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1. Red Cross Involved in Attempted Arab Land-Grab
by Hillel Fendel
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), attempting to help Arabs in Samaria take over a plot of land bordering the Tapuach Junction checkpoint, says it will return tomorrow to complete the project.
Early Sunday morning, IDF soldiers at the Tapuach checkpoint were surprised to see an empty field suddenly come to life. Some 50 local Arabs, accompanied by three Red Cross jeeps, arrived on the scene for an attempted “land grab.” Eyewitnesses said they saw Arabs emerging from the jeeps.
Over the past decade, a local Jewish shepherd has grazed his goats on the large plot of land, which borders the southwest part of the large junction and which has not been cultivated in many years, if ever. Despite this, the Arabs, with mules and small tractors, spread out over the area and began clearing it.
Major Change of Status Quo
The checkpoint junction is traversed by hundreds of Jewish cars each day; for the land in question to become “Arab” would be a major change of the status quo.
After a short while, the IDF soldiers on the scene ordered the Arabs to stop working and to leave the area until they provide documentation that the land is theirs.
Israel National News contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to ask why its jeeps were there and in what capacity they were accompanying the Arabs. The spokesperson originally surmised that its vehicles could not have been there, but upon being shown the photographic evidence, she promised to investigate, and in fact later returned with a response.
"Mis-Coordination With the IDF"
The spokesperson explained that the ICRC is in fact helping the Arabs in question "rehabilitate" the plot of land near Tapuach, and that though actions of this type are always taken with the IDF's consent, this time there was a "mis-coordination."
She promised that the ICRC would return tomorrow (Monday) to the site to complete the "reclamation" of the land.
The spokesperson further said that the ICRC's mandate is not only to help victims of armed conflict, but also to provide "protection, assistance and economical security" for a "small period of time" to those who are in "dire need." Asked if Jews could also apply to the ICRC for such assistance in the case that they are actively thrown off their land, she acknowledged that this was unlikely, as "our mandate is basically for those under occupation... Israel is a democracy with organizations and bodies to which citizens could apply for help." She brushed off suggestions that Arabs in need could apply to the Palestinian Authority for help.
2. Shomron Regional Council: Red Cross Leading Provocation
by Hillel Fendel
The Regional Council municipal governing body of the Jewish communities in the Shomron (Samaria) issued a sharp response to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday, following the Red Cross’ attempt to facilitate an Arab land-grab.
“This is just another instance of foreign agencies provoking tensions between Arab and Jewish residents of the area,” stated spokesman David HaIvri. He was referring to the attempt by the Red Cross (ICRC) and some 50 Arabs to clear a large parcel of land adjacent to the Tapuach Junction checkpoint on Sunday morning. The IDF ejected them from the area, but the Red Cross – which stated that there had been a “mis-coordination” with the IDF – said the initiative would resume on Monday.
“These lands have not been cultivated in decades,” HaIvri said, “and are not registered to any individual Arab. If they were private property, all the owner would need to do would be to show his documentation. This area has been used by a Jewish shepherd for many years, with no objections by neighboring Arabs – and suddenly, in comes the Red Cross, looking for fights.”
“Instead of leading provocations,” HaIvri continued, “I would expect the Red Cross to make a real effort on behalf of Gilad Shalit, who has been captive for over three years with no visits by the Red Cross.” IDF soldier Shalit was captured by Hamas terrorists in Gaza nearly 3.5 years ago, and has never been visited by a neutral body.
Regarding the Red Cross plan to return on Monday, Shomron Regional Council Land Committee Chairman Eli Rosenfeld has brought the status of this area to the attention of the local IDF command, as well as the close-by community of Kfar Tapuach, in an attempt to ensure that the area is not taken over by residents of neighboring Arab villages.
3. US Senators Act to Force Recognition of Jerusalem as Capital
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Seven United States senators have sponsored a bill that would abolish the “security” waiver that American presidents have used to prevent implementing a 1995 law declaring that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback, a long-time supporter of Israel, introduced the bill and said, "It is long overdue for America to recognize the sovereign right of Israel to choose Jerusalem as its capital city.”
The proposed Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act law, number S. 2737, is "a bill to relocate to Jerusalem the United States Embassy in Israel" and has six co-sponsors--five Republicans, from Kentucky, Texas, Arizona, and Louisiana and Independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.
