruits were presented, a tradition maintained even though the Temple no longer stands. And thanks to the abundant rains this winter, the fruit is a joy to see and taste.

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During the thirty two months that I have been writing these newsletters there is one subject I have never mentioned. Not even when I have pointed to the many double-standards which are applied to Israel and the Jewish people. I am not sure why. Perhaps I have preferred to stick to the "big picture" and to steer away from involving my readers in specific issues.

But now, when Israel has once again been pressured to release Palestinian terrorists, who have been sentenced in court for murdering Israelis, and who have, on their early release, made a bee-line to pay homage to their mentor, Yasser Arafat, I feel I can no longer remain aloof. Jonathan Pollard was sentenced by an American court for passing secrets to Israel. The information he gave, to an American ally which should have been receiving that information automatically, related to Arab arms shipments. His actions caused no American, or other, agents to be exposed or otherwise hurt. This contrasts with the deeds of other convicted American spies who passed information to enemies of the USA, information which was harmful to American security, and which also resulted in the exposure, and death, of many American agents in the field.

Those spies, convicted long after Jonathan, are all free men today. There is an inconsistency here which is puzzling and alarming. Requests for pardon for Jonathan have been turned down although he has no 'blood on his hands'. One cannot but wonder why those requests are consistently being refused? And why Israel is expected to act differently?

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This week I begin, once again, with Carolyn Glick. Not the complete article but merely excerpts. Contrary to the current controversy in the US and British media, where journalists have been accused of manipulating quotes thereby changing their meaning, the excerpts I have chosen do not, in any way, contradict the article as a whole. But then, I am not a journalist!!

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But the peace process will go on.

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And before we get our spirits up to high, let us just check out how the Palestinian public is being prepared for peace with Israel. Obviously we expect that, as step one, the Palestinian Authority-controlled media will tone down its vitriolic attacks against Israel. Here are some examples taken from the PA website and published at the same time that the peace talks were being conducted.
From: imra@netvision.net.il

The following are descriptions of cartoons appearing on the website of the Palestinian National Authority State Information Service - International Press Centre

#1 Uncle Sam in death mask recruiting poster: "I want you for the "Iraqi Freedom" Join our forces and massacre the Iraqis"
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_Carcature/ipc-e_car7.html

#2 Ariel Sharon with whip and Palestinian citizen tied to a post. Sharon: "You must stop the violence"
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_Carcature/ipc-e_car1.html

#3 Ariel Sharon in bloody shirt holding a bloody butcher knife over a bleeding baby on a butcher block in a butcher shop with two bodies hanging on meat hooks with a sign "Palestinian Blood" and another sign "sale".
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_Carcature/ipc-e_car2.html

#4 Sharon in army uniform holding a list and a pencil. Next to him is a soldier holding binoculars asking "We've killed 80 Palestinian, is that enough". Sharon replies "Just 19 more..."
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_Carcature/ipc-e_car3.html

#5 A Palestinian women holding a Palestinian flag in one hand throws a rock that bounces off of the helmet of one of two Israeli soldiers in a tank. One Israeli soldier is telling the other "I told you before all of them are terrorists" www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_Carcature/ipc-e_car4.html

#6 Ariel Sharon with blood dripping all over him holds a knife dripping blood. Shimon Peres holds a mop to clean up the blood on the floor.
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_Carcature/ipc-e_car5.html

From that small sampling, we can be fully confident that the Palestinian children will have new text books where hate of Israel and the Jews will no longer appear. Or does it mean that they will continue learning hate from their old text books? Not sure of the correct answer? So check out some of the prize winning letters from Palestinian children. I am not sure that there were no letters of yearning for peace, but if there were, they were not chosen by the PA to be published. By contrast, in Israel, victims of terror attend work-shops, courses and classes on forgiving, forgetting and stretching out their hands in peace to our Arab neighbours.

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Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin June 1, 2003 Visit our website, click here: http://www.pmw.org.il
for further information, contact PMW Director, Itamar Marcus. Material may be quoted, citing PMW as the source.
The Winning Entries in the Palestinian Authority's Children's Letter Writing Contest

The Palestinian Authority [PA] Education Ministry has announced the 10 first place winners from among one million letters submitted in a children's letter writing contest. What is evident from the PA selections is that the PA Education Ministry continues to promote hatred and violence as values for Palestinian youth.

