Articles

by Yosef Ben Tzion (Joel Busner) — Mar. 2003

Dear Mr. P,

I am writing you this letter publicly in order to respond to you and your peers collectively.

My Hebrew name is Yosef Ben Tzion and my English name is Joel Busner. I am not a Hareidi. My parents are not Sephardic. I am not a rabbi. Nor do I have a Masters degree in Political Science. In no way am I an intellectual. I can't speak to 6 audiences in 8 languages at the same time. I didn't vote for Shas nor did I vote for United Torah Judaism.

I am however, a Jew. A Jew who was arrested on a few occasions for participating in violent demonstrations in Canada in the early 1980s against the oppressive Soviet Government in order to free my Jewish brothers and sisters — one who was named Anatoly Sharansky. I am the same Jew who took some police abuse from New York's Finest in the early 1990s while demonstrating against the Syrian dictatorship government of Hafez Assad of cursed memory in order to free more of my brothers and sisters from Syria.

I am a Jew who might be mistakenly accused of being a 'Datti Leumi' (National Religious). You see I wear a knitted kippa and modern clothes most of the time. But, sometimes I wear a black leather cab driver's cap. Sometimes when the mood hits me, I wear a black suit and white shirt. Don't let them fool you however: Clothes really don't make the man.

My friends and I run an organization called B'Ahavat Yisrael. We have numerous members from many diverse backgrounds. Some are Hareidim. Some are Datti Leumi. Some are Ashkenazic. Some are Sephardic. Some are traditional. Some are basically non–observant. All of them are Jews. When we assist terror victims, we don't ask if they are religious or non–religious. When we go out to the Shomron to donate food and supplies to volunteer guards and to distribute sandwiches to soldiers in the field, we don't ask them about the length of their tzizit. We go to the aid of Jews. Except for instances of pikuach nefesh or Shabbat programs, the organization is otherwise closed on Shabbat. The interesting thing is that none of our members seem to mind. And there lies the problem with many in the so–called National Religious leadership.

The NRP and the National Union (with 'reservations') have joined the coalition government of Ariel Sharon's Likud party and Tommy 'Archie Bunker' Lapid's Shinui party. You claim that the Hareidi parties don't get it and neither does the Labor party. First, let's be honest. Shas and the UTJ weren't offered at all to be in the coalition. You claim, "The positions of Shas and UTJ do not resonate with Jewish youth who question their own identity and place in society." This you claim is what brought Shinui to 15 seats from 6. Nonsense! Did you take into account the 10 seats that Labor and Meretz lost collectively? Did you take into account that the nationalist and religious vote was a whopping 70 seats? Do you realize if there were no Arabs allowed to vote it would be closer to 80 seats? Do you realize that about a 1/3 of the legal–aged voters didn't vote in a country where you are given the day off, have 15 hours to vote, and don't have to register in advance as is done in the US? What influence did Shas and UTJ have on the education system? None! How many anti–religious and anti–nationalist journalists are there writing for Ha'aretz, Maariv and Yediot Achronot? I would guess the majority of them. How many programs and commercials on television portray youths engaging in sex and even homosexual men kissing? Too many! I've lost count of the amount of times I had to turn off my TV because the bias for the anti–religious and anti–nationalist left was just too much to stomach. How many kids in 7th grade in Israel have condom advertisements posted in front of their faces every morning? The amount of honest, real Jewish history and Judaism taught in Israeli schools is pitiful. The Supreme Court time and time again takes anti–Jewish and anti–Nationalist positions in their verdicts. Sure there are those amongst Hareidi circles who don't portray a good example of what a religious Jew should be like. However, that pales by comparison to all of the above hatred and propaganda being heaped on the innocent heads of 'our' Israeli youth.

