Arutz-7's Hebrew news department has completed a unique project presenting the way in which Arutz-7, alone among Israeli media, covered the Oslo process and warned of its dangers. The Hebrew-language project, entitled, "The Writing was in the Air," combines an audio CD of selections aired on Arutz-7 and a 96-page book of explanation and background.
The project shows how Arutz-7, from the summer of 1993 until the summer of 2000, presented many evaluations that the Oslo process was not one of peace but rather an introduction to war. Government leaders interviewed on Arutz-7 were asked questions they were rarely asked by other Israeli media, and many items dealt with the quick-paced arming of the Palestinian Authority.
Excerpts from "The Writing Was in the Air" were provided here yesterday. More excerpts follow:
On Aug. 7, 1997, only a week after 15 people were murdered by two suicide bombers in Jerusalem's Machaneh Yehuda market, Arutz-7 continued to warn of the dangers inherent in the Oslo process, to ask difficult questions of its proponents, and to receive "interesting" answers. That day's news magazine included the following:
"Yasser Arafat convened leaders of the Fatah movement in Gaza yesterday and called upon them to prepare for the great battle. He delivered a very bellicose and warlike speech. Arutz-7 has a translated copy of the entire speech, and I will read here extensive parts of it…"
"No one can harm the Palestinian revolution, for it will persist and struggle, struggle, struggle.... It is important that we organize our homes and our movements in order to endure the coming battle, which we shall begin. We must say these things because great battles lie before us, and it will now be more difficult than it was in the past... let us each commit one to another and let us commit ourselves before Allah and the Palestinian people that we shall lead the coming battle as we have led previous battles. An oath is an oath and a promise is a promise. The whole world stands by us, while they are alone. They are afraid, but we are not. We cling to the oath and the promise. The Palestinian people is faithful to its oath, the one which we swore upon the first day when the initial shot was fired and the first of our martyrs fell. I must say these things so that you will know where, how and in what direction our movement is heading. We are marching together with the blessing of Allah, my brothers, we are marching together to Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem."
On that very day, Arutz-7's Haggai Segal interviewed MK Shlomo Ben-Ami of Labor:
"MK Ben-Ami, I have been listening to you over the past few days, crying out against and warning of the possibility that Arafat might fall. I would like to ask you, even from a historical and philosophical standpoint, how is that we have reached this point that Israel can't get along without a man who has long been called an arch-terrorist?"
Ben-Ami: "I don't exactly define what I have been saying as 'crying out' regarding Arafat. We need not give him any leeway regarding the war against terrorism, and I have said this in all my appearances, but on the other hand, we must avoid a situation where he is totally broken down, for the truth is that we have no alternative."
The day after the Machaneh Yehuda attack, Segal spoke with Prof. Ron Breiman of the Professors for a Strong Israel: "Yesterday, in an announcement after the attack, your group recommended to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to tell the nation the truth, to tell it that what awaits us shortly is blood, sweat, and tears. Can you elaborate?"
Breiman: "Yes, actually the minute they signed on Oslo they signed on for a war. That day marked the beginning of the deterioration to war, even though it is being called, even by the current government, a peace process. This is not a peace process, but rather one leading to war. The nation must be told the truth. It must be said that this is a process leading to war and that it must be stopped."
Only three weeks earlier, Labor MK Ephraim Sneh was asked by Arutz-7's Yehoshua Mor-Yosef: "Shouldn't we check whether we even have a partner with whom to reach a [successful] end to this process? I mean, security sources in Israel say that Arafat knew, or maybe even beyond that, of the [terrorist activities], and he and his friends smuggle in arms and fugitives… Isn't it that Arafat has simply remained the same terrorist he always was?"
Sneh: "Look, Arafat is the leader of the Palestinian nation. I think that he and those close to him have abandoned the way of terrorism."
The disc also includes samples from Yitzchak Rabin, Binyamin Netanyahu, Yossi Sarid, Rehavam Ze'evi, Gonen Segev (a right-wing party MK whose vote in favor of Oslo proved to be critical), left-wing writer Amos Oz, Avishai Raviv, and others. "The Writing was in the Air" can be obtained at this phone number: 067-666079 (in Israel). An English version is being considered.
