In a courtroom last month, dedicated Jews who expended great efforts to disseminate Torah and Zionism were sentenced to jail terms. No, this did not happen in a country where teaching Torah is illegal. It did not happen in a country where Zionism is illegal. It happened in our beloved Israel.
Now, anyone who knows me knows how painful it is for me to criticize Israel, and especially as venerable an institution of the State as the Israeli justice system.
Yes, Arutz-7 operated outside the law. It broadcasted from a ship outside Israel's territorial waters. And it may, on very rare occasions, have allowed the ship to cross into Israeli territory. But consider the following:
* There are very many other "pirate" radio stations, none of which incur the tremendous cost of broadcasting from a ship, and all of which broadcast only from Israeli territory - none of their managers and broadcasters have been sent to jail.
* These other "pirate" radio stations have been accused of dangerously transmitting radio frequencies that conflict with those of Ben Gurion Airport, but Arutz-7 has never done so.
* These other "pirate" radio stations often do not pay royalties to the owners of the music they play, but Arutz-7 always paid such royalties.
* Abie Nathan operated his radio station "Voice of Peace" from a ship in the Mediterranean Sea for several years and he was never prosecuted for doing so.
* Despite difficulties receiving the station in many places around the country and even in Jerusalem, Arutz-7 was ranked the third most popular radio station in the country, ahead of many of the country's "official" radio stations, by servicing a growing and un-serviced market.
* What Arutz-7 was giving its listeners was what one would think Israeli authorities would want them to hear: Nationalistic, Zionist outlooks on current events, Torah lessons, and exclusively Jewish and Israeli music.
Look at the makeup of the people that were sentenced this week. Were they motivated by personal profit, greed or glory? Certainly not. These are war heroes and Torah leaders working for the benefit of the not-for-profit institutions of Bet El. They seek no personal glory. They built up the station out of a devotion to the Land, the Torah, the State and the People of Israel. They have lost family members and close friends in the defense of Israel, both as members of the IDF and as residents of Bet El and other communities under ongoing threat of terrorist attack.
They are united in their belief in the Kedusha of Jewish sovereignty over all of the Land of Israel, as expressed in the Jewish State.
And that must be what so irked the judicial system that they would expend millions of dollars on their prosecution, to the exclusion of these other, arguably dangerous, "pirate" radio stations. They saw in the devotion of ?Katzele? and others a serious challenge to their vision of Israel as a left-leaning, secular, smaller state for the Jews. They saw this as an opportunity to decapitate a growing, devoted movement of religious, nationalistic Zionists.
These secular leftists had thought that the Oslo process would accomplish this decapitation of the "Arutz-7 movement." But Oslo failed miserably, and the movement, despite all odds, survived and strengthened, largely due to Arutz-7.
Look at the facts: The numbers of residents of the yishuvim (communities) in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha) increased consistently in the ten years since the handshake in Washington, and even increased annually in the three years since Yasser Arafat took off his peace mask. In that time, the residents of the yishuvim continued to build and develop their communities and their institutions, despite all odds.
More new officers in the Israeli army wear kippot than do not, occupying the leadership role formerly held by the young men of the kibbutzim. And instead of following their secular army buddies to India after they complete their service, the second generation of Yesha residents is taking its place in the struggle to build Eretz Yisrael, by creating their own communities and "outposts".
Many secular Israelis were coming to have greater respect for this sector of the community, especially in light of the failure of the "peace" moves and the post-Zionism of the Left.
So, the Left determined it needed to fight back. It needed to use its base of control of the judicial system to get some wins. And they started with Arutz-7. How else to explain this clear discrimination against Israel's leading nationalistic, independent station?
In sentencing the "Arutz-7 Ten" last month, the judge decreed that the four receiving jail terms, including Katzele, could serve their time through community service. The irony is that their whole lives are devoted to community service.
As Katzele said this week, "We have to have faith. Rabbi Melamed has always taught us that from every negative thing we reap gain. We are men of faith and we adhere to Hashem and to those who teach His Torah. Arutz-7 will continue to grow, with radio and Internet and our newspaper [B'Sheva] and soon television, and soon we will hold the Jerusalem Conference with Senators, ministers, and other important public figures, and we will grow and continue to provide the truth for the people of Israel."
