In the spirit of their party slogan, “No privileges without duties,” on Tuesday morning the party Otzma L’Israel – Power for Israel – began their tour aka march of the village of Musmus, in the largely Arab Wadi Ara section of “green line” Israel. The marchers are demanding the enforcement of the law in all villages of Galilee and the Arab Triangle, Srugim reports.

The tour was accompanied by a heavy police entourage, which permitted only one bus full of activists to enter the village. The remaining activists have camped at the Megiddo junction and are being transported by police minibuses to the village.

Both party leaders, MKs Mordechai Ben Ari and Aryeh Eldad are leading the tour, walking the village streets with maps and the “No privileges without duties” banners.

MK Ben Ari told the accompanying press: “This has been our message throughout the campaign. It cannot be that entire cities and many villages, especially in the Negev and Galilee, life would go on as if they’re in a separate country. Anyone who wants privileges must pay municipal taxes, must obey the laws governing construction, and must be loyal to the State of Israel. Just as we have the Talya Sasson Outposts Law controlling settlements in Judea and Samaria, so we must have reporting of illegal construction in the Negev and Galilee.”

The Musmus village council announced that the police alone would bear responsibility for the consequences of the visit, no matter what those might be.

“Musmus will not behave in any lesser way than other Arab villages which kicked out the right-wing Zionist human garbage from their lands. There’s no Ahlan and no Sahlan (hello and welcome) for you, foreign, rootless orphans,” the announcement declared.

Mention the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and the image of a blue tzedakah box likely comes to mind. Starting in 1904, Jews throughout the world dropped coins into these blue boxes, helping the JNF buy and develop land in Palestine on behalf of the Jewish people.

Although the state of Israel was founded in 1948, the JNF continues to function, helping develop the country in a variety of ways. It has planted 250 million trees in its 108-year existence and still owns 13 percent of the land.

The Jewish Press recently spoke with JNF CEO Russell Robinson.

The Jewish Press: The JNF’s original purpose was to buy land in Palestine. What is its purpose today, considering that the Jewish people now possess most of Palestine?

Robinson: Well, the purpose wasn’t to buy land just for the purpose of buying land. The purpose was to develop the state of Israel for the Jewish people everywhere.

After 2,000 years, we still didn’t have our homeland. So when Theodor Herzl decided to form the Jewish National Fund, it was to make a statement: Let’s repurchase the land of Israel for the Jewish people and have a place for Jews to come home. And if we would’ve done it with a little bit more unity and a little bit faster, maybe we would’ve had a state in 1939 which Jews could have fled to.

It never was just about land. It was all about bringing people home and having a place to call home. It was about establishing the Technion, it was about establishing Tel Aviv University. All of that was part of developing the land for the Jewish people.

And today?

Today that continues because the 13 percent of the land which is owned by the Jewish National Fund is held in perpetuity for the Jewish people everywhere. So whether you’re in Israel or here, you’re still a landlord, you’re still part of that development of the land. So that connection continues.

It’s also still about creating. The Negev comprises 60 percent of Israel, yet only holds nine percent of the population today. The Galil comprises 17 percent of the land but only holds 13 percent of the population. So if you want to be a 21st century pioneer, the opportunity to create the land of Israel for the Jewish people is still in front of us.

The JNF, in other words, tries to settle Jews in the Negev and Galil?

Absolutely. That’s been our biggest thrust in the past 10 years. We have an objective: 500,000 more people in the Negev and 300,000 more in the Galil. A town like Yerucham in the Negev was established in the 1950s by immigrants that came from Arab countries. We put them in Yerucham, not because it was a great place to live, but because we needed them strategically to live there. We put them in tents and tin shacks and told them, “We’ll come back.”

Well, in 60 years, we never did, and Yerucham is still a town of less than 10,000 people. So the opportunity to bring prosperous opportunities for all the people of Israel throughout all the land of Israel is still in front of us.

How many Jews currently live in the Negev and Galil?

In the Negev, you have 215,000 Jews in Be’er Sheva, another 110,000 Jews outside of Be’er Sheva, and about 200,000 Bedouins.

