Update Part 2 - Beit HaShalom

(My apologies for not getting the promised in depth articles published this week in the blog. They are still forthcoming)

Part 2 of the Recent Developments Update:

Beit HaShalom

The ongoing saga with Beit HaShalom is a mixed one - both encouraging and outrageous.

For those who are not familiar with the case, Beit haShalom (Peace House) is a large housing complex in Hebron, purchased by Jews from an Arab through a middle man. The Arab later denied selling it as his life was in grave danger. In the Arab world in this neck of the woods, selling property to a Jew carries with it a death sentence...(you know, from the peaceful group that wants a state in the midst of Israel.) The Jewish families, however, have produced documents and video tape proving the sale.

The decision as to who owns the property is "somehow" still in dispute, and the States and the Courts have refused to acknowledge the facts presented. The State wishes to evict the Jewish residents, claiming they are there illegally (that they don't own the property).

Of course, it isn't about illegality, it is about the effort by the State to remove Jews from Hebron, period.

Recently the Supreme Court made a ruling regarding the eviction orders of the State. Unfortunately, there have been numerous misleading statements by DM Barak (and I repeat my earlier comments...the one who is supposed to be protecting us from our enemies, not attacking loyal citizens), Public Security Minster Avi Dichter, and the media regarding the Supreme Court decision.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday morning that the State will evict the 24 Jewish families from the Peace House near Hevron, in keeping with the ruling handed down by the State's High Court . " The media has consistently (except for some later articles correcting it by A7) repeated that the Courts "ordered" the eviction.

The Supreme Court did not order the eviction of the Beit Shalom residents, but rather allowed the State to proceed if it wished. While the Court twisted the words of the previous decision to even allow the eviction, it never ordered it.

We must be thankful that, as of today, the 24 families are still living in the building, B'H. In addition, hundreds of people daily stream to Hevron to fortify the families there, and to add support and presence in case the State moves to evict them.

Barak, who is on a rampage in Hebron/Kiyrat Arba, said today that he will use force (read brutal thugs) if he has to (read wants to).

There is more good news however, and that is that Morris Abraham, the man who put up the money for the house, a Syrian Jew who lives in Brooklyn, NY, has arrived at the scene with members of the Syrian Jewish community in New York.

Morris Abraham photo by AFP/Getty .

Abraham's family was forced out of Hebron in the 1929 massacre by local arabs, and he simply states "we will not be forced to leave again." Read about him and hear his moving story here. Additional background to Beit haShalom here.

I will update you as things unfold

Update Part I - Noam Federman

(My apologies for not getting the promised in depth articles published this week in the blog. They are still forthcoming)

There have been two recent developments in the ongoing crises in Hebron and Kiyrat Arba. One outstanding, the other, mixed with blatant hatred.
To the good news and a good judge first:

The Federmans

Noam Federman, who, along with his wife and 9 sleeping children, were torn out of their home, without warning, in the middle of the night by 100 yassam police, plus hundreds of other police units. (See earlier blogs Oct.26,29 & Nov.2, 4). Noam, his wife Elisheva, and some of the children were beaten by these thugs, and moments later their home and the home of Sinai & Rivka Tor were demolished.

Earlier picture of Noam Federman

Noam and Elisheva have been arrested several times since then and most recently the police have tried to exile Noam from his home and from all of Judea. In the 2nd court hearing this Wednesday, Judge Moshe Drori issued a remarkable ruling in favor of Federman. In addition to the ruling, Judge Drori had a very strong rebuke for the police regarding the manner in which the police have treated the Federmans - not only in their attempt to ban Noam from his home, but regarding the brutal treatment of the Federman's in the first place.

Among his comments were the following: "....the request to distance Federman is disproportionate, unconstitutional, and does not take into account the fact that the man and his family do not have any other place to live."

And about the original operation by the State:
"It's not clear to me why such an operation was necessary, in which 100 officers took part to evict a man from a closed zone, with absolutely no advance notice, with not even a single attempt at dialogue, and without any effort to check his claims."

He went even further and stated that regarding the charges that Noam attacked a policeman during the midnight raid (even though Noam was hand and leg cuffed and the only one emerging with bruises)," Let every person decide for himself how he would act if a police officer turns to him at 1:30 in the night and wants to give him papers ordering him out of his house, with his wife and nine young children sleeping in their beds, and their father sees himself responsible for their welfare and safety…

Please read the entire article about Judge Drori's decision

KOL HAKAVOD to Judge Drori. As Noam indicated later, this will end up in the Supreme Court which has a strong dislike for the national camp, and is more political than judicial....however, we should be encouraged that there are still a few good men. There have occasionally been decisions - at both the district level and even one at the supreme court level, that have ruled in favor of citizens who have had injustices done to them by the State. The State, however, has a propensity to ignore the decisions by the courts and do whatever it wants.

Predictably, DM Ehud Barak was outraged that he couldn't have his way and has immediately ordered an appeal. At least one MK suggests that he fund the appeal from his Labor party funds and not the State's coffers as he seems to be doing it for a show before the upcoming elections.

One has to ask the question, however - "who in their right mind would vote for a man who orders hundreds of yassamniks to descend on a family in the middle of the night, breaking through the doors and windows and terrifying young children sleeping in their beds...beating the children and parents and then demolishing their home...all without any warning?"

Beit HaShalom

Last night I went to Kiryat Arba to attend an emergency meeting regarding the recent expulsion order of 20 families (Jews of course) (now 24 families) from a legally purchased home complex (called Beit HaShalom) in Hebron.
There has been a battle over the legality of the purchase of this home for nearly 2 years. The families have been threatened with expulsion over and over, and have been forbidden to make any improvements on the property. Of course it really isn't about the legality of the purchase, it is because these are Jews living in an area that is slated to be given to the Palestinian Authority.
Picture by Arutz Sheva

I was tempted to write todays blog only about this event and the expulsion order and what it means. I took pictures and they are posted on my photo web site where you can view them. There were over 1,000 people there, passionate in their response against immoral orders. Following the meeting, many of the attendees escorted the 4 new families who moved into Beit Shalom that evening.

However, I can not write about this singular event without addressing the larger picture which must be recognized. There is today a coalescing of events that should alarm us and it is imperative that we understand the dynamics of what is going on.

For that reason, I will devote longer than usual space to this (larger) matter over the next day or two with as much documentation as possible, and with my commentary.

DNA

One of the most disturbing facts of the current balagan surrounding the Federman home is what has happened to Elisheva Federman in forcing her to give a sample of her DNA. I am not talking about forcing her to remove her headcovering, which was bad enough. It was clearly an intimidation tactic, as DNA is gathered nowadays by cheek swabs or saliva. No, my issue is why does the government need Elisheva's DNA in the first place? This is only used in criminal cases such as murder and has absolutely no relevance to anything here. Or does it?

Contrary to some news reports, this is not the first time such a demand has been made of individuals from the national camp who have been arrested and detained. In September 2007, Women in Green leader Nadia Matar was arrested at Kikar Paris in Jerusalem. There was no legal reason whatsoever for her arrest, it was pure harassment, and which, by the way, was done by the same violent yassam thugs that forced their way into the Federman home at 1 a.m., Oct.25. (not meaning necessarily the exact same individuals - but rather the type of unit used). I was there, I saw the violence and brutality of the yassamniks, and as bad as it was, I think was much worse for Elisheva.

In Nadia's trial, for which I was also present, the demand for fingerprinting and DNA sample was imposed upon Nadia and the other woman arrested with her, even after their case was dropped (since it was purely political it couldn't stand up in court). It was just before Yom Kippur, and the police would not release the women without the sampling. What crime did they commit? None. Nada. Zip.

But, for some reason, the government wants DNA samples from people in the national camp - from those who love and believe in settling the Land of Israel. Why?

I shudder to think of some of the possible reasons ...... you can fill in the blanks. I don't know the real reason it is being demanded, I just know it is not legitimate and it does not bode well for the national camp. Who is giving the order to collect the DNA samples?

The public needs to know this is happening. The public needs to ask the obvious questions. The public needs to demand that this practice stop.

The Judean Wars

It may sound harsh, but there is no other name for what is happening. Unfortunately, the worst battles at the moment are from within - a government "hell-bent" on destroying the very nation it supposedly governs. This clearly is a war.

The latest attempts at silencing and subduing Jews who dare to settle the Judean Land are these:

1. Days after the midnight raid by Israeli Yassam police on the Federman farm, the police and bulldozers returned, violently arresting 5 teenage girls who had come to help rebuild - knocking one of girls unconscious. They also destroyed the small storehouse that had been rebuilt and people on the scene said the bulldozers plowed under any remaining items - just so the Federmans wouldn't find any precious personal belongings.