The ten winning letters all deal with the conflict, and promote hatred and killing. Not one promotes peace with Israel. The themes include longing for Israel's destruction, desire to kill Israelis, and hatred of the US. Israelis are defined as the enemy, Israeli soldiers are depicted as taking bottles of blood of murdered children, and Israel PM Sharon is vilified.

If among the million of letters submitted, peace promoting themes were present and yet the PA leadership refused to include even one among the winners, it means the Palestinians are continuing their hate education. On the other hand, that there was not even one peace-promoting letter it is equally disturbing, as an ominous warning of how successful the PA education has been in creating a generation dedicated to hatred of Israel. PMW has noted repeatedly that the PA education to hatred and violence, has been an accurate indicator of PA goals and behavior in the past.

The following are [some excerpts] from the letters as they appeared in the official ad published by the Palestinian Authority in the daily, Al-Quds, .May 28th, 2003

1- "A letter to my enemy, ... I am Lara from Lod, and I am an eleven year-old girl living in the city of Ramallah [in the West Bank]. I used to accept that Ramallah is a substitute for Lod, and that the large sea has been exchanged for a small pool. However, in spite of this you stole my simple dream from me. You came to my little house and conquered it; you killed, you destroyed, and you carried out arrests. Therefore you do not deserve [to have] Lod, and after this day I will no longer accept the small pool. I will dream of the sea at Jaffa and the sunshine in Lod." [ed note: Jaffa and Lod are Israeli cities {with a mixed Arab and Jewish Israeli population b.r.}] [Lara Amar Al-Janan School, Ramallah, Sixth Grade]

2- "After we suffered from the attack upon my brother, the shahid, Majdi, on April 24 th 2002, I also lost my father, Naji, forty days later, when he was [killed] by the occupation.

"I hurried to look for you, my father, in the corners of the houses but I did not find you. I look at your empty bed, and see you as if in Hell. I am the one who saw the death of his brother at the moment that he became a shahid [martyr b.r.]. My heart has turned into a sad block of pain. One day I will buy a weapon and I will blow away the fetters. I will propel my living-dead body into your arms, my father, and you will gather me into your hands. " [Mahmoud Naji Chalilah, Jaba Boys Elementary [School] Jenin-Seventh Grade]

3- "We celebrated Mothers' Day and then we went to a family nearby to join them for the celebration and give them our blessings because their son is missing. My brother, [directed to an Israeli soldier b.r.]do you know why he is missing? He died after one of your comrades shot him, and he was killed at the age of 14.

"Did your mother celebrate Mothers' Day? I don't think you celebrated with her because of the assignments you have been given to carry out against the Palestinians. I suggest that if you pay her a late visit, you should bring her a gift: a bottle of the blood of a Palestinian child whom you have murdered on the way and whose mother is still looking for him. I am sure that your mother would be very satisfied with this gift."
[Jhouk Tarek abd Al-Chalim Anavta Girls' [School], Tenth Grade]

4 "To Sharon, without any greetings,
" I would like to tell you the secret of my hatred towards you. I do not hate you because of your religion, because I believe in Musa [Moses], may his memory be blessed. I hate you because you hate the children of my nation. 'We love peace just as much you love war.
[Saja Etzam Marei Mahmoud Alhamshari School, Tulkarem, Seventh Grade]

5 "To Mrs. Cynthia and Mr. Craig, the parents of the Shahida [Died for Allah] of the Palestinian people, the American, Rachel Corey, [who died when trying to prevent an Israeli bulldozer from destroying Palestinian weapon tunnels in the Gaza Strip], Washington.

"Rachel did not cross the ocean in vain. It was in order to turn her body, which was small in size, into something great in terms of love and hope, [to be] like a protective shield to those who are exploited under the occupation. She came to take part in a symbolic trial against the president of her country, George Bush, because she knew that your president's administration obeys the Israeli government. The sharpest proof of this is that your country's government did not condemn the killing of your daughter, but sought to conduct an investigation into the incident." Mahmoud Ibrahim Alsatiti Jilabun Elementary School for Boys Ninth Grade

reports-subscribe@pmw.org.il

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Date: 1 June 2003 Israel Television Channel Two News correspondent Ehud Yaari showed a tape this evening of the meeting Yasser Arafat held in Ramallah with children to mark International Children's Day.

