A note to our friends: Amona

Ups and downs in Israel today: Proud to be a sovereign state, devastated to be so overly-cautious with an intricate, delicate law. Today we are removing 300 of our own Jewish Israeli brothers from their well-established homes of twenty years, in the hills of our homeland.

Amona, the focus of today’s news cycle out of Israel, is a story of ideology and simplicity. On a barren hilltop twenty minutes northeast of Jerusalem, its residents established their homes and created a blooming reality on a rocky hillside. Joshua 18 tells us of the cities inherited by the tribe of Benjamin, including Ofrah and its neighbor, Amona – both Jewish towns renewed in our times, with the modern return to Zion.

Those who would want us out of our homeland have worked tirelessly for decades now to kick Jews off the land, most of it government-owned by due process, ‘inherited’ from the government of Jordan after the latter lost their war of aggression against the Jewish state back in 1967.

See Caroline Glick’s article for a good review of the law and what to expect in headlines to come. It’s detailed but is well-worth the read. Share with your friends and constituents the details that prove Israel’s personal choice to hold itself to such a high moral standing that it goes beyond the law with painful and sometimes excessive moves.

What gets me is the view from afar – see how these barren, rocky hills are simply empty. Note the buses snaking up the hill today and the burning tires on the horizon, marking the homes of 300 Jewish residents about to be removed from their homes at the whim of a few private palestinian Arabs – who are still trying to prove in court that they own miniscule parcels of the land. So tell me again, how is it that the Amona community is an obstacle to peace in the region?

It’s freezing here in Israel and the cold temperatures brought with it snow – just for a few hours, dropping a peaceful blanket of white over our Judean Hills homes this past Shabbat. Perhaps we will receive more blessings from above as we face a new week – well deserved after these tough hours.