Op-ed: Jewish communities in West Bank will continue to grow
with or without the business, blessing of the EU
Thanks to the European Union, the Jewish population of Judea
and Samaria has grown by 10% this week. Modi'in,
Maccabim and Re'ut are three Jewish communities on the road between Jerusalem
and Tel Aviv.
In 2003, the three neighbor communities merged to form a joint municipality,
and were organized by Israel's
Ministry of Interior into a city, known as Modi’in. The new city’s population
numbers over 80,000 residents.
Last week, the European Union issued a
statement declaring
this city a “West Bank settlement,” and as such, products manufactured there
will be hit with a special tax, if imported and sold in the EU. This action
falls under the European effort to discourage its citizens from supporting what
they
consider “illegitimate Jewish settlement activity”
in the areas captured by Israel from Jordan
in the Six Day War
of 1967.
The EU ignores the fact that a
boycott
of
products from Judea and Samaria hurts local Arab workers
who are getting Israeli salaries and work benefits for their ability to work in
industries in the Jewish communities. They don't bother asking themselves
where the billions of Euro they have been supplying to the Palestinian
Authority have disappeared to, or why the PA has not
used that international aid to develop workplaces for the people those funds
were meant to assist. But now, the EU is adding
additional workplaces to the list of those to be boycotted.
Hasty population
growth
The bright side of this policy
statement by the EU is a very quick growth of the Jewish population in Judea
and Samaria. If, the day before, we knew that there were 750,000 Jews living
beyond the pre-1967 lines in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, that number has now
risen to 830,000. Population growth of a little more than 10% in one day is
amazing, by any standard.
Why is this significant? Population
counts are very important to all who work for the future of this region.
The purpose behind the EU's statement is to somehow remove the Jewish residents
of the region, to make way for a Palestinian country free of Jews,
like they now have in Gaza
and most other Arab states.
The agenda of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria is
to ensure the permanence of the communities of this region forever.
Residents here take pride in being the fastest growing area in all of Israel.
The Shomron boasts 10% natural growth annually, even without the help of the
European Union.
Those who visit here are impressed with
our university, homes, playgrounds, schools and industries. Even those who
believe that we are the problem have no choice but to agree that our intention
is permanent. The truth is that we will continue to grow with or without the
business and the blessing of the EU.
In regard to Modi'in, the EU
actually made a strategic mistake by adding this community to their settlement
list. For one, it does enable advocates for Judea and Samaria to count the
residents of Modi'in as part of our population.
We are now
coming much closer to a million; a much larger
percent of the Jewish population of Israel has just unintentionally crossed the
Green Line
and joined us as “settlers.” They have also now forced many more industrialists and
interested parties into the coalition which must fight the boycott agenda.
I thank all of the hard working
anti-Israel activists in the EU who have once again granted Israel a blessing.
Had they had good intentions, they might have been blessed in return. In this
case, I doubt that will .
David Ha’ivri is the director of
the Shomron Liaison Office. He and his wife Mollie live in Kfar Tapuach,
Shomron with their eight children. You can follow him on Twitter @haivri
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