Rabbinic fatwas

Haaretz Editorial, 21.3.08. It would be appropriate for the rabbis to take advantage of their standing to restore calm and step up security at the yeshivas, and not leave them unguarded. And mostly, to confront the roots of the conflict and the need to develop a dialogue between the peoples and religions in an effort to spur compromises and not eternal wars in which each side is convinced that the goal dictated by its faith is total submission.

The Morning After: IDF, Police Evacuate 5 Activists' Outposts

Settlers Star of David at Ma'alot Halhul

Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

Hana Levi Julian. (IsraelNN.com). 19 Tishrei 5768, October 1, '07. After a chilly night in the hills of Judea and Samaria, dozens of activists awoke to find themselves being evicted from the sites where they hope to build new Jewish communities in the near future.

Hundreds of Jews had spent Sunday night celebrating the holiday of Sukkot on the breezy hilltops, where sparks of light twinkling in the inky darkness were the only signs of other Jewish communities already well-established in the areas.

Although determined to stay, activists at two of the sites were removed by IDF soldiers and police in the early morning light. However, some of the activists fled to nearby vineyards to escape evacuation.

Police swooped down on the dozens of people who camped out in Judea at Ma’alot Halhul in the Judean Hills south of Hevron, evicting them by 8:00 a.m.

One young woman activist said that five black-suited police officers tried to force them off the site Sunday night, but that the activists far outnumbered them. The police later returned with reinforcements and wrecked two sukkot that had been erected, but no serious violence took place. One soldier told IsraelNN.com, "Most of us support you."

Those who stayed overnight at Nofei Hashmonaim, in the Binyamin district, were taken out of the area by police in two groups. One was dropped off at the nearby community of Gamzu and the other was taken to roads leading to Jerusalem.

Activists at three other sites – Harchivi near Elon Moreh, Shvut Ami near Kedumim and Givat HaEitam on the outskirts of Efrat--were joined by supporters from nearby communities as they prayed the morning service. IDF soldiers and police officers were making preparations to carry out evictions there as well.

The ascent to the sites of the five hoped-for communities was carried out Sunday with smiles and song as activists celebrated Sukkot, when holiday booths are built as a reminder of the clouds of glory that protected the Jews in the desert on their way to the Promised Land.

Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin led hundreds of Efrat residents to the site of Givat Eitam (Eitam Hill), earmarked to become the city’s newest neighborhood. The site is located within the city limits at the northern edge of Efrat and is intended to connect the eastern and western parts of Gush Etzion.

Another group of activists marched to Shvut Ami (“the return of my people”), to be built in western Samaria, and more hiked their way to to the hilltop of Harhivi (meaning “expand”, based on the passage in Isaiah 54: “Expand the place of thy tent… for thou shalt break forth both right and left”), located in eastern Samaria.

Those who marched to the sites included dozens of children under age 12 and hundreds of teens. “But there were many adults in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s,” said one activist. “Some were in their 70's.”

Plans are still on for Tuesday’s march to Homesh, one of the four northern Samarian towns destroyed during the Disengagement of 2005.

The organizers have made no secret of their plans to rebuild the town, and have made dozens of ascents to the area over the past several months. MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) called on the Defense and Public Security Ministers to instruct the police and army to permit and protect the marchers.

Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu and Hillel Fendel contributed to this story

Pioneers on Their Way to 5 New Towns

Hillel Fendel, IsraelNationalNews, 30.09.07 18 Tishrei 5768. All eyes are on the clock, with 1:30 PM set as H-hour for the ascent to five new hilltop outposts in Judea and Samaria. Clashes with soldiers and police are expected. As of 12 noon Sunday, a group of idealistic youths was already climbing the hilltop near Kiryat Arba set to be named Maalot Halhoul. Near Hashmonaim, in western Binyamin, hundreds of people are making their way to a site they wish to build as the community of Nofei Hashmonaim, just ten kilometers east of Ben Gurion International Airport. The army has declared the area a closed military zone, and is out in force to prevent the Jews from arriving.

In Efrat, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin and hundreds of townspeople are set to gather at 1 PM, preparing to march to the site of Eitam Hill, in the northern end of the city. The organizers say the hill, which connects eastern and western Gush Etzion, "belongs to Efrat, but is being stolen from us by the political [partition] fence. Handing it over to the Arab enemy will endanger all of Gush Etzion and Jerusalem."

Similar attempts to create new Jewish towns are underway in western Shomron, near Kedumim, at a site to be called Shvut Ami ("the return of my nation"), and in eastern Shomron, near Elon Moreh, at a hilltop already named Harhivi (meaning "Expand," based on Isaiah 54: "Expand the place of thy tent... for thou shalt break forth both right and left").

"It would seem that the Israel Defense Forces would be interested in defending Israeli interests," one of the leading organizers, Datit Yitzchaki, told Arutz-7, "and would allow us to build these new towns. Instead, the Olmert government makes plans to turn over these areas to our enemy - repeating the mistakes of the Disengagement and similarly endangering hundreds of thousands more Israelis - and gives political orders to the army to stop us."

Asked what the pioneers are bringing with them to the sites, Yitzchaki said, "They are bringing what they need to remain out in the fields or hills for 24 hours. It depends on how violent the army is going to be. We don't think the army will be able to stay in the area in such force for 24 hours - so we'll wait them out if we have to. We have time. As the motto goes, the Nation of Israel does not fear a long trek."

