JAHG-USA Newsletter: Week of 27 Tishrei, 5766 / October 30, 2005

Unsurprisingly, no one responded to last issue's question, "What should Israel do with the one million palestinian Arabs in its country?", by suggesting Israel should surrender its land to the PLO. Of those who answered, 80% opted for annexing the West Bank and Gaza and eliminating the PLO; the balance recommended driving all Arabs out of the land entirely. There were a couple of relevant comments:

Factual Background:
The Arabs in Israel have never opposed Jewish rule. Even the "palestinian" (stateless) Arabs prefer Jewish rule over that of other Arab regimes, having immigrated in large numbers into Israel's West Bank and Gaza Strip ever since Israel liberated them in 1967. No Arab wants to live under murderous Communist regimes like those in Egypt or Syria, and even the non-Communist nations of Jordan and Saudi Arabia cannot provide the wealth of economic opportunities found in the increasingly capitalist economy of Israel.

When the intifada (the PLO-coordinated revolutionary violence) began in the late 1980s, Arabs (even stateless "palestinians") constantly expressed disgust with the revolutionaries. And no wonder. Since the PLO began occupying portions of Israeli land in 1995, it has built a regime of enforced terror over the hapless Arab population. Thousands of Arabs are being tortured and/or murdered by PLO death squads who have brought the Red Terror to the Holy Land. Even the anti-Israel news media sometimes mention news reports of children being captured, tortured, and mutilated by PLO Communists, who then return to take their mother, torture her into a forced "confession" of not supporting the PLO, murder her, and dump her body in front of her own children — while making the impoverished orphans pay for the bullet. The relentless wave of PLO terror (modeled on the methods used by the Communists in Russia, China and other countries) is terrifying the Arab population into supporting an organization they bitterly hate.

And the Arabs have no ability to turn to Israel's side, for the Israeli government is abandoning them to full PLO control. Trapped with nowhere to run or hide, the Arabs are increasingly drafted by PLO gangs and forced to attack Israelis, whether as stone-throwing rioters or involuntary suicide bombers (who face the morbid choice of either carrying out the attack and dying, or of dying anyway after watching their family members tortured and murdered). Thus the cycle of revolutionary violence spirals out of control, armed with new Russian weapons and US taxpayer dollars.

Relevant Torah Principles:
1) Jewish Law states that any land that falls under Jewish control may not be relinquished, particularly for security reasons (protection from enemies).

2) The Israeli government, like any other, is required to ensure the security of the state and its citizens. When there is a terrorist or insurrectionary threat to the national security, Israel must wage rapid and decisive war to eliminate the source of the problem.

3) Until the Jubilee cycle is re-established (which requires the Messiah's prophetic vision to determine the tribal identity of every Jew), Jews are not required to expel gentiles from the land of Israel. Consequently, gentiles in Israel fall under Jewish protection. If an enemy is threatening those gentiles — and especially if that threat in turn creates a threat to Israel as a whole — Jews must strike hard at that enemy and defend both Jews and gentiles from the common threat. Under no circumstances may the Jews abandon those gentiles and allow them to come under the control of terrorists, thus multiplying the enemies of Israel.

Analysis:
The Arabs themselves are not the threat to Israel. The enemy is Communism, which is an outside influence sponsored by Soviet Russia, China, and certain other regimes. If the Arabs are protected by the Jews, they will be tremendous allies; if abandoned to the Communists, they will be drafted into a bloody war against Israel.

Thus it is mandatory not to expel Arabs, but rather to re-liberate the West Bank and Gaza Strip from PLO control, thus ensuring the Arabs come back under the Jewish protective umbrella. By officially annexing those areas as part of Israel, and by waging all-out war for the annihilation of the PLO, Israel would decisively and permanently end the anarchy and establish full security in all its borders — as existed for the first 20 years after the 1967 war. The PLO would also be deprived of much of its hostage population, and would be severely weakened. And all outside demands for surrender would be silenced.

Only one answer per e-mail address will be accepted; only e-mail addresses on our subscription list are eligible. Please send your input by Tuesday, November 8, 2005, 12pm PST.

This week's example:

We have removed the text, because this rabbi has since endorsed the proclamation.

Special News Flash:
Last Wednesday, terrorists of the Islamic Jihad organization struck with a suicide bombing in Hadera, Israel. The attacker waited until a sufficiently large mealtime crowd had gathered at an open-air market. He killed five people and injured at least 20 others; an AFP/Getty Images photo of the aftermath clearly shows women and a middle-aged man among the victims.

"'It was total chaos — I saw bodies lying everywhere, body parts and blood spread out on the ground,' said Edward Khalukay, a 49-year-old Russian immigrant who runs a nearby money-changing stand." So reported the LA Times (10/27/05).

