Dear Friends,
Below please find a summary of our successful Friday activity in Shdema. After having received a letter last week from the Ministry of Defense in which it stated clearly that Israel had not yet finalized its decision to transfer the area of Shdema to the Arabs, it is clear to us that the main purpose now is to have constant events in Shdema to increase the Jewish presence there. The more we can have a Jewish presence there, the more the pressure, the more chance we have to keep Shdema in Jewish hands and ultimately create a new yishuv there.
Most important now is to make sure we have enough people this coming Monday, July 14th when we plan to go to Shdema for a night of kumsitz, painting the buildings, and singing Eretz Israel songs till early morning. We need your help! Please forward this email to friends, call them and urge them to join us on Monday.
Even if you can’t come for the entire night, make an effort to come at least for the first few hours. If you do not come with your own vehicle, please register for the bus by calling 0505-500834 or 0505-777254 or 0505-246770 or 02-9961292
Transportation will be leaving
* from Gush Etzion
5:30 pm from Kiryat Arba
6:00 pm from Gush etzion
6:10 pm from Efrat South
6:20 pm from Tekoa
6:30 pm we all meet (private cars and buses) at the roundabout before the turn to Nokdim
* from Har Homa
6:30 pm from the Har Choma police station
Bring sleeping bag, food, drink, flashlight, walking shoes, tefillin and siddur
Shavua Tov,
The Committee for a Jewish Shdema & Women in Green
Rabbi Yaron Durani (Nokdim- 02-9605289), Orly Glauber (Har Choma 054-4286425), Ina Viniarsky (Tekoa 054-5620017), Ruti Wolfish (Tekoa 02-9964956), Datya Yitzhaki (Efrat 0505-246770), Nadia Matar (Efrat 0505-500834), Anita Finkelstein (Tekoa 0505-777254), Yehudit Katzover (Kiryat Arba Hebron 02-9961292), Eli Rodan (Elazar 054-4993529)
SUMMARY
Pictures of the Friday trip http://www.flickr.com/photos/yishuvnow/sets/72157606103774870/
(credit to Dan Leubitz)
Yesterday, Friday July 11th 2008, the Committee for a Jewish Shdema held a conference at the Gush Etzion Community Center to plan the continued struggle for a Jewish Shdema. The sixty participants, both residents of the area and activists from all over Israel together with public figures, included MK Uri Uriel, Gush Etzion Regional Council head Shaul Goldstein, Har Etzion Yeshivah head Rabbi Medan, and Rabbi Yaron Durani, the rabbi of Nokdim and member of the Committee for a Jewish Shdema.
The Committee has begun a public struggle against the initiative by the Civil Administration to hand over the area of the abandoned Shdema army camp (which is undisputedly Area C) to the Beit Sahur municipality and extreme leftist and international anarchist organizations for the establishment of an Arab neighborhood (including a hospital and an amusement park.) And this is while the Beit Sahur municipality has thousands of acres of completely empty land at its disposal.
We need not mention the strategic importance of the Shdema camp, that controls the main road connecting the settlements of eastern Gush Etzion and Jerusalem.
The Committee seeks to receive the area of the camp in order to establish a Jewish settlement or Jewish neighborhood there, to create settlement continuity with the nearby Homat Shmuel (Har Homah) neighborhood, at the edge of Jerusalem.
Gush Etzion Regional Council head Shaul Goldstein greeted the activists who attended the conference, and emphasized the importance of the struggle, the first stage of which is the prevention of an Arab takeover of the area, and the second, the establishment of a Jewish neighborhood. He then observed that the Jewish settlement comprises only 4 percent of the total Gush Etzion area, and it would be absurd to hand over parts of this small percentage to the Palestinians.
MK Uri Uriel congratulated the participants who had raised the issue for public debate. He suggested engaging in informational efforts directed at the Defense Ministry, GOC Central Command, and the GSS, so that they would oppose the destructive ideas of the Civil Administration, that represents the Arabs.
Rabbi Medan related that he had been among the first unit of the 50th Nahal Paratroop Battalion, that established and manned the Shdema camp. The worst thing is silence. Fish are eaten in nature more than any other creatures, and they deserve this, because they remain silent, he said. The governmental system and the police want quiet, and therefore we must not remain silent. We must act with all our power, and with a daily Jewish presence on the ground. It is in this way that we will succeed in the struggle for the eastern road, which is the struggle for settlement continuity between Har Homah and Gush Etzion.
Rabbi Yaron Durani declared that we must act on two parallel levels. On the one hand, we must act vis-a-vis the government ministers and the decision-makers in the political system, which means updating members of Knesset, meetings with the heads of the defense system, and publicizing the struggle in the media. And, on the other hand – demonstrations and actions on the ground.
Ina Vinarsky, a member of the Committee, said that our goal is to take possession of the area and maintain a permanent Jewish presence there, with the participation of both adults and youth. Members of Knesset and the Local Council head will take action vis-a-vis the political organizations, rabbis will mobilize the yeshivot, and citizens will be active at Shdema.
Datia Yitzhaki, secretary of Maaleh Rehavam, summarized that the activity at Shdema is important, in both the security sphere, for the eastern Gush Etzion road and the settlement continuity to Har Homah, and in the sphere of activity against the anarchists who incite the Palestinian populace, and who initiated the Arab projects at Shdema. We must act in every way possible against the dangerous and well-funded activity by leftist and anarchist elements who are aligned against settlement in Eretz Israel. Successful Jewish activity at Shdema could constitute a turning point in the poor morale of the public that loves Eretz Israel, and offer hope for success in the struggle for Eretz Israel.
At the conclusion of the conference, the participants traveled to Shdema in a bus provided by the Gush Etzion Regional Council, in order to become familiar with the area, plan coming activities, and repaint Jewish slogans.
The first activity will be on Monday, July 14, 2008, in the evening hours. Activists and youth will assemble at Shdema for informational activity and a large picnic, including sleeping over at the area. Dozens of youth have already signed up.
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Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
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