Believe him. This is not a man the Left can slow down.
Now, anyone who knows me knows how painful it is for me to criticize Israel, and especially as venerable an institution of the State as the Israeli justice system.
Yes, Arutz-7 operated outside the law. It broadcasted from a ship outside Israel's territorial waters. And it may, on very rare occasions, have allowed the ship to cross into Israeli territory. But consider the following:
* There are very many other "pirate" radio stations, none of which incur the tremendous cost of broadcasting from a ship, and all of which broadcast only from Israeli territory - none of their managers and broadcasters have been sent to jail.
* These other "pirate" radio stations have been accused of dangerously transmitting radio frequencies that conflict with those of Ben Gurion Airport, but Arutz-7 has never done so.
* These other "pirate" radio stations often do not pay royalties to the owners of the music they play, but Arutz-7 always paid such royalties.
* Abie Nathan operated his radio station "Voice of Peace" from a ship in the Mediterranean Sea for several years and he was never prosecuted for doing so.
* Despite difficulties receiving the station in many places around the country and even in Jerusalem, Arutz-7 was ranked the third most popular radio station in the country, ahead of many of the country's "official" radio stations, by servicing a growing and un-serviced market.
* What Arutz-7 was giving its listeners was what one would think Israeli authorities would want them to hear: Nationalistic, Zionist outlooks on current events, Torah lessons, and exclusively Jewish and Israeli music.
Look at the makeup of the people that were sentenced this week. Were they motivated by personal profit, greed or glory? Certainly not. These are war heroes and Torah leaders working for the benefit of the not-for-profit institutions of Bet El. They seek no personal glory. They built up the station out of a devotion to the Land, the Torah, the State and the People of Israel. They have lost family members and close friends in the defense of Israel, both as members of the IDF and as residents of Bet El and other communities under ongoing threat of terrorist attack.
They are united in their belief in the Kedusha of Jewish sovereignty over all of the Land of Israel, as expressed in the Jewish State.
And that must be what so irked the judicial system that they would expend millions of dollars on their prosecution, to the exclusion of these other, arguably dangerous, "pirate" radio stations. They saw in the devotion of ?Katzele? and others a serious challenge to their vision of Israel as a left-leaning, secular, smaller state for the Jews. They saw this as an opportunity to decapitate a growing, devoted movement of religious, nationalistic Zionists.
These secular leftists had thought that the Oslo process would accomplish this decapitation of the "Arutz-7 movement." But Oslo failed miserably, and the movement, despite all odds, survived and strengthened, largely due to Arutz-7.
Look at the facts: The numbers of residents of the yishuvim (communities) in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha) increased consistently in the ten years since the handshake in Washington, and even increased annually in the three years since Yasser Arafat took off his peace mask. In that time, the residents of the yishuvim continued to build and develop their communities and their institutions, despite all odds.
More new officers in the Israeli army wear kippot than do not, occupying the leadership role formerly held by the young men of the kibbutzim. And instead of following their secular army buddies to India after they complete their service, the second generation of Yesha residents is taking its place in the struggle to build Eretz Yisrael, by creating their own communities and "outposts".
Many secular Israelis were coming to have greater respect for this sector of the community, especially in light of the failure of the "peace" moves and the post-Zionism of the Left.
So, the Left determined it needed to fight back. It needed to use its base of control of the judicial system to get some wins. And they started with Arutz-7. How else to explain this clear discrimination against Israel's leading nationalistic, independent station?
In sentencing the "Arutz-7 Ten" last month, the judge decreed that the four receiving jail terms, including Katzele, could serve their time through community service. The irony is that their whole lives are devoted to community service.
As Katzele said this week, "We have to have faith. Rabbi Melamed has always taught us that from every negative thing we reap gain. We are men of faith and we adhere to Hashem and to those who teach His Torah. Arutz-7 will continue to grow, with radio and Internet and our newspaper [B'Sheva] and soon television, and soon we will hold the Jerusalem Conference with Senators, ministers, and other important public figures, and we will grow and continue to provide the truth for the people of Israel."
Believe him. This is not a man the Left can slow down.