(Video) Raanana Pioneers in Netzer - The Movie

NashimBeYarok..
01 Mar '12..





Good Jews from all over the country have heard about the land war being waged in Netzer. Most recently, with a wave of the pen, the Civil Administration transformed Plot 94 from "Surveyed Land" (presumed state land whose status hasn't yet been finalized) to private Arab land -- thanks to massive pressure from Leftist sources.


Thank you to Timna Katz from Neve Daniel for the English translation

This iniquity cries to the heavens, but we have recourse and resources.

On Thursday, the first day of Adar, a group of Jews returned again to Netzer, this time from Ra'anana, to show their support for our struggle. They planted grape vines around the corners of the pergola built by Women In Green to provide shade and comfort to hikers in the area. Joy and excitement infused all who came and a "she'hechianu" blessing burst from our throats in thanks for the merit of being able to plant and redeem the land.

Thank God, the people of Israel love their homeland and are faithful to it.

Have a moment?  Click here to visit the Women in Green website  

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
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Netzer - The Joy of Tu Be'Shvat on Hanukah!

Yehudit Katsover/Nadia Matar..
Women in Green..
07 January '12..

Autumn is behind us, and the leaves shed by now-bare trees are blown to the four winds by the gales that sweep the crests of the Judean Hills. Winter takes hold insistently with thick fogs and white frost that cover fields and car windshields alike. And, finally, the rain, which each year is more fervently longed for and more rarely and meagerly seen

This is the backdrop to our small but contemporary Hanukah tale of olive trees planted, with the help of generous lovers of Israel, on the night of the sixth candle on the hills between Alon Shvut and Elazar, where Judah Maccabee waged a fierce battle.

There's nothing like a winter's night -- bitter cold, with pouring rain and slashing winds that no umbrella can resist, thick fog, and deep mud -- to turn Hanukah night into Tu Be'Shvat in Netzer. In weather like this, there's no danger that those seeking to prevent Jews from planting will be out and about. So we exploited these optimal conditions and set to work, bringing in the tractors and ten mature olive trees for planting. Our purpose was two-fold:

To replant the trees that Arabs uprooted in bright daylight last Friday as the happy culmination of a family "chafla" or feast. To do our own "tag mechir" or "price tag operation": for every tree the Arabs uproot, we plant two.

(Video) A Rainy confrontation in Netzer

Photo: Abigail Browning

Women in Green
21 November '11

Under pouring rain, twenty AFSI members, headed by their leader Helen Freedman, arrived in Netzer on Friday for a tour and plantings, before continuing to Hebron for Shabbat Chaye Sara.

When the AFSI and Women in Green activists arrived at the scene of the planting , the skies opened and blessed rain started pouring down.

All of a sudden, a group of Arabs showed up and started a confrontation , with the Arabs trying to prevent the Jews from planting – by pushing and shoving the Jews and even uprooting the trees that had just been planted. After a few minutes, the Arabs brought reinforcement with some 12 Arabs working on a nearby field .



One has to mention that the activists did not fear nor shy away from the conflict; at the contrary- they acted bravely, planted anyway, replanted the few saplings the Arabs had uprooted and defended the planted trees with their bodies till the IDF arrived.

To the soldiers, the activists explained that on this piece of land there had already been a conflict months ago and the Civil Administration clearly stated then that these are State Lands and thus, the Arabs have no right to approach that area. And indeed, the soldiers did what they were supposed to and took out the Arabs from that plot of land.

Luckily the police seemed to have had no manpower on that rainy Friday. One lonely policeman arrived at the scene and thus, this time, no situation arose in which Jews are detained and accused of attacking, like what happened a week and a half ago in another area in Netzer.

The pouring rain and the determination of the Jews to stand firm in front of the Arabs, created an atmosphere of happiness, joy and spiritual elevation. The AFSI activists experienced a live report of the daily struggle for the land of Israel, dunam after dunam.

It was moving to see the AFSI activists waving the Israeli flag and singing "Am Yisrael Chai" after having succeeded in planting tens of olive trees.

Based on their experience of many years, it is clear to the activists that they might need to plant and replant the trees on this piece of land , till it will safely stay in Jewish hands. On the eve of Shabbat Chaye Sara, that is really the message we learn from Avraham Avinu. Even though the Land of Israel was promised to us by G-d, it will be redeemed and in our hands only after a lot of hard work, determination, tenacity and steadfastness.

Yehudit Katsover/Nadia Matar
www.womeningreen.org

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Jonathan Pollard and the Redemption of Eretz Israel at Tu Bishvat ceremony in Netzer, Gush Etzion

nashim.beyarok@ womeningreen.org.il
23 January '11

Hundreds of people flowed to the Friday Tu Bishvat planting ceremony in Netzer, Gush Etzion. They came from close and from far. All felt that here in Netzer it was a different kind of ceremony: here were intertwined the plantings in honor of Jonathan Pollard, prisoner of Zion in a "friendly" country and the land of Israel waiting to be redeemed. Together they brought about a moving ceremony.