Three planners of the new Hashmonaim community were arrested in a Wednesday morning raid. The police also confiscated from their homes items such as orange hats (orange being the color of the Land of Israel movement), bumper stickers and T-shirts promoting settlement in Yesha. The most common slogan: "Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) - We Continue With Our Heads Held High."

For more information on the plans to start the new Jewish towns, click here.

Some 20 rabbis of Gust Etzion have signed a proclamation in favor of the attempts to build the new towns. The rabbis state that the next step in settling the Land of Israel - "a commandment that is equal to all the others in the Torah" - is now to "build the hilltops, whose construction and development are being held up for various strange reasons stemming primarily from the weakness of our leadership, and also from a failure to see the reality religiously, politically and demographically."

Plans are also underway to march to Homesh, one of the four Shomron towns destroyed during the Disengagement of 2005. The organizers have made no secret of their plans to rebuild the town, and have made dozens of ascents to the area over the past several months. MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) called on the Defense and Public Security Ministers to instruct the police and army to permit and protect the marchers.

Land of Israel Loyalists Arrested for Planning New Towns

Hillel Fendel, IsraelNationalNews, 26/09/07 14 Tishrei 5768. Plans are well underway to build five new outpost communities in Judea and Samaria - though police have arrested three of the alleged planners. "We remain loyal to Eretz Yisrael. We are renewing the Zionist-Jewish pioneering spirit, and remain firm in insisting that Eretz Yisrael is ours!"

Over two dozen special-unit and regular policemen burst into the homes of three Land of Israel activists this morning (Wednesday) in Hashmonaim, near Kiryat Sefer and Modiin. The three Jews - two 40-year-olds and one 20-year-old - were arrested on suspicion of planning the construction of a new settlement in Judea and Samaria (Yesha).

The police also confiscated items such as orange hats (orange being the color of the Land of Israel movement), bumper stickers and T-shirts promoting settlement in Yesha. The most common slogan: "Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) - We Continue With Our Heads Held High."

Datia Yitzchaki, formerly of Gush Katif and now of Gush Etzion, denounced the arrests as "the worst form of silencing dissent," and called on Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann to investigate the incident. She said the arrests would "only encourage the activities of everyone who cares about the future of the country."

Five New Towns in the Works
The day before, the Land of Israel Loyalists held a press conference in Jerusalem at which they announced their plans to establish five new communities in Judea and Samaria this Sunday, the third day of Chol HaMoed (the Intermediate Days) of the Sukkot holiday. Presenting the plans were long-time Yesha pioneers Rabbi Moshe Levinger of Hevron and Daniella Weiss of Kedumim, representatives of the families who plan to settle the five hills, and others.

The five towns slated to be built, if the government does not interfere, are:
* Shvut Ami in western Shomron, near Kedumim
* Harhivi [Expand, based on Isaiah 54: "Expand the place of thy tent... for thou shalt break forth both right and left...] in eastern Shomron, near Elon Moreh
* Nofei Hashmonaim in Binyamin, near Kiryat Sefer and Modiin
* Eitam, near Efrat in Gush Etzion
* Maalot Halhoul, in Judea near Hevron

For more information on the planned kick-off points for the five new towns, click here.

Some 20 rabbis of Gust Etzion are signed on a proclamation in favor of the five-pronged ascent to the new sites on Sunday. The rabbis say that just as in this holiday season, we go from "strength to strength" - from Rosh HaShanah to Yomi Kippur to Sukkot -

"we must also go from strength to strength regarding the commandment of settling the Land of Israel - a commandment that is equal to all the others in the Torah. We must go from one strength, namely, the communities and towns that have already been built in the Land, to the next strength - i.e., the hilltops whose construction and development are being held up for various strange reasons. These reasons stem primarily from the weakness of our [government] leadership, and also from a failure to see the reality religiously, politically and demographically."

The rabbis specifically mention the point of struggle in their own area:

"The Eitam Hill is Efrat's largest land reserve. The delays in building it retard Efrat's development and prevent the formation of a bridge connecting all parts of Gush Etzion. Our vacillation, and the delays in construction, cause the Arabs [and Peace Now - ed.] to constantly petition the Supreme Court [against us].

"Our response is: 'Some by Supreme Court petitions, and some by terrorist attacks, but we - in the Name of the L-rd our G-d will call!" [based on Psalms 20,8] - the G-d Who has commanded us to come and inherit the land that He promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants after them..."

Similarly, the leaders of the drive to make Eitam Jewish released a flyer stating the following:

"The hill belongs to Efrat, but is being stolen from us, de facto, by the political [partition] fence. Eitam connects eastern and western Gush Etzion. Handing it over to the Arab enemy will endanger all of Gush Etzion and Jerusalem. It is crucial to come and take an active part in settling the hill. As the Prime Minister and the enemy concoct their dangerous plans, we come with other plans:

• They want to destroy - we come to build.
• They want to expel - we come to expand.
• The government wants to give away the Land of Israel - we remain loyal to Eretz Yisrael.
• They are denying our Jewish and Zionist principles, and have embraced a philosophy of appeasement and capitulation to the enemy - we are renewing the Zionist-Jewish pioneering spirit, and remain firm in insisting that Eretz Yisrael is ours!"