Adapted from an article by Atty. Michael Shparber, Gush Etzion, translated by Hillel Fendel.
As many readers of this column well know, the well-orchestrated
media campaign crying out against alleged "settler violence" is not
at all restricted to the borders of the State of Israel, making its active
presence known long ago in America. Under pressure from the Trump Administration,
which expressed its “shock” at the violence against Arabs in the West Bank, our
government here in Israel puzzlingly committed to establish a special
enforcement unit against Jews within the Ministry of Defense, and to fund it
with no less than 130,000,000 shekels ($41.27 million).
As an example of the fake phenomenon of "settler
violence," let us consider a series of three "minor" events that
flew under the radar last week at the Magen Avraham Farm in the Gush Etzion
bloc, south of Jerusalem. Magen Avraham is a small pioneer farm that, like all
the new farms in Yesha (Judea and Samaria), is strategically located and
oversees a large area. It is adjacent to the Arab village of Kisan in the
eastern part of Gush Etzion, not far from Tekoa.
One way of looking at Gush Etzion is that it guarantees the
Jewish settlement presence between Beit Shemesh and the Dead Sea. It is not a
continuous, integral bloc, in that a chain of Bedouin outposts formed over the
last few centuries in the Bethlehem and northern Judean Desert area divides
between them. Some of these Bedouin localities even have a permanent nature,
such as the hostile village Tokua (based on the Biblical city of Tekoa, home to
the Prophet Amos), and others.
These Bedouins, of the Taamari tribe [regarding which there
is some evidence that it was originally Jewish before converting, either
voluntarily or by coercion], basically block off the thriving and expanding
Jewish area of northern Gush Etzion (Nokdim, Tekoa, Kfar Eldad) from the
settlements to their south along the edge of the desert (Maaleh Amos, Metzad,
and Pnei Kedem). Their illegal intrusions into the Jewish areas are both
dangerous and demographically threatening to the Jews of the area.
If one would have looked for a locality named Kisan on the
maps of several years ago, he would have come up with no results. Rather,
Kisan, like many other Bedouin and other Arab villages in the vicinity, grew
out of a strategic PA plan to take over the open areas in Judea and Samaria,
for the express purpose of preventing Jewish contiguity in the area and paving
the way for a Palestinian state, even if only de facto at first.
Arabs from Kisan, with help from accomplices, simply descend
southward from the mother village of Tuqua and its satellites, position
themselves along the only road leading to the southeastern part of Gush Etzion,
and create constant friction with the Jewish population. This they do by
stone-throwing, placing explosive devices, ambushing travelers at night,
encroaching on Jewish-owned land, agricultural sabotage, and primarily through
ongoing takeover of the area.
And here enter the picture the heroic pioneers of our
generation, the youths of the Yesha farms. Specifically, those in Magen Avraham
– few in number but largely fearless – who live there without running water,
without electricity, and without support from the authorities. With their bare
hands they work the fields of our homeland, on the banks of the beautiful,
flourishing Arugot Stream (leading from eastern Gush Etzion to the Dead Sea). By
day they work, plant and thresh; by night they keep the route open and guard
the flock from Arab thieves and rioters.
It is important to remember that these pioneers guard not
only the plot of land adjacent to them, and not only the continuity of Jewish
settlement in the area; rather, they are the ones who, with their very bodies
and strength of spirit, are preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state
– of which its possible horrifying consequences we all received a taste of on
the bitter day of October 7th.
The Arabs there, including the
infiltrators of the illegal adjacent village of Kisan, are not happy with these
actions of the few Jews of Magen Avraham. After all, their entire purpose of
living there is to prevent contiguous Jewish settlement in the area, which is
why they instigate violence against their Jewish neighbors, hoping both to kill
and scare them away.
Just imagine how it works: A Jewish
shepherd goes out to graze with his sheep, generally armed with nothing more
than a stick and backpack, trusting in the Creator and in the strength of his
mission. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, dozens of Arabs appear, throwing rocks of
all sizes, striking him with their sticks with abandon, stealing or harming
sheep, and causing damage to the Jewish fields. This is the type of event that
happens time and again, not only in Magen Avraham, but all over Yesha. But will
you ever hear of this in the news? Never. For violence and aggression against
the Hilltop Youth has been whitewashed and all but kosher-certified in public
opinion.
This is precisely what happened to
the pioneers of Magen Avraham no fewer than three times in the past week; I
assume that none of those reading this heard of it. On the other hand,
"Jewish settler violence" opens the news reports, even during these
wartime days. And that's how a narrative is created and developed. It's not the
truth or the facts that matter, but rather what is repeated over and over, and
eagerly swallowed up by a public that is a combination of apathetic and anxious
to hear news that is anti-Jewish – or specifically anti-religious. Demonizing
the settlement enterprise has long been the objective, and maligning the vital
pioneering enterprise of the Yesha farms (which actually should have been a
priority of our government and society) – serves the political interests of
those who oppose the State of Israel.
We would be well advised to return
to the spirit of previous decades, and encourage and strengthen our beloved
emissaries who dedicate their days and nights to preserving our homeland. As the
Zionist activist, lawyer and poet Avraham Levinson (1891-1955) wrote:
Let
us build our land, our homeland
For it is ours; this land is for us.
To build the land is the charge of our blood, the charge of the generations.
We will build our land despite all who come to destroy us,
We will build our land with the strength of our will.