Arafat devoted his remarks to encouraging the children to be "shahid" (die for the cause), noting that one shahid who dies for the sake of Jerusalem has the power equal to 40 of the enemy dying.

Yaari noted that Arafat said nothing in his remarks about peace or reconciliation.

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Not everything is black though. There are rays of light. There are Arab-Muslims who are prepared to stand up and be counted among those who appreciate American democracy, who know what is really happening in Arab "moderate" countries. Or so it would appear as you read the article below, written by an Arab-Muslim student in the USA. But then, as you read it, and absorb what the writer is actually saying, the rays of light fade and darkness engulfs you once again.

This article appears in full.

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OPEN LETTER FROM AN ARAB-AMERICAN STUDENT Oubai Mohammad Shahbandar FrontPageMagazine.com, June 2, 2003
On May 9th, a Saudi student at Arizona State University, Muhammad Al-Gurashi was arrested for direct connections to terror. He personally drove convicted terrorist supporter Faisal Al-Salmi on numerous occasions to President Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch apparently on a pre-terror reconnaissance mission. This April, the home of Hassan Alrafea, president of the ASU Muslim students' association, was raided by the FBI for suspected terror-links, confiscating their computers. But the left-wing political orthodoxy of our university prefers to stay silent on the matter.

In fact, we are not the only university in this country that has problems with its Saudi students covertly supporting terrorism. Sami Al Hussayen, a former president of the Muslim Students Association in his college in Idaho, was arrested by federal officials for his role in raising funds for Al-Qaeda's terror network. Academics rallied to his defense. At the same when ASU radical Muslim student Ahmad Saad Nasim faked a "hate crime" on himself, on two separate occasions the university's president held a press conference the same day denouncing the alleged hate against Muslim Americans that 9-11 had supposedly inspired. Yet, the ASU administration was silent about the Islamist hate that led to the 9-11 attack itself.

When I, a proud American of Arab decent and Muslim faith, took a stand on behalf of the liberation of my oppressed Iraqi brethren, the ASU Muslim Students' Association personally attacked me for not being a real Muslim and announced to the ASU student body in editorials in the student paper that I, Oubai Mohammad Shahbandar [hated] Arabs and Muslims. There was no press conference by the president of this university or anyone else in his administration in behalf of this Muslim victim of Islamist hate.

We didn't land on terror, terror landed on us. But our professors tell us America is to blame, our universities sponsor "educational" programs designed to install in the American student a sense of shame for being American, and yet here we are on the cusp of a great struggle in human history between the forces of decency and democracy and tyranny and terror. Yet we are told America is to blame for terror.

We are told America's foreign policy is based on racist neo-imperialism; we are taught that national security is a foul epithet to be reviled; we are told the Jews and Israel are to blame for the hatred against us. We are told that multiculturalism and diversity classes are the bridges to world peace and an end to terrorism as we know it. We are told this even though the Saudi terrorists who slaughtered our fellow Americans that September morning were able to manipulate our generally open environment of tolerance to achieve their evil designs.

Despite all the all too evident signs of their malevolent intent, the murderers were given the benefit of the doubt by INS agents too wary to make judgments and leftist university officials who preferred to turn a blind eye to the danger emanating from their own campuses lest they lose their precious Saudi tuition dollars and donations or incur the wrath of the ACLU and other leftwing "civil liberties" organizations. We are told that despite evidence to the contrary most Saudi students are peaceful and accepting of our American culture.

Our radical professors tell us that the war on Iraq is racist, while the radicals on campus show their contempt for this proud Arab people and its liberation. In our history classes we are told to despise our founding fathers and traditional American principles; in our political science classes we are taught to fear our president and our own armed forces. We are told to hate men in women's studies and to hate white people in African studies. In Chicano literature courses we are taught that Arizona is Mexico and in Gay and Lesbian studies that the Bible is hate-literature.

America is the principle adversary of Islamist terror and whether by choice or birth we all inhabit the same danger zone. But our professors never teach us the truth--that the war on terror protects all Americans, white, brown, black, Asian, Arab, Jew, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, straight or gay from the despotic hatred of Islamist terrorism, which seeks our extermination. That's right, OUR extermination.

