Protest Against Arab Violence on Roads

I went out tonight to the Gush Etzion Junction to join about 200 other residents of Efrat/Gush Etzion, plus our rabbis and communal leaders to protest the growing attacks on the roads of our country. Judea, Samaria, Route 443, Jerusalem are increasingly becoming scenes of Arab violence.
At least two women and several men going to or from Tekoa this past week have been stoned by Arab youth. One woman was injured so badly that she was operated on in the hospital a few days ago. The others were shaken and suffered tremendous damage to their cars.
Jewish residents of Gush Etzion, Binyamin and the Shomron went out to their intersections to protest this rise in Arab violence.
At the Gush Etzion Junction, a crowd listened to local leaders discuss the situation.
Alon Shvut’s Chief Rabbi HaRav Gidon Pearl told the crowd, “We must not be afraid. We must raise the flag, return to our roots. We must learn from the courage of our forefathers, when the Jews killed the sheep (even though they were the god of Egypt) and they weren’t afraid. [The nations of the world] are making fun of us and shlepping us around. We must stop letting ourselves be trampled on.”
Kiryat Arba Chevron’s Chief Rabbi HaRav Dov Lior noted, “We gathered here to protest and request from the government to do something effective against the barbarians that are again threatening our movement on the roads and our quiet lives. They’re ambushing Jews all over the country. We have no doubt that they’re raising their heads because of signs of weakness on behalf of the leadership of Am Yisrael.”
“When the leaders of the Jewish people agree to a building freeze; when we ask the [Arabs] to sit down at the table with us... we’re lucky they don’t even want to come.
The Rambam said Iggeret Teiman explained that the character of Arabs is that when you look out for their good, in return, they always give you war.”
Rav Lior added, “When we tell the Arab, ‘Come. I want to help you and see to your needs,’ he doesn’t look at us like gentlemen. He sees weakness and then the wolf shows what he can do.”
HaRav Lior stated, “After the Six Day War, the government should have declared sovereignty over all the parts of Israel, not just Jerusalem – but all Judea, Samaria and Gaza. It should have begun a massive building everywhere. If they would have moved citizens in to live in Shechem and Ramallah and all throughout the country, our situation today would have been very different.”
“To our great sorrow, the people delayed in this, and since then the government has rolled on from problem to problem,” he said. “After the Six Day War, our brethren from the west should have come and not waited for anything else. Perhaps the present president will help them decide very quickly whether this is the Diaspora or the Exile. Why are Jews still in America? To see if the President of the United States will kick them out like Pharoah?”
Kiryat Arba’s Eliyakim HaEtzni observed, “When the Arabs of Hebron felt the British were with them, they massacred the Jews there [in 1929]. Today the Arabs feel the same way, and there are stonings and molatov cocktails are the road. I don’t want to think of what could come next.”
HaEtzni said that it was rumored that America is going to pressure Israel on things it never thought of before. He said, “The Americans want to make Area C smaller and give Arabs more land now! The Arabs want an Airport in the Jordan Valley, and if they get that, we won’t have control at all of what comes and goes in our eastern border.”
Then a woman whose car was stoned on the way from Tekoa to Central Gush Etzion said, “I am angry at my country. My children go to the Army, I pay taxes, and the government doesn’t protect me. I am angry at the Jews around Obama who forgot what it is to be Jewish.”
Then everyone turned southward and began marching on Route 60 toward El Arub to demonstrate that Jews should be safe to walk on any and every road in Israel.
If the government and the Army doesn’t begin protecting its citizens, the protests will continue and grow.
To watch the video, click on http://www.voices-magazine.com/ .