B"H
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Expulsion from Tapuach from the Diary of a Jewish RefugeeOn Oct. 14th I received an expulsion order from my home in Kfar Tapuach and given an administrative order that prohibits me from entering anywhere in Judea and Samaria for three months. This obscene decree, signed by General Shamni, IDF Chief of Judea and Samaria does not offer any explanation and I am not afforded any due process whatsoever. While the system has permitted me to appeal the order before a military appeals court, there is little room given to challenge an order when one has no clue what the alleged charges are. No matter, we appealed the order and our attorney Yitzhak Baum of the volunteer association "Legal Forum" did a magnificent job arguing our case before Major Natanel Baneshi. The hearing was "behind closed doors" and is considered "secret", however, I will take the risk here of publishing some of the more comical happenings in and outside of the court room, with the sincere hope that no state secrets will be revