MANS OF
NS F
On Guard from page A27
Izzy Danziger, right,
with an IDF security officer
on a security assessment
-• • - -^• • ,- ,^
surrounded:' Danziger said.
Under Mishmeret Yesha's Project Ilan
and Workers of the Land Project in the
1990s, Jewish settlers began to farm land,
develop connector roads and engage in
other labor initiatives.
"We fenced the land, brought water to
the land and got people to contribute so
we could plant olive trees, vineyards, fig
trees and fruit trees:' Danziger said. "That
became a very big project. We have invest-
ed a great deal of time in it, even today:'
It became apparent that if the settlers
didn't intervene amid the Palestinian devel-
opment thrust in Yesha,"there'd be a ques-
tion if we'd be living here in a relatively short
period of time," Danziger said.
Oslo's Impact
The ill-fated Oslo Accords of 1993 spurred
the need for the Rapid Response Teams,
still 11 years away. Danziger recalled the
historical context: "By signing the accords,
the government of Israel in effect aban-
doned all of the government lands in
Judea and Samaria. Israel's master plan on
how and where Jewish communities would
be built there and connected with a road
network had not been implemented yet
by the time Oslo rolled around. So many
of the outlying Jewish communities were
closed off, disconnected or completely
isolated. Overall, from a security point of
view, the situation was bad."
Mishmeret Yesha sprouted in 1998 as
a nonprofit organization to give settlers
a common voice and a security shield.
Its roots lay in the Jewish Defense Fund,
formed to cover legal costs and emergency
personal costs following the Dheisheh
A28
December 18 m 2008
Refugee Camp Trial. The formative year
was 1989 during the first Palestinian inti-
fida against Israel.
The yearlong trial resulted in acquittal
of almost all of the 30 Jews from Kiryat
Arba who had been tried for demon-
strating and "inciting" in front of the
Bethlehem refugee camp. The Jews had
gathered to protest having their vehicles
attacked by stone throwers every day for
a year as they passed the refugee camp,
situated along a key travel route for Judea
residents. Danziger ran a construction/
woodworking business at the time and
experienced the property damage first-
hand.
"The conditions affected every part of
our lives and the security of our families
as we traveled;' Danziger said.
A particularly brutal stone attack
sparked the Kiryat Arba-led demonstra-
tion on the Deheisheh Refugee Camp. "The
last bus on a Friday winter afternoon was
attacked by a mass rock attack;' Danziger
recalled. "All the glass was smashed. And
the bus was packed; it was the last bus out
of Jerusalem for Kiryat Arba, still 35 min-
utes away"
When the rock-riddled bus filled with
injured passengers arrived in Kiryat Arba,
it caused an uproar among the residents,
who, when Shabbat ended, went back to
the refugee camp to demonstrate.
Looking Ahead
Danziger has eight children and five
grandchildren. He's a voting member of
the Likud Central Committee. He urged
Jewish Detroit to learn as much as pos-
sible about the plight of Israeli Jews
, 1•,,^
-• • -
in Gaza five years ago
through print and online publications and
other news sources. As he put it: '<There's
no reason Jews everywhere aren't aware
of what's going on and what's building up.
We're headed toward Intifada No. 3 even as
the second intifada continues."
ZOA Michigan Region President Mark
Segel said it's time to direct attention to
the plight of Jews in Yesha and for Jewish
federations to financially back the cause.
"They are dedicated Jews who believe in
their right to settle the biblical heartland
of Israel," Segel said. "By supporting Yesha,
Jews will be helping Israelis who live
within the Green Line, too."
Mishmeret Yesha is a division of 24Guards
(Kadam), the Movement for Jewish Sovereignty
in Israel: www.kadam.org.il. U.S. contributions:
Mishmeret Yesha, 1412 Avenue M, Suite 2363,
Brooklyn, NY 11230. U.S. contact: Aleksandra
Fliegler, (650) 992-0512; alex@flieglernet.
By The Bootstraps
Mishmeret Yesha vignettes:
• Organizes work projects and voca-
tional training for youth before,
during and after army service in
the areas of organic agriculture,
woodwork, metalwork, building
trades and organic breeding of
chickens, goats and sheep.
• Organizes land projects that
include clearing, fencing, planting
and irrigating. Organic vineyards
as well as olive and fruit trees
encourage cottage industries like
organic wineries, olive presses and
produce.
Real - Life Example
The night of Jan. 24, two Palestinian
terrorists dressed as security guards
infiltrated Kibbutz Kfar Etzion in
Judea. They entered Rabbi Adin
Steinsaltz's Mekor Chaim yeshivah
and confronted seven counselors
meeting in the library.
When the terrorists ordered the
counselors to stand against the wall,
one of the counselors realized what
was happening and drew his pistol.
A fight ensued with both terrorists
ending up shot to death. Two coun-
selors were treated at Hadassah
Hospital for stab wounds.
Students taking part in all-night
Torah study in the adjacent Beit
Medresh barricaded the doors.
The counselors who intervened
had been trained by Mishmeret
Yes ha.
"The last three years of training
and equipment proved themselves
during the infiltration into the yeshi-
vah's library, with our counselors
drawing their weapons and eliminat-
ing the terrorists instinctively in a
matter of seconds!" the rosh hayes-
hivah, Rabbi Dov Zinger, wrote in a
letter to Mishermet Yesha.
By The Numbers
Mishmeret Yesha has:
• Designed, fabricated and distribut-
ed 2,000 armored protective and
combat vests.
• Purchased and distributed 500
protective vests and helmets for
men, women and children.
• Distributed 300 lightweight corn-
bat vests and assorted tactical
gear to IDF units.
• Trained hundreds of women in use
of firearms and self-defense skills.
• Planted tens of thousands of olive
trees and grape vines.
• Reclaimed thousands of acres of
land.
• Initiated hundreds of agricultural
and vocational work projects.
• Defended hundreds of cases via
legal program.
• In the wake of terrorist attacks, set
up mini trauma rooms in outlying
communities where medical evacu-
ation is hard.
• Issued medical and security loans;
loaned physical assist equipment
to wounded, disabled and sick
people.