Free At Last!

“Passover”, The “holiday of our freedom”, and the “Spring holiday.”

I think in Israel today yet another name  is fitting: the holiday of touring. The people of Israel fill the land with excursions and picnics.

For many Israelis, it is the yearly opportunity to reconnect with the land and bump into their fellow Jews of every stripe and  shade – surely an exhilarating time of year.

As a tour guide, I am used to leading tours, but on this holiday I signed up for a rather unique experience; a “Regavim” (which means  soil,) informational tour (www.regavim.org).

Regavim is an NGO whose mandate is to preserve the land of Israel for  the state of Israel  and the Jewish people.

The challenge that this small group of young people face is that the government, in the best case, does not enforce the law when it comes to illegal Arab occupation of state land, often as part of  a larger  orchestrated strategy of creating facts on the ground. These facts are already determining sovereignty issues that are likely  irreversible.

This phenomenon is taking place mostly in parts of the country that have significant (Israeli) Arab populations like the Negev and the Galilee  where law enforcement is not particularly effective as  well as  in “post 1967 areas” which are the  object of  powerful pressure by the  “world community” to wrench  from Israeli  control.

The latter include East Jerusalem which has been officially  annexed by Israel and the  sixty percent of Judea and Samaria ( “area C” )  which have not  been  handed over out right to the  Palestinian Authority in the 1993 Oslo accords(“areas A and B”) and are under Israeli administration

Tens of thousands of illegal Arab construction  continues.. and the authorities just watch at best.

Our tour concentrated on  a particularly interesting – and alarming  aspect of this phenomena because it  includes a number of  significant players.

I refer to the  ever expanding Bedouin settlement surge along the very strategic Jerusalem – Jericho road through the Judean desert.

The Bedouin  are by definition nomads; seeking the best grazing for their flocks. They traditionally do not have any one geographical affiliation or national loyalty. In fact they look down their noses at the  settled Arab farmers and town Arabs who have left the  original Arab way  for the easy sedentary life.

So what is happening just now to make these Bedouin throw in the towel and settle down? The answer is the power of the carrot and the stick.

The Bedouin find themselves in the middle of a  great political agenda;to  create facts on the ground that will insure a Palestinian state in ever expanding parts of “area C” where Israel has total sovereignty according to treaty  but  is  ignoring massive illegal Arab construction

The Bedouin are under pressure by the Palestinian Authority to fold up their tents and live in permanent structures bought for them, usually right  up against major  strategic roads. They no longer have to roam the desert in the search for water; it is provided in  mobile water tanks that are filled by the PA (who gets the water from Israel for which they do not pay their water bill). Tractors, generators and more are gifted to them. If the economic incentives are not enough  to convince the Bedouin to  put down roots in  points that control major Israeli  traffic  flows  and military bases, there is always the  stick. The PA is not known for free and open debate.

With the PA a thoroughly corrupt and  bankrupt “government,” where do they have the resources to fund this major settlement campaign?

Answer; The EU and the USA undertake major projects  in the “territories” propping up the PA , including this very campaign.

They do not try to hide the fact. From the side of the main roads one can see the bran new structures with the EU flag on them and on other equipment  like generators and water tanks which make the burgeoning illegal settlements possible.

You may ask, if it is illegal why do they support it and how do they get away with it? They do it to distance  Israel  from as much of the land  as possible. They call it a fight for political and human rights. We just read in the Hagada  how in every generation we  face our enemies…Been there, seen that….

But why does the Israeli government allow this? This is the most curious piece of the puzzle.

Answer: Fear. It is the  very old fear of the Gentile. Fear of ” world public opinion. Fear of their own sense of right.

Once the EU or US flag is displayed  one dares not take it down.

That would be a diplomatic issue that Israel has  not got the strength to  face.

So the facts on the ground continue to be created. “Regavim”  tries to make themselves heard and pleads with the government to do their job.

In Egypt we were slaves  and would not dare raise our heads against our task masters until a leader like Moshe appeared and smote the Egyptian as he beat a Jewish slave. That got the ball rolling.

Today we are free; free in our own country at last. The  Jew is no longer physically bound to a task master. We have been taken out of  slavery but how long will it yet take to  remove the slave out of the Jew?.

May we merit a true holiday of freedom. Free at  last!