Suicide is a sin
By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

(November 10) - The desecration of Joseph's Tomb, the razing 
of the synagogue in Jericho, and the vandalization and swastika 
desecration of our Efrat synagogue clearly indicate that the 
war being waged is not only political but also religious, and 
has been declared against Jews and Judaism throughout the world. 

Almost every evening we hear gunshots. The week after Rosh 
Hashana my good friend and colleague Rabbi Chaim Brovender 
was violently beaten when he made a wrong turn into Beit Jala. 
Shots have frequently been fired upon our yeshiva. At the 
conclusion of Yom Kippur, students, young mothers and infant 
babies had to lie on the floor for an hour and a half while 
bullets whizzed over their heads. Tragically, two soldiers, 
David Hen Cohen and Shlomo Adishne were killed in the line of 
duty while protecting Efrat. 

Israelis have been kidnapped and lynched; Jewish neighborhoods 
and settlements are fair game; Palestinian policemen shoot 
with guns which we ourselves have provided; Palestinian 
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat purposely released from 
prison the very terrorists who then took the lives of two 
innocent civilians near Mahane Yehuda. 

The atrocities of the Palestinian Authority extend to their 
own people, especially in the areas of health care, education 
and business partnerships. Arafat stopped our joint Arab-Efrat 
soccer games; and Israeli Arabs are being incited to violence 
and insurrection by Arab MKs. The PNC did everything possible 
to thwart a joint effort towards establishing a medical clinic 
staffed by Palestinian doctors and supported by donations from 
America, as well as an early child-care educational program in 
neighboring Palestinian villages. 

A Palestinian school dedicated to teaching peaceful coexistence 
was virtually shut down by the PA in our area, and terrorist 
tactics are used against any Palestinian desirous of 
cooperative ventures. 

Obviously, the worst and most sickening disregard for the 
welfare of their own people is expressed by their cynical 
incitement of young children to act as "front men" and decoys, 
since the TV picture of a Palestinian child felled is a 
propaganda picture worth far more than a thousand words. 

We continuously refuse to listen to what the PA leadership 
is saying. They are ready to recognize the presence of 
Israel within the Middle East, but only if we return to the 
pre '67 borders, renounce Israeli sovereignty over East 
Jerusalem (including the Western Wall), and grant the right 
of return to all Palestinian refugees in accordance with UN 
resolutions 181 and 194. This means the return of Palestinians 
to their "ancestral homes" in West Jerusalem (for example, 
Baka and Rehavia), Jaffa, Haifa - in short, the end of Israel 
as a Jewish state. 

Tragically, we have long chosen to close our ears and eyes to 
what the PA leadership has been preaching and writing, even 
in their latest published educational schoolbooks. 

Peace is only legitimate when the enemy changes his tune 
and at least publicly declares to his own constituents his 
willingness to accept a fairly negotiated compromise. 

Imagine if we had already given up parts of eastern Jerusalem 
to Palestinian control? All of Jerusalem would now be under 
siege as are streets like Rehov Ha'anafa in Gilo. 

But what is the alternative? 

It seems that our first response to Palestinian violence 
must be severe economic sanctions. The immediate cessation 
of transferral of funds to the PA (unbelievably we still 
supply Arafat's coffers with millions of shekels), and 
withdrawal of basic services such as water, electricity and 
employment. If the violence continues, it must be met with 
significant and serious counter-violence. 

Of course we yearn for peace, and we have more than proven 
our good faith by having given up major cities of our 
biblical patrimony, more than 90% of the areas on which 
Palestinians live. Israelis never wanted to be occupiers - 
but we had no choice when faced with the option of either 
being occupiers or occupied. 

And when faced with continued violence against our citizenry, 
a healthy, life-loving society must unfortunately resort to 
the talmudic dictum: "If one comes to murder you, he must be 
murdered first." 

The alternative to defending our state is the dismantling of 
our state - and our tradition teaches that committing suicide 
is an egregiously unethical act. 

The Israeli and Jewish people have never been so united among 
themselves. With unity, resolution and resolve we can truly 
achieve miracles today, just as we have in the past. Indeed, 
to be alone with God is to be with a majority of One.