By Joseph Dana
Yesterday morning, Nefesh B’Nefesh had the first in a series of summer 2009 celebrations greeting its charter flights packed with new immigrants from North America. Nefesh B'Nefesh is a non-profit organization that encourages and facilitates Jewish immigration to Israel from North America and the United Kingdom. They expect to bring over 3,000 immigrants to Israel over the course of the summer, in addition to the 20,000 they have brought since 2002. Attending the ceremony were the Israeli Minister of Transportation, Israeli Minister of Immigrant Absorption, the Chairman of the Jewish Agency, the CEO of EL Al Israel Airlines and the two American Jewish founders of Nefesh B’Nefesh.
Nefesh B’Nefesh, along with the Jewish Agency and the Israeli government, is intentionally encouraging new immigrants to move to illegal settlements. Of the 232 immigrants who arrived in Israel yesterday, seven families were going to settle in Ma’aleh Adumim, along with a handful of people moving to Efrat inside the Gush Etzion settlement block. Both of these areas are considered to be illegal Israeli settlements according to international law. President Obama has recently called on Israel to cease all settlement growth and activity. The Israeli government has, in turn, argued that it must be able to continue what it calls "natural growth," or building within existing settlements for the children of residents. But even using their own logic, "natural growth" certainly can’t include new immigrants from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Nefesh B’Nefesh will succeed in bringing family after family to the settlements in effect having an American based nonprofit organization directly contributing to Israeli settlement growth (click here to see upcoming Nefesh B'Nefesh events in the US). Furthermore, important staff members of the Nefesh B’Nefesh organization are settlers by their own admission.
In addition to Israel’s stalling of evacuating outposts it has itself slated for dismantlement, the Obama administration faces another crucial obstacle in its efforts to implement a freeze on Israeli settlement growth: American citizens moving there.
Related posts:
- U.S.’s largest Jewish newspaper promotes aliyah without disclosing settlement angle
- ‘Times’ story on settlements echoes Israeli government propaganda
- Mondo Exclusive: Google map of Israeli settlements from leaked database
- Israeli left begins to fight the settlers – in the US
- Secret database shows Israeli government to be active partner in settlement landgrab
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Let them live in the land, what's the big deal?
al-Shafiq, you have a problem with International Law. So do Osama bin Laden and Ahmadinejad. Your old friends?
al-Shafiq, The Iraqis (Babylonians), Iranians (Persians), Egyptians and Jews have been nations since way back before the Romans. You are happy to ignore history when it doesn't suit you. Very Islamic.. Very telling..
Arabs hate each other to death. That's not my fault.
al-Shafiq, that the cfacts confuse you is not my problem either….
Al-Shafiq, you are a liar. Demonstrably so. Lookup any old map over 100 years old and you will see the East Bank, now called Jordan, marked as Palestine. Caught you!!! Anyone can check this out forr themeslves!!
1) It doesn't have to be near the border, though it is actually a 10 minute drive from the armistice line. I know; I go there arll the time. 2) Baloney. 3) Fact. Arabs in Israel are major car thieves. After Oslo, car theft became THE MAIN Palestinean national economy. Putting up checkpoints (that the Pals ar so unhappy about) has slowed this dramatically. The truth really hurts you guys…
International Law? Funny you mention that seeing as EVERY legal expert on earth (minus Israel) has said that the settlements are illegal under International Law. So have the governments of EVERY state on earth (minus Israel). Funny, isn't it?
Yet ancient Babylon's borders are not the same as modern Iraq's and their peoples are different. What about Saudi? The various Gulf Emirates, Syria, Lebanon? Apart from the few exceptions (which I mentioned), most of the world did not have nations. And especially Jews, seeing as they're genetically different and don't even all come from the same area.
Facts? Yes, Jake, it's a shame you never use them.
No, Jake, that's part of your perverted fantasy – not real.
A map of Palestine in 1944: http://www.oldworldauctions.com/auction087/87-282... A map of Palestine in 1924: http://www.oldworldauctions.com/auction087/87-282... A map by Lawrence of Arabia: http://www.oldworldauctions.com/auction087/87-282... And another: http://www.oldworldauctions.com/auction087/87-282...
1) So it's not in Israel, you were lying 2) And how many Palestinians and Jordanians do you know? Zilch! 3) I really don't need to reply to this one. You've taken the rope and hung yourself with it.
Shafiq, I sympathize. Jake needs his meds and he's losing the 'fact' war. He keeps coming up with irrelevant arguments that do nothing but mislead people into thinking he's actually accomplished something and refuted one of your statements when in reality he's done no such thing. All he's come up with is racist BS.
All should be shot on the spot without further ado.
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