The project shows how Arutz-7, from the summer of 1993 until the summer of 2000, presented many evaluations that the Oslo process was not one of peace but rather an introduction to war. Government leaders interviewed on Arutz-7 were asked questions they were rarely asked by other Israeli media, and many items dealt with the quick-paced arming of the Palestinian Authority.
Excerpts from "The Writing Was in the Air" were provided here yesterday. More excerpts follow:
On Aug. 7, 1997, only a week after 15 people were murdered by two suicide bombers in Jerusalem's Machaneh Yehuda market, Arutz-7 continued to warn of the dangers inherent in the Oslo process, to ask difficult questions of its proponents, and to receive "interesting" answers. That day's news magazine included the following:
"Yasser Arafat convened leaders of the Fatah movement in Gaza yesterday and called upon them to prepare for the great battle. He delivered a very bellicose and warlike speech. Arutz-7 has a translated copy of the entire speech, and I will read here extensive parts of it…"
"No one can harm the Palestinian revolution, for it will persist and struggle, struggle, struggle.... It is important that we organize our homes and our movements in order to endure the coming battle, which we shall begin. We must say these things because great battles lie before us, and it will now be more difficult than it was in the past... let us each commit one to another and let us commit ourselves before Allah and the Palestinian people that we shall lead the coming battle as we have led previous battles. An oath is an oath and a promise is a promise. The whole world stands by us, while they are alone. They are afraid, but we are not. We cling to the oath and the promise. The Palestinian people is faithful to its oath, the one which we swore upon the first day when the initial shot was fired and the first of our martyrs fell. I must say these things so that you will know where, how and in what direction our movement is heading. We are marching together with the blessing of Allah, my brothers, we are marching together to Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem."
On that very day, Arutz-7's Haggai Segal interviewed MK Shlomo Ben-Ami of Labor:
"MK Ben-Ami, I have been listening to you over the past few days, crying out against and warning of the possibility that Arafat might fall. I would like to ask you, even from a historical and philosophical standpoint, how is that we have reached this point that Israel can't get along without a man who has long been called an arch-terrorist?"
Ben-Ami: "I don't exactly define what I have been saying as 'crying out' regarding Arafat. We need not give him any leeway regarding the war against terrorism, and I have said this in all my appearances, but on the other hand, we must avoid a situation where he is totally broken down, for the truth is that we have no alternative."
The day after the Machaneh Yehuda attack, Segal spoke with Prof. Ron Breiman of the Professors for a Strong Israel: "Yesterday, in an announcement after the attack, your group recommended to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to tell the nation the truth, to tell it that what awaits us shortly is blood, sweat, and tears. Can you elaborate?"
Breiman: "Yes, actually the minute they signed on Oslo they signed on for a war. That day marked the beginning of the deterioration to war, even though it is being called, even by the current government, a peace process. This is not a peace process, but rather one leading to war. The nation must be told the truth. It must be said that this is a process leading to war and that it must be stopped."
Only three weeks earlier, Labor MK Ephraim Sneh was asked by Arutz-7's Yehoshua Mor-Yosef: "Shouldn't we check whether we even have a partner with whom to reach a [successful] end to this process? I mean, security sources in Israel say that Arafat knew, or maybe even beyond that, of the [terrorist activities], and he and his friends smuggle in arms and fugitives… Isn't it that Arafat has simply remained the same terrorist he always was?"
Sneh: "Look, Arafat is the leader of the Palestinian nation. I think that he and those close to him have abandoned the way of terrorism."
The disc also includes samples from Yitzchak Rabin, Binyamin Netanyahu, Yossi Sarid, Rehavam Ze'evi, Gonen Segev (a right-wing party MK whose vote in favor of Oslo proved to be critical), left-wing writer Amos Oz, Avishai Raviv, and others. "The Writing was in the Air" can be obtained at this phone number: 067-666079 (in Israel). An English version is being considered.