Surprise visit by Al Khader mayor at Netzer plantings
see below for link to short movie

This past Friday, January 25th, the Women in Green movement held Tu Bishvat plantings plantings in Netzer. Dozens of people from the area, including Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Gush Etzion and Kiryat Arba-Hebron, came to take part in planting and to enjoy the festive atmosphere.

R. Gideon Perel, the Gush Etzion Regional Rabbi, gave an uplifting speech. The Rabbi continuously repeated that the Land of Israel is the land of the People of Israel, and no invaders will ever change this historic fact.

A group of Arabs suddenly arrived, instantly entering the plot that had just been planted by the Jews. The land belongs to the state, and despite dispute and tensions in the past, the Civil Administration established in 2011 that it was not Arab land.

The Arabs were asked to leave the area, and an argument started between the organizers and the Arabs. During the argument, one of the Arabs introduced himself as the mayor of Al Khader, claiming that the 22,000 acres in the area belong to them, and had the audacity to demand that we show him on the map that the land we are planting on is state land.

The organizers told him they were not in the least interested in speaking to a representative of the Palestinian Authority.

After a long argument, the Arabs left the place in an Al Khader municipality vehicle. Throughout the argument the activists continued to plant dozens of trees, and then information arrived that Arabs and Leftist activists, carrying Palestinian flags, had gathered at the gate of the Elazar community and were attempting to infiltrate the community. The gate was blocked and traffic jams and disruptions. Later the Arabs marched with their flags down Rout 60, secured by the IDF.

The phenomenon of Arabs protesting against the Gush Etzion communities and the blatant intervention of the Palestinian Authority, such as the mayor of Al Khader on Friday, is a clear attempt to destabilize the legitimacy of the “Community Blocs”. The phenomenon must serve as a reminder to the entire People of Israel that we do not have the luxury of investing only in internal and economic affairs. The enemy is knocking at the gates of our communities, literally as well as figuratively. There is an extra importance these days to reinforce our holding over every part part of the Land of Israel, with no differentiation between the “Blocs” and communities that are “outside the Blocs”. This is the only way to ensure that the Arabs will not be gathering outside the gates of Sheikh Munis (Ramat Aviv) in the immediate future.

for short movie IN ENGLISH showing the plantings and the Arab attempt to infiltrate in Elazar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qruggVkC8aA&feature=youtu.be