THE AFSI/ZOA CHIZUK MISSION – NOV. 2004 – The theme of the Mission:
LET OUR PEOPLE STAY!
More pictures....
By: Helen Freedman,
Executive Director, AFSI
Forty members of the
AFSI/ZOA Chizuk mission arrived in the new terminal at Ben Gurion airport
in Israel on Nov. 3 and began immediately to travel to the threatened
communities of Yesha. We began in the northern Shomron with Kadim, Mevo
Dotan, Sanur, and Homesh, visiting with the residents and hearing their
stories and reactions to the impending evacuation of their communities.
After staying overnight in the Ashel HaShomron hotel in Ariel, we visited
Kedumim where we met with the remarkable Mayor, Daniella Weiss. We planted
vineyards in Shilo under the watchful eye of our guide, Era Rappaport,
and in Kfar Tapuach we were impressed with the very professional dog
training program supervised by Mike Guzofsky, Lenny Goldberg and David
HaIvri. Chaim Silberstein, head of Uvneh Yerushalayim took us into Muswara
and the Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhoods in Jewish east Jerusalem, to visit
the Jewish families living in the reclaimed areas. Mati Dan of Ateret
Cohanim guided us through Beit Sarah in Abu Dis where the group posed
against the twenty-four foot high “security wall” that splits Jerusalem
apart. Some members of the group visited the Temple Mount, calling it a
remarkable experience, while others were introduced to the new Begin
Center by its director, Yisrael Medad. The entire group was greeted at the
Knesset by MK Dr. Arieh Eldad, MK Rav Benny Elon, and Josh Reinstein,
Director of the Christian Allies Caucus under the chairmanship of MK Yuri
Shtern. AFSI’s Jerusalem Chairman Bill Mehlman joined us there, along
with AFSI’s national Chairman, Herbert Zweibon.
We prayed at Kever Rachel in
Bethlehem, dismayed by the fact that the families that had moved into the
new apartments painstakingly built by Uvneh Yerushalayim, had been
evacuated and the apartments were closed by the army. On our way to
Hebron, we stopped in Beit Haggai for a tour of a distinctive community
catering to the special religious educational needs of young men. In
Hebron we had the spiritual joy of celebrating Shabbat Chaye Sarah with
the thousands of people who come each year to Hebron for this special
occasion. As is our custom each year, we were housed in Yeshivat Nir in
Kiryat Arba, and had the pleasure of receiving a message of encouragement
from Rav Eliezer Waldman.
The next day we toured the Negev,
learning about the burgeoning Bedouin presence in the area and arrived
that evening in Gush Katif/Gaza. We were greeted by our friend and guide,
Dror Vanunu, along with a TV crew from Israel’s Channel 2 news. They
enjoyed interviewing our group, a band of orange-shirted avid supporters
of Gush Katif. The next day we heard that rockets had landed in Nissanit,
in a private home, and in the kindgergarten schoolyard. We immediately
altered our itinerary and traveled to Nissanit, viewed the damaged home,
and learned that once again, miraculously, no one had been killed,
although five people were taken to the hospital. At the school we
distributed toys and enjoyed mingling with the children. We then went on
to Netzarim, thrilled with viewing the synagogue which had been built by
members of the community in slow stages, and it was now complete and
gleaming in the sunshine. We spent the day traveling from community to
community in Gush Katif, and some of the group actually went swimming in
the sea when we stopped for lunch at the Pagoda restaurant. Tuesday
evening, Nov. 9, we were able to listen to the broadcast of the TV
program while traveling to the airport for the return trip to the U.S. and
Canada. We were proud of the fact that over one million viewers and
millions of listeners heard us pledge our allegiance to Gush Katif. We
promised to return to support the residents of the communities should the
Sharon evacuation, deportation, imprisonment plan become a reality.
Throughout the trip, in every
community visited, we heard and felt from all a terrible urgency about the
present conditions in Israel. This was elaborated upon in our evening
meetings with Itamar Marcus, head of Palestinian Media Watch, Ruth Matar,
co-chairwoman with her daughter-in-law Nadia Matar, of Women in Green,
Moshe Feiglin, head of Manhigut Yehudit, and Moshe Saperstein, Esther
Lilienthal, and Esther Bazak, residents of Gush Katif .
There is an inescapable
reality about the fact that Israel is being severely threatened by the
Arab world, most immediately by the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic
Jihad. Arafat’s death will intensify the assault, not mitigate it as the
competing factions vie to be the new destroyers of Israel. Israel is the
canary in the coal mine in a global war being waged by Islam.
The Jews of Israel have
an additional, immediate enemy. They are battling the Sharon government.
They face intimidation, administrative detention and arrest by the Israeli
police. The Israeli Supreme Court is closed to their pleas, and most
egregiously, the government threatens them with imprisonment following any
resistance to expulsion from their homes and the roots they have planted
over 35 years.
Their cries for help
must be answered by Jews throughout the world, who feel their pain. The
members of the Chizuk mission are committed to assist them in getting
their message out to others who might listen and respond.
The next Chizuk mission
will take place in the spring of 2005. We will return to Gush Katif, to
Hebron, to Jewish east Jerusalem, and to the threatened communities of
Judea and Samaria. Hopefully, we will also experience the joy of seeing
the vineyards we planted sprouting their tender grapes. This is the symbol
of the continuity of life in Israel. Despite the assaults by enemies,
Jewish communities will continue to grow and flourish. It is important
that we in the diaspora continue to give our time, money and most
importantly – our love, and devotion in the support of the embattled Jews
of Israel.
Please visit the AFSI
website –
afsi@rcn.com
– to see pictures of the group in some of the many places described above.
Contact AFSI –
afsi@rcn.com
– if you are interested in joining us on the spring trip. We promise an
unforgettable experience.
