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Dear Friends,

Firstly, please click on the following link to see a one minute youtube videoclip that says it all about the
hypocrisy of the world around the issue of the Shepherd Hotel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2bwLgQCsN0

Secondly, below please find Helen Freedman’s first-person account on “Touring with Mike Huckabee”

With love for Israel,

Nadia Matar, Women in Green
Yehudit Katzover, the Committee for a Jewish Shdema
—————————————————

First-Person Account: Touring Israel with Mike Huckabee
August 24, 2009
by Helen Freedman
(Israelnationalnews.com) A first-person account of a US presidential candidate’s trip to Israel by a prominent Jewish-American activist reveals a calm man with strong principles.

When I received the invitation from Shani Hikind at the Ateret Cohanim/Jerusalem Reclamation Project (JRP) to accompany Republican Presidential candidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee on a mission to Israel, I agreed immediately.

Having listened to Huckabee speak at the many debates held amongst the candidates, and being a fan of his Fox television show and his ABC radio shows, I knew that traveling with Mike would be a unique and extraordinary experience. It was all that and more!!

I arrived at Newark Airport late Saturday night, August 15, and waited at the gate to board my El Al midnight flight to Israel. An unassuming man walked into the area all alone. There was no entourage, no guards, no secretaries, and no press. When I looked again, I realized it was Mike Huckabee. I approached him, introduced myself, and told him I was part of the group with which he would be traveling. He was as gracious as could be, agreed to take some books and materials that I had for him, and posed for a photo with me. From that time on, he greeted me as Helen whenever we met.

He had that same warm quality with everyone in the group, remembering each one’s name and greeting each one with a smile. This calm, affable, genuine quality about him continued throughout our three-day trip in Israel, despite the constant pressure of the media surrounding him, pushing their way forward, shouting out questions, and following him everywhere.

The trip was under the tireless guidance of JRP Representative in Jerusalem, Daniel Luria. Our first day was concentrated in Jerusalem, with a fascinating tour of the City of David, where ancient excavations dating back 3,200 years have been discovered. This was followed by trips through the former Yemenite village in Silwan, mostly Arab but with a renewed Jewish presence as there was decades ago, a visit to Maaleh HaZeitim, a flourishing Jewish development on the Mount of Olives, and a delightful stop at Kidmat Tzion, another Jewish development, adjacent to the ugly wall that cuts through Jerusalem and separates Abu Dis from the rest of Jerusalem.

While most of us enjoyed a picnic lunch in the lovely shaded forest area adjacent to Kidmat Tzion, Mike Huckabee sat in the strong sunshine, in front of a stunning view of the Old City, while he gave interview after interview to the omnipresent press.

Huckabee’s remarks to the press have been well-recorded, but there were some particular comments that stand out in my memory. He insisted that his visit was not meant to be a provocation. He believes that two sovereign nations cannot control the same piece of territory, and that though the PA deserves to have a state, “it can’t be in Israel.” He affirms the unique relationship between the U.S. and Israel which he describes as “organic,” with both having experienced the same struggle and victory. He also spoke about his experiences growing up in the deep South with segregated schools, which makes him very sensitive to issues of discrimination and prejudice.

When asked about the “occupation,” Mike Huckabee responded brilliantly. He described Israel’s government as one of “accommodation, not occupation.” He spoke about Israel’s efforts to bring all types of services to the Arab communities such as schools, infra-structure development, hospitals, and welfare payments.

The Moskowitz family, owners of the Shepherd Hotel in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem, hosted a lovely cocktail reception on Monday evening at the hotel. Although the hotel is located near the National Headquarters of the Israeli police, near the tomb of Shimon HaTzadik, and adjacent to the Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus, the purchase of the hotel by a Jewish family, with the purpose of converting it to apartments for Jews, had set off a storm of protest. As we arrived at the hotel, we saw the protestors from Peace Now screaming their opposition to Huckabee’s presence. Huckabee’s reaction to their insults and noise was that their ability to behave in that fashion simply demonstrated Israel’s democratic character, where free speech, even if ugly and unwanted, was fully tolerated.

On Tuesday, the former governor was given a tour of Maaleh Adumim and the E1 corridor to Jerusalem. The town’s mayor, Benny Kashriel, explained that the population of nearly 40,000 people in the city provided 2,000 jobs to Arabs, and that freezing construction meant putting Arabs out of work. Huckabee agreed that Obama’s policies are not in sync with either his campaign promises, or his assurances made to AIPAC of his continued support for previous understandings regarding Israel’s settlement situation. Huckabee asserted that Israelis must be allowed to make their own decisions.

He continued along these lines as we toured Shomron/Samaria with David HaIvri. We visited Beit El, Mt. Gerizim overlooking Shechem (Nablus), Har Bracha, and Givot Olam. In each place he met hard-working, devoted people who love the Land of Israel and dedicate their lives to its preservation. Gershon Mesika, the head of the Shomron Regional Council, asked Huckabee to do what he could to encourage the Jewish people to love Israel and thus restore the Temple to Jerusalem.

Huckabee spoke about American Christians’ very deep support for Israel. He believes there is more unity amongst Evangelicals for Israel than there is among Jews. He describes the Christian connection to Judaism as one that is totally genetic, “part of its DNA,” and that because of this, Bible-believing Christians assert the right of the Jews to their homeland.

Huckabee suggested that Obama’s positions on Israel have brought anxiety to Congress, and that Democrats don’t want to be seen to be in conflict with Israel. He reminded us of Reagan’s bombing of Libya, and stated, “Abandoning the Israel/U.S. relationship would be the undoing of both countries.” Responding to questions about defensible borders for Israel, Huckabee maintained that there would be none if control were turned over to Hamas.

Referring to the years of peace processes, he reminded us of Einstein’s definition of insanity, namely, “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Huckabee recommends starting with a blank slate and seeing what is realistically possible; “there is no point in talking about a plan that is a proven failure.” Although he recognized that he is out of the mainstream in his beliefs, he says he prefers that to the position of always having to check the prevailing winds.

Asserting that Jews should have the right to live wherever they choose in their homeland, he commented, “If Arabs didn’t want to lose land, they shouldn’t have started wars.” He reminded us that wars and history have caused so many lands to change hands and populations.

That evening, back in Jerusalem, there was a cocktail reception at the very beautiful home of Mr. Guma Aguiar in Yemin Moshe. The former governor was awarded photos and plaques for his deep devotion to Israel as the Jewish homeland. Many Members of Knesset and other dignitaries were there, along with the press of course, and once again Huckabee displayed his modesty, equanimity, and sincerity as he graciously accepted the awards and once again pledged his devotion to Israel.

By Wednesday, August 19, work commitments began to intrude in the planned schedule. Though he did not make it to the Gush Katif “resettlement camp” in Nitzan (see below), Huckabee did get to the Gush Katif museum in Jerusalem, where he met Rivka Goldschmidt, an evacuee from the destroyed Gush Katif communities. He spoke to her earnestly, listening to her description of what it had been like to have led a useful and productive life in a beautiful home and community and then to have it all torn away and destroyed. Four years later, only 15 percent of the 400 farmers of Gush Katif have received proper compensation. There were 50 greenhouses in Gush Katif; today, the former residents have only three. People are still paying off the mortgages on their destroyed homes, and must pay rent for the caravans in which they live in the “refugee camps.” Huckabee seemed deeply moved by what he heard, as well as by the vivid photos and powerfully emotional film of the expulsion.

He was unable to continue with us on our visit to Nitzan, the largest of the Jewish “refugee camps,” where we met with Dror Vanunu and Rachel and Moshe Saperstein, former residents of N’vei Dekalim. After a lovely lunch at the visitors’ center, we traveled on to Hevron to enjoy the spirituality always present in this city of our Matriarchs and Patriarchs. David Wilder once again served as our valuable guide.

At our farewell dinner at the “Between the Arches” restaurant in the Old City, Huckabee was there to greet each one of us. He shook hands with us individually, and posed for photos. I spoke to him briefly about his plans to visit Israel again in late January/February with a Christian group. I reminded him that Herbert Zweibon, chairman of my organization, Americans for a Safe Israel/AFSI, has always worked closely with the Christian community and would work with him on his planned visit. He indicated that he would look forward to discussing this further.

Mike Huckabee did not stay to dine with us; he fought the Jerusalem traffic that erev Rosh Chodesh Elul night simply to say farewell personally to each one of us who had accompanied him on this memorable trip. He then left for the airport and his return flight to New York. I look forward to watching his personal reports on Fox News and listening to his radio commentaries on Israel.

I trust that the messages he brings back, which are strong contradictions of the Obama policies, will help educate the general public about the true situation that exists in Israel today, and the necessity of keeping Israel a viable ally of America.

Helen Freedman is Executive Director of Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI - 212-828-2424; afsi@rcn.com

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133058

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
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Dear Friends,

Rory McCarthy of the Guardian spent a morning with us in Shdema. Below is what he wrote.

Enjoy!

Nadia Matar, Women in Green
Yehudit Katzover, The Committee for a Jewish Shdema
—————————————————

West Bank: slowly, determinedly, settlers bid to build new town
Rory McCarthy, August 23, 2009

Look at this link for picture of Nadia with Israeli flag:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/23/west-bank-israeli-settlements

In the first of a series of exclusive reports examining settlements in the West Bank and their role in the middle east peace process, Rory McCarthy meets a group of Israelis who want to ‘redeem’ a patch of land near the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/audioslideshow/2009/aug/23/israel-settlements-shdema
Audio slideshow: ‘This land belongs to the Jewish people’

Early in the morning, Nadia Matar drove to the hills south of Jerusalem, near the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour, and turned into a dusty, unmarked road. There she planted a sign which read “Welcome to Shdema”. She drove on, stopping every few metres along the route to jam into the rocky ground a series of fluttering blue and white Israeli flags. Israeli soldiers let her pass unhindered as she drove up to the concrete ruins of what was until a few years ago the Israeli military base of Shdema.

Here, just a stone’s throw from Palestinian homes and only a few minutes from the city of Bethlehem, Matar and her friends are intent on building a Jewish community, the next settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank.

It is a glaring challenge to the Obama administration, which is trying to halt all Israeli settlement growth as a precursor to renewed peace talks. But recent history suggests it is the highly-motivated settlers like Matar, 43, a mother of six born in Belgium and now living in the settlement of Efrat, who may in the end triumph on this particular dusty patch of land.

Tomorrow, the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu arrives in London for a series of key meetings, including four hours of discussions on Wednesday with the White House’s special envoy, George Mitchell, and talks with Gordon Brown tomorrow. The continued colonisation of the West Bank, an extraordinarily successful project over the past 40 years, will dominate the agenda. Settlement on occupied land is regarded as illegal by the rest of the international community, but nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers live in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. Shdema is even beyond Israel’s West Bank barrier, which runs deep into Palestinian territory and which many believe will one day be the final border of Israel.

