This Land is Our Land

I can remember back some 21 years ago, when I first came to Israel. At that

time I didn't know anything about anything: Israel was still, more or less, a

foreign country. At that time I had no intentions of making Aliyah; my mind

was set on studying law in the US. But I can distinctly remember during the

many conversations about the pros and cons of living in Israel, that the major

arguement against was: "I don't like the Israeli way of life, Israeli

politics, etc." My response was, at that time, in spite of my inclinations to

stay in the US, "If you don't like it, come here and change it."

Most people, of course, didn't buy it. Most of them went back to the

US and stayed there. But there are a few, perhaps only a handful, of people,

both Israeli ‘sabras' as well as those born abroad, who realize the secret of

living in Israel: The secret of DOING. People who realize and understand that

things can be changed, if you try hard enough.

Some of those people belong to an organization unheard of three years

ago. It was unheard of for the simple reason that it didn't yet exist.

However, with the rise to power of the Rabin-Peres-Arafat regime, the leaders

of ‘Zu Artzenu' - ‘This is Our Land', began to take action. They began to do.

The first major project undertaken by ‘Zu Artzenu' took place over a

year ago. Called ‘Mivtza Machpeel' or ‘Operation: Double', this nation-wide

operation had existing settlements "double" themselves, by occupying land

areas adjacent to the already populated settlements. This protest was

intended to stress a fact welknown by us, but ignored by many others: Eretz

Yisrael belongs to Am Yisrael - all of it! What is classified as "government

property" ie, Jewish land that has not yet been settled, (and which the

present Israeli regime plans on giving to the Arabs), is just as much a part

of Israel as are all settled areas.

Mivzta Machpeel made a lot of headlines, and made a point. Lately,

the organizers of Zu Artzenu have returned to the forefront. About a month

ago they organized a national protest by tying up traffic all over the

country. This scared the daylights out of Rabin and Co. The idea that a

small group of people could initiate a program that would effedctively close

up the county, even if only for a short period of time, was totally

unacceptable. So it was decided to treat Zu Artzenu activists as ‘rebels'.

The idea behind the Zu Artzenu programs is based on massive civil

disobedience. They do not operate in the underground. All meeting are held

in public buildings and are open to everyone. So there are no surprises.

Except perhaps, the mass support and participation that the people of Israel

have shown towards the organization.

This morning the Israeli police broke into the houses of Zu Artzenu

activists throughout the country. At 5:00AM a number of people found their

houses being bombarded by police, complete with Court Orders allowing them to

make full searches of their homes. Two of my friends, Rabbi Shalom Sar-el and

Kiryat Arba Councilman and school principal, Yehoshua Shani were abruptly

awoken by police who had come to search their homes. Not only were papers

taken, but computers were "searched" too. Five people were remanded for

further questioning and later arrested, because of the data banks that were

found on their computers. Among those arrested were the leader of Zu Artzenu

Moshe Feiglan and Kiryat Arba's Yehoshua Shani. They could have been released

had they signed statements agreeing to appear for further questioning, should

it be required. However, on principal they refused to cooperate. Therefore,

they were arrested and are being held in jail until a court hearing is

conducteded.

Why did the police (government) decide to hit Zu Artzenu this morning?

Ver simply because they are scared. Tonight, at exactly 7:10, all Israeli's

who are against the ‘piece plan' and are in favor of Eretz Yisrael, are

requested to turn on all the electrical appliances in their homes and leave

then on for ten minutes. At exactly 7:20, they are requested to turn off all

the electricity in their homes via their master circuit breaker switch. ("The

government policies are leaving us in the dark.") The electricity is to be

left off for ten minutes. At exactly 7:30, all the electricity is to be

switched on for an additional ten minutes. Then we will hear from the

electric company how many people participated in the evening's event.

Needless to say, we expect massive support from all over the country.

As I began this article, I finish it. Small groups of people CAN do

something. They can organize national events, and make the government

flip-flop, not knowing what to expect next. These people are doing their

utmost to help save Eretz Yisrael and Am Yisrael and for that they deserve a

lot of credit

Because THIS IS OUR LAND!