We are happy to present you with our Sovereignty bulletin #69, sent to members and supporters of our Sovereignty Movement. You are invited to read, get updated, send us your comments and join:
Dear Friends,
Shalom,
This week, Jerusalem is again the national and international center of attention and this obligates us to mobilize ourselves for hasbara activities in the street, in the media and vis-à-vis the decision makers to thwart the disastrous and irreversible steps of severe historical and political significance.
One Truth and not Two: There are not two Jerusalems – we stand as one people behind the unity of Jerusalem
In this spirit, we encourage Member of Knesset Nir Barkat for his public cautions in the mainstream media outlets against the American intention to establish its consulate for the PA in the heart of Israel’s capital, a step whose immediate significance, Heaven forbid, would be recognition of the de facto division of Jerusalem as a step toward advancing the more terrible step that the American administration is striving for, the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in eastern Jerusalem.
Click here to read the main report on the significance of establishing a consulate and Member of Knesset Barkat’s warning against it.
More on the matter of Jerusalem. During the week, we published an article that also expresses concern and apprehension about the idea of an American consulate for the PA, but also presents the answer which, in our opinion, can be the appropriate Zionist response to any who doubt and challenge the State of Israel’s sovereignty in her capital city.
We again reiterate our statement of the past: We cannot allow a situation where Jerusalem becomes a political bargaining chip and part of the power struggle between the opposition and the coalition. The elected representatives must disengage themselves from the political wrestling as they shape their opinion on such critical matters as dividing Jerusalem. The elected representatives from the coalition and the opposition must stand before their ideological mirror and understand that they were elected by the people in Israel primarily to prevent dangerous steps such as these, and in this spirit, they are obligated to act as one person, part of a broad national consensus of leadership for Jerusalem, on behalf of the history and the future of the People of Israel in its Land.
We have no doubt that the nationalist and right-wing elements in the Israeli government, especially Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, do not desire to reach such dangerous possibilities, but it has happened more than once that leaders have needed encouragement from us, the people. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all of us, those who support the government and those who oppose it, to make it clear again and again that about Jerusalem, there is no dispute between us and every step by the Israeli government to strengthen Jerusalem and to reject ideas about dividing it will have support, encouragement and broad public backing from all of us.
Click here to read the entire article
Is there Governance and Sovereignty in Area C?
Also on the matter of building in Judea and Samaria. The report on building permits for two thousand housing units in the settlement enterprise per one thousand housing units for the Arabs of Area C was received in various sometimes contradictory ways among Land of Israel lovers.
Apparently, logic dictates that such building permits are part of the expression of the Israeli government’s sovereignty in the area, but the expression of sovereignty and governance cannot come from only one direction, the direction of building permits, and from the opposite direction, the direction of destroying illegal houses.
If the Israeli government had made sure to prevent illegal Arab building in any possible way and had destroy illegal Arab houses, it would have been appropriate to consider issuing permits in some range or other, but if it is only building permits in addition to the tens of thousands of illegal Arab housing units that already exist in the area, it means surrendering to the Arab dictate demanding more and more and is never satisfied.
And the evacuation this week of the Yeshiva in Homesh is even more disturbing and more unnecessary. Add to this the destruction of seven units in Adorayim last week, and the state’s response to the buildings that are about to be destroyed in the town of Eli and the destruction of a number of small outposts throughout Judea and Samaria….
All these latest actions seem to express a new and aggressive policy led by the Defense Ministry for enhanced enforcement against the Jews of Judea and Samaria, while around them are tens of thousands of buildings built by Arabs in total opposition to the law, but these are not evacuated and are not destroyed.
Building permits for the PA along with Israeli restraint toward well-funded and orchestrated illegal Arab building as part of the Fiyyad plan, and in addition, the latest destruction of Jewish units, really seems to be a conscious, disturbing and outrageous decision to prepare the area for political negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state. We will stand together with you with all our power and all our might against these plans.
Mobilizing in Hevron
The Arab leadership in the city of Hevron is well aware of the disputes and rifts in the positions of ministers in the Israeli government and following the beginning of work to make the Cave of the Patriarchs accessible on one hand, and on the other hand, a request of the Ministry of Tourism to stop the work, an order was issued to close all of the mosques so that the Arabs of the city would come en masse to pray at the Cave of the Patriarchs.
And we ask: What rabbis would call for closing the synagogues to mobilize the Jews to flock to the Cave of the Patriarchs?
If we desire life, we and the Israeli leadership must take a stand against every step, small or large, that promotes the trend of Arab leadership of Judea and Samaria. At such a time, it seems that the discourse on sovereignty has been shelved, but only this discourse and deeds that will promote its implementation will constitute an appropriate, absolute answer to the continuing Arab erosion of Israeli governance in Judea and Samaria as in other parts of the Land.
Abandoning the Past
Judea and Samaria are the cradle of creation and formation of the Jewish People. It was in Judea and Samaria where our forefathers walked, in Judea and Samaria the prophets prophesied and in Judea and Samaria where almost all of the Biblical stories occurred. Yet it seems that for 40 years, we have been neglecting archaeological research in Judea and Samaria.
For decades, for narrow political reasons while neglecting the values of historical research and truth, no Israeli university has found it correct to do a large-scale archaeological excavation , and for now, archaeologists are forced to raise resources for small digs only within the area of Jewish communities and not outside of them (additional evidence of the importance of the existence of these communities).
Click here to read the infuriating but important post by Netanel Elinson, which exposes the way we are abandoning our past to foreign, ill-meaning elements.
Sovereignty Youth in the Galilee
On Wednesday dozens of Sovereignty Youth coordinators set out on an educational tour of the Galilee to become familiar with the lack of governance in the Galilee, after having studied the situation in the Negev in the Summer Seminar about a month ago. These seminars and tours of the Land and meetings with public figures provide the youth with knowledge and information to promote Sovereignty and on their way to become our future leaders.
Shabbat shalom,
May we be blessed with “And you shall inherit the Land that Hashem, your G-d gives to you” (from the weekly Torah portion)
Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar