Local Migron protest
A MELBOURNE businessman is protesting against Israel’s decision to dissolve Migron, an outpost in the West Bank.
A MELBOURNE businessman is protesting against Israel’s decision to dissolve Migron, an outpost in the West Bank.
Clothing retailer Moshe Elkman attended Mizrachi’s Yom Ha’atzmaut service, where he presented Meir Itzhaki, the Israeli embassy’s chief of mission, with a copy of a worldwide petition condemning the evacuation.
Israel’s cabinet unanimously decided to order out Migron’s populace by August 1, a deadline given by the country’s High Court last August and reaffirmed in March. The ruling invalidated an agreement between the government and Migron residents to leave only by late 2015 and confirms Migron as an unauthorised outpost.
Authorities are completing temporary alternative accommodation for Migron’s townsfolk but the protesters, who call themselves Friends of Migron International, are incensed, pointing out Migron is only 14 kilometres from Jerusalem.
There are already well over 3500 signatures, including many from Australia, Elkman stated. The petition will be handed to MK Professor Arieh Eldad on July 1 to present to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
Elkman said over the next eight weeks, Friends of Migron, which believes in Jewish-Arab coexistence but not in a Palestinian state, will fax all Knesset members with weekly updates, as signatures are added to the petition.
Asked what prospects he saw for a reversal, the activist said: “I’m being positive. From a Torah perspective, the land of Israel was given by Hashem as a gift to the Jewish people … It’s a domino effect. I see it as the start of 300,000 people being expelled [from the West Bank], not just 300 … We hope Prime Minister Netanyahu will feel the pressure.”
He said footage of soldiers expelling people from three Migron homes before they were demolished last September was “heart-rending”, although he regretted it was posted on YouTube, portraying Israeli soldiers negatively. “Soldiers must follow orders, but the soldiers should be given good orders.”
Zionist Council of Victoria president Sam Tatarka said Elkman was within his rights to protest the expulsion, but he and other Migron supporters need to comply with Israeli law. “It’s a matter that’s already been before the Israeli High Court of Justice and is ultimately a matter for the Israeli judicial and political systems to deal with.”
PETER KOHN
comments