And you want to bring a half million more people to the Negev?

Absolutely. When we started working in Be’er Sheva 10 years ago, it had 193,000 people and losing three percent of its population every year. Today, it has 215,000 people and is one of the fastest growing communities in Israel. Be’er Sheva should have 450,000 people.

Why is a population increase in the Negev necessary?

A place like Yerucham was established in 1950 with 10,000 people. Today, it’s a community of 9,500 that still has high unemployment. Yerucham needs to have 30,000 to 50,000 people. You can’t make it with 10,000 people.

Why not?

Because the tax base has to go up. You have to fix roads, you have to have education, you have to have schools. And if your population is small, you’ll never have enough. You’ll always be on the brink of not having. You’ll have to add 10 kids to this class and move three kids from that class. In the meantime, you don’t really have a teacher for this, so you have to drive in a teacher….

A serious attempt by Gaza terrorists to breach the Israeli border, and the launch of dozens of rockets and mortar shells on the Eshkol Regional Council in southern Israel on Sunday evening, has led to exchanges of fire on the Israeli border, the slaughter of 15 Egyptian soldiers by Gaza terrorists, and warnings to residents of Kibbutz Kerem Shalom to remain in shelters and lock their doors for safety reasons.  Despite fear and concerns for security, a long-time activist for the western Negev region said the attacks come as “no surprise” to residents of the region.

On Sunday night, terrorists broke into an Egyptian military base and stole two armored troop carriers, using them to smash through Israel’s border with Gaza at approximately 8pm.

One jeep exploded as it rammed through the Kerem Shalom Crossing into Israel, but the other made it through, with armed terrorists jumping out and firing at IDF troops.  IDF Spokesman Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai told reporters that the IDF is combing the area to be sure no additional terrorists infiltrated the country, and ruled out any kidnappings of soldiers.  According to a report in Al Arabiya, 15 Egyptian soldiers were killed during the theft, with several more wounded.

Egypt responded by launching F-16 attacks on targets in Rafiach (quite possibly in breach of the Camp David Accords), with President-elect Morsi calling for an emergency government meeting with the army.

Egypt has also closed the Rafiach crossing indefinitely.

The Israel Air Force had conducted a surgical strike against a member of the Popular Resistance Committtees terror organization who was traveling on a motorcycle in the city of Rafiah.  The terrorist, 19 year-old Eyad Nadi Okel, was eliminated, and another terrorist, 22 year-old Ahmed Sayid Ismayil, was wounded.

The IDF released a statement saying the operation was conducted in cooperation between the army and the Shin Bet intelligence services.  Ismayil was accused of involvement in a June attack on the border which killed an Israeli citizen, and the pair was suspected to be planning another attack on Eilat.

While news of the rocket fire on the western Negev made the headlines on every Israeli news website, Director of the Sderot Media Center Noam Bedein said the attacks “were very much expected today” and came as “no surprise” to the residents of the Eshkol region.

IDF soldiers set up road blocks based on intelligence received about the terrorists’ plan to enter Israel in armored vehicles.

“There was a terrorist targeted today, and this is always the response in the past couple years,” Bedein said.  “We had this a month ago – a target in Gaza, followed by 120 rockets and missiles from Hamas.” Bedein added that in that attack Hamas’s website stated that all the targets were military installations, when the terror organization was really aiming at civilian areas in the western Negev.

According to Bedein, 50% of the rockets which have been fired on Israel since Operation Cast Lead in late December 2008 and mid-January 2009 have been fired at the Eshkol Regional Council, the area situated closest to the border with Gaza and containing the city of Sderot, a town which suffered greatly and publicly prior to Cast Lead.  The second highest percentages have been lobbed at Ashkelon, one of Israel’s largest metropolises, housing over 113,000 Israeli residents as of 2009.  Bedein numbered the rockets since the Cast Lead ceasefire on January 18, 2009 at 1604 – not including the rockets launched on Sunday.

And while some would tout the Iron Dome missile defense system as the answer to the worries of residents of Sderot, the measure is totally useless to defend the city.  “The Iron Dome protects from a distance of at least 4.5 kilometers from the target. Anything within 4.5 kilometers of the Gaza border is therefore not protected – like Sderot and the western Negev,” Bedein said.  “Around 45,000 Israelis cannot be protected by Iron Dome.”

So Sderot has become what Bedein calls the “bomb shelter capital of the world.” He says 6,000 units of bomb shelters have been attached to old apartment buildings, at a cost of NIS 500,000 million – just in Sderot.  The tally for the entire western Negev, including new schools enforced against rockets is approximately 500 million dollars.

“Once the alarm goes off, you have just 15 seconds to run for your life,” said Bedein, who lived for 5 years in Sderot as part of his mission to raise awareness for the once beleaguered city.

Though the area has enjoyed a period of respite since Operation Cast Lead, which aimed to halt a nearly ceaseless barrage of Kassam rockets on the town, research done by the social work department at the Sapir Academic college suggests approximately 15,000 people from the Sderot area suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), with an estimated 1000 receiving mental health treatment.  “Today we actually went to the director of the mental health center in Sderot and she said it is the first time in a decade that they have cases of people being treated for schizophrenia.  This is the step after PTSD, because they weren’t treated right the first time, so they are getting worse,” Bedein said.  He said that Director Adrianna Katz explained that “It can be quiet for two weeks, and you need just one siren to go off and you go back to the first day you experienced a rocket exploding nearby.  Even though people have their daily routine and summer vacation, we’re talking about years of rehabilitation of people in our region.”

Machtesh Ramon is considered by some to be the most exquisite site on the planet. Located south of Beersheba in the Central Negev, not only is Machtesh Ramon the most spectacular geological sight in Eretz Yisrael, it contains within it some unique geological formations that are not found anywhere else on earth. A machtesh (erosion cirques or box canyon) is a geological window, giving us a look into the Earth’s crust. Unique to the Negev and Sinai deserts, only 7 machteshim have been identified, Machtesh Ramon, Machtesh HaGadol, Machtesh HaKatan and two even smaller ones on Har Harif in the Negev; there are also two in the Sinai.

The term machtesh is a geological term borrowed from the word machtesha “mortar” (as in mortar and pestle). Both the Machtesh Katan (Small) and the Machtesh Gadol (Large) look like mortar bowls in which grains are pounded with a pestle. This “look” holds true for both the Small and the Big Machteshim, but not for Machtesh Ramon which is stretched out and narrows at one end – resembling the shape of an elongated heart.

These enormous, craterlike machteshim are neither meteorite craters nor volcanic calderas, although they are frequently described as craters. Machtesh Ramon is an erosion landform, actually a valley surrounded by steep walls and drained by a single wadi (riverbed). The name Ramon is probably from the Arabic “Ruman” meaning “Romans,” and probably linked to a trail that the Romans built here.

Machtesh Ramon has pretty impressive measurements, making it the largest machtesh in Eretz Yisrael. This makes it the largest on earth as no other part of the globe has this phenomenon. The crater is 45km long, 2-10 km wide (28 miles long and five miles wide) and 500 m deep. Its deepest point is Ein Saharonim (Saharonim Spring) – which also contains the Machtesh Ramon’s only natural water source and sustains much of the wildlife in the machtesh including ibex and onagers.

The onager, or wild ass (the biblical pereh), was an animal that had disappeared from Israel. In 1983, two herds of onagers were successfully re-introduced at two locations: Machtesh Ramon and at another site in the Arava Desert. They are the smallest of wild horses and cannot be domesticated. In Roman times, the meat of an onager was considered a delicacy. Some other animals in the vicinity are leopard, striped hyena, sand fox, Dorcas gazelle and the fat desert rat. A variety of plants grow in the Ramon area, including Atlantic pistachio trees, buckthorn, globe daisy, tulips and other bushes and shrubs.

Machtesh Ramon contains many types of rocks including clay hills – known for their fantastic red and yellow colors – as well as forms and diverse colorful sandstone.

At the borders of the crater impressive mountains rise. Har Ramon (Mt. Ramon), at the southwest corner of the machtesh, is one of the highest peaks in the Negev (3,400 feet – 1,037 m.), Har Ardon (Mt. Ardon) at the north-eastern end, and two table-like mountains – Har Marpek (Mt. Marpek – “Elbow”) and Har Katum (Mt. Katum – “Chopped”) are along the southern wall. Giv’at Ga’ash, a black hill in the north of the machtesh was once an active volcano.

Shen Ramon (Ramon’s Tooth) is made of molten rock which hardened while underground. This black sharp-edged rock later rose up through cracks in the Earth’s surface, and today stands in striking contrast to the nearby creamy colored southern wall of the crater. In the centre of the machtesh is Ha-Minsara (The Carpentry Shop), a low hill made up of black prismatic rocks. It is the only place in the world where prisms made of heated sand turned into liquid – and then when cooled naturally formed rectangular and hexagonal prisms that look like woodchips left behind by an indifferent carpenter. Also, vertical dikes of magnum that squeezed upward through fissures can be seen at various spots through the machtesh.

The ruins of a large prehistoric stone structure known as Khan Saharonim are found in the Machtesh. It lies along the ancient Incense Route, a trade route used by the Nabateans, and is the remains of a caravanserai, a roadside inn where the travelers would rest and recover from the day’s arduous journey. Dozens would gather and camp together and regroup before moving forward in an effort to protect themselves from bandits hiding out in the desert. These ruins acted as a way station for the traders and their animals (khan is the Arabic word for a caravansary) as they proceeded further westwards to the Mediterranean seaport city of Gaza. Not far away to the north are the ruins of the ancient Nabatean city of Avdat.

New immigrants who settled down in the Negev presenting their first yield at an agricultural exhibition, circa 1951.

I think what the man is holding up is a potato, but I’m open to suggestions. Might be a pair.

I absolutely love 1950s neorealistic, high contrast photographs.

neorealistic

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Israelis on Sunday that Israel’s armed forces would protect residents of the south, as a tentative quiet followed a weekend of rockets lobbed on the region from Gaza.

“The IDF will act forcefully against those who are trying to harm us, and if necessary, will act with even more force,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said at Sunday’s cabinet meeting. “Our policy is to use force in order to return security and quiet to the residents of the South.”

The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted five Grad rockets from Gaza on Saturday targeting the 113,000 residents of the city of Ashkelon.  Gazan-based terrorists launched 25 rockets against targets in southern Israel on Saturday, damaging a school and a factory and bringing the total number of rockets fired in the last week to 150.

A fragile Egypt brokered an even more fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas which appears to be in effect since the last Grad missile was launched at 10pm on Saturday.  Schools were open as usual on Sunday morning.

Despite the fear and tension which the rocket fire has caused in southern Israel, several residents and potential victims reported experiencing miracles which kept them and their families safe from harm.

The majority of the rockets in the six day barrage were aimed at the border city of Sderot, with others landing in the Eshkol, Ashkelon Beach and Shaar HaNegev Regional Councils.  A rocket which landed at a Sderot factory moderately-to-severely injured a 50 year old male factory employee who was hit in the neck and by shrapnel and evacuated by a Magen David Adom medical team to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkeon.  The factory sustained heavy damage and two civilians were treated for shock.  A rocket which hit an empty school caused serious damage but no injuries.

Israeli security leadership held emergency meetings with the Prime Minister on Saturday, with security sources stating that “quiet will be met with quiet, but more rocket fire will be met with further fire.”

Several area residents were treated for shock, with IDF Home Front Command urging residents to remain close to bomb shelters.  Sderot mayor David Buskila convened a special meeting with police and Home Front Command officials on Saturday, demanding that the government protect the town, and reporting that the city’s center for victims of stress and anxiety was open for the public.

Israel responded to attacks by launching a targeted strike against Gaza terrorists, with the Israel Air Force killing one terrorist in northern Gaza near Jabaliya as he prepared to launch a missile, and killing another en route on a motorcycle to a rocket launching site outside Gaza City

Israeli Air Force jets bombed three Hamas military bases in Gaza on Saturday morning, injuring 20 according to sources in Gaza.

Israeli airstrikes have killed at least six Gaza terrorists since Monday.

When contemplating the Negev, one must set aside any preconcieved notion of what a desert is. In Eretz Yisrael there are no rolling yellow sand dunes in softly rising and falling landscapes as unbroken as the sea. Far from being a simple expanse of sand, the Negev is marked by a mélange of cliffs, crags, boulders and dry river vadies. Where the Judean Desert ends, the Negev begins, an impressive region of low sandstone hills, rocky peaks (for example the high plateau area of Ramat HaNegev- The Negev Heights – stands between 370 meters and 520 meters), and plains rutted with narrow canyons. The Negev Desert is mesmerizing, beautiful and rich in geological history.

Photos by Rhimonah Traub

The Negev is mentioned a number of times in Parshas Lech Lecha showing us how Avraham Avinu paced the land, making it the property of Am Yisroel forever.

The essence of Avraham was chesed; a need to give permeated his whole being. After the cities of the Plain were overturned, the wayfarers who visited his home in Chevron were few and far between. Since business was slow for hachnassas orchim, he moved to a spot along a trade route in the Negev. The places he chose to live were dry – physically and spiritually. People living there were hesitant to do good deeds or to help others. (Literally, the word “Negev” means dry). He deliberately chose such a place because he wanted to teach the inhabitants to be charitable, and he saw there was a lot of potential in that area.

Negbah is also used for the direction “south.” Avraham Avinu moved south because he was worried that the embarrassing episode of Lot and his two daughters would reflect badly upon himself. Lot was the spitting image of Avraham, and he feared that people might mistake him for his nephew Lot.

When Moshe sent the spies to tour the land, he told them to head from the Negev towards Chevron (Bamidbar 13:17). He intended for them to see the worst part of the land first so they would be able to appreciate the greatness of what they were being given. Yehoshua conquered the whole of the Negev (Yehoshua 11:16). The northern Negev belongs to Yehuda and the south to Shimon. Dovid HaMelech firmly established Israelite rule over the desert. His son Shlomo subsequently built a string of fortresses along its roads.

The rise of the Nabateans began around the fourth century B.C.E. The Negev became the heart of the Nabatean Empire and Spice Route.

After the Roman takeover, Nabatean control gradually weakened. Fewer camel caravans passed through the area and other roads supplanted the Spice Route.

Unlike most areas in the country, the Romans neglected the Negev not doing much to develop it. During the Byzantine Era, Christians began to build churches and study centers in the area. Agricultural-based cities were established and the population grew. After the Muslim conquest in the seventh century settlement of the Negev came to an end. As the new rulers had little interest in the area, the residents were expelled.

For centuries after, only Bedouins lived in the Negev. An Arabic history of tribes around Beersheba, published in 1934, records 23 different tribal groups. In 1918 the English mandate period began and the region enjoyed rapid growth and was called “Beersheba sub-district.” The British built a number of highways; firstly from Beersheba to Um Rash-Rash (Eilat), then from Beersheba to the large Machtesh and also the “Petroleum Road” that goes from Yerucham to Avdat and to Machtesh Ramon.

The British White Paper of 1939 and the 1940 Land Transfer Regulations placed a number of restrictions on Jewish settlement and land purchase in Palestine. The Negev was one of the areas where both were forbidden. With the onset of World War II, the Yishuv looked to expand its areas of settlement in order to house Jewish refugees from Europe. Land was purchased in the Negev by the JNF, though Arabs agents to circumvent the British ban. Three lookouts, Revivim, Gvulot and Beit Eshel were settled in 1943. These later served as a springboard for further Jewish population of the Negev.

A massive merger between to United Jewish Communities federations will create a powerhouse of influence and funding for Jewish programs, projects, and social services in New Jersey.

The United Jewish Communities of MetroWest, based in Whippany, will join forces with the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, in Scotch Plains, combining the efforts of the two groups into the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ serving Essex, Morris, and Union counties, according to a report in the Star-Ledger.

According to the report, the new group will serve the needs of approximately 125,000 people.

The decision came in light of previous collaboration between the two groups, their involvement in sister cities in the Negev, as well as the US economic downturn.