As the Director of Security Projects for One Israel Fund there are definitely perks to the job. Besides taking an active part bringing Jews together to protect and defend our people, I get the chance to go to our communities throughout Judea and Samaria and see what is really going on. Today was one of those days, and it was spent in the Northern Shomron in the communities of Mevo Dotan West, Reichan, and the Shakad Bloc. I set off with Yoni Yisraeli, the Security Director of the Shomron Regional Council. We decided some time back that this special part of Israel deserved more attention. The Northern Shomron is not close to Jerusalem, so many of the Holiday Tourists do not get a chance to see it, let alone meet the people there.
Here is a short summary of what Mevo Dotan West is: Mevo Dotan West, established ten years ago, is on government land on a hilltop inside the municipal boundaries of the Jewish settlement of Mevo Dotan. Eighteen months ago we established an educational agricultural project here. This project offers an alternative framework for youth and young adults who have not found a suitable environment for their educational needs. The farm makes these young people feel needed, engaging them in agriculture and the management and maintenance of horses and livestock, which are daily routine on the farm. This wonderful project was the victim of an attempted targeted assassination by the Civil Administration a little over two weeks ago, a sad story in its own (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/9179). Sitting on top of the hill was reminiscent of Israel of ’48, a small band of Jews resettling the land and protecting the Jewish presence there from Arab marauders. This part of the land of Israel holds the story of Joseph being sold by his brothers, not necessarily one of our high points, but still part of our history. We could only stand with pride as we watched and listened to David Botzer and his Wife Shayna describe all of the wonderful things they are doing and admire there dedication and strength despite the destruction they went through. It was decided that this would be a great stop on One Israel Fund Day Trips to show Jews from overseas and Israel what Jewish strength and dedication can be and a great project to be involved with. From there we took a “short cut”, this to me simply means, off road, which I admit is something I really enjoy. As we came out of the valley, we noticed how much of the land is being developed illegally by the Arabs of the area, how many houses are being built by the Arabs, it was then we noticed just who was sponsoring this organized theft of land, none other than the European Union, obvious by all of the signs being displayed around, and this on Israeli State land, meaning this is illegal in the eyes of the Israeli Justice system. The pain of this is while Jewish building is being frozen, the Arabs are stealing land with the assistance of the EU and dare I say, others. Apparently there are sets of laws for two peoples, at least. The lesson learned is simply this, we are the only ones who will watch our backs and we are the only ones who will keep us safe (with Gds help). The rest of the world really doesn’t care and will do nothing for us, it is up to us and us alone. Once we take the initiative and take the helm others will follow and realize who belongs to the land and to whom the land belongs to. We can do this, and we must do this, and the time is now.