ON PRAGMATISM

Pragmatic is a fine political science catch phrase. "Be pragmatic". The Israeli left and some from the right have had a similar one of their own for the last several years: "Be realistic". You think that the NRP was being pragmatic for the good of the country? Really. Let's look at some facts:

Since coming to power in the last few days, the new Minister of Interior Avraham Poraz of Shinui has announced that he will turn around all that outgoing Shas minister Eli Yishai implemented during his tenure. He immediately granted a 3–year residency to the non–Jewish mother of a terror victim. He is now going to propose legislation in order to facilitate the marriages of Jews to non–Jews in Israel. He is going to take a 'humanistic' approach to the family reunification for Arabs living inside pre '67 Israel who wish to marry Arabs of the territories. How nice! And of course not a word said about all of our tax money to pay for these steps that are a guarantee to further dilute the Jewish State. All of this in 3 days! Of course you can bet on Mr. Poraz to move quickly in order to do Mr. Sharansky's bidding by allowing more and more non–Jews to make aliya from the former Soviet Union, again at our expense. Mr. Lapid, as the new Minister of Justice issued his great first statement saying that he will not support a constitution that supercedes the Supreme Court. Another form of democracy, Israeli style.

The above is since the election. Below are some facts before the election:
—During the election campaign, it was the Shinui party leadership along with their activists who did all in their power to force shopping malls to open on Shabbat.
—Before he entered politics, Mr. Lapid as a journalist employed by the State of Israel (your tax money), continuously harangued the Hareidi establishment as parasites and other niceties.
—Last year, Lapid wrote a column for a major Florida newspaper telling North American religious Jews that Israel doesn't need more of them. He also used the same column to push his love for public pork stores and mixed marriages between Russian Jews and Gentiles.
—2 weeks ago Mr. Lapid stated that the appointment of a Hareidi to be mayor of Jerusalem was the ultimate coercion. Tell me, does that mean that all secular mayors of large Israeli cities are also guilty of coercion?
—A quote from a Modiin newspaper from Yosef Yirmiyahu, an attorney who chairs the Shinui headquarters in that region: "The great failure which threatens the existence of the Zionist entity as a Jewish Democracy is its cowering submission to the Orthodox establishment". And: "2,500,000 Jews (does he maybe mean Hareidim, Datti Leumi and perhaps traditional Sephardim?) who support religious coercion pose a threat to the state. They've established strong institutions in Israel where everything is kosher so that they can advance their objectives….They work for religious coercion, greater privileges for their people living on public funds and horribly exploiting their rights. This reality poses a real danger and an immediate threat to the continued existence of the Jewish State. Logic dictates the necessity of halting this monster before it brings Jewish Zionism to its knees…" (This from a party who is for a Palestinian state and for giving up virtually all of Yesha!). Of course Attorney Yirmiyahu doesn't seem to mind the billions that were used to bail out the bankrupt kibbutzim as well as the huge variety of government supported programs (theaters, etc) that are very secular and/or anti religious in general.

I am not a chasid of Rav Mordechai Eliyahu shlita. I respect him very much. I know that when it was convenient for the NRP to put his photo on their campaign ads as 'their' Rabbi, they did it repeatedly. Now his office condemned their joining this government. Does that matter to your pragmatists?

Tommy Lapid is very cunning and very smart. He played all the insecure fools correctly. He took what he could get now, getting the best ministries, and successfully divided the religious and nationalist parties. If he goes too far, not to worry, Labor will come into the government to help them finish the job. What was the alternative?

For people to realize that a vote for Likud was really a vote for Shinui and Labor (which I predicted before the election). The National Union along with Shas, UTJ, and NRP should have taken an oath not to bend on certain issues even if it meant watching the Likud, Labor, and Shinui from the sidelines. That government would have faced demonstrations in the streets daily and would fold quickly. People would then have real leadership to look for in the near future.