It would remove the current waiver, which gives the president authority to delay recognition of Jerusalem as the capital on the premise that doing so would endanger the security of the United States. Previous presidents, including George W. Bush, vowed during their election campaigns they would recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish State’s capital but they have failed out to carry out their election promise.
The senators introduced the bill following last week’s visit to the United States by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, who said, “I believe moving the American embassy to Jerusalem will the first step towards other embassies moving to the capital, as in every other country in the world.”
U.S. policy regards eastern Jerusalem, restored to Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967, as “occupied territory" and wants the status of the city to be part of an agreement to establish the Palestinian Authority as a new Arab state on all of the land in eastern Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
The Democratic party has a majority in the Congress but includes legislators who support Israeli sovereignty over all of the capital. The certain opposition of the Obama administration to Senator Brownback's bill may prevent its passage, but the proposal will bring the status of the city to center stage.
Administration officials have increasingly found it more difficult to explain to reporters their policy in the PA-Israeli struggle, particularly in light of the refusal of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to resume negotiations with Israel.
Abbas announced late this week that he will not run for reelection, a move that magnified recent difficulties of U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly to satisfy reporters. He was unable to tell them on Friday if government officials have been in touch with Abbas since his announcement, and instead he repeated previous statements that the Obama government considers him a “voice of moderation.”
In answer to a question on whether there should be PA elections in January in light of the division between Hamas, which rules Gaza, and Fatah, which rules Judea and Samaria, Kelly said, “The decision to hold elections is a – is really – that's a matter for the people themselves to decide.”
Reporters noted that his statement contradicted American policy of four years that was insistent that the PA holds it first legislative election, which resulted in a surprise victor for the Hamas terrorist organization.
4. Netanyahu to Meet with Obama
by Hana Levi Julian
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is heading to Washington, D.C. Sunday morning for a hastily-scheduled meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama. However, the prime minister's staff is taking pains to play down expectations for the meeting, which his spokesman said had not been cemented.
"We're not confirming anything," Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev told Israel National News on Sunday morning. "We are hopeful that there will be a meeting, but that's all."
Immediately following his "possible" meeting Monday with Netanyahu, Obama will leave for Texas to participate in memorial services for the victims of the mass shooting at the Fort Hood army base. The last-minute talks were apparently squeezed into the president's schedule overnight.
Although he dutifully delivered the standard vow that "America's bond with our Israeli allies is unbreakable," the American president warned Israelis Saturday night in a pre-taped video message to thousands in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square that "Israelis will not find true security while the Palestinians are gripped by hopelessness and despair."
The comments were part of a message delivered at a memorial for former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, assassinated 14 years ago in the same spot where the event took place. Rabin's convicted killer, Herzliya resident Yigal Amir, was caught and sentenced to life in prison.
Obama decided to cancel his appearance at Tuesday's United Jewish Communities General Assembly in order to attend the memorial. The president will be sending in his stead his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to address the 3,000 prominent Jewish guests who had expected to meet and greet Obama.
A star-studded cast of Israeli officials and international Jewish leaders will address the General Assembly in the state of Georgia, led by Israel's prime minister, who is scheduled to speak on Monday. Also on the speakers' dais will be Defense Minister and Labor party chairman Ehud Barak, Kadima party chairwoman and Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren and Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky.
Regev also made clear that Netanyahu would focus his efforts on wooing the North American Jewish public back into Israel's corner. Recent polls have showed a slow erosion of understanding and support among American Jews for Israel's defense and foreign policy issues.
"The prime minister knows the importance of Jewish communities abroad," noted Regev, "and is especially aware of the importance of the North American Jewish community."
5. Jordanian Professor: Israel Will Go to War over Water
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Israel will go to war against Lebanon and Egypt to solve its water crisis, a Jordanian political science professor has charged. Dr. Ghazi Al-Rababah told the Jordanian Al-Arab Alyawm newspaper that the first war would be in Shebaa farms area, a small part of which Lebanon and Syria have been trying to force Israel to surrender.
Although Israel is taking steps to solve the water shortage by building desalination plants that will be in full production in four years, al-Rababah declared that Israel will wage war against Egypt within seven years in order to control the Nile River.
He accused Israel of "stealing hundreds of millions cubic meters of water from the Litani water in Lebanon, which has violated agreements by diverting water from flowing across the border.
The professor also repeated charges that Israel is stealing water from the Palestinian Authority and that it is sending contaminated water to Gaza.
The Amnesty International organization recently issued a report that condemned Israel for alleged restrictions of water to Gaza. The Israel Water Authority released statistics showing that Israelis actually have been allocated less water per capita since 1967, when Egypt and Jordan fled from Judea, Samaria and Gaza, while the Arab residents in the same areas have been using more water per capita.
Arabs in Judea and Samaria also have been illegally drilling for water in violation of the Oslo Accords signed more than 15 years ago.
Jordan is considered one of Israel’s warmest Arab neighbors, and the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994, making Jordan the second Arab country to end hostilities with the Jewish state. Israel and Jordan also conduct a large export-import trade.
6. IDF Begins H1N1 Innoculations
by Hana Levi Julian
Israel has begun to innoculate IDF soldiers with the H1N1 "swine flu" vaccine, although not all soldiers will be receiving the vaccination right away. The criteria for soldiers to be innoculated against the virus are the same as for civilians: only those with a prior history of serious medical conditions or those working in a medical field are eligible to receive the vaccination. IDF soldiers who are eligible to receive the H1N1 vaccination have already been scheduled for the innoculation, according to an IDF spokesman.
Health officials began administering the vaccine last Monday to hospital and other health care workers across the Jewish State. Two days later, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) were given the green light to vaccinate their "high risk" members between the ages of 3 and 65 with chronic health conditions -- a population of approximately one million Israelis.
According to a health official who asked to remain anonymous, "there has been some discussion in the Health Ministry over whether children should be innoculated or not." However, the source told Israel National News, it was decided that for the time being, children would not be considered a natural high-risk group and thus would not receive the vaccine unless they had an underlying serious medical condition as well.
The restriction is due to the limited supply of the vaccine; government officials say the rest of the population will receive innoculations within the next several months. Only 300,000 doses of the vaccine have been delivered to Israel thus far, although more is expected to arrive by the end of the month. A total of 2.3 million doses has been ordered by the government, with the entire lot to have been received by March 2010.
The delay is due to a worldwide shortage of the vaccine, which has been successfully manufacturered by the only a few companies.
H1N1 Continues Rapid Spread Across Israel
The virus has continued to spread rapidly across the Jewish State, with three more Israelis last week joining the list of those whose deaths were officially linked with the illness.
Last month a Tel Aviv elementary school was briefly closed due to an outbreak of influenza, although health officials did not make it clear which strain had committed 140 of the 180 students at the Ussishkin School to their sickbeds. Only one case was confirmed with symptoms of the H1N1 swine flu virus.
Since the H1N1 virus made its appearance it April, nearly 4,500 Israelis have become ill with the disease -- but of the 39 deaths linked with the virus, only two were clearly caused by the H1N1 influenza strain. The rest of the victims all had underlying medical conditions that had seriously weakened their ability to fight the illness.
Cooperation and Coordination with PA
The IDF announced Sunday that Israel had transferred 5,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine to Gaza for Haj pilgrims leaving to Saudi Arabia through the Rafiah border crossing with Egypt. In a statement to the media, Colonel Moshe Levi, commander of the Gaza District Coordination Office said "Swine flu is a worldwide problem; it does not stop at borders. An outbreak of swine flu will endanger the Palestinian population and also endanger the State of Israel. Levi said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had donated the vaccines and arranged for their transfer to Gaza.
Approximately 20,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine were delivered last Thursday by Israel to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah as well, ahead of the annual traditional Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, which begins this week. The delivery to Ramallah was made through the Kalandiya Crossing in Samaria (Shomron). A spokesman for the Civil Administration said in a statement, "The State of Israel places great value on cooperation and coordination with the Palestinian Authority in the fields of health and religious expression."
The government of Saudi Arabia this year has required all Muslims who embark on the "Haj" (pilgrimage to Mecca) to be innoculated with the H1N1 vaccine as a condition for entering the city. Mecca, Islam's holiest city, is located in Saudi Arabia, and Muslims are enjoined by Islamic law to complete the Haj at least once in a lifetime.
7. Travel: The High Plateau of Ramat HaNegev
by Shmuel Browns and Hana Levi Julian
The Negev desert, shaped like a 4,700 square mile inverted triangle in the south of the country, makes up more than half of Israel’s land area. A visit to the Negev should be on everyone's itinerary, because only by experiencing the desert can you understand its importance.
