JNF Australia at the Gaza Border
JNF activities in southern Israel are continuing to a limited extent, in accordance with the directives issued by the Home Front Command.
The fire prevention alert is still in place, and activities and excursions scheduled to take place in the south this week – including trips to see the flowering of the autumn crocus (Sternbergia lutea) at Lehavim – have been cancelled. KKL-JNF’s shinshinim(one-year volunteers) will help to organize activities for children from southern Israel who have been invited by the Tel Aviv Scout Movement to enjoy a brief holiday and respite from the shooting. Even though missiles can now reach central Israel, the Tel Aviv area is much quieter than the south, and it is to be hoped that this holiday will give the children a break from the continual tension engendered by sitting indoors in a protected space.
Ofer Wienr
Ofer Wiener, a farmer in the area, said: “Our fields go right up to the Gaza border fence, and our neighbors don’t always allow us to do what we want when we want. The army does important work here to protect us. We don’t give up a single meter of our land, but work it all way up to the fence. Every available source of water increases our income and helps us to grow more crops. Our next-door neighbor was killed in an incident when a mortar shell fell. We’ve had a really hard time, and JNF Australia, with its generous contribution, definitely helps us live our life here, develop, and continue our routine.”
The residents of Shaar HaNegev live under the daily reality of rocket attacks from Gaza. Despite this, they are determined to build a normal life for their children. The reinforced Shaar HaNegev Secondary School allows teenagers to study in a normal environment. JNF Australia is building an amphitheatre and archaeological garden, so that the students can learn in peaceful green surroundings, hold events like in any other school, and connect to the environment and their heritage.
Despite being under fire from the Gaza Strip, communities in Israel’s south are determined to live their lives and farm their lands. KKL-JNF, with the support of JNF Australia, is helping them do just that, by building a water treatment facility in the Shaar HaNegev region. The facility which purifies waste water from regional communities such as Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Kibbutz Erez, and Mefalsim, freeing up fresh water sources and providing more water for agriculture.
This “requirement for “proportional” response is part of this whole corrupt PC moral equivilence.
But things are rarely equivilent. You crush your enemy or he comes back. The reason Israel has never had a real peace is the constant “proportional” limitations imposed from outside (56,67,73,82) or self imposed (the last two). Go in and finish the job.