We can make a 5–day work week in Israel and close all business on Shabbat leaving Sunday for leisure and work only for those who choose to do so. We can say "Shema Yisrael" and with true belief in G–d, finish terror by forcibly removing the Jew–haters from Eretz Yisrael without concern for what the Gentiles will say, as they hate us anyways. We can and we must create a system where Jews do all the work in our Jewish country. Our youths must be untaught the lie that manual labor is menial labor. We can put real Jewish curriculum into all the schools so that we can ensure strong, proud, Jewish youth for the future. We can cut the protectzia / nepotism, and with it the huge amount of unnecessary government waste that permeates all past and present governments both nationally and locally in Israel. We can and must cut taxes and encourage investment throughout the land. Privatizing government owned businesses is a good start, but we can also take the government out of the real estate business by selling Jews parcels of land on an open market all over Eretz Yisrael. This would not only expedite aliya, it would also pull the government out of debt for the foreseeable future. And…yes, we can alter the current system in order to facilitate that all physically able Israeli youths participate in a form of National Service.

I hope that you Mr. P and others like you wake up and 'get it' so that we can get on with the business of saving our country.

by Yosef Ben Tzion (Joel Busner) — May 2003

I must confess I for one am not disappointed in Ariel Sharon. I wholeheartedly agree that he has earned the title as the greatest Field General of the 20th century. I understood all the hope that was placed in this icon of Jewish might. Oslo was proven to be a complete disaster. People were looking for a hero. Someone who would stand up to the Jew haters in the land and crush them and all the while ignore the critics from within and without. After so many years of vying for the leadership of the country and being pushed out of important cabinet positions for so–called fanatical zealotry, Ariel Sharon was overwhelmingly elected to the highest post in the land.

Ariel Sharon was not elected to appease America, Europe, the U.N., and Abu Mazen. Ariel Sharon was not elected to tear down the very same communities he helped build. Ariel Sharon was elected to crush terror. Ariel Sharon was elected to give pride back to the Jewish People. Ariel Sharon was elected to let the Israeli Defense Forces win! Ariel Sharon was not elected to send our young men to Jenin to be ambushed while doing door to door searches in order to spare the lives of the Arab Jew hating 'civilians'. In light of the recent 'Road Map to Hell' developments, that have exposed Mr. Sharon as a possible member of 'Peace Now', many good Jews are asking, "Arik what happened?"

According to this writer, the inevitable happened. Desperate people especially Jews have a tendency to believe whatever they are told. They seldom question authority. In the case of Israel's Prime Minister, too many people were inspired by his great accomplishments and blind to his past lies and treachery. A novel can be written about Ariel Sharon's double talk and sudden and abrupt about faces on a whole host of issues. The following are some examples that come to mind as to why Ariel Sharon wasn't and isn't fit to be the Prime Minister of the State of Israel.