The Islamic Jihad, which operates under Soviet Russian control through Egypt, Syria, and Iran, closely coordinates its activities with Fatah, the main group under the Soviet-controlled PLO umbrella. And according to Israeli intelligence sources, the Hadera attack had been a large, expensive operation planned for weeks, involving numerous coordinators and logistical supporters. In other words, US funding for the PLO paid for the attack — and the dead Jewish victims.

The JAHG-USA campaign to defund the PLO doesn't need to succeed politically before it saves lives. You can be sure the Communist terrorists are watching the progress of the campaign closely, and if they see it gaining steam, they will surely postpone or cancel numerous attacks; the dozens of rabbis who have already endorsed the JAHG-USA campaign have probably already averted many such planned terror assaults (which could help explain the lull in attacks in recent months, precisely when we have been aggressively publicizing our campaign).

On the other hand, the dozens of rabbis who have refused to sign have thereby invited the PLO to keep trying. Last week's Hadera attack could quite possibly have been prevented by the signatures of even a few "refusenik" rabbis. The Torah states categorically that those who refuse to save lives are counted as if they assisted in the murders themselves. And leaders who influence many other rabbis not to sign, such as Rabbi Boruch S. Cunin, head Chabad representative for California (a notorious opponent of our campaign of and the Rebbe's Noahide campaign, as detailed at www.noahide.com/cunin.htm), are especially liable. That means the blood of the Hadera victims is on their hands.

Cunin, are you listening? Do you care that you just killed five more Jews in Israel? How much blood is needed before you do teshuva (repentance)? Your reversal would bring you the merit of dozens of rabbis changing their minds as well — but your unwillingness to budge would bring the full wrath of G-d down upon your head. Remember the victims as Hadera, and think about it long and hard.

…AND THE HALL OF FAME
Some Chabad Shluchim Are Helping the JAHG-USA Campaign

Rabbi Osdoba shamefully told us to ask other rabbis instead. Well, we have, and Rabbi Engel is one of those who rose to the occasion properly. He was presented our Proclamation on June 2nd by a JAHG-USA volunteer, and he signed without hesitation. He made no excuses about "not knowing JAHG-USA" well enough, nor did he pass the buck to other rabbis. Rabbi Engel may not be an authoritative Rav like Rabbi Osdoba, but as a teacher in a boys' yeshiva, he knows Jewish Law well enough to realize at least his obligation to endorse our campaign. Perhaps Rabbi Osdoba will soon start learning from "lesser" rabbis like the more ethical Rabbi Engel.

What do you think about Jewish leadership on PLO defunding? Send us your comments at newsletter@noahide.com.

For a complete listing of all rabbis who have received our proclamation, the up-to-date status of their responses, and how you can get help the campaign, visit ATTAC Report at http://www.attacreport.com/plo/.

• (Apparently in response to an article posted on our Noahide.com site):
"When you expounded on one of the Seven Laws (the one against murder) I noticed that you did not mention abortion. It was my understanding that the Noahide Law against murder prohibits abortion except in grave medical cases." — CJ.

Our response: There are numerous details within each of the Noahide Laws which we, unfortunately, have not yet been able to review on our site. One of those regards abortion, which is indeed forbidden under the Noahide commandment against murder. That is the ruling of Maimonides (Laws of Kings 9:4), based on statements in the Talmud. Consequently, one who performs an abortion of a gentile fetus is liable to the death penalty.

This applies without question not only to abortions of "convenience," but also in cases of rape or extraordinary circumstances. And it may even apply when the mother's life is in danger.

Under Jewish Law, abortion can be permitted by rabbis when they believe the Jewish mother's life is at risk. The Jewish fetus is then classified as a "pursuer," akin to a criminal chasing a victim down the street, who endangers its mother. This ruling is made in light of the facts that (a) the Jewish fetus is anyway not considered truly human until it is born, and (b) Jews are obligated to save the life of the pursued, even by taking the life of the pursuer, if necessary.

Neither of these factors is true of gentile fetuses, which are considered fully human by 40 days after conception, and where gentiles may not be obligated to save the life of the pursued (according to the Minchas Chinuch, for example). A gentile clearly may not murder one human to save another, and where the fetus is indeed another human, one may be prohibited from considering it a "pursuer." However, the final judgment in this matter must be made by an honest, fully competent Torah scholar of sufficient status; we can only speculate on such a thorny issue.

And although the abortion of a fetus during the first 40 days after conception is not considered murder under Noahide Law, the government is empowered and even mandated to address any social problems that arise. The modern epidemic of abortifacient use (chemicals such as RU-486 that kill the early fetus) certainly requires special laws to prevent such abuses, which, although not classified as murder, are sinful acts of destruction that should not be done for trivial reasons as is so common today. (For a review of this topic, see the archived Aug. 28, 2005 issue of this newsletter.)