At least 20 dunums of land were bulldozed & 2 old caves demolished by the Israeli bulldozers in Atur area in the occupied Jerusalem to build Israeli Park. In the photo: Rabbi Arik Ascherman.
Parashat “Jethro”: The Weekly Report of Rabbis for Human Rights
This week we are happy to announce two victories: We succeeded in stopping the demolition of the Eco-school of Khan El Achmar and preventing the eviction of the Jahalin Bedouin to the Abu Dis dump. In addition, the Administrative court in Jerusalem ordered to cancel Israel Land Administration’s tender for marketing the land of the deserted Palestinian village of Lifta.
On Wednesday we will go to plant trees in El Jenia, a village near Ramallah, that has been repeatedly attacked by Price Tag graffiti and other violence from the settlers in the area. Shabbat Shalom
Parashat Jethro is the fifth parasha in Exodus. This is a parasha that is full of substance, full of food for thought. Nico Socolovsky shows how Jethro’s suggestions caused the renewal of the nation. He claims that meeting with people different than us built and strengthened our identity. Rabbi Arik Ascherman escorts a new generation of activists joining the struggle against home demolitions and for public housing. The fall of barriers between Jews and Arabs feels to him like a Divine experience.
We participated in a protest against damaging agriculture land and infrastructure near Isawia, a neighborhood in East Jerusalem, in order to prepare “a national park” on Mount Scopus. The activists succeeded to prevent demolitions in El Arakib.
There is no value to faith if it is not expressed by deeds, human compassion and love of the other. Rabbi Kobbi weiss “Haoketz” web site (in Hebrew only) on a new kind of Tu Bishvat Seder, and calls to join, the planting in El Jenia on Wednesday, February 8.
See a short video of the aftermath of the attack in Al-Jenia:
Last week Rabbi Kobbi Weiss wrote about his impressions from the public housing training course for volunteers who volunteered to be “public housing trustees” in Beit Shean. Now he writes about two successes that prove that Amidar and the other public housing companies can act different, especially in difficult times. (in Hebrew only). We issued a press release (in Hebrew only) on a Palestinian woman who was difficult injured from stone throwing (probably of settlers) near the settlement Yizhar.
Different publications and discussions the the Knesset committees reveal that more is secretly planed “for” the unemployed in the “pockets of unemployment”. Rabbi Idit lev shows, in a post that was published in “Black Labor” (in Hebrew only) that there is a need for revealing the true facts. On the memorial ceremony for Yohans Barko who froze to death in Levinsky Park in Tel Aviv, Rabbi Arik Ascherman was interviewed by the Jerusalem Post.
Other organizations (we are not responsible for the contents):
- 972Magazine : WATCH: Three ‘Price Tag’ attacks in as many days
- Haaretz: Public housing company Halamish may sell off assets to pay NIS 100 million debt to treasury
- Watch: The Israel National Park Authority is doing so called “cleaning work” on the private land of A-Tur residents of East-Jerusalem. Guarded by border control and police they are actively destructing one of the entrances to the village, and actively setting facts on the ground in preparation for the national park the municipality wants to build on these lands, although the national park has not been approved yet.
Shabbat Shalom
Join our Human Rights Tour For Jewish Leadership October 2nd- 9th
If you are organizing a group tour to Israel/Palestine or traveling on your own, Rabbis for Human Rights would be happy to meet with you!
