WIG: Katsav Declares Pollard A National Consensus Issue

Women in Green Media Release - January 26, 2004

Our Meeting with President Katzav

Women In Green have been aware for some time that the overwhelming majority of the Jewish People, after living with continual Arab terror for three long years, are against the creation of another Arab State within Biblical Israel. The problem was how to get the general public to become aware that these are the facts. Certainly, you can not get this information from the general media. It goes out of its way to give the impression that the majority of people go along with Prime Minister Sharon in his advocacy of another Arab State in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. This in spite of the fact that the Arabs in a truly racist and anti-democratic fashion support that the Jews be uprooted from their homes. Traditionally and historically, Judea, Samaria and Gaza and the Jewish communities located therein, have always been part and parcel of the Jewish Homeland. Sadly, it is this area that is to make up a major part of the new Arab state that is to be created.

Accordingly, the 350,000 signatures that Women In Green have gathered by visiting the cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beer Sheva, Kiryat Gat, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Herzliyah, Netanyah Petach Tikva, Kiryat Ono, Tiberias, Safed, Kiryat Shmonah and many, many others is truly representative of how the Jews in Israel feel about the creation of another Arab State alongside of Israel. That is why we welcomed the opportunity to visit with President Katzav to convey to him these facts. Prime Minister Sharon has deliberately and totally ignored the wishes of his people in that regard. He has been faxed each and every page of the Petition, directed to him by 350,000 citizens of Israel. They have implored him not to support the establishment of another Arab state in their midst. Sharon has furthermore disregarded the Likud Party Platform on the basis of which he was elected. That Platform specifically rejects the creation of an Arab Palestinian state within Biblical Israel.

Our Jewish People have witnessed Arab terror at close hand and properly concluded that the majority of the Arabs wish to destroy the Jewish State of Israel. To establish another Arab state alongside of Israel is not only a reward for Arab terror, but it will encourage and promote such Arab terror in the future. In the schooling of their children and in their propaganda the Arabs refuse to recognize the Jewish State of Israel, nor are they willing to live in peace with it. It is thus reasonable for our Jewish citizens to conclude that the Arabs will not change their stance in the foreseeable future.

At the time our delegation from our organization, of men and women, met with President Katzav, we conveyed to him the following:

We presented him with a sample of over 100,000 of the over 350,000 signatures we had previously obtained. The President's office had called us not to bring the entire amount of signatures, but merely a sample of them. The President's office suggested we bring 5 such boxes, but we actually brought them 7, because we wanted there be over 100,000 such signatures. We pointed out to President Katzav that these signatures reveal the true feeling of the Jewish People in Israel, with regard to the creation of another Arab State in their homeland. This attitude of our Jewish people is not properly reported in the media. Many people are unaware that they are part of a great majority who feel that way. When Prime Mister Sharon advocates the creation of such an Arab state, he is acting in a dictatorial fashion. The Will of the People is opposed to what he intends to do. By the way, the electorate had chosen Prime Minister Sharon in the last election, on the basis of his Party's Platform. This platform specifically states that it is opposed to the creation of another Arab State in our midst.
Recent polls in America, clearly indicate that approximately 70% of Americans are opposed to the creation of another Arab State within Biblical Israel. This reflects the sentiment of millions of Americans who do not support President Bush's present "Road Map" Proposal. During our meeting a letter written by the Presidents of American Committee for the Preservation of the Land and People of Israel and National Unity Coalition, representing over 200 groups of Christians and Jews who are opposed to the creation of such an Arab State within Biblical Israel, was presented to President Katzav. A Full Page Ad to that effect appeared in the Jerusalem Post's local and international edition as well as the French edition of that paper, on the Friday, January 23, 2004, preceding our meeting with President Katzav.
At this meeting we presented to President Katzav a Historical and Archeological Map of Judea and Samaria showing the Jewish Biblical roots to their homeland. This map was meticulously made up by two of our devoted members, who spent hundreds of hours of research verifying the facts stated therein.
Our spokesperson Nadia Matar urged the President to do all in his power to obtain the release of our Prisoners of War Ron Arad, Zecharia Baumel, Yehuda Katz, Zvi Feldman, Guy Hever, and Jonathan Pollard. The President responded to this latter plea of Nadia's by saying that just today he had mentioned the release of these prisoners while he was paying a shiva call to a family of a soldier in the north, killed by the Hizbullah. However, he indicated that the media does not always relay such statements he makes in that regard. As to Jonathan Pollard, the President stated that both the left and the right were unanimously united in their efforts to bring Jonathan home.

Referring to the massive number of signatures we had obtained against the formation of an Arab state, President Katzav was of the opinion that Prime Minister Sharon would bring the question of such importance to the People for its decision. He thought the procedure for this would be a Referendum, submitted to the People of Israel for its decision.

Nadia and several of our women responded that no one has the right to give any part of the Land of Israel to a foreign entity. Ben Gurion as early as 1937 recognized this fact at a World Zionist Conference, and it has been often repeated since then. Esther Beit Halachmi, one of our women, expressed this view to the President, in an eloquent manner. The banners that were posted on the boxes we presented to the President carried the message that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish People of Israel eternally.

President Katzav urged our organization to remain steadfast in our national beliefs, and praised our organization for its courage and convictions. As a result we, in Women In Green, were strengthened by the words and encouragement that the President gave to our delegation.

Ruth and Nadia Matar