For the past years, a fierce struggle has been taking place in Netzer. But especially in the past two years, when international organizations started to help the Arabs steal from the Jews, State lands, in order to prevent the expansion of the Jewish communities. The Arabs have not heard of the "settlement blocs" .

Early Friday morning, when the organizers came to arrange the ceremony and placed flags on the path and on the benches, Arabs were spotted trying to take over a new piece of land. Later, really close to where the ceremony took place, another Arab came and claimed that the land on which the people were going to plant really belongs to him, when all maps clearly show that these are State lands.

The IDF and the civil administration arrived and made the Arab leave in order to allow the ceremony to take place.

Among the speakers were Rabbi Gideon Perl, regional Rabbi of Gush Etzion who is a full partner in the plantings in Netzer. Rabbi Perl strengthened the hands of those planting and redeeming the land and said that this is how it always was from the beginning of Zionism: planting and settling and that is how we perform the mitzva of "Yishuv Haaretz".

Member of Knesset Prof. Arieh Eldad said: "We are here on the "Path of the Forefathers" and we remember Avraham Avinu. We remember the struggle for this land, a struggle that did not start today. Jews who came to the Land of Israel always encountered those who do not want Jews here. We will not give up and we will not be discouraged nor scared. Not by their demography. Not by their wealth. If Jews will build and plant everywhere in the land, we shall overcome."

A special prayer calling for the release of Jonathan Pollard was read out loud and a vineyard of vines was planted in his honor. On the plaque it says in Hebrew; In honor of our brother Jonathan Pollard. The People in Israel pray and long for your return home, to Eretz Israel.

From the speeches all the participants then went on to the action. Hundreds of saplings- vines, olive trees, eucalyptuses... were planted, accompanied by the accordeon music of old and beloved Eretz Israel songs.

Families came with their children and even babies. Youth came from all over, even on their bikes. Especially moving was the group of youth who came from abroad to volunteer and join the army. These youth had been working the past few days in Netzer preparing the land for the plantings. These youth went to plant a field a bit further than the other groups. They encountered for the first time the difficult sitaution we are in here in israel, when some Arabs arrived and threatened to uproot the saplings. Tens of participants ran over to the field and the Arabs understood they have no chance in executing their evil plan.

In addition to the trees, ten wooden benches were "planted" and dedicated to the dear ones of those who had purchased the benches. Especially moving was when a mother came to the ceremony and found out that her son had purchased a bench for her and her husband and had written on the plaque: to my dear parents, your children, grandchildren and great granchildren will continue to walk on the path of our forefathers.

The ceremoy was organized by Women for Israel's Tomorrow, (Women in Green) and was made possible thanks to the donations of many in Israel and abroad who support the struggle for the hills in Judea and Samaria, and against the creation of a Palestinian State.

The participants thanked the organizers who made it possible to plant and redeem the land of Eretz Israel. Everybody asked: when can we plant more!?

For a link to Gemma Blech's pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gemmablech/TuBShvatOnNETZER2011#

With love for Israel,

Yehudit Katsover    Nadia Matar

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Establishing Facts on Ground - Netzer

NashimBeYarok
20 September '10

In Netzer, yet one more piece of Erets Israel was redeemed and saved from illegal Arab take-over.

Yesterday, Sunday September 19th, members of Women for Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green) and the Netzer committee were told that an Arab was plowing on stateland in Netzer,in the heart of Gush etzion, in broad daylight.



The activists immediately got organized and a few of them came to the place. One of the activists speaks Arabic. He explained to the Arab that the land on which he is plowing does not belong to him but rather to the Jews. A map of the area was shown to prove it.

In order to make sure that such so-called "mistakes' will not occur again on that piece of land, the activists of Women in Green and Netzer decided to gather at 5:00 the following morning, i.e. today Monday September 20 and plant the entire area. Some ten activists arrived, with tools, trees, waterpipes and thank G-d,after a few hours of work, this piece of land was saved from hostile take-over.

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Olive Tree Wars, Olive Tree Redemption

Sharon Katz
voices-magazine.com
23 June '10

This summer more than 50 young people will have the opportunity to participate in a working agricultural camp aimed at redeeming Jewish land in Gush Etzion. The camp will focus on farming on the Netzer Hill, and result hopefully in saving the land reserves between Alon Shvut and Elazar.

Right now Arabs, aided by international anarchists and NGO "humanitarian aid organizations for Palestinians" are working land in Central Gush Etzion without any interference. Currently Jewish Gush Etzion is only 4% of the entire region. The Arabs and anarchists are pushing with determination to increase what is already their 96% portion of the area.

This summer's teen camp, sponsored by the Yibaneh Fund of Women for Israel's Tomorrow, hopes to save the last 60 dunams of Jewish land in Netzer! Widespread support is needed to make this possible.

You know, we sit in our beautiful homes on the hills of Gush Etzion, and we look out our windows to see the other Jewish communities and green rolling hills. We don't usually think about the fact that Arabs are planting right near us in fields that don't belong to them in order to cut off our communities from one another. This is something that should bring us much concern and something that should push us to act for the sake of our land.

