Samaria regional authority is not waiting for the Foreign Ministry to help it. It has been effectively reaching out to officials in the EU.
By Arutz Sheva
Diplomatic visit to Itamar
Samaria Regional Council
The Shomron Regional Council has decided not to wait for others to take the lead on diplomatic efforts, and has established its own Foreign Ministry Department. The Shomron Liaison Office has been effectively reaching out to elected officials in the EU and elsewhere to provide them with a balanced picture of the realities in Judea and Samaria.
Over the past months, Shomron leaders Gershon Mesika and Yossi Dagan have led a number of diplomatic delegations meeting with European officials in Brussels, Berlin, Stockholm, London and Paris. For the first time ever, leaders in those countries have had opportunities to hear directly from the leaders of the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria (aka “the West Bank settlements”) and learn their side of the story that has drawn so much extended attention in the international political arena.
Many representatives in EU houses of parliament where amazed to learn that thousands of Palestinian Authority Arabs are employed in industry in the Jewish towns (settlements), and found it hard to understand why Israel’s opponents are working so hard to mark and boycott products that are manufactured there.
This diplomatic initiative has caused an immediate buzz in many European capitals, and this interest has encouraged many officials to come see this for themselves. Over the past week and a half, the Shomron Regional Council has hosted parliamentary delegations from four different countries.
Last week, MEP Dr. Fiorello Provera, Deputy Chairman of the EU Parliament’s Foreign Committee, visited the Shomron. He visited the Ariel University of Samaria and the Barkan Industrial Park where 3,000 Jews and 3,000 Arabs work together. Provera also visited the Knesset, Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, as a guest of Samaria’s Regional Council. He met with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin and Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett.
“I don’t support restrictions in this area (the settlements) because they can harm factories where Israeli and Palestinian employees work together, have similar salaries, make the same sacrifices and have the same possibilities for attaining a good standard of living in dignity,” The Jerusalem Post quoted Provera saying during his visit to Israel. “Harming these factories’ ability to function would damage coexistence,” he added.
“Coexistence on the ground between Israelis and Palestinians is a good example of practical policy. I’m in favor of this bottom-up coexistence,” Provera said.
“Most European Parliament members do not know what’s happening in Israel. Since I’ve been exposed to the settlement movement in Samaria, I feel a responsibility to open up my fellow European Parliament members to the reality here,” he explained.
Provera said that the best way to fight settlement product labeling in the EU is to make sure members of the European Parliament are informed. “Information is crucial for us to make up our minds and have an opinion,” he said. “Without real information, we cannot decide what is right and wrong.”
His visit was followed by larger delegations of members of the Swiss and Swedish parliaments, who also visited the industrial park in Barkan, the university in Ariel, and the organic farms and green energy research center in the Shomron community of Itamar.
Director of Shomron Foreign Department Shay Atias said that these reciprocal visits are just the beginning of an expected increase in international visitors. We have found great interest on the part of the international community in seeing the firsthand facts behind the media reports. Our new strategy is based on people to people diplomacy; we have decided to open up the Shomron and invite people to come and see, and to meet our representatives one on one. Seeing the facts on the ground has proven again to be the best defense, in light of the massive ongoing campaign to delegitimize Israel. Israel is doing good things in Judea and Samaria, and we are glad that more and more people would like to come and witness them.
yamit82 Said:
Actually I wasn’t referring as much to a plan B for the arabs as I believe that is less of a problem for Israel to accomplish whatever it wants with them. I was talking about a plan B to deal with the euro/arab cabal plan to turn the world agianst the Jews with BDS, sanctions and threats of military action using all the libels of the pal narrative to pressure Israel into surrender. I believe this is a european plan and organized by the europeans.
CuriousAmerican Said:
Actually, I don’t want the “more famous precedent” according to you. Todays news is more famous to me as a precedent but I am absolutely sure, knowing your chronic, repetitive MO here, that you are going somewhere with this wily beginning and I’ll wager that I know exactly where you are going, let’s see:
CuriousAmerican Said:
HMMM???? I am getting a whiff of a lead in…..
CuriousAmerican Said:
OK, I think I see where you are going now; I don’t think you will disappoint me. After all you are quite predictable even when attempting, quite ludicrously, to disguise your agenda.
CuriousAmerican Said:
is this the lead in or the build up?
CuriousAmerican Said:
actually the arabs are not the real issue, the Jews are the real issue but seeing the C word leads me to beleive that we are coming to a “the Jews are the new nazis” moment. I wonder what could possibly give me that hunch?
CuriousAmerican Said:
There you go….just let it all out….I know you have been bursting at the seams to say that, even obliquely.
CuriousAmerican Said:
HMMM??? Accusing Jews of being nazis and putting those poor innocent pals into “concentration camps” and then threatening the Jews with “condemnation”(BDS?,sanctions?)
CuriousAmerican Said:
A two fer? Comparing the “moral” image of the euro/christians with the immoral Jews? Or perhaps comparing the murderous, baby killing, head chopping, throat slitting, suicide bombing, plane hijacking, honor killing muslim arabs to the Latinos of texas. You appear to be selectively ommitting “some major differences”. Should I assume that your ommissions are intentional and that you might, perchance, be attempting to set up comparisons which you know are false in a wily, sly and disingenuous manner? Or should I give you the benefit of the doubt based on your past record of honesty?
CuriousAmerican Said:
Of course they will, you know we all here already know that so I wonder why you repeat it for us here? Is it to give the ludicrous “comparison” more credibility by repeating it like Josef Goebbels? Are you owning this “comparison” as being your own view or are you hiding behind this “comparison” as being the views of others? I suggest that it is both: your view and that you hide behind it pretending to be the views of others.
CuriousAmerican Said:
Let me translate for you:
texas seceded but unlike the Jews the anglos(read moral europeans, christians)did not behave like the dirty Jews who corraled the innocent arabs and herded them into concentration camps(read the Jews are the new nazis)
That’s a great story but not the real story here: the real story here in your post is your repeated demonstrations of your chronic pathology on this site and your pathetic attempts to disguise and cover up your, by now, ludicrous and repetitive attempts to degrade and demean the Jews and Israel at every opportunity. Please come up with a new and better disguise for your obvious agenda, strategy and tactics as your pathology is becoming pathetic and boring, like the “emperors new clothes”.
The more famous precedent you want is Coahuila y Tejas. Texas was split off from Coahuila in 1835, declared Independence and then asked for annexation to the USA in 1845.
There are some major differences though.
Tejas was mostly empty when the Anglos came in around 1823. No so for Judea and Samaria when the Jews arrived in 1967.
The Anglos did not corral Latinos into areas, like Israel did in corralling Arabs into A&B.
The Arab population in Area C has dropped. This was due, in part, to land confiscations and evictions. There will be howls.
The real issue is less the annexation of Area C, but the concentration of Arabs into areas A & B.
The British did this to the Boers in 1899-1902 during the Boer war. They called them concentration camps; and it won the British world wide condemnation.
The world will make that comparison, not that you care.
The situation is similar but not identical to Texas.
Ask honeybee for greater detail.
@ yamit82:
Yamit for Prime Minister!!!!
Certainly these Arabs would deal far more ruthlessly with us if the tables were turned!
The only difference being world reaction. Against us, complete outrage with every conceivable consequence, against the Arabs, they wouldn’t bat an eyelash.
@ yamit82:
The Bazaar is in full swing. You are correct.
Both the renegade unJews and their Islamic “partners” are bluffing.
The Muslims are totally devoid of a system of government that functions. By cutting just a few services they would collapse. Visit any Muslim village and you will notice that they hardly set infrastructure…
The practice in the local circles has been since long ago known and immortalized in literature and film. “ISRABLOF”!!! That is the standard venue of the also well known “CHUTPZAN”, the insolent, pushy, deceiving, lying, cheeky urchins of old.
On the unJewish side of the partnership.
In Oslo “ISRABLOF” was institutionalized and the “CHUTZPANIM”, now fully grown creeps, inserted into all functions of State and more.
The Rabin – Peresite Islamic “partners” remain Netanyahu’s “partners”.
Both partnering groups are people and resources users.
A real Jewish government can very easily crush the bluffers.
bernard ross Said:
Plan B
Cut the palis off from Israel totally no port facilities no Billions in tax rebates, no electricity oil and gas, no water to totally closed border between us. An immediate change of currency making those held by the Palis worthless. We shut down all radio and TV wave lengths given to them under Oslo. We confiscate all Palis assets in Israel which are considerable. We shut off our health care services to the PA including free medical care. We fire all Arabs from working in Israel and any Jewish settlement in Y&S and make stiff penalties against any Jewish Israeli caught employing them.
When they violently revolt against us we crush them massively and quickly driving as many as possible across our common borders and then annex all of the territories except the most densely populated areas. Then we move our security wall and fences and erect them around those major Arab population centers.
Their economy is totally integrated and dependent on Israel. Nobody will fill that vacuum.
Personally I believe they are bluffing.
Has Israel developed a plan B?????????????
@ bernard ross:
Brilliant proposal and entirely justified on legal, moral, historic, political and practical grounds.
If the pali-posers can have 2 states and vie for a third, surely the Jews of the Mandate can have at least 2.
The rights conferred by the Balfour Declartion, San Remo, LON and as preserved by s.80 of the UN Charter were not conferred on the State of Israel but rather on Jews of the world (arguably past, present and future) and therefore the Jews of Yesha have every right to declared the State of J&S. It would be a state I personally would prefer to make aliyah to over the existing Jewish state.
@ bernard ross:
There was a book written in Hebrew, by zvika Amit, titled ‘code blue’.
It deals with just such a scenario… It is a good read, you can identify quite a few of the fictitious characters in today’s real life .
It is available in english as an audio book.
PA not in favor because it endangers their donations from EU and arabs which they filter off in the billions to their private account. their golden goose is invested in maintaining the conflict at least in its appearance.
Area C residents should declare independence and establish the jewish state of Judea-samaria. their legal bases would include the jewish right of settlement in the mandate territory derived from LON and UN charter plus the established legal “right to self-determination” they can begin by forming an independence movement demanding self-determination in area C. Precedent dictates that they be taken seriously into account in formulating any solutions. In this way Israel may give up its claims to C but the Jews of YS still have legal rights of their own.
after seceding they can consider annexing to Israel if they so desire. this is the precedent of Crimea and also the mooted path of the PA with Jordan(establish a state and then confederate) this would enable the Israeli jews who don’t want it to determine their future without impinging on other Jews. The mandate did not limit the number of jewish states just like there are a number of muslim states and a number of palestines. that would be the answer to the anti zionist jews in Israel. Israel as the administrator would still be bound to protect them while in occupation and after the establishment of a state could confederate or ally.
Excellent move. They must also form self defense systems.