Matar’s goal is “redemption of the land”. In her view, the land on which the Palestinian homes sit belongs by Biblical and historical right to the Jewish people and is, for now, “temporarily under Arab occupation”. She is trying to build a “Jewish Shdema” and to prevent the land from remaining Palestinian. After the military evacuated the base there were plans, since shelved, to build a hospital for Palestinians. “They want more pieces of land that belong to the Jews. They want to take it away from us,” Matar said.

“The Land of Israel was given by God to the people of Israel,” she said. “Some will tell you God gave it to us, others will say Jewish history of 4,000 years is our historical right … You don’t have to be a religious Englishman to see London belongs to the British.”

This is a rare insight into how outposts get built: with determined settlers and eventually complicit Israeli authorities.

At first, after the army withdrew from the base three years ago, soldiers closed the area off and prevented all settlers from approaching. But the settlers sneaked in and kept coming. Eventually Matar, a leader of the group Women in Green, and her supporters convinced the military to allow them in just once a week, on a Friday. They cleaned the buildings up, painted over graffiti, tidied the rooms and held workshops and discussions. Sometimes they have stayed the night, sometimes they have been allowed to come twice a week and eventually, they believe, settlers will begin to live here.

Similar struggles take place every week on other hilltops across the West Bank. All this is happening even though the Israeli government says in public it will allow no new settlements.

“At the beginning we fought against the army to come up here,” said Matar. “But when they saw we were adamant they let us come on a Friday … But it’s not enough for us. We don’t want to ask permission to be in our homeland.”

Now every time they come the army far from preventing them in fact provides them with security, deploying several soldiers and armoured vehicles but not interfering with their activities. In April the military also halted the construction of a Palestinian park, part funded by the US government, because it was at the foot of the hill claimed by the settlers at Shdema.

Already the settlers have produced a glossy brochure with architectural plans of the Shdema they would like to see: it has grassy lawns, lines of trees, a cultural centre and a small but thriving Jewish community.

On this day around 30 settlers of different ages gathered, among them several children, a rabbi and at least two women carrying discreetly holstered pistols. They sat in one room on plastic chairs as Tomer Karazi, 34, a rabbi with five children, discussed a Biblical text and the importance of building a new village in this Biblical land.

Later Karazi said he and his wife Hannah were ready to move from their home in the settlement of Nokdim to Shdema as soon as possible. “It’s our duty not to escort the process of redemption from the outside but to be involved and active from the inside,” he said. “We don’t need to wait for things like water and electricity. And we really love the place. It’s beautiful.”

Then out came large tubs of white emulsion paint and several brushes and the group began painting over the grey concrete walls, stopping occasionally for glasses of water and slices of watermelon.

Yosef Ziggerman, 18, a settler from Efrat had been involved in several other, often unsuccessful, attempts to establish new outposts on nearby hills. “I believe every single piece is ours and I don’t see many pieces of land as beautiful as this,” he said. “We aren’t doing anything crazy or fanatic. We’re painting and making it look nice.”

Several spoke of their frustration with other Israelis who enjoy the more secular lifestyle of cities like Tel Aviv or Eilat but who seemed not to understand or endorse the settlers’ millenarian ideology and their effort to claim the West Bank as their own. Since Israel withdrew its settlers from Gaza four years ago, many fear more compromises and would rather take a more radical and practical stand to expand Jewish settlement of the West Bank.

They described themselves as a frontline in a wider struggle against what they see as radical Islam, insisting that settler outposts protect the larger settlement blocs, which in turn protect Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and which in turn protect the Western world.

“People like to present us like crazy lunatics,” said Matar. “But one day these people in the West will see. The Muslims are taking over there too. You better be on our side for your sake, but you guys in Europe are not. Those who curse Israel will be cursed, and those who bless Israel will be blessed.”

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
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The convention of the terrorist Fatah organization in Betlehem last week has brought with it a wave of vandalism against Shdema, located on the outskirts of Betlehem

For the past two weeks, international anarchists and Arabs have vandalized Shdema, have besmirched the Israeli flags and have painted anti-Israeli slogans on the walls.

When we go up to Shdema, the IDF accompanies us, mainly to make sure we don’t do any serious building in Shdema. On the other hand, the illegal Arab construction at the bottom of Shdema continues to blossom, despite the destruction orders against it.

The Arabs get the message, and now are trying to take over the camp. There is only one factor that prevents them from succeeding: it is you, all the hundreds of Zionists, lovers of Israel who, by coming to Shdema on a weekly basis to show a Jewish presence, are proudly declaring: We do not give up one inch of the Land of Israel!

Without your devotion and steadfastness, Shdema would already have been under illegal Arab occupation, threatening the entire area.

TOMORROW, FRIDAY, WE ARE INCREASING OUR PRESENCE!! JOIN US!!

For those who can’t come or live abroad, you can join the struggle too !!

Below you will find a list of Israeli ministers and their contact information. Please call their office, write faxes and emails and letters demanding to keep SHDEMA in Jewish hands and demanding to destroy the illegal Arab building at the bottom of Shdema. The more phone calls, letters and faxes they get, the more chances we have to succeed.

You can send the same letter/fax to all ministers. Yes, you can write in English too.

Each fax, phone call and letter counts!

Tomorrow, Friday’s, program:

At 9:30am - a shiur will be given by Rabbi Shimon BenZion from Kiryat Arba

At 10:30am - Member of Knesset Yaakov Katz (Ketzele), from the National Union, will be leading a march towards the illegal Arab construction where we will demand that the authorities destroy the buildings.

The march will be accompanied by tour guide Arieh Klein who will give explanations on the area.

At 11:30 - return

Justice is on our side. Please G-d, we will act and be successful.

Be part of the struggle for a Jewish Shdema. Join us this coming Friday!

Transportation by registration only- from Kiryat Arba at 8:45 am, from Tsomet Hagush at 9:00, from Efrat at 9:05, and Har Choma 9:05

for pictures of the vandalism: photos by Rivka Ryback and Yossef Hartuv
http://www.yeshabulletin.com/FIGHT%20BACK/FightBack.htm
Click on the picture showing Rabbi Durani and you will get a slideshow

The Committee for a Jewish Shdema and Women in Green
For details: Nadia Matar - 050-5500834 or Yehudit Katzover 050-7161818

CONTACT INFO - With thanks to Arlene Kushner who provided this info
See Arlene’s website http://www.ArlenefromIsrael.info

All phone and fax numbers from the US: 011-972, then drop the “0″ and proceed with the rest of the number.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud)

Fax: 02-670-5369
Phone: 03-610-9898
E-mail: pm_eng2@it.pmo.gov.il (underscore after pm)

Minister for Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya’alon (Likud)
Fax: none provided
Phone: 02-6408891
E-mail: myaalon@knesset.gov.il

Defense Minister Ehud Barak (Labor)
Fax: 02-6496117
Phone: 02-6753223
E-mail: ehudb@knesset.gov.il

Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas)
Fax: 02-6662909
Phone: 02-6408406/7
E-mail: eyishay@knesset.gov.il

Construction and Housing Minister Ariel Atias (Shas)
Fax: 02-6753934
Phone: 02-6753934
E-mail: aatias@knesset.gov.il

Minister Benny Begin (Likud)
Fax: none provided
Phone: 02-6408022
E-mail: bbegin@knesset.gov.il

National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau (Yisrael Beitenu)
Fax: none provided
Phone: 02-6408055/4
E-mail: ulandau@knesset.gov.il

Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkovitz (Habayit Hayehudi)
Fax: 02-6496159
Phone: 02-6496100
E-mail: dhershkovitz@knesset.gov.il

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beitenu)
Fax: 02-6408921
Phone: 02-6408388/9
E-mail: aliberman@knesset.gov.il

Minister of Information Yuli Edelstein (Likud)
Fax: 02-6758919
Phone: 02-6408392
E-mail: yedelstein@knesset.gov.il

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud)
Fax: 02-6496579
Phone:02-6408044/5
E-mail: ysteinitz@knesset.gov.il

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud)
Fax: 02-6496525
Phone:02-6408172/4
E-mail: yiskatz@knesset.gov.il

Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch (Yisrael Beitenu)
Fax: none provided
Phone: 02-6408825
E-mail: iaharon@knesset.gov.il

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov (Yisrael Beitenu)
Fax: 02-6753372
Phone: 02-6408111/2
E-mail: smiseznikov@knesset.gov.il

Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver (Yisrael Beitenu)
Fax: 02-6496744
Phone: 02-6408183/2
E-mail: slandver@knesset.gov.il

Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar (Likud)
Fax: 02-6753525
Phone: 02-6408131/375
E-mail: gsaar@knesset.gov.il

Communication Minister Moshe Kahlon (Likud)
Fax: 02-6408902
Phone: 02-6408365
E-mail: mcachlon@knesset.gov.il

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

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Dear Friends,

Below please find two items:
1) A plea to help find our friend’s son Amichai Steinmetz missing in India
2) An article by Tovah Lazaroff on the ceremony remembering 80 years to the massacre by Arabs of the Hebron Jewish Community. An important reminder, especially on the day when we hear that our government might commit the fatal mistake of releasing tens, if not hundreds, of Arab terrorists, including the murderer Barghouti.

This coming Friday we will meet at 9:30 am in Shdema for a shiur by Rabbi Yaron Durani, Rabbi of Nokdim-El David. Last week we received a reminder of how important it is to show a constant Jewish presence in Shdema when we found one of our Israeli flags that we had left there, besmirched. On the flag there were slogans in English “Jews go out” and Free Palestine”. The struggle for a Jewish Shdema encapsulates the struggle for the land of Israel. Be a partner and join us! For more info on the struggle for a Jewish Shdema please click on http://www.womeningreen.org

With love for Israel,

Nadia Matar, Women in Green
Yehudit Katzover, the Committee for a Jewish Shdema

—————————————————

1) OUR FRIEND’S SON, AMICHAI STEINMETZ, IS MISSING IN INDIA.

We received this from his family. We hope everyone can help in some way. May Amichai return home to his family safe and well.

*************

Amichai Steinmetz, 24, from Maale Levona is missing in the Parvati valley in Northern India.

He set out on his own on Tuesday, July 21, from Kiriganga village on a one-day trek, and hasn’t been seen since. Amichai has been traveling in that region for six months. He was planning on returning to Israel for the Holy Days, and to start studying archaeology and eastern studies in Hebrew University.

A search and rescue team has left from Israel, under the lead of “Harel 669″, along with volunteers, friends and family.

The Parvati valley is a pastoral area in the Himalayas at the north of India, and is one of the most popular attraction point for back packers.

HELP IS NEEDED IN THE SEARCH TO BRING AMICHAI HOME!

For donations, assisting in searching, information and more:

Headquarters of “Friends for Amichai” - 4amichai@gmail.com, 052-603-9167, 050-740-6618

Donations to support the search can be transferred to: Bank Hapoalim Branch Number 615, Account number 258259, for the “Barak Rodovsky Foundation for location and recovery of missing backpackers”

Thank you for your support.

**

For more information http://lubavitch.com/

Manali diaries http://lubavitch.com/news/article/2026796/Manali-Diary-3-Chabad-Rabbis-Continue-To-Search-For-Missing-Israeli.html

In Hebrew a website was set up for Amichai http://4amichai.org/about.htm
For donations with credit card: 054-7715586

Also please say some tehilim, Psalms Chapter 130. One can also say psalm 13,20,30,142

July 30 2009 The concerned Family
Please send this mail to your mailing list so we can reach as many people as possible. And with you prayers we be answered promptly.
————————

2) 80 years on, the scars still show
Aug. 10, 2009
Tovah Lazaroff, THE JERUSALEM POST

On his freckled forehead, one can still see the scar from the knife wound Shlomo Slonim sustained 80 years ago, when an Arab stabbed him as he huddled in his mother’s arms in their Hebron home.

“It’s not the only wound I have,” Slonim told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. He opened up the palm of his hand to show scars on the insides of his fingers.

“There is one that I cannot bend,” said the 81-year-old, who was dressed in black slacks and a light blue, short-sleeved, button-down shirt.

He wore glasses and a knitted kippa and spoke calmly as he stood in the Hebron cemetery, at the end of a small ceremony marking the Hebrew anniversary of the 1929 massacre of 67 Jewish residents of that city by an Arab mob.

Slonim recounted the details of that fateful day, when he was only a year old. He has no memory of the events, of course, but he has heard the story so many times that he told it as if he were recalling his own experiences.

It was Shabbat morning when an Arab mob armed with knives filled the streets and burst into Jewish homes, Slonim said.

Dozens of Jews, he said, had gathered in his parents’ home for safety. His father, Eliezer Dan Slonim, 29, had been the director of the Anglo-Palestine Bank and a representative of the Jewish community in the Hebron Municipality.

Given the good relationship he enjoyed with his Arab neighbors, local Jews believed they would be safe in his home, said Slonim.

They were wrong. As the Arabs came to the home, the people inside tried to bar the door with their bodies, but they couldn’t hold back the mob, he said.

After bursting in, the Arabs killed 24 people with knives and machetes. Among them were Slonim’s father, his mother, Hannah, 24, and her parents who were visiting for Shabbat. They also fatally wounded his older brother, who was only four. He succumbed to his wounds several days later in Jerusalem and was buried there.

The lone survivor of his immediate family, Slonim comes as often as he can to the cemetery to visit his parents’ graves, which are among the many graves of massacre victims marked by a long row of small headstones.

As is customary in Jewish tradition, he placed a small stone on each grave on Sunday.

The massacre destroyed the Hebron Jewish community, whose roots go back to biblical times, even though there were other periods when Jews were chased out of the city.

Some Jews tried to return to Hebron after the massacre, but the British removed them in 1936.

It was only in 1979 that Jews returned to live in Hebron. While those Jews who came saw themselves as the spiritual descendents of the former community, very few of the survivors or their descendents were among them.

Slonim said that he had thought about returning, but did not want to live among people who had killed his family.

“I would never know if the Arab I passed in the street had a hand in their murder,” he said.

Slonim was not the only survivor to return Sunday to the cemetery for the ceremony organized by the Jewish community of Hebron. Yankele Hillel, 81, said that an Arab neighbor had saved him and his mother.

One woman, Menuha, said that her great-grandmother, for whom she was named, had survived because she hid behind a closet.

Among those who arrived at the cemetery was Rabbi Moshe Levinger, who in 1968 brought Jews back to Hebron to celebrate Pessah. They moved into rooms in a local hotel and refused to leave until a compromise was brokered, which led to the creation of the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba.

Levinger came to the cemetery in a wheelchair on Sunday, hours after he had been released from the hospital. He was inspired, he said, by the spirit of the holy ones who were buried there.
A national ceremony in honor of the victims will be held next month.

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
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Dear Friends,

Below, Yoram Ettinger reminds us of some important and basic facts on our historical ties to Judea and Samaria.

In addition, some announcements and upcoming events:

1) Women in Green mourn the tragic death of tank commander Uriel Liwerant, who was killed in a tank training accident Wednesday morning in the Golan Heights. Uriel is the son of our dear friends and long time Women in Green members and supporters Joni and Aaron Liwerant and Minnie Feldman, grandmother of Uriel, all living in Efrat. May the family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and know no more sorrow. The funeral will start today, Thursday, at 11:00am in Efrat (Rav Tachliti in Rimon). Uriel will be buried in Har Herzl at 12:30pm.

2) Here is a recording by Yishai Fleisher of our Women in Green Walk around the walls on Tisha Bav
http://wejew.com/media/5638/Nadia_Matar’s_March/

3) This coming Friday, July 7th, we will, please G-d, go to SHDEMA at 9:30am. Rabbi Tomer Karizy, from the Nokdim military mechina, will be giving a shiur. Afterwards, we will paint the buildings. Please come in work clothes.

Transportation by reservation only:
8:45 from Kiryat Arba Hevron- 9:00 from Tsomet Hagush - 9:05 from Efrat - 9:00 from Har Choma

The Committee for a Jewish Shdema and Women in Green would like to thank the hundreds of people who participated in last month’s Thursday-Friday seminar and thus took part in the struggle for a Jewish Shdema.

Now we must continue. Join us!

With love for Israel,

Nadia Matar, Women in Green 050-5500834
Yehudit Katzover, The Committee for a Jewish Shdema 050-7161818

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Shalom,

Enclosed you’ll find the 226th issue of Straight from the Jerusalem Cloakroom, highlighting a generally-disregarded/misrepresented fact.

Previous issues are posted at The Ettinger Report, http://yoramettinger.newsnet.co.il.

Yoram Ettinger

Jewish Occupation or Roots in Judea and Samaria?
Straight from the Jerusalem Cloakroom #226, July 31, 2009
Yoram Ettinger, Jerusalem

1. President Obama’s claim ­ enunciated during his June 4, 2009 speech at Cairo University ­ that “the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history [The Holocaust] that cannot be denied,” ignores thoroughly-documented Jewish roots in the Land of Israel in general and in Judea & Samaria in particular.

2. World renowned travelers, historians and archeologists of earlier centuries, such as H. B. Tristram (The Land of Israel, 1865), Mark Twain (Innocents Abroad, 1867), R.A. MacAlister and Masterman (”Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly”), A.P. Stanley (Sinai and Palestine, 1887), E. Robinson and E. Smith (Biblical Researches in Palestine, 1841)), C.W. Van de Velde (Peise durch Syrien und Paletsinea, 1861), Felix Bovet (Voyage en Taire Sainte, 1864) ­ as well as Encyclopedia Britannica and official British and Ottoman records (until 1950) refer to “Judea and Samaria” and not to the “West Bank.” The latter term was coined by the Jordanian occupation of Judea and Samaria following the 1948/9 War.

3. The term “Palestine” was established by Greek Historian Herodotus, and adopted by the Roman Empire, in an attempt to erase “Judea” from human memory. “Palestine” was a derivative of the biblical Philistines, arch rivals of the Jewish nation, non-Semites who migrated to the area from the Greek islands and from Phoenicia in the 12th century BCE (”Plishtim” ­ the invaders - is the Hebrew word for “Philistines”).

4. Most Arabs (Semites from the Arabian Peninsula), who reside between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, have their origin in a massive 19th-20th century migration from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and other Moslem countries.

5. Almost all Arab towns and villages in Judea and Samaria have retained biblical Jewish names, thus reaffirming Jewish roots there. For example:

*A-Dura is biblical (and contemporary) Adora’yim, site of King Rehoboam’s and a Maccabees’ fortress.
*A-Ram is biblical Haramah, Prophet Samuel’s birth and burial site.
*Anata is biblical (and contemporary) Anatot, the dwelling of the Prophet Jeremiah.
*Batir is biblical (and contemporary) Beitar, the headquarters of Bar Kochba, the leader of the Great Rebellion against the Roman Empire, which was crashed in 135CE.
*Beit-hur is the biblical (and contemporary) Beit Horon, site of Judah the Maccabee’s victory over the Assyrians.
*Beitin is biblical (and contemporary) Bethel, a site of the Holy Ark and Prophet Samuel’s court.
*Bethlehem is mentioned 44 times in the Bible and is the birth place of King David.
*Beit Jalla is biblical (and contemporary) Gilo, where Sennacherib set his camp, while besieging Jerusalem.
*El-Jib is biblical (and contemporary) Gibeon, Joshua’s battleground known for “Sun, stop thou in Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Ayalon,” Joshua 10:12.
*Hebron - named after Hevron, Moses’ uncle and Levy’s grandson ­ was King David’s first capital for 7 years, the burial site of the 3 Jewish Patriarchs and 3 Jewish Matriarchs.
*Jaba’ is the biblical (and contemporary Geva, site of Jonathan’s (son of King Saul) victory over the Philistines.
*Jenin is the biblical (and contemporary) Ein Ganim, a Levite town within the tribe of Issachar.
*Mukhmas is biblical (and contemporary) Mikhmash, residence of Jonathan the Maccabee and site of King Saul’s fortress.
*Seilun is biblical (and contemporary) Shilo, a site of Joshua’s tabernacle and the Holy Ark and Samuel’s youth.
*Tequa’ is biblical (and contemporary) Teqoah, hometown of the Prophet Amos and currently known for its home grown Ginger.
*Etc.

Are these sites “occupied” by the Jewish State or are they the epitome of Jewish moral high-ground and Statehood?

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
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The Fourth Thursday-Friday Seminar in Shdema - Summary

The fourth Thursday-Friday seminar in Shdema started on Thursday, Tisha B’Av. Despite the difficult fast, people came and together we said meaningful kinot (Lamentations) on the floor in the destroyed buildings of Shdema. Afterwards, Rabbi Yehuda Glick gave an uplifting lecturem, “From destruction to building the Temple,” which gave us all a shot of adrenaline, hope and strength to continue the struggle.

The next day, Friday, July 31st, Shdema was booming with life. Yes, Shdema was a real Land of Israel Cultural center. The morning started in the main hall where artist Anna Hodorkovsky had put up her most incredible paintings. The public received an explanation about the struggle for a Jewish Shdema. Then people went to the different rooms.

In one room, tens of English speakers were listening attentively to Yoram Ettinger’s fascinating lecture on the “demographic demon”- bursting all the lies spread by leftists as if we must give away parts of the land because of some so-called demographic Arab threat. With an impressive Powerpoint presentation, Ettinger proves exactly the opposite. The Arab demography is in decline and we must hold on to Judea and Samaria to continue the Arab decline and the Jewish aliya in demographics.

Parallel to his lecture, in another room, tens of people were listening to the moving lecture by Rabbi Zevik Harel on the Hassidic Rabbi of Piaseczne, followed by a movie on his life.

In another two additional rooms youth were learning basic training in self-defense. Girls with Shoshi Tropper and boys with Yisrael Melamed. Other youth stayed outside to paint the buildings.

The incredible morning ended with as dessert an hour of Russian music translated into Hebrew with Zeev Geisel and Alex Krupiski.

We can happily summarize that, over the past four weeks, over a thousand people came and participated in our activities in Shdema, loudly declaring: Shdema must stay in Jewish hands.

This was also decided by the Knesset Subcommittee of Defense, headed by MK Zeev Elkin, who visited Shdema at the beginning of last week and demanded from the Civil Administration explanations as to the illegal Arab construction at the slopes of the hill. On the same topic, on Friday July 31st, Tova Lazaroff had an article in the Jerusalem Post in which, for the first time, the US admitted having funded illegal Arab construction.

For more details: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1248277936923&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

Our activities in Shdema will, please G-d, continue. For the month of August we will go to Shdema every Friday at 9;30 am for a lecture, some music and fixing up the buildings. This coming Friday Rabbi Tomer Karizi will give a shiur. Please come in work clothes. We plan on painting all the buildings inside out to have them clean and ready for a special program on Sukkot, please G-d.

In summary, it was amazing to see how hundreds of people showed up from the entire country to participate in all the fascinating events in Shdema:

From nearby Har Choma, Efrat, Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arba Hevron and from far away Bet Shemesh, Raanana, Bet Horon, and even Kinneret, Yavne and New Jersey. Everybody enjoyed the ambiance, the view and the special program. Despite the heat and the stay in destroyed buildings (destroyed by the Arabs when the IDF left the area three years ago), despite the very simple ecological bathrooms, people did not stop thanking us for being able to be a partner in the struggle for the land of Israel.

Here are two example of letters we received:

1) from Yitzhak and Yochi Shimon, Alon Shvut (translated from the Hebrew):

Dear Yehudit Katzover, Nadia Matar and all other members of the committee for a Jewish Shdema,

Kol Hakavod on the organization of the month long Thursday-Friday seminar in Shdema! You managed to combine so beautifully the Jewish presence at the site with an incredible cultural event. For a full month we enjoyed listening to the great lecturers and talks you organized as well as the other activities that were very interesting and on a very high level, that each cultural center would pride itself with.

The logistics were perfect, too. The flags and signs on the main road welcoming us coming to Shdema warmed our hearts.

The podium, the screen and the other advanced technological equipment (microphones) as well as the chairs, the tables and the ecological bathrooms.

The snacks and drinks were very special, too. You really took care and cared for each and every detail. You even made sure to have a Sefer Torah for Mincha on the fast of the 17th of Tammuz. We also were very impressed as to how you activated the youth. You related to them with great respect and gave them creative jobs. Thanks to this wonderful youth that worked hard despite the heat, and thanks to your blessed and continued efforts and activities, the Shdema army camp changed its face drastically and looks so much better now.

Lastly, we were also very impressed with the wide variety of people who showed up to participate in all the activities, grownups and youth from all over the country.

Yehudit, Nadia and other members of the committee - May Hashem strengthen your hands, chazak ve-ematz,

Thanks to you Shdema will, please G-d, return to Jewish hands.

2) from Zahava Englard, Efrat

Shdema, nestled between Jerusalem’s Har Homa neighborhood and Bet Lechem, is an abandoned Israeli military base, in the Area C zone(full Israeli jurisdiction as per Oslo). Since then, Jewish and Arab factions have battled over the former military encampment. Anarchists from Europe and the United States have likewise targeted this area in their crusade to wrestle Jewish sovereignty from the Land of Israel. Whoever controls Shdema, dominates the south eastern gate to Jerusalem.

The name Shdema evokes the tangible struggle for our land as well as the spiritual struggle to redeem our rightful God given inheritance. Each Thursday and Friday, Shdema comes alive with a nascent cultural center founded by the Committee for a Jewish Shdema. Lectures, art exhibits and films awaken the dust filled rooms as groups of Jews loyal to their land converge to immerse themselves in a spirited revival of this area. Whoever visits walks away with a special gift in his heart.

Shdema is a symbol of the iron will of our people. We must remain resolute. Shdema must not fall.

Zahava Englard, Efrat

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As you can imagine, the struggle for a Jewish Shdema and all the other Land of Israel struggles we are involved in, cost money. We know and believe that you want this activity to continue. Please send your contributions (all currencies accepted) to:

Women in Green, POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel and earmark your check “For a Jewish Shdema”.

Our strength comes from your moral and material support, which we need today more than ever.

With great love for Israel,

Nadia Matar, Women in Green
Yehudit Katzover, The committee for a Jewish Shdema

For pictures by Rivka Ryback: http://www.yeshabulletin.com/FIGHT%20BACK/FightBack.htm

For pictures by Abigail Browning: http://myromancewithisrael.blogspot.com/

The Committee for a Jewish Shdema www.womeningreen.org

Rabbi Yaron Durani (El David-Nokdim)- Tsuri Botosh (Jerusalem Shdema youth)-Igor Bialsky (Tekoa)-Elisheva Ginsburg (Alon Shvut)-Orly Glauber (Maaleh rehavam)-Ruti Wallfish (Tekoa)-Ina Vinyarski (Tekoa)-Yehudit tayar (Beit Horon)-Timna Katz (Neve Daniel)- Nadia Matar (Efrat) 050-5500834- Gedaliah Friedman (Neve daniel)-Yehudit Katzover (Kiryat Arba Hevron) 050-7161818 -Eli Rodan Elazar)

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

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The Besheva newspaper asked me to write about “4 years to the expulsion- What are the lessons?”
Here is the translation of the article written in Hebrew:

Routine, Expulsion, and Eretz Israel
by Nadia Matar

Four years after the destruction of Gush Katif and northern Samaria. What are the lessons? What must we learn from the expulsion, so that in another four years we will not have to write, Heaven forbid, of the lessons to be learned from the expulsion from Judea and Samaria?

In my humble opinion, we must, first of all, internalize the fact that we do not have the luxury of immersing ourselves in routine life. Rather, each of us must take part in the struggle. I will never forget that meeting in Neveh Dekalim, about a year before the expulsion, that was organized by the more hard-line activists of the Gush, in which a proposal was already raised to double or even triple the number of Gush inhabitants by bringing new residents into the houses, or even in tents in the yards. One woman stood up and angrily declared: “I don’t agree! I refuse to ruin my lawn, and I won’t agree to turn my settlement into a refugee camp! I want to continue with my everyday life!” One of the speakers turned to her and wondered: “Don’t you think that it’s worth it to somewhat undermine routine life for a few months, in order to preserve the routine in the long term?”

The proposal, however, was rejected, and the leaders of the Gush preferred to continue everyday life, taken to an extreme, to the extent that supporters from the outside, with their families, who wanted to move to the Gush, live in the settlements, and be partners in the struggle, had to pass an acceptance committee, even a few weeks before the expulsion. Many were not accepted, and they had no choice but to leave the Gush. Our family, too, was not accepted in Neveh Dekalim. Apparently because we were identified with the “activist” wing. And so our family and additional Women in Green members stayed in Kfar Yam with the family of Arik and Datia Yitzhaki, who received us with open arms.

It is difficult for me to commit those memories to writing. Our brothers from Gush Katif suffer enough, and I don’t intend to hurt them by raising these matters, but I feel obligated to speak about the subject, as the learning of lessons for the struggle over Judea and Samaria. I do not mean to say that we should erect tents in our yards now, but today, in light of the bitter experience undergone by our brothers from the Gush, we must understand that “routine” and “expulsion” are connected to each other. [In Hebrew, routine is “shigra” and expulsion is “gerush”-both words with similar roots].

Already now, when there is just talk of the destruction of the outposts, that everyone knows is the first stage of the destruction of the settlement enterprise as a whole, with the goal of establishing a Palestinian state instead, we must make the mental switch and internalize that each of us has the responsibility and obligation to leave our everyday lives and participate in the struggle for Eretz Israel.

Here is the place to raise an additional subject, one that is no less painful: in my humble opinion, we lost the struggle for Gush Katif and northern Samaria because we did not relate to Eretz Israel as a supreme value for which self-sacrifice is needed. If there had been some preposterous government decree that IDF soldiers must enter the homes of Jews on Yom Kippur and forcibly feed them nonkosher food, I assume and hope that a wall-to-wall consensus would take shape among our public on the need to refuse to obey this anti-Jewish and anti-moral order. The victims of the “force-feeding” would not begin a “With Love We Will Be Victorious” campaign, but rather, they, too, would vigorously resist.

And I ask: Why is what is so clear regarding Shabbat and kashrut observance is not clear regarding Eretz Israel?

This is the one million dollar question I have been asking myself for the past four years since the expulsion.

If Eretz Israel is a supreme value, like Shabbat and kashrut, then the way to struggle against the decrees of the destruction of settlements and the handing over of parts of the homeland to the enemy entails self-sacrifice. For us, we can translate this self-sacrifice into refusing orders and mass nonviolent civil disobedience. I am certain that if these two methods of struggle had been implemented in 2005, we would have saved the Gush.

And thus,in my opinion, the main lesson to be drawn from the expulsion, is that we must understand that Eretz Israel is a supreme value for which we leave our everyday lives and go forth to a real struggle, and not only to symbolic protest demonstrations. It is ironic that it is the peoples of the world who teach us of the importance and centrality of Eretz Israel. The peoples of the world don’t care if we all study Torah, eat kosher, or observe Shabbat. But if five Jews climb some hill in the area of Judea and Samaria and dare to build a hut on it - the UN, the European Union, the Obama administration, and who knows who else go out of their minds and try to prevent us from doing this.

Undoubtedly, in light of the brazenness of the Obama administration and the Europeans, that are returning us to the time of the White Paper, more and more elements within the people of Israel are coming to their senses. With G-d’s help, the tremendous forces inherent in our people will be realized, and this time we will succeed in defending Eretz Israel, and increase building, settlement, and development.

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
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