False "Humanitarians"

The pro-Arab "humanitarian" anarchists on the Marvi Marmara ship in last month's floatilla clearly taught the people of Israel the dangers of international anarchists. Voices had written about them long ago when we first encountered anarchists in the once-abandoned IDF Army base in Shdema. The anarchists' destruction and agitation is also witnessed almost daily in Hebron, all along Route 60 and now on Gush Etzion's hilltop of Netzer.

(Read full article)

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Call to Action

Women For Israel's Tomorrow
NashimBeYarok's Channel
27 April '10

A Call to Action by Women for Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green) to safeguard Israel's Biblical Homeland in the hands of the Jewish People

To join our effort, please contact:

Nadia Matar 972-50-550-0834, nmatar@netvision.net.il

Yehudit Katzover 972-50-716-1818, ihuditk@gmail.com

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.

The Testing Ground of Shdema

Timna Katz
November 09

History: Past and Present

Shdema is an abandoned Israeli army base built in 1967 on the remains of a Jordanian army base. It is five minutes south of Jerusalem’s southern neighborhood of Har Homa and five minutes north of eastern Gush Etzion. Going further back, the Shdema area was densely populated by Jews during the First Temple period and resettled again during the Second Temple period. Despite the scant archeological attention the area has received, remains of Jewish settlement have been identified from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Mameluke periods. The Hasmoneans waged their final victorious battle there.

Shdema’s fate since Oslo is typical: designated as Area C, under full Israeli sovereignty, the IDF nonetheless began to abandon Shdema together with other army camps in Judea and Samaria despite the security disaster brought on by the Oslo Accords. Massive and politically directed illegal Arab building proliferates throughout Judea and Samaria, while Jewish growth is frozen. Recently, the double standard has become even more flagrant. The nearby municipality of Beit Sahur has illegally built a sports and entertainment center on Shdema lands with funding provided by European agencies and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

In April 2008, a group of individuals led by Women In Green halted the total destruction of the base and determined to maintain a Jewish presence there to prevent a complete Arab take-over of the strategic hill overlooking the Jerusalem-Gush Etzion highway. The Committee for a Jewish Shdema was formed, and since then, Shdema has become a vibrant cultural center with weekly events and holiday festivities. The Committee, with the support of Women In Green, has plans to build an educational and cultural campus at the site that will foster Jewish and Zionist values and goals.


The Oslo vs. Shdema Paradigm

The lesson of Oslo is tragic but profound. Oslo turned the “peace process” into the country’s supreme value and goal. To keep this process going, the Israeli leadership was prepared to sacrifice almost every Jewish and Zionist truth. It exchanged the old values and ideals for a realpolitik that served the enemy’s narrative and goals. Even when the results of Oslo proved to be the polar opposites of its intended goals -- war instead of peace, increased Arab rejectionism instead of increased Arab acceptance, international isolation instead of international normalization – Israel continued down the same disastrous path. The one and only justification against total capitulation to Arab demands that Israel mustered was the ‘security’ card: Israel can’t immediately relinquish all of Yesha because she has no choice but to defend herself against ‘terrorism’.

While the damage of the above approach has been great, its bankruptcy has become so evident that even current leaders who continue to dance to the Oslo tune have started to pay lip service to the old values and truths: that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish People and Jews cannot be ‘occupiers’ in the Biblical heartland and cradle of their civilization. However, it’s not enough to pay lip service to those truths: if the Jewish People won’t physically live those truths, it is now abundantly clear that we’ll lose our land – all of it.

That is where we stand today and that is the message behind the struggle for Shdema: the current government continues to follow the Oslo paradigm, even while knowing that it is untenable. The Jewish majority are becoming increasingly frustrated by leaders who talk the post-Olso talk but won’t walk the post-Oslo walk. Shdema has become a testing ground of these tensions and the opposing forces rumbling beneath Israel’s surface.

Thus the struggle to keep Shdema Jewish has not only been supported by the local populace, idealistic youth, and right-wing politicians, it has also received support from elements in the army and the political center. Meanwhile, however, the status quo maintains its hold and the Arabs continue to build illegally while a Jewish government ties Jewish hands.


A Tipping Point?

Positive change is occurring, though the evidence of it – whether in the Jewish cultural awakening within secular Israel or in the supporting visit of the Knesset speaker to Shdema – doesn’t yet indicate what its eventual force or impact will be. Unfortunately, destructive counter-forces maintain their momentum and time is running out. We of the Committee for a Jewish Shdema believe that Shdema will be a testing ground for this nascent change and hope that you will help us in making it happen. God willing, if we all act now and act forcefully, we can reverse the fatal Oslo tide and unleash the tremendous positive energies inherent in the Jewish return to Zion.

*Timna Katz, resident of Neve Daniel in Gush Etzion, is a member of the Committee for a Jewish Shdema and Women in Green
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