Americans for a Safe Israel May 20, 2014 Shalom to all our readers. The AFSI office is fully staffed again with the return of Helen and Judy from the AFSI Chizuk mission, May 4-13. As always, we had eventful, interesting, enlightening, productive and even life-changing experiences. A power point report on the trip will follow shortly, with photos and explanatory text. Glenn Richters CD video, unedited, is also available upon request. It follows the trip on a day by day basis, accompanied by his commentary. glennrik@aol is the way to reach him to order your copy at a modest cost. For now, let me simply say that starting in south Tel-Aviv, with Aharon Pulver of the Israel Independence Fund introducing us to May Golan, the crusader against rape, murder, and theft by Sudanese and Eritrean illegal immigrants into Israel, and ending in Maale Rahavaam, where Israel has been demolishing Jewish homes, there was no end to the critical issues we were addressing. It was so heartwarming to be greeted by Mayor Alon Davidi in Sderot and to be given a brief tour by Noam Bedein of the Sderot Media Center. Dror Vanunu and Anita Tucker greeted us in Nitzan and we were one of the very first groups to enter the new Gush Katif Museum in Nitzan, portraying the 21 communities of Gush Katif prior to, during, and after the 2005 expulsion. David Wilder met us in Hebron and took us to the rooftop of Beit Romano in Tel Rumeida, so that we had a panoramic view of Hebron. If only the John Kerrys of the world could see the vast areas of Arab homes, shops, and factories that populate the very wealthy city of Arab Hebron. Visiting the Temple Mount with Rabbi Richman on Yom HaAtzmaut was something we werent sure could happen, but it did, and once again, we proudly entered the har HaBayit as Jews entitled to enjoy our holy sites. Chaim Silberstein of Keep Jerusalem gave us a fabulous late morning tour of Yerushalayim and Dan Luria of Ateret Cohanim invited us to be the first group to enter the new Yeshiva in eastern Jerusalem, opposite the Flowers gate to the Old City. It was an exciting experience. Arieh King, newly elected to the Jerusalem City Council, joined us for a late night informal discussion. We had a great day with good friends, celebrating Israels independence. Marc Prowisor of the One Israel fund joined us for the entire day, starting with a visit to Beit Orot on the Mount of Olives where Shlomo Zwickler met us and pointed out the amazing growth of the Yeshiva and its surroundings. Benny Kashriel, Mayor of Maale Adumim met us in his office, and among other things, spoke about the need to keep E1 secure. Then we were on to explore Jericho and the Jordan Valley, with Chagi Ben Artzi as our guide. We went on to visit the Hesder Yeshiva in Kiryat Shemona, travel around the Lebanese border, speak to soldiers stationed there, visit the Syrian border while riding on jeeps, and seeing the white smoke of explosions, and visiting the school for unmanned flight technology in the lower Golan. Shabbat in Tsfat was mystical and marvelous. In Haifa we were one of the first groups to be taken on a tour of the 2000 bed underground hospital of the Rambam Health Care Campus. In Ariel we were treated to a tour of the biblical garden and the Tabernacle, as well as a brilliant dance performance by the Ariel youngsters. Our last day was devoted to our friends in Yitzhar, where homes have been demolished and price-tag labels have been placed on Jews. Chavat Gilad, another community suffering from discrimination against Jewish communities, was next on our list. To our delight, former Mayor of Kedumim, Daniella Weiss, met us there for a power talk of strength, belief, and determination. That was followed by a visit with Israel Danziger of Mishmeret Yesha in Maale Rahavaam. He pointed out the homes scheduled for demolition and we exited the area as cars were arriving to join a protest. Despite the efforts to save the homes, they were destroyed just days after our visit there. We ended on high note, meeting Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katzover in Netzer, where we planted trees and learned that this piece of land adjacent to Alon Shvut would now remain Jewish. It was good to feel a moment of victory . This quick overview doesnt begin to describe the range of emotions experienced as we understood the struggle to assert Israels sovereignty in its own country. Everywhere there was evidence of the growing Arab demands, accompanied by U.S. complicity, which made holding onto the Jewish state increasingly difficult. And then we came home to find that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had warned that Israel would become an apartheid country if it didnt succumb to the two-state solution. We had already discovered that if there is discrimination in Israel, it is against the Jews - NOT the Arabs. It is the Jews who are forbidden to enter certain areas because they are too dangerous. Arabs are everywhere. It is the Jews who live in gated, protected communities while Arabs build and spread out without hindrance. It is the Jews who live in small houses or caravans threatened with demolition while Arabs build mansions without occupants, simply putting facts on the ground.
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 01:29:47 +0000
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