Tag: Shomron

David Ha'ivri lives with his wife and children in the world's most hotly contested territory and works daily to defend it. As director of Israel's Shomron Liaison Office, Ha'ivri operates within the Shomron Regional Council, promoting public relations for the Shomron and serving as the English-speaking point man for the international media stationed in Israel.

In last week's column I related the story of a legendary city in which the harvest was poisoned and rendered people mad. The citizens were confronted by a hard choice -eat and become mad or die of starvation. After much deliberation, the king decided, "In order to live, we must eat, but we dare not forget that we have gone mad, so everyone must place a sign on his forehead reading, 'Don't forget, we are mad.' Thus, we will be able to gauge our actions and one day return to normalcy."

The aristocratic atmosphere in the elegant hotel that hosted Israel's wine competition did not disclose the scene that was about to take place: A small boutique winery from the Shomron, Hararei Kedem, won two gold medals and one silver medal. Hundreds of professional and amateur sommeliers watched in astonishment as the man with the beard and long sidelocks (who did not look particularly relevant to the glamorous event) hesitantly ascended to the podium to accept his medals.

Americans for a Safe Israel/AFSI and Manhigut Yehudit recently conducted its latest Chizuk Mission to Israel. These missions are designed to cover as much of the contested land of Israel as possible in a jam-packed week of visits to all parts of the country. We visited the Binyamin area, the Shomron, the northern Shomron, the Galilee, the Negev, Hebron - and of course, Yerushalayim.

A recent study by the nationalist organization Mattot Arim ranked Dr. Michael Ben Ari of National Union number two in terms of Knesset members "most loyal to the right-wing's agenda in the Knesset term that just ended." (The Likud's Danny Danon finished first.)

We refer our readers to the Jerusalem Post editorial appearing below on the topic of Secretary of State Colin Powell's speech on the Middle East. But we also offer the following:

There is certainly ample basis for both the positive and negative comments on Secretary Powell's speech. On the negative side of the ledger were his support for a Palestinian state, the dispatch of "special envoys" reminiscent of the Clinton "pressure" years, the use of the term "occupation" when referring to Israel's control over Yehuda and Shomron, and his condemnation of the "settlements."