—As a youth in pre state Eretz Yisrael, Ariel Sharon was involved in tearing down Irgun posters and beating up the youths who were hanging them. Now he speaks from a platform with Zev Jabotinsky's photo in the background. Every Jewish child must learn the following point: Had there not been the Irgun there wouldn't have arisen the State of Israel.
—Around 1974 Ariel Sharon proposed legislation to permit public transportation on the Sabbath. Later, the same Ariel Sharon for years rambled on and on about the importance of the religious sector in Israel and the need to preserve Israel as a Jewish State with Jewish values. Now after winning a huge right wing/religious victory he ignores his constituents and builds the basis of his coalition with the most virulent self–hating party in Israel's history, Shinui. He gives them the Justice Ministry and the Interior Ministry and as expected, they proceed to destroy the Jewish foundations of the State. Please note that the combination of Labor, Shinui, and Meretz equals 40 seats. Prior to the election the same traitorous trio had slightly more than that. The anti–Oslo forces won at least 70 seats! So what did Mr. Sharon give us? Anti religious coercion and total capitulation to the American administration!
—When Menachem Begin was sitting with Sadat and Carter in Camp David he was afraid of one politician, Ariel Sharon. He spoke to Sharon and Camp David became a done deal. The same Sharon who vowed not to support a withdrawal from the Sinai and never to uproot Yamit did an about face and voted for Camp David and supervised the forced expulsion of Yamit's residents. He later felt remorse and said that it was a mistake that must never be repeated. Guess who is now talking about uprooting settlements?
—Ariel Sharon for years insisted that Jordan is Palestine. Shortly before defeating Ehud Barak at the polls he admitted in an interview in Kfar Chabad that he no longer held that view. Slowly he let the cat out of the bag culminating in his push for a Palestinian State in Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.
—For years Ariel Sharon bitterly opposed the views of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane and his followers claiming that transferring Arabs out of Eretz Yisrael was not necessary and not moral. He claimed that we could keep building and expanding without worrying about the large and growing Arab population. This week the same Ariel Sharon is telling us that we can't rule over this very population. He once again has no moral problem transferring Jews out of their communities in order to appease Gentile pressure.
—In 1998 Sharon went with Bibi Netanyahu to Wye. Before leaving Israel for America, Ariel Sharon clearly stated that Israel must not give up more than another 9% of the territories. He said anything more than that would be a serious threat to the existence of the State of Israel. He then went with Bibi to Wye and signed on for 13%!
—During Sharon's campaign against Ehud Barak, he rightfully claimed that the ever expanding size of the Israeli Government cabinet is a waste of the tax payers money. He pledged to have a cabinet of not more than 18 members. Immediately following that election he significantly increased the size of the cabinet from that of Barak's administration. When asked about it, he refused to answer questions.
—When Israel's economy was headed down in a tailspin did Mr. Sharon implement tax cuts or incentives to small businesses as he discussed before he was elected? Of course not! He raised taxes. Did he initiate badly needed privatization? Of course not! Only now that the government is broke is he willing to consider some necessary steps.

Now is the time to unite. Now is the time for those who believe in G–d and the destiny of the Jewish People to come together and take back our country once and for all. Jewish leadership must be made up of Jews with faith in G–d and love and concern for the Jewish People. Enough false leadership from Gentile fearing liars and shrimp eaters as talented as they may be.

by Yosef Ben Tzion (Joel Busner) — Nov. 2003

I don’t care if you’ve never met Noam Federman. I don’t care if you agree with his views or not. I do care that he is a Jew in deep trouble and together we can save his life. Noam Federman is rotting in jail after being sentenced to 6 months of administrative detention. His neighbors in the prison are Arab terrorists who don’t stop taunting and threatening him. He is protesting through the only way he can, a liquid fast. All reports show that his health is deteriorating rapidly.

Administrative detention against Jewish citizens of Israel is a disgrace! There is no justifiable need for it. If the authorities really believe that Mr. Federman is guilty of a crime, let the government of Israel behave like the democracy they claim to be and put him on trial! Anyone who is intelligent and honest knows that it is not Mr. Federman's guilt that arouses the Israeli authorities. It is the fact that he is a potential threat to the forced expulsion of Jews from the heartland of the Land of Israel. He is a symbol. Why else would they allow him to attend his daughter’s Bat Mitzvah with his hands cuffed as well as his feet? Where do they think he would run to and hide? They wish to break him. By using him as an example they wish to frighten all opposition to the Road Map.

I ask of you all, I beg of you; don’t sit idly by your brother's blood! Noam Federman is extremely ill. If enough pressure is exerted he will be transferred to a normal facility with Jewish inmates. If tremendous pressure is exerted he will be set free. Mr. Federman's plight is not just a challenge to the religious community. Nor is it just a challenge to the right wing community. His plight is a challenge to all Jews who believe in fairness and justice.

For all of you who have contacts with Israeli officials, pressure them! Anyone who can demonstrate, do so! Letters, faxes, etc, to Shaul Mofaz who signed the order, and to Ariel Sharon who authorizes it all, must be done without cessation. Mr. Federman's name must be mentioned everywhere and anywhere until they are sick of it and release him! Mr. Federman's fate is at stake and G–d forbid, it will be unforgivable for him to perish while all of who could do something didn’t.

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