Right-wing group starts 7-day vigil against possible withdrawal from West Bank
02/02/2014 23:19
'Women in Green' gather in front of Netanyahu's residence to implore him to maintain total sovereignty over disputed territories.
Prof. Arieh Eldad speaking to Women in Green Photo: Courtesy
Incensed that portions of the West Bank may be transferred to Palestinian sovereignty following US-led peace negotiations, a woman's NGO commenced a seven-day "vigil" in front of the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on Sunday.
The vigil, protesting the so-called "Kerry Plan," which is anticipated to demand partial withdraw from the disputed areas, is sponsored by Women in Green, a grassroots NGO dedicated to the preservation of all land acquired by Israel after the 1967 War.
As a steady drizzle fell from a grey sky, co-founder Nadia Matar framed US Secretary of State John Kerry's expected stipulation that Israel surrender any of the regions in stark terms.
"We're here to remind [Netanyahu] why giving up Samaria, Judea and the Jordan Valley is national suicide – not only from a security point of view, but also morally," she said, adding that the women will continue to gather at the site from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. until Saturday.
"If he gives up any of these territories, it's like giving up part of your heart and mind," continued Matar. "You can no longer live without them, and Judea and Samaria are that to the Jewish people."
Unfazed by intense international pressure – including the burgeoning boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, demanding Israel withdraw from the regions in question – Matar said no amount of international pressure should force Netanyahu's hand.
"This BDS is a joke because Europeans need us more than we need them," she said. "They need Israeli hi-tech, Israeli minds and Israeli inventions, so we must stand firm and not be intimidated by it."
Matar added that the vigil is not meant as a protest against Netanyahu, so much as a reminder of the indispensable nature of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.
"As mothers, to us it's like giving away a child," she continued, "and like lionesses, we will fight for our cubs. We will remind Bibi that he used to talk like us, and maybe we can get him to get his backbone back."
A few meters away, Shifra Hoffman held a sign reading: "The G-d of Israel Said to Settle and Build Our Land… The PM of Israel Said to Freeze Our Land. Bibi…G-d Always Wins!!!"
"I'm here because I'm a Jewish daughter who believes that the Almighty brought us back after 2,000 years," said Hoffman. "And the torah forbids anyone to give an inch of our sacred soil – especially to our enemies!"
Moreover, Hoffman contended that such a concession is naïve, considering that Palestinian terrorism has continued unabated following similar such withdrawals.
"There will never be peace by two people claiming the same land where one has shown that terror is their method of cleansing the land of Jews," she said. "Is this the reason why the Jewish people suffered crusades, the inquisitions, pogroms and the unspeakable Holocaust? To live under Palestinian rule?"
Renee Margolis echoed Hoffman's sentiments.
"We want to encourage and strengthen Bibi's hand in holding onto all portions of Israel and not to give it away for a peace process that the Arab's don't believe in and don't want," she said. "If we give away these territories we will have no way to defend ourselves."
Indeed, Naomi Perlman said the rationale behind keeping Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley under Israeli sovereignty runs "much deeper than politics."
"At the root of this is Jewish pride and Jewish rights to the land," she said.
Meanwhile, Jeff Daube, director of the Zionist Organization of America's Israel office, said total Israeli sovereignty over the territories must remain non-negotiable.
"There's no way that anything but a sovereign Israeli presence in these areas can ensure our safety and our integrity," he said.
"Even in pre-1967 Israel, without a sovereign presence in Samaria and Judea, our legal, political, religious, moral and spiritual claims to Israel will begin to crumble."
----------------------------------------------------------
Adar 2, 5774, 02/02/14 08:27
Vigil in Front of Prime Minister's House for Judea and Samaria
Vigil in front of Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem to support annexation of Judea and Samaria, rally to feature MKs.
Tova Dvorin
Women in Green is launching a vigil outside Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's house Sunday calling for the full implementation of Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria (Shomron).
The vigil, officially titled "Mothers say YES to the application of Israeli sovereignty over Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley," is part of a wider "sovereignty" initiative, and will be open to the public held every day from 9 am - 9 pm. The event is co-sponsored by Professors for a Strong Israel and Mattot Arim.
The goal: to increase awareness about the alternative option to Israel accepting the framework presented by US Secretary of State John Kerry, which would see Israel relinquishing control over parts of Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley and potentially evicting Jewish families from their homes.
The alternative - annexation of Judea and Samaria - has been suggested time and again by Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett; a bill to annex the Jordan Valley was voted through last month by a ministerial cabinet.
The vigil seeks to bring annexation to the forefront, and express to the Prime Minister public support over the initiative, according to a release.
A statement from Women in Green reads,
The "Two States" plan is a recipe for the dissolution of Zionism and the destruction of the State of Israel, not only from the defensive point of view, but first and foremost, the moral one. This land is ours, we have returned after 2,000 years in exile to not only live in it, but to be sovereigns in our land. The offer to abandon parts of the homeland and Jewish inhabitants under Palestinian sovereignty is unjust, and it pulls the rug out from under our moral right to be in this land. An Israeli government that is freely willing to giving up sovereignty over Hebron, Nablus, Shilo and Beit El cancels the right to live in Tel Aviv and Haifa.
Not to mention the danger to the lives of the Jews who will be abandoned under Arab control. For a reminder of our experiences with this, look to the Hebron Massacre of 1929.
The grassroots group is using various means to publicize the event and grab the public's attention, by featuring guest speakers, uploading compilations of the day's events onto a YouTube channel, and spreading the compilations online via email, Facebook, and other platforms.
On Sunday, the vigil will feature solidarity visits from MK Orit Struk (Jewish Home), Professor Arieh Eldad, and Shosh Mesika, the wife of Samaria Regional Council head Gershon Mesika.
The vigil is yet another outcry against the US's plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which has met resistance not only for the public, but from the politicians from both sides themselves.
Last Wednesday, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times published some details of Kerry's plan which, he said, will call for a phased Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria based on the 1949 lines, with "unprecedented" security arrangements in the strategic Jordan Valley.
The Israeli withdrawal will not include certain settlement blocs, but Israel will compensate the Arab side for this with Israeli territory. The deal will call for "Palestine" to have a capital in Arab East Jerusalem and to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. It will not include any right of return for Palestinian refugees into pre-1967 Israel, Friedman said.
Jewish leaders later revealed that mutual recognition is another factor of the plan - with Israel recognizing a Palestinian state and the Palestinian Authority (PA) being forced to recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland - a condition the PA has already publicly refused to accept.
The public's outcry over the plan has been long and loud, with ongoing protests against the plan's preconditions - the release of 106 Palestinian Arab terrorists back into public life - and vigils, protests, and even mass prayer calls being held against Israel accepting the Kerry framework.
The outcries are expected to escalate in the light of Kerry's escalating threats against Israel if talks fail.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/176978#.Uu9LMD1_uSo
אין תגובות:
הוסף רשומת תגובה