by Yair Altman
MK Avi Dichter, who headed the Shin Bet at the time of the 2002 siege described in a controversial play currently being staged at NYU, divulges details of negotiations with then-Palestinian leader Arafat
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Chairman of the
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
and former Shin Bet head
Avi Dichter
Photo: Yonatan Sindel
Following a report in Israel Hayom Sunday,
detailing New York University's decision to host performances of the
play "The Siege," which presents a revisionist, anti-Israel take on the
capture of terrorists who barricaded themselves in the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002,
Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Avi
Dichter has sent a strongly-worded letter to NYU President Andrew
Hamilton as well as to Jay Wegman, one of the senior directors of the
university's Skirball Center, where the play is scheduled to run until
Oct. 22.
The playbill for the production, put on by
the Palestinian Jenin-based Freedom Theater, explains that the play was
written from the point of view of the "Palestinian fighters," who sought
sanctuary inside the church (when in fact they took hostages to use as
human shields). As food, water and medical supplies ran out, the
"fighters" were faced with the dilemma of whether to fight to the end or
surrender, the playbill explains.
Dichter, who headed the Shin Bet security
agency at the time the events described in the play took place, was in
charge of the negotiations with then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat. He
described in his letter how the events actually unfolded, in contrast to
the facts presented in the play.
"The play you are putting on seeks to
rewrite history and instead of Palestinian terrorists who took the holy
Church of the Nativity hostage, you are presenting [them] as innocent
civilians who were hiding in the church," Dichter wrote. "I am going to
tell you the true story, exactly as it happened."
In his letter, Dichter reveals for the
first time a conversation he held with Arafat, after which then-Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon asked him to make a deal with Arafat under which
the terrorists would be expelled from the church.
"As head of the Shin Bet, I was asked by
Prime Minister [Ariel] Sharon, who was coordinating with then-U.S.
President George W. Bush, to strike an agreement with Yasser Arafat
[under which] he would leave the Christian holy site intact and not
cause it any further damage beyond what the terrorists had already
caused," Dichter wrote.
"All those same hundreds of terrorists who
until then had been shooting at windows in [the Jerusalem neighborhood]
Gilo, sending terrorists with explosive belts into Jerusalem, and
shooting mortars at the capital of Israel, broke into the Church of the
Nativity in the city [of Bethlehem] and barricaded themselves inside.
They took dozens of … priests and monks hostage."
"Close to 2 a.m. we made contact with Rais
[President] Arafat. We had met many times, so after exchanging
pleasantries we were able to move on and talk about how it would be
possible to resolve the Church of the Nativity crisis as speedily as
possible. Since there were a few dozen terrorists with blood on their
hands inside the church, I made it clear to Arafat that all the
terrorists involved in attacking Israelis would be deported: 13 to
countries that would agree to take them in and another 26 to Gaza. The
remainder of the 60 terrorists who were not involved in terrorist
attacks with casualties would be allowed to go free.
"Arafat answered, 'Reduce it from 13 to six terrorists to be deported,'" Dichter writes.
"And I, knowing that nine was the actual
number Arafat was going for, explained in Arabic: 'The 13 should thank
God that they're still alive.'"
Dichter ends his letter with a clear demand
that "a hostile takeover of one of Christianity's holiest sites must
not be turned into 'a struggle for survival and freedom,' as it is
described in the program. New York University must not serve as
fertile ground for this contemptible, anti-Semitic play that portrays
terrorist attackers as freedom fighters. This is a play that is
appropriate for Tehran or Beirut. Not for you, in New York!"
Yair Altman
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2017/10/09/former-security-chief-sets-record-straight-on-inciting-anti-israel-play-at-nyu/
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