Geographically the Negev can be divided into five areas: the northern, western and central Negev, the high plateau and the Arava Valley. The high plateau area, known as Ramat HaNegev (Negev Heights) is a small part of the region, but one of major importance. The plateau stands between 370 metres and 520 metres above sea level, with extreme temperatures in summer and winter and significant differences in those temperatures as day passes into night. The area gets only 100 mm of rainfall per year.
But despite these constraints, and its inferior and partially salty soil, Israeli farmers are successfully growing olives, pomegranates, pistachios and grapes for wine in Ramat Hanegev.
Here are some places to visit as you explore the region.
Kibbutz Revivim is growing five varieties of olives using brackish water, and selling the olives and olive oil in an upmarket boutique dedicated to their products in Tel Aviv.
Park Golda includes a lake and picnic tables to eat your lunch or for an unforgettable desert experience, try Bedouin hospitality in a black goat's hair tent followed by a camel ride.
The Great Makhtesh (Crater) is one of three craters in the region, a unique formation to the Negev, where the inside of a mountain is eroded by water, leaving only the outer shell, like eating a soft-boiled egg.
You can also visit a string of family farms along Route 40 for wine and cheese tasting, (one must check individual kosher certification) and even sleep over in one of their cabins under the desert stars. On farms that are growing grapes and making wine, the vines have been planted on the same 1,500-year-old terraces that were prepared by the Nabateans and take advantage of runoff from the winter rains. These farms are also a symbol of Israel's pioneering spirit in the 21st century, composting their waste, recycling their non-potable "grey" water and generating electricity using solar photovoltaic panels.
From the third century BCE the Nabateans traversed the Negev on caravans of camels laden with precious spices from Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula, a route of about 2,400 kilometers punctuated by some 65 camel stops one day apart. Over time the Nabateans settled in the area, building cities; Avdat, Shivta, Haluza and Mamshit have all been designated UNESCO World Heritage sites and are part of the Israel National Parks system.
The famous Kibbutz Sde Boker was built on the Negev Heights in 1952 by a group of discharged soldiers who had served in the area. The kibbutz attracted the public’s attention when David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister and elder statesman, and his wife Paula went to live there. Just south of Kibbutz Sde Boker you will see the sign for the cabin of the "Old Man" that today houses the Ben-Gurion Museum. There is a whole campus named after Ben-Gurion, which houses an Arid Zones research institute, an environmental center that includes a high school and college, a field school and guest house, a reptile farm and a desert sculpture museum. The Ben-Gurion Institute, a research facility for the study and the dissemination of his writings, offers visitors a multi-media program about the man and his work.
While staying at the guest house, Sde Boker can also be used as the base for a hike into the canyon at the Ein Avdat National Park with springs, pools and waterfalls, an oasis in the desert.
One may also hike from Avdat -- beside the gas station and Roman bath house that is supplied with water drawn from a well tunneled 70 meters through bedrock -- north along the Israel Trail to the Ein Eikev spring that flows year round. If you continue hiking the Israel Trail for a couple of days, you can reach the Great Makhtesh.
Next, visit the remains of the Nabatean city of Avdat, which was probably the regional capital. There is still disagreement among scholars about the reasons for the sudden appearance of the Nabateans on the stage of history in the second half of the first millennium BCE, and their disappearance in the second half of the 1st millennium CE. Located at the crossroads that join Petra in Jordan to Eilat and to Gaza, Avdat controlled the passage of the caravans from India and Arabia. Conquered in 106 CE by the Roman Emperor Trajan, it lost its importance when a road was built between Eilat and Damascus.
Avdat adjusted by adopting agriculture, particularly the production of wine, as its means of subsistence. Numerous terraced farms and water channels were built throughout the region in order to collect enough run-off from winter rains to support agriculture in the hyper-arid zone of the Negev. At least five wine presses dating back to the Byzantine period have been found at the site, showing us how important wine-making was in this region.
In the Byzantine period (5th and 6th century) a citadel and a monastery with two churches were built on the acropolis of Avdat on the ruins of earlier pagan temples. The town was later totally destroyed by a local earthquake in the early 7th century and was never reinhabited.
Shmuel Browns is a licensed tour guide and conducts tours throughout the State of Israel. All photos in this article were snapped by Shmuel Browns. For more information on tours, click here!
