Who Will Get Rid Of Who First?
Interview by Shai Gefen

The Jewish settlement in Chevron demonstrates steely determination despite being shaken up following the murder of the baby Shalheves Pass (may Hashem avenge her blood). Baruch Merzel, resident of Tel Romeida in Chevron, describes the non-stop shooting at the Jewish homes in Chevron from three directions, about the war that’s been dragging on for eight months now, about the destruction and vandalism in the old cemetery of Chevron, and surprisingly - about the hachnasas orchim organization which hosts dozens of Jews who come and visit.

The Jewish settlement in Chevron continues to develop despite everything you mentioned, in a way of "u’farazta yama va’keidma tzafona va’negba." Lately additional families have joined the Jews of Chevron. Baruch Hashem, we see miracles and wonders.

As far as mortars go, we are actually the most secure settlement, since we have 150,000 Arabs surrounding us who "protect" us in that respect. But we do we get hit by lighter weapons - and how!

I can tell you that Tel Romeida, where I live, has been abandoned by nearly all the neighboring Arabs. A large number of bullets struck them, and they couldn’t take it any more, so they left. The miracles that we see are not daily but hourly. There are times that the shooting doesn’t stop for a minute. The caravans in which some families live are riddled by countless bullet holes, and, Baruch Hashem, we withstand it with Jewish strength.

We are being shot at from three directions. Some of the caravans have more holes than walls, yet they still don’t allow us to build with cement. What could be simpler than giving us permits to build?! After the murder of Rav Raanan (may Hashem avenge his blood), there was a government decision to allow us to build permanent buildings in Tel Romeida. We did the required archaeological digging, we invested over a million shekel in digging and guarding the place, but now the court has prevented us from building because of a provocative legal plea by Arabs with the backing of extremists from the Left.

I hope the government will understand that we must build as many permanent structures as possible. It’s impossible to live in caravans anymore when we’ve been living here for 17 years already in these buildings and now we are under crossfire.

In the latest stage of the Oslo War (since the beginning of the year) the evil perpetrators of Oslo brought upon us, over 82 Jews have been killed. Some of them were killed by acts of terrorism but the police didn’t report them. Of those murdered, over fifty of them were residents of Yehuda, Shomron, and Gaza. Living in Yesha has exacted a steep price. There is hardly any settlement without one death thanks to the Intifada El Aktza. The Jews of Chevron lost Shalheves Pass, who has become a symbol. Until her death, there had been no deaths in Chevron (these eight months) despite the non-stop attacks.

Abu Sanina shows us where Sharon is headed. Sharon didn’t conquer Abu Sanina after the murder of Shalhevet, and he didn’t conquer Beit Jala after the non-stop shooting from there at Gilo, showing that he has no intentions of recapturing land from the Palestinian Authority. Therefore, we must prepare for a bloody war that won’t stop here, even if we try to come to some arrangement or another. This terrible bloodshed won’t stop if we don’t respond harshly and are reluctant to conquer areas that endanger Jewish lives.

I can give you a scoop. Today there is no longer any shooting from Abu Sanina towards the Jewish settlement of Chevron, because members of the Jewish community took care of the Arabs themselves in recent weeks. They taught them the lesson that it doesn’t pay to continue shooting. The strength of the Jewish settlement in not standing by idly after that frightful murder certainly got us results.

I want to say one thing. Very few readers of Beis Moshiach remember the names of most of those killed, although they are Jews who really care about the situation. But everybody remembers Shalhevet’s name. Her name is engraved in the collective memory of all the Jewish people, thanks to the strong stand and the wave of protests that engulfed the country. We will still see how thanks to the strength we exhibited when it came to Shalhevet, lives were saved.

Since Shalhevet’s murder we have set up a protest tent in Kikar Gross, which is still there now. The army moved us from the Kikar since it was open to fire, but the tent is still there and we don’t plan on moving from there until they conquer Abu Sanina.

