"Peace Now" Jews Demonstrate for an Arab Yehuda and Shomron !
Leftist lawbreakers deface commercial billboards diplaying ads from Judea and Samaria branding campaign
[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Don't expect the media to treat this Leftist
lawlessness the same way it would if a "Retreat Now" billboard campaign was
defaced. No one is benig asked to denounce the lawless activity.]
Activists hit territories' PR campaign
Tovah Lazaroff , THE JERUSALEM POST Oct. 6, 2008
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017479482&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
A new public relations campaign that invites the public to explore Judea and
Samaria got off to a rocky start this week when vandals scrawled left-wing
graffiti across large billboards it had placed in communities such as
Sderot, Ramat Hasharon and Bnei Brak.
In one instance, the words "Murderers" and "Avengers of Sternhell" were
scrawled next to a smiling face of a biblical looking child holding a sheep
and in another vandals had written "End the Occupation."
The campaign's director, Yakir Segev, called on the public to refrain from
resorting to vandalism and to maintain a level of civil discourse even if
they disagreed with the campaign.
"Apparently the campaign has upset the extremists," said Segev. He added
that he intended to file a police complaint.
As a secular Israeli who lives in Jerusalem and who has no intention of
moving to Judea and Samaria, Segev, 31, is not a typical representative of
the settler movement. And that, he told The Jerusalem Post on Monday, is
exactly why he is the right person to head the public relations initiative
by the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.
Launched last week under the slogan "Yehuda and Shomron: Every Jew's Story,"
the initiative, which is under the direction of a newly created office
called "The Public Relations Administration," intends to veer away from
political attacks or security arguments, explained Segev.
It has one simple goal: to remind all Israelis about the importance of the
West Bank to Jews from a historical and cultural perspective. Already its
Web site has a list of tours it is hosting during Succot to help the Israeli
public learn about important Jewish heritage sites in the West Bank such as
Hebron, Herodian and Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant was housed until
it was taken by the Philistines.
Important Jewish history happened there, said Segev, but the modern
political debate has obscured that essential reason why Judea and Samaria
are important to Israel, he said.
"It is our land and that has its own value," said Segev.
As the former head of the Hebrew University's student union and a veteran of
the Second Lebanon War who helped lead the reservists' protests immediately
afterwards, he is not new to activism. But this is one of his first stands
in support of his right-wing ideology.
The hope, Segev said, was that if people were more familiar with Judea and
Samaria, then they would understand what was in danger of being lost when
the government speaks of giving up 100 meters here or there over the
pre-1967 border, said Segev.
Israeli society has moved to the Left precisely because it did not
understand this, said Segev.
In the past the Right had assumed that this argument would not secure the
support of mainstream Israeli society and it had therefore focused on
security as the essential reason why Israel should hold on to Judea and
Samaria.
"That was a mistake," said Segev. In launching this initiative, Segev said,
the aim is not to call on people to attend protest rallies or even to move
to Judea and Samaria.
"We are inviting the mainstream Israeli public to come and learn more about
this critical area," said Segev.
It has a history that has touched every Jew, he added. Most Jews around the
world light Hanukka candles without ever connecting it to a series of events
that took place in Judea, said Segev.
Even if one did not believe in a literal translation of the Bible, one had
to acknowledge that it was an important part of Jewish heritage and
tradition and as a result the region it described had value to the Jewish
people today, said Segev.
But Hagit Ofran of Peace Now said she did not believe the initiative would
be able to sway the public. The campaign was misguided and missed the point,
she said. No one is arguing about whether or not Jewish history happened
there, she said. While that was obvious, it did not mean it was wise to hold
onto it now or that retaining it was worth the price of occupation, said
Ofran.
[Comment: Occupation by Arabs?]
"They are investing much money in bringing people, but I'm not sure it's
going to change minds. People might come and see what we see, which is
occupation," she said.
But not everyone had a problem with the initiative. Among the many groups
which have agreed to host joint activities is the Society for the
Preservation of Nature in Israel. SPNI has several field schools in Judea
and Samaria, with whose help many area tours have been organized for the
initiative.
An SPNI spokesman said it did not see any difference between its loose
involvement in this campaign and its past activity in the West Bank where it
has historically led treks and taught about nature and Jewish history.
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=40966
59 minutes ago
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