In the heart of the Land of Israel, an exclusive new housing project is underway. To qualify for this prime location you must have Jewish blood on your hands: Eligibility is for those who have served a minimum 5-year prison sentence in an Israeli security prison.
Recently, work began on a new neighborhood of 100 luxury villas in Area B – the portion of Judea and Samaria under Palestinian Authority civil jurisdiction and Israeli security jurisdiction.
The project developer, the Ramallah-based “Al Karameh Corporation for Prisoner Housing,” is an association whose members have served sentences of at least five years in Israeli prisons for terror-related convictions. The governing board of the corporation boasts family members of notorious terrorists, including Ablah Saadat, wife of Ahmad Saadat, Secretary General of the People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Naim Al-Sharif, father of Imad Al-Sharif, a convicted Hamas terrorist.
The new neighborhood has a commanding position overlooking Route 60 at the British Police Junction. This is the spot from which countless terrorist incidents have been launched, including in 2002 when an Palestinian-Arab sniper murdered 7 IDF soldiers, 3 civilians and injured 6 others.
Construction underway in the new neighborhood
This proves unequivocally that those calling upon Israel and the world to prop up and even strengthen the Palestinian Authority are completely out of touch with reality. It is high time that we understand precisely who and what we are dealing with: The Palestinians – both the leadership and the rank and file civilian population – idolize terrorists and consider them freedom fighters and martyrs, while the Israeli government agonizes over the morality of deporting the families of terrorists or of instituting the death penalty.
While all this hand-wringing and moralizing is going on, terrorism continues to claim the lives of Israelis throughout the Land of Israel, and the bloody tally of Jewish victims continues to swell.
An aerial view of an illegal house – built for terrorists
On Thursday afternoon (29 September), shots were fired at Regavim’s Field Coordinator for Judea and Samaria.
On a routine field patrol near Kiryat Arba, Regavim’s Field Coordinator for Judea and Samaria and the Municipality’s Land Protection Officer were targeted by gunfire. The incident ended without casualties. Regavim’s Field Coordinator, Menash Shmueli, alerted security forces who are combing the area in search of the terrorists.
The field team was documenting a new phenomenon in Area C: the creation of cemeteries in open areas, as another element in the massive takeover of land by the Palestinians to create Arab territorial contiguity while isolating and suffocating Jewish communities and disrupting their access to major traffic arteries.
Today we got a close-up view of how the battle for Area C, which we have been sounding the alarm about for years, morphs from illegal construction and seemingly-innocent agricultural expansion into life-threatening live fire – all in the blink of an eye.
In the video that was being filmed on location, the sounds of gunfire can be heard clearly in the final seconds.
Regavim: The radicalization of the Bedouin community in the Negev is unaddressed – and has resulted in bloodshed
Following the murderous attack in Beer Sheva this afternoon in which four people lost their lives, Regavim released an anguished statement: “Once again, the loss of governance in the Negev has taken an intolerable toll in human life. For years, Regavim has been sounding the alarm and calling out the loss of governance in the Negev. We have warned, again and again, that the void of governance in the Negev is an open invitation to extremism and radicalization of the Bedouin sector that will result in bloodshed. Today, our worst fears were realized, and blood has been spilled on the streets of Beer Sheva.”
Regavim added that “the government of Israel is afraid to raise the entire issue of law enforcement in the Negev, while it approves billions for the Bedouin sector’s five-year development plan. And who pays the price for this breakdown of common sense and loss of governance? The residents of the Negev, who are faced with a nightmare reality that continues to devolve with each passing day. The problem is not insufficient funding. The problem is the lack of law enforcement. There is a state within our state in the Negev; it is called Bedouistan. The time has come for the State of Israel to take back the Negev.”
Last weekend, Minister of Defense Benny Gantz announced that six Palestinian NGOs have ties with the PFLP. In response, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) designated Regavim and NGO Monitor as terrorist organizations.
The PLO called on international bodies to break off all relations with us and NGO Monitor, claiming that our activities are carried out in conjunction with the Shin Bet and in line with the instructions of the “occupation government”.
The Palestinians probably don’t understand the difference between civic engagement and terrorist activities.Terrorist activities include the murder of innocent civilians, paying salaries to terrorists who have murdered men, women, and children simply for being Jewish.
Civic engagement, meanwhile, is what we’ve been doing for the past 16 years. Regavim has dedicated itself to the protection of Israel’s most basic and most scarce resources – first and foremost, the land itself. We monitor, document, research, and report on illegal use of these resources, and work to promote policy and legislation that expresses the Zionist vision for a safe and prosperous Jewish homeland.
In this context, we have exposed the terrorist affiliations of numerous foreign-funded Palestinian ‘civil society’ organizations that have co-opted the language of humanitarian rights to disguise their goal of eradicating the Jewish State and its citizens.
Honestly, we’re proud to be labelled a terrorist entity by the Palestinian Authority. It means we’re doing something right.
We’ll continue our fight to protect Israel’s resources, preserve Israeli sovereignty, fight the illegal takeover of Area C, and expose the murderous activities of supposedly ‘humanitarian’ organizations.
Security Coordinator whose weapon was impounded last year when spiteful, baseless charges were filed against him by criminals, was wounded last night as he fended off a terrorist with his bare hands while protecting his community.
Last night (Sunday 30 May) a terrorist who infiltrated from the Gaza Strip stabbed the Security Coordinator of one of the Shalom Region communities. The Security Coordinator, who had been awarded certificates of excellence for his outstanding service, was unarmed: Last year, criminals whom he had apprehended and turned over to the police took revenge against him by filing trumped up charges with the Internal Affairs Department. Only last week, the Security Coordinator appealed, with the assistance of Regavim, for the return of his firearm, but his appeal was rejected.
The Security Coordinator of Avshalom, a Jewish community in the “Gaza Envelope” region, prevented what might have been a major terrorist attack, fending off an infiltrator who crossed the security barrier from Gaza armed with knives under cover of darkness last night (Sunday). The Security Coordinator sustained stab wounds to the arms and stomach, and was evacuated to the hospital for medical care. A second security team member, who arrived at the scene while the struggle was in progress, shot the intruder and neutralized him.
The absurdity of the situation can’t be missed: The first responder at the scene, who sprang into action in response to the alert sounded by residents of the community, has been forced to fulfill his security duties for the past year barehanded, as a result of a spiteful, unfounded complaint filed against him by Bedouin criminals from the squatters’ camp at Bir Hadaj whom he apprehended last year. Only last week, the appeal submitted to the Internal Affairs Department of the Ministry of Homeland Security by this decorated and highly regarded Security Coordinator and the Security Coordinator of another nearby Jewish community, with the assistance of the Regavim Movement, was rejected on the grounds that there was “cause for concern for the public’s safety.”
The two Security Coordinators are Israel Police volunteers, and in the course of their duties last year they detained several suspects. The police officer who joined them issued the suspects citations for serious safety infractions and for violations of corona regulations then in force.
An IDF certificate awarded to the security coordinator
As the situation unfolded, the suspects threatened the volunteer policemen, warning them that they would take revenge. Soon after, they submitted a complaint to the Internal Affairs Investigation Unit, claiming that the volunteers had drawn their weapons on them. As a result, the two Security Coordinators’ personal firearms were impounded, forcing them to submit an appeal with the assistance of the Regavim Movement’s Legal Department.
Absurd as it may sound, their appeal was rejected on the grounds that these highly regarded security specialists pose a potential “danger public safety,” despite the fact that both men continue to take part in active police activity and carry firearms while on duty as volunteer policemen and during their IDF reserve duty, to which both men were conscripted in recent weeks.
“Tonight, it became clear beyond a shadow of doubt that this brave and professional Security Coordinator is no threat to public safety – he is the protector of public safety. If the terrorist had come upon women and children rather encountering this trained and fearless man, tonight would have ended in tragedy,” said Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim. “I hope the Ministry of Public Security will come to its senses immediately and return the Security Coordinators’ weapons without delay.”
UPDATE (2 June): In face of this injustice, Regavim felt the need to intervene and help these two brave men. We raised the issue in the media and on our social media platforms, and made sure the entire country heard about the joint fight of Andrei, his friend Bert, and Regavim.
Yesterday, thanks to Regavim’s legal pressure, and thanks to the help of Minister of Public Security Amir Ohana, the two Security Coordinators received their weapons back. In the afternoon, Regavim’s Director General and Spokesman traveled down south to meet Andrei and Bert and award them certificates to thank them for their service.
We are pleased and honored to have been able to help these two men, to correct a wrong, and to improve their personal safety, as well the security and safety of Israel’s southern residents.
Regavim meets the two security officers whose weapons were confiscated and later returned
Mr Stano reiterated the EU’s official position that supports a two-state ‘solution’ through bilateral negotiations. He also claimed that the European Union is not engaged in illegal activity in Judea & Samaria.
Fact check: Wrong!
Over the years, Regavim has documented EU complicity in mass, illegal construction throughout Judea & Samaria. According to the Oslo Accords, to which the EU is signatory, around 60% of the territory (known as Area C) is under full Israeli jurisdiction. Despite this, thousands of structures that proudly bear the EU symbol are scattered strategically throughout Area C, without receiving the necessary permits. The goal is to create facts on the ground that serve as a backbone for a future Palestinian state, rendering Palestinian negotiations with Israel superfluous. We’ve covered this issue at length in our reports: War of Attrition (2019), Roots of Evil (2018), and EU Construction in Area C (2014).
The EU also rejects the notion that it is funding terrorist activity. Sadly, however, this is not true. Only a couple of days ago, the Shin Bet announced that European “humanitarian” funding has been diverted to terrorism!
Instead of fighting extremism, and despite proclamations to the contrary, EU states contribute significant funds to the Palestinian Authority and its various branches/organizations that incite, reward, and celebrate terrorism.
Even if unintentional, or disguised in European politeness and doublespeak, the EU is violating Jewish national and individual rights in the Land of Israel. This is unacceptable and must be stopped. To the European Union we say – politely, of course: mind your own business!
Shin Bet, together with the IDF and Israel Police, has exposed what Regavim has been shouting for ages. Under the guise of “humanitarian aid”, millions of euros that are donated to the People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) actually fund terrorist activities.
For years, we’ve been sounding the alarm bells about the direct link between European funds and terrorist organizations. Take, for example, the Union of Agricultural Works Committee (UAWC), the ‘agricultural arm’ of the PFLP – a terror organization dedicated to Israel’s destruction. Last year, it was reported that the Dutch government paid the salaries of two senior UAWC members, Samer Arbid & Abdel Raziq Faraj, who murdered 17-year-old Jewish girl Rina Shnerb.
REVEALED: Millions of €s in European government funds, meant for humanitarian purposes, supported terrorism by the PFLP, a Palestinian terror organization responsible for the murder of dozens. European taxpayers' money must not end up supporting terrorism. pic.twitter.com/ynz4eTEj8K
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) May 6, 2021
In our 2018 report ‘Roots of Evil’, we also exposed the UAWC’s illegal projects in Area C, intended to create facts on the ground and establish a de-facto Palestinian state.
The Europeans and their various aid groups like to meddle in Israel’s internal affairs. We think that this needs to stop. European colonialism, while cleverly and slyly masked as “humanitarian aid”, violates Jewish national and individual rights in the Land of Israel. All this reminds us of an age-old term that begins with an A…