2. Today, Elisheva Federman, the petite mother of 9 children, was arrested (and not allowed to nurse her baby) for having "pushed a policeman" on the night they forced their way into the Federman home, beat the children and tore babies from the mother's arms. (Noam Federman, the husband/father was beaten and arrested that night for having assaulted a policeman while hand and leg cuffed. The government was forced to release him the next day as it is virtually impossible to attack someone else while lying on the ground handcuffed and legcuffed. Apparently it was decided that Elisheva, who wasn't handcuffed, must have been the one to attack the Yassam Police. Perhaps it happened as they tore the year old baby from her arms and put Elisheva in one car and the tiny babies in another.)

3. Paralleling the battle in Kiryat Arba, the lower courts are attempting to remove 20 families from a housing complex in Hebron (Beit Shalom). This has been an ongoing battle, and even though the residents have supplied legal proof of purchase (with new tape presented even last week) they are being accused of living in this house illegally. There are 50 MK's who are trying to delay the eviction, and have sent a letter to that effect to Attorney General Manny Mazuz who is believed to have ordered the expulsion - and apparently has decided to ignore the evidence in the crazed drive to make Judea judenrein (free of Jews).

Update - Federman Farm

There are many new developments on this situation, some of them quite disturbing and some downright horrifying.

By now we have all heard of the by-stander (Shmuel ben Ishay) who cursed the soldiers and police while they were committing this immoral and unjust act against the Federman's and Tor's. He said he hoped they would all be like Gilad Shalit (who is a captured IDF soldier being held by Hamas), and that they should be killed. It has of course been the talk of the government and the media - making Olmert and Barak crazy with anger and vengeance against the "wild settlers". I don't know whether the man who uttered these unfortunate words was simply overcome with anguish and anger in the heat of the moment (not difficult to understand), or whether he was a planted provocateur. The fact that no one seems to know this man looks mighty suspicious to me! The leaders in the national camp have all condemned these words as well they should. Isn't it interesting though, that the attention was on the wild words of one man and the government pogrom against two Jewish families was swept right under the rug.

The drumbeat is intensifying for "getting rid of the "settlers" in Judea and Samaria.

It was widely reported that ben Ishay directed his vendetta against the IDF. I wondered out loud why the IDF was involved in this attack against our own citizens. I am somewhat familiar with the soldiers in this area, and I couldn't imagine them being involved. It turns out neither could they, for they didn't know they were a part of a brutal attack against Jews. The army has now admitted that they lied to the soldiers and tricked them into protecting the site where the destruction was taking place. These young cream of the crop soldiers were told that a terrorist had been spotted and no one were allowed to enter the area (editorial note : especially reporters - see David Wilder's report) .


This brings me to the next horrifying point - and full circle from the gerush (expulsion from Gush Katif in 2005).

What kind of a government perpetrates such attacks against its own people, and what kind of a government would lie to and trick its top soldiers so that they would participate in those illegal and immoral acts? The charge to an IDF soldier is to protect the citizens of Israel against our enemies. In our short modern history the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has been the symbol of our courage and strength. And I say this not as a slight to the Almighty....not at all as a replacement for His Protection...but more, as G-d's way of providing that protection in the natural (as opposed to the supernatural - but in no means lacking many Divine miracles in their operations.). In Israel the IDF is referred to as TZAHAL, which is a Hebrew acronym for Tzva Hagana Le' Yisrael, meaning defense forces of Israel. It needs to be noted however, that the actual Hebrew word tzahal means "shout of joy". Truly, the IDF or TZAHAL, has been our "shout of joy!!"

So...if a government that has lost its way wanted to break the morale of the people, one way is to destroy the symbols that inspire them. Thus, we have corrupt leaders who are not only trying to destroy and undermine the strongest symbol of Zionism - the "settlers" who are willing to risk their lives to settle Eretz Yisrael, but also by trying to destroy the symbol of our courage - the IDF - whose task is to protect those "settlers" and the rest of our citizens. The leaders can attempt this by tactics of brain-washing and betrayal, sowing confusion amongst the bravest and best of its men and women. The expulsion of 1,667 families from Gush Katif was the beginning of this terrible agenda, executed only because of the now-admitted psychological conditioning of our precious soldiers and continued on through the devastating confrontation in Amona. Now begins the push for the rest of Judea and Samaria.

Today, regarding the Federman Farm in Kiryat Arba, parents of the soldiers who were lied to and tricked have written a letter to Chief of Staff Ashkenazi, demanding the name and firing of the men who gave the orders. Unfortunately, I am sure the order came right from the top echelons....

What kind of a government indeed?