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Dear Print Media, amv"sh
Will you please publish this important Press Release of ZOA? Why do distortions of what Mort Klein says get reported by Ron Kampeas of JTA and hits front page news while what Mort Klein sends out directly doesn't? People want the real thing, unedited without distortions!
Dear Activist List, amv"sh
Since I am not sure if the press is actually getting my emails (Some might have me on spam or just ignore what I send them) I would like you to help in this matter. This report of ZOA sent to me by IMRA@netvision.net.il is something that should be reported in the News because of "Al Taamod Al Dam Raiecha" We must not sit idly by when our brethren in Israel are suffering.
This phenomenon, failure to protect farmers, is not only happening in Judea and Samaria but also in the Galil and the Negev. Please forward to all the Jewish Media on your lists and ask them to publish prominently without distortions. ZOA bases their info on a research study of Yediot Achronot and reports from INN. If they need proof that this is also happening in the Galil and Negev they will find it w/o much difficulty. Thank you!
October 7, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Morton A. Klein
Phone: 212-481-1500
http://www.zoa.org/sitedocuments/pressrelease_view.asp?pressreleaseID=1943
ZOA sends letter to Israel Min. of Internal Security
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has called upon the Netanyahu
government to ensure that Jewish farmers lawfully tilling land in Judea and
Samaria receive all necessary military and police protection against
Palestinian assaults in precisely the same way that Palestinian farmers are
currently being protected by Israeli forces while working their land.
A recent three year study by the Israeli daily, Yediot Ahronot, found that
"Jewish farmers who work their land by law in the very same area [as
Palestinian farmers] suffer daily abuse at the hands of their Arab
neighbors, who are backed and incited by . leftist human-farmer rights
champions. The damages sustained by these Jewish farmers are estimated at
hundreds of thousands of shekels, and who could estimate the heartache of a
farmer whose crops were damaged? Yet the State of Israel's law enforcement
authorities do almost nothing to protect [Jewish farmers] and the media
barely covers them or their pain."
The Yediot Ahronot report, after reviewing dozens of police cases and
interviewing dozens of farmers, concluded that there is a:
"wide-ranging phenomenon of deliberate, frequent, and methodical attacks
premised on nationalistic rather than criminal motives: Arson, trespassing,
sabotaging equipment, and the deliberate damaging of crops. We also
discovered visible involvement of leftist organizations - the very same ones
that preach to us about harming corps - in terms of incitement,
organization, active participation, and legal backing given to the rioters
and vandals. The olive trees of Jewish farmers prompt the exact opposite
reaction, for some reason ... Meanwhile, Arab farmers arrive at work
accompanied by massive army and police protection. The forces include police
officers skilled in carrying out arrests and are assisted by the police's
and even Shin Bet's intelligence agents. And if this isn't enough, the
establishment would not hesitate to issue administrative orders against
people it thinks may harm Arab olives - where did the holy principle of
equality before the law disappear? About a month ago, we turned to the
police again in the wake of five arson cases that caused grave damages and
even threatened the lives of residents. In all these cases, despite evidence
on the ground, nobody was arrested and police files remained empty. In one
case, the police did not even issue a property tax authorization, forcing
the farmer to sustain the damages. In our letters, we demanded that police
commanders' preparations for the olive harvesting season also includes an
effort to protect the Jewish farmers. The letters had not been answered yet"
(Orit Struck, 'What about Jewish farmers?' Yediot Ahronot, October 6, 2010).
A recent, specific instance of the problem is the case of Israeli farmer,
Yisrael Orbach, whose orchards have been set on fire twice in four days in
the last week by neighboring Palestinians. Orbach used to herd sheep, but
was forced to give that up after numerous thefts by Arabs, including those
from a nearby village which he reports is filled with members of Hamas.
Orbach noted that the nearby Nebi Samuel site is not being adequately
protected by the authorities, who recently closed it to visitors at night
because they were not willing to police it during hours of darkness. (Under
informal agreements proposed by the previous Olmert government but rejected
by the Palestinian Authority (PA), the PA would take control of Nebi Samuel.
The Israeli government tourist information site lists Nebi Samuel along with
other holy sites but unlike the others, there is no link for details on
travel directions).
Orbach says the latest attempt to destroy his farm is only one of countless
attacks on it and on the traditional burial site, where Jewish holy items
have been desecrated in the past, as pictured. "Since the freeze, the Arabs
have staged a kind of Intifada against us," he said. He used to herd sheep
but was forced to give that up after numerous thefts by Arabs, including
those from a nearby village which he reports is filled with members of
Hamas. He now grows pomegranate, olive and fig trees, among others, but the
Arabs have tried to destroy them, as well (Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, 'Legacy of
Arab Attacks on Jewish Farm,' Israel National News, October 5, 2010).
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, "The latest news of the
dereliction of duty by Israeli authorities in protecting vulnerable Israeli
farmers lawfully tilling their own productive land stands in sharp and
dismaying contrast to the proper protection offered to Palestinian farmers.
Making this asymmetry even worse are the examples of active hostility and
indifference to the Israeli farmers shown by some individuals in the
security forces whose job it is to protect one and all equally.
"This unacceptable state of affairs requires remedy. The ZOA has written to
the Minister of Internal Security, Yitzhak Aharonovich (Yisrael Beiteinu)
and his party head, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, calling upon them to
investigate the matter and to ensure that the police and security services
start affording Jewish farmers the full protections to which they're
entitled. The ZOA hopes that the Netanyahu government to investigate
immediately what has been occurring and will implement all necessary steps
to ensure that the Israeli police and army are adequately meeting all their
responsibilities in their prime, vital function: protecting the lives and
property of Israeli citizens."
--
Sincerely,
Robin Ticker
This email is L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) a great activist and lover of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichrono Baruch.
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