In sum, we are taught to hate everything except that which seeks our annihilation. The frontlines of this war stretch across the entire globe and into our classrooms, our homes, our places of worship, into every aspect of our everyday lives. But don't tell this to our tenured terror appeasers who hide behind the intellectual credentials that have been bestowed on them by the anti-American university system.

They have never known the humiliation of living under the iron rule of an Islamic despotism. I have. They have never tasted the cruel bitterness of forced silence in the shadows of a dictatorship. I have. They have never seen the face of evil. I have. For I was born and raised in Syria, the country enslaved by Hafez El-Assad. I was one of the fortunate victims of this tyranny because my family was able to emigrate to America, a land of freedom. Yet in the free universities of this country legitimacy is bestowed on the very forces that oppress my former countrymen and I am instructed to be compassionate towards my own oppressors and to be hostile to the country that has liberated me.

I have had to witness the post 9-11 "teach in" sponsored by our university president's "Campus Environment Team" entitled "Understanding the 'other,'" which sought to place moral equivalency between America and the terrorists who attacked us. I have had to listen to inanities about the attack like that of a member of the university-sponsored Diversity Awareness Programming Board who said, " we must remember that 9-11 was about diversity too." I have been subjected to the humiliating prospect of the university's anti-American, anti-war poetry reading, sponsored by our English Department last April.

I have had to watch our university president, Michael Crow, provide a platform for the former Swedish Ambassador so he could spill his anti-American bile before a university audience. I have had to listen to the Administration's guest Mary Francis Berry denounce the most tolerant nation in the world as a racist oppressor. I have had to walk daily by the mural plastered on the Memorial Union and sponsored by the university's "progressive coalition" and funded by the university itself which features a map of the United States with "Racist Nation" and "Bush is Racist" and "What about the Arabs" written across it.

This August I will be heading to Israel to study counter terrorism under a program hosted by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy. I, a Muslim Arab was able to attend this program largely due to the gracious sponsorship of David Horowitz, a Jew. No multicultural sensitivity class made that possible. I will not stand idly by as our professors and our universities pave the road for terror's long march into humanity's last sanctuary of freedom.

What contribution will you make to the cause of liberty, to our nation's security? I am a Muslim American Arab and I am willing to fight for my country. How about you?

CIJR's daily "ISRANET BRIEFING" is available by fax and e-mail.
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A little behind-the-scenes feature article in the Arab News, which appeared on "Best on the Web Today" as chosen by http://OpinionJournal.com. Interesting if you are looking for a change in profession. Hey, It's a Living http://www.arabnews.com/?page=0§ion=1&article=27038&d=5&m=6&y=2003

The Arab News has a cheery human-interest feature on Muhammad Saad Al-Beshi, "Saudi Arabia's leading executioner":

*** QUOTE ***

His first job came in 1998 in Jeddah. "The criminal was tied and blindfolded. With one stroke of the sword I severed his head. It rolled meters away." Of course he was nervous, then, he says, as many people were watching, but now stage fright is a thing of the past. . . .

As an experienced executioner, 42-year-old Al-Beshi is entrusted with the task of training the young. "I successfully trained my son Musaed, 22, as an executioner and he was approved and chosen," he says proudly. Training focuses on the way to hold the sword and where to hit, and is mostly through observing the executioner at work.

An executioner's life, of course, is not all killing. Sometimes it can be amputation of hands and legs. "I use a special sharp knife, not a sword," he explains. "When I cut off a hand I cut it from the joint. If it is a leg the authorities specify where it is to be taken off, so I follow that."

Al-Beshi describes himself as a family man. Married before he became an executioner, his wife did not object to his chosen profession. "She only asked me to think carefully before committing myself," he recalls. "But I don't think she's afraid of me," he smiles. "I deal with my family with kindness and love. They aren't afraid when I come back from an execution. Sometimes they help me clean my sword."

*** END QUOTE ***

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And on that uplifting note, I sign off. May I remind you once again, if you do not want to continue to receive my newsletters, or if your address should not be on my mailing list, please do not hesitate to advise me.

Beryl
www.ratzer-holyland.com