There were plans to conquer Givat Shalhevet, formerly known as Givat Abu Sanina. I know that a special force came in order to conquer it. Reservist General Noam Tivon, the commander of this area, hinted almost openly about the imminent conquering of the neighborhood, but the one who stopped it was none other than Ariel Sharon, the man who didn’t stop shouting, "Let the army win."

Unfortunately, the situation in which the Oslo criminals placed us is extremely difficult. It’s a situation that will force us into war in order to get the Arabs out of here. By now the Arabs are well armed. They have entire arsenals at their disposal. We know about the katyushas and factories that produce mortars. I agree with the Left when they say it’s hard to fight terrorism, but I say the solution is to throw all the Arabs out of here, otherwise they will do that to us. The big question is only who will do it to who first.

We definitely feel that the Jewish people has a deep connection with the Jews of Chevron, an identification that perhaps wasn’t sensed as much in the past. Today though, even those who weren’t close to us suddenly feel connected to Chevron, which unites all Jews.

We didn’t merely warn people, we produced a video with Adir Zik that showed what might happen from the direction of Abu Sanina. One of the people who today serves as a senior government minister saw the video in which a baby is killed by Palestinian sniping, and said the film was made by a "sick and twisted mind." Now I ask him: Who was sick and twisted - Adir Zik or Binyamin Netanyahu, who nonchalantly gave away all those hills that threaten the Jewish settlement in Chevron?

That weak apology on Channel 7 and at inside events was not enough. If Netanyahu apologizes for the dreadful Chevron agreement in which he personally handed over 90% of Chevron, he should go on Channel 2 and give an interview and apologize there as he knows how to do on other occasions. Then we will know that his apology is sincere and that what he says now is meant seriously.

I don’t negate his apology, but if he means it let him say it in more open forums so that everybody knows that he made a terrible mistake that cost us lives. He should add, "Who knows what might happen if the army doesn’t take back those hills that threaten the Jewish settlement of Chevron?"

I would suggest that Netanyahu raise the gauntlet and not act like some small-time politician whose only concern is his political future. I suggest that he go to war to isolate Arik Sharon on the Right, that he openly admit he erred and completely wipe his hands of the Oslo Accords, that he go out to the world with a PR campaign as only Bibi can do, and do it all in order to reveal the truth about the Arabs who hate us.

Very much so. I am afraid that Sharon will get a few weeks or months of quiet and then he will start making crazy concessions. The fear is great. He has very strong Leftist powers in his government. Let’s be open about this: Sharon is obligated to Peres, as Peres is to Sharon. Both of them are afraid of people within their parties. Sharon is afraid of Bibi, and Peres is afraid of the upcoming primaries in Labor. So it’s no simple matter, and in order for them to survive another few weeks, we may see more murderous concessions which will supposedly achieve quiet.

I don’t know about Yamit, but definitely a return to the pattern of Oslo in which we give and they take. Peres is the foreign minister and he wants to prove for the millionth time that Oslo is alive, despite the reality. Peres will achieve an artificial lull in the fighting and then the concessions will continue at a murderous pace.

I don’t think Sharon crossed the red line yet, but if he does, and concedes to Peres’ dictates, they’ll have to topple him as fast as possible. Then Sharon will find himself where Netanyahu and Barak find themselves. There will be no concessions. We’ve already seen what happens to those prime ministers who bartered away land of Eretz Yisroel and just gave it away to our enemies, endangering the lives of five million Jews here.

Pressure Sharon non-stop. Demonstrate against him and get him back on track. I am referring to parties both within the coalition and parties on the Right not within the coalition. They shouldn’t stop pressuring Sharon, so that he will understand good and well that without eliminating terrorism his government won’t last, and that it’s not concessions that will lead to peace.

I see this time as a waiting period. It definitely looks like Sharon is heading in the wrong direction. But as I said, he still hasn’t crossed the red lines, so there’s a lot we can do. We cannot rest on the sidelines.

I would say we have to de-legitimize all the Oslo criminals who brought this tragedy upon us, and remove the topic of concessions and the continuation of Oslo from the Israeli lexicon. We have to focus on Beilin and Peres, the two who continue their political machinations, especially Yossi Beilin who hasn’t stopped for a minute since he lost his seat both in the Knesset and in the government. We have to go out with a strong message that focuses on the problem. This will save us from many more problems.

I would even open a museum displaying the pictures of the hundreds of people murdered since Oslo, depicting the results of Oslo, so that future generations will remember. What happened here is one of the most frightful things in our history. The Jewish people armed its enemy, assigned them a strong army, and now they rise up against us to kill and annihilate us. We gave them the right to broadcast, which includes television stations, and they incite their people daily to kill Jews. We did this to ourselves, and the ones most responsible for all this are Beilin and Peres.

It really gives us cause for grave concern about Sharon. All his efforts so that his son can meet with Arafat conveys a tremendous weakness and foolishness. I think it will cost us dearly. Sharon says he is sending his son in order to stop attacks. I ask: If Omri Sharon is the one who will stop attacks, why didn’t Sharon suggest to Barak back then that he send Omri to stop terrorism? Why was it that he didn’t stop saying, "Let the army win?"

I hope that Sharon will allow the army to do what it has to do, and if war is necessary then the earlier the better, because with each passing day the Palestinians gain more and more strength. The faster we take care of the Palestinian problem, the better for us and the less Jewish blood will be spilled.

Of course far fewer people are coming, but I must mention an amazing phenomenon. Not a Shabbos passes without groups of visitors. Since the outbreak of the Intifada (except for the first two Shabbasos), there hasn’t been a Shabbos without visitors or guests. It’s really incredible and it shows the strong connection that Jews have to Chevron, that children have for their ancestors.

The hachnasas orchim organization is two years old, but we’ve come to the conclusion that we have to expand it, now more than ever before. Baruch Hashem we have lots of work to do. Not a week passes without guests, and it’s all for free for bachurim, avreichim, and families. We take care of all the visitors, despite the non-stop shooting.

Unfortunately, and to our great shame, the Chabad section and the tziyun of Rebbetzin Menucha Rochel have been desecrated 16 times. They take hammers and break whatever they can. Last week they destroyed the pavement near the Rebbetzin’s tziyun.

Despite the situation, I get countless requests to re-open the kollel near the tziyun, and we are thinking about it despite the army’s warnings. We don’t want to give in. We want to maintain a permanent Jewish presence near the tziyun, which will help protect the cemetery.

I think Anash ought to speak to Sharon and tell him that the man who had the privilege of saving Rebbetzin Menucha Rochel’s grave right before the Oslo Accords and didn’t allow them to give it away should strengthen the place with armed forces who will guard it and not allow the Arabs to desecrate it.

In Europe, when they desecrate a cemetery, everybody screams. But here, where the granddaughter of the Alter Rebbe is buried, as well as dozens of descendents of the Alter Rebbe, along with gedolei rabbanei Chabad, how can you be quiet? Anash here and around the world ought to get together to save the place at all costs.

It’s an incredible prophecy. We all see how the Rebbe’s prophetic words are happening now. The question the Rebbe asked Sharon is a sharp one. The same police force designed to protect Jews is constantly taking the side of the Arabs.

I can tell you that after the murder of Shalhevet, instead of dealing with the Arabs, they broke into Jewish homes in order to find out who, chalila, expressed the strongest protest, and they left the Arabs alone. The non-stop persecution of Jews by the police is one of the most difficult things the Jews of Chevron have to contend with.

The Rebbe wrote that letter to Sharon over thirty years ago when nobody believed this situation could arise, but it did.

I think the role of Anash in this battle is significant. Lubavitcher Chassidim must proudly lead the battle, quoting the Rebbe. The Rebbe spoke about the danger that lay waiting at the doors of millions of Jews, and this must be publicized! With Hashem’s help we will merit the coming of Moshiach with the true and complete Redemption.