Sergey Kadinsky
Written Works
This article was written in the Summer of 2006, as a Media Fellow at the Jerusalem office of The Israel Project
Defiance and Determination
Among Samarian Jews
July 2, 2006
“Begin North,” the highway sign declares. Of course it is not a command; it is in honor of Menachem Begin, who as Prime Minister promoted the Jewish settlements of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. Following the kidnapping and murder of Itamar resident Eliyahu Asheri, the issue of transportation between the communities of Yesha (the Hebrew acronym for what the international community regards as occupied territories) and the major cities of Israel took on greater importance. With only one public bus traveling between Jerusalem and the settlement of Maale Levona on Fridays, I arrived early at the bus terminal.
In comparison to the lines for Tel Aviv and Haifa, my line was short, but the bus gradually filled up as it picked up more passengers in the northern neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Most of them are religious, with many sporting new black hats which they had just purchased. Sitting next to me was an older woman who repatriated to Israel from Florida, admiring the beauty of the Samarian landscape and the historic Jewish ties to the region. The level of nationalism among the passengers also varied. When the woman next to me described Maale Levona as the “Switzerland of Israel,” a woman sitting in front of us angrily asserted that this is the Holy Land, and should not be compared to any other country. She also scolded me for being a tourist rather than a resident, “this is a place to live in, not visit.” Not sure if I was welcome, I assumed that most Jewish settlers have a friendlier attitude towards visitors.
As the bus left the outskirts of Jerusalem, Route 60 split up in two, with one route going into Palestinian-ruled areas, such as Ramallah, and the other route bypassing the city on its east side. This was done to separate Jewish and Palestinian drivers, decreasing the possibility of roadside attacks, and making travel easier for Jewish residents. Alongside the road were fences, and an occasional pillbox that monitored the landscape. While most Jewish communities in Samaria are well-defended against infiltrators, travelers who used Route 60 have at times been subject to stone throwing, Molotov cocktails, and shootings. During the Second Intifada, there were a number of deaths along the road, including Rabbi Binyamin Zeev Kahane and his wife. Son of Rabbi Meir Kahane, both were outspoken figures on the far right wing of the Israeli political scene and settler movement. A resident of Kfar Tapuach, Kahane was killed in the attack in December 2000. As a result, all buses that use this route have bulletproof windows.
At the junction near my destination, the bus began to slowly snake its way up the hill towards the gated community. Unlike the dismantled Gush Katif communities in Gaza, Maale Levona is more of a residential suburb than an agricultural enterprise. With only one small store within the community, most residents commute to Ariel, Tel Aviv, or Jerusalem. Built in 1984 with the support of the Jewish National Fund, it is home to approximately 90 families, with many Russian and French olim.
My host, Yigal Serebro works as an aquarium keeper in Givataim, a city outside of Tel Aviv. According to Serebro, the commute to the coast can take as little as an hour. Being told that one of the reasons for evacuating Maale Levona is its relative isolation, I was surprised at how close the community is to Israel’s major cities. Taking his career home, Serebro’s living room contains three aquariums. “These are African fish. One aquarium is for Lake Nyasa, and one is for Tanganyika,” Serebro points out. When asked why they are separated, he shows that one group is vegetarian, and one is carnivorous. In the center of the settlement is a playground and petting zoo, which contains peacocks, ducks, and llamas. Among the animals is an earless donkey, Abused by local Arabs, the donkey was rescued by the settlers.
Facing north, the view from Serebro’s home faces Lubban ash-Sharqiya, an Arab village whose name mirrors that of the settlement. The names both originate from a type of incense produced in the region that was used in the Tabernacle and the Holy Temple. Since the disengagement of Israeli civilians and military from Gaza in August 2006, government statistics stated that that every 76 minutes there is an attack in Yesha. In contrast, Maale Levona has largely avoided conflict in the 22 years since it was built. Serebro gives credit to the residents. “Our community is vigilant, any time that we are attacked, we fight back.” While critics of settlements claim that such outposts are a drain on the Israel Defense Forces, Serebro points out that the gate and borders of the community are defended by armed residents and reservists who have extensive experience in security. Every night, a Range Rover armed with a night vision camera circles the community.
Viewing the government decision to use the military and police to forcibly expel settlers as undemocratic and immoral, Serebro joined hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in the summer of 2005 in an attempt to prevent the disengagement from taking place. Arrested and put under administrative detention, the experience has further confirmed his view that the state no longer cares about the religious and settler sectors. “Kahane was right,” he proclaims.
Born in Kharkov, Ukraine, the Serebro family moved to Haifa, where Yigal gradually became more religiously observant. His wife Tamar shares a similar story. Born in the Siberian city of Omsk, she became observant through the Chabad movement. Meeting through the internet, they married in a colorful ceremony two years ago, and a year later had their first daughter, Sara. Eager to connect to their biblical roots, the couple settled in Maale Levona. Scrupulous in his observance, Yigal awoke me at sunrise in order to pray, and demonstrate the spectacular views. “On a clear day, you can see Tel Aviv, the snowy summit of Mount Hermon, basically most of Israel.” His wife added, “My favorite time is in winter, when the valleys are foggy, and the hilltops resemble islands.” Inside the synagogue, I was pleasantly surprised to note that instead of rushing through their prayers, each word was carefully sung with devotion.
With the escalation of violence by Hamas, it appears that for the moment Prime Minister Olmert’s plan to realign the borders of Israel by evacuating certain West Bank settlements appears to be on hold. Regardless of the schedule, most residents appear to be going about their daily lives. If there is any talk of resistance, it is mostly of a nonviolent nature, followed by a denial that an evacuation would take place.
When asked about hitchhikers, Serebro states, “I pick them up all the time, but only within settlement boundaries.” Seeing that bus service is insufficient between Yesha communities, Serebro hopes that in light of the kidnapping of Asheri, there will be more bus service, and hitchhiking would only take place at designated points, usually bus stops within settlements.
While Serebro cited biblical and historical roots as justification for the settlement, Bob Lang of Gush Etzion disagrees. “If we want to persuade the population to support the settlements, we must do it from a security standpoint.” Lang is a spokesman for the Yesha Council, which represents Jewish communities within Judea and Samaria. “During the disengagement, we presented ourselves as pioneers, continuing the Zionist dream; however most members of the secular public don’t care about history. They care about their personal security,” Lang notes. Born in the United States, Lang made aliyah 31 years ago, and views the settlement sector as expanding. “Gush Etzion is the melting pot of Israel, containing 22 synagogues.” While Serebro ignores the people of Lubban to the best of his ability, Lang points out examples where attempts at coexistence have been made. “When Gush Etzion was built, we extended our water and electricity lines to the nearby villages.” The leading religious voice in the community, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, continues to maintain ties with local Christian and Muslim leaders, demanding that the settlement’s earthquake drill include the villages as well. Quoting the rabbi, Lang states, “Earthquakes don’t discriminate.”
Clinging stubbornly to the vision of a greater Israel, both Serebro and Lang agree that it is possible to annex the territories, pacify the restive Palestinian population, and maintain a Jewish demographic majority in the region. “Maybe one day there will be a Middle Eastern Union, like that in Europe, where Kurds, Copts, Jews, and others will be equal to Muslims. But until then Israel cannot defend itself by shrinking in size”
For more photos behind this article, click on the photo above
Background image:
Aerial view of Maale Levona and its vicinity
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