Over 20 Jewish residents of Hevron were arrested lat night when they attempted to ascend Abu Sneineh in an effort to prevent the army from leaving the area. Two of them are still in custody after they refused to promise that they would not return to the area.
Hevron resident Orit Strook related sadly today, \"When I stood last night atop Abu Sneineh, I saw a heart-rending site. I saw my house, it was so close, truly on the palm of my hand. It was so vulnerable. I knew that my children sleeping there would once again be vulnerable to the terrorists soon to enter. And I asked myself, how could it be that an Israeli government would do something like this? How could it expose and abandon us once again to the guns of Arafat, after a whole year of shooting? It is simply not believable.\"
See the Arutz-7 video clip on Hevron on the top-right of our home page,.
The Abu Sneineh and Haret A-Sheikh hills were given over to the control of PA Preventive Security Chief Jibril Rajoub\'s men. Gush Etzion Regional Council head Sha\'ul Goldstein related, \"They drove through the main Gush Etzion highway to Hevron in a convoy of modern jeeps from Ramallah early this morning. The jeeps bore no symbols or flags, but dozens of PA soldiers with weapons were inside, escorted by the IDF.\" Rajoub\'s men took up their new positions at 5 AM.
The IDF originally liberated the PA-controlled hills ten days ago, after Palestinian snipers from Abu Sneineh fired into a large crowd of Jewish worshippers coming to celebrate the Sukkot holiday at the Machpelah Cave; two women were wounded in that attack. In the ensuring ten days, the IDF forces not only protected the Jewish homes and civilians below, but also killed 8-9 terrorists who had been wont to shoot from Abu Sneineh at the Jewish neighborhoods. At the time, Prime Minister Sharon took a strong stand: \"Do not repeat the dreadful mistake of 1938,\" he called on the U.S. and the West, \"when enlightened European democracies decided to sacrifice Czechoslovakia for \'a convenient temporary solution.\' Do not try to appease the Arabs at our expense - this is unacceptable to us. Israel will not be Czechoslovakia. Israel will fight terrorism.\" In the end, however, subdued by the American pressure, he agreed to relinquish control of the dangerous Hevron hilltops.
Long-time Hevron resident Anat Cohen, whose son Elyashiv married the daughter of Hevron spokesman Noam Arnon, Amiyah, last night, told Arutz-7 today that the new couple will live in Hevron, \"even though it was very hard to find an apartment here.\" Referring to the army\'s withdrawal last night, she said,
\"No, it didn\'t mar the joy of the wedding, even though it\'s a bitter feeling to look out the window and no longer see the Israeli flags waving atop the hills - but it was infuriating, because Sharon promised not to carry out the withdrawal before the wedding. This means that he realizes that a wedding ceremony being held at the Machpelah plaza was in danger of being shot at from Abu Sneineh. So what does this mean about future weddings, or bar mitzvahs, or any gathering of Jews there - that the army will again have to retake the Abu Sneineh hills?\"
When asked about Sharon\'s assurance that Rajoub promised to maintain quiet, Anat said,
\"This week we commemorated four months since the terrorist murder of my brother Gilad Zar, and we met with Sharon. He was certainly not insensitive to us, and he felt our pain, but he told us something that was simply shocking. He said that he knows that in the end there will have to be a \'no-choice\' war, but that he as Prime Minister must determine the \'right timing.\' We felt that these answers stem from, and are guided by, a cowardliness to do what has to be done even though he knows what has to be done. This was always the case, and unfortunately remains so - we simply have to wait for a \'new spirit\' to arise within our government, just as Caleb [one of the 12 Biblical scouts] received here in Hevron, and then they will realize that there is no such thing as \'the right timing\' - a terrorist is a terrorist, period. These other considerations have no place, they are merely a desire to placate foreigners more than to do what is good for us. I\'m afraid that this has cost us a heavy price, and will continue to do so.\"
Hevron resident Orit Strook related sadly today, \"When I stood last night atop Abu Sneineh, I saw a heart-rending site. I saw my house, it was so close, truly on the palm of my hand. It was so vulnerable. I knew that my children sleeping there would once again be vulnerable to the terrorists soon to enter. And I asked myself, how could it be that an Israeli government would do something like this? How could it expose and abandon us once again to the guns of Arafat, after a whole year of shooting? It is simply not believable.\"
See the Arutz-7 video clip on Hevron on the top-right of our home page,
The Abu Sneineh and Haret A-Sheikh hills were given over to the control of PA Preventive Security Chief Jibril Rajoub\'s men. Gush Etzion Regional Council head Sha\'ul Goldstein related, \"They drove through the main Gush Etzion highway to Hevron in a convoy of modern jeeps from Ramallah early this morning. The jeeps bore no symbols or flags, but dozens of PA soldiers with weapons were inside, escorted by the IDF.\" Rajoub\'s men took up their new positions at 5 AM.
The IDF originally liberated the PA-controlled hills ten days ago, after Palestinian snipers from Abu Sneineh fired into a large crowd of Jewish worshippers coming to celebrate the Sukkot holiday at the Machpelah Cave; two women were wounded in that attack. In the ensuring ten days, the IDF forces not only protected the Jewish homes and civilians below, but also killed 8-9 terrorists who had been wont to shoot from Abu Sneineh at the Jewish neighborhoods. At the time, Prime Minister Sharon took a strong stand: \"Do not repeat the dreadful mistake of 1938,\" he called on the U.S. and the West, \"when enlightened European democracies decided to sacrifice Czechoslovakia for \'a convenient temporary solution.\' Do not try to appease the Arabs at our expense - this is unacceptable to us. Israel will not be Czechoslovakia. Israel will fight terrorism.\" In the end, however, subdued by the American pressure, he agreed to relinquish control of the dangerous Hevron hilltops.
Long-time Hevron resident Anat Cohen, whose son Elyashiv married the daughter of Hevron spokesman Noam Arnon, Amiyah, last night, told Arutz-7 today that the new couple will live in Hevron, \"even though it was very hard to find an apartment here.\" Referring to the army\'s withdrawal last night, she said,
\"No, it didn\'t mar the joy of the wedding, even though it\'s a bitter feeling to look out the window and no longer see the Israeli flags waving atop the hills - but it was infuriating, because Sharon promised not to carry out the withdrawal before the wedding. This means that he realizes that a wedding ceremony being held at the Machpelah plaza was in danger of being shot at from Abu Sneineh. So what does this mean about future weddings, or bar mitzvahs, or any gathering of Jews there - that the army will again have to retake the Abu Sneineh hills?\"
When asked about Sharon\'s assurance that Rajoub promised to maintain quiet, Anat said,
\"This week we commemorated four months since the terrorist murder of my brother Gilad Zar, and we met with Sharon. He was certainly not insensitive to us, and he felt our pain, but he told us something that was simply shocking. He said that he knows that in the end there will have to be a \'no-choice\' war, but that he as Prime Minister must determine the \'right timing.\' We felt that these answers stem from, and are guided by, a cowardliness to do what has to be done even though he knows what has to be done. This was always the case, and unfortunately remains so - we simply have to wait for a \'new spirit\' to arise within our government, just as Caleb [one of the 12 Biblical scouts] received here in Hevron, and then they will realize that there is no such thing as \'the right timing\' - a terrorist is a terrorist, period. These other considerations have no place, they are merely a desire to placate foreigners more than to do what is good for us. I\'m afraid that this has cost us a heavy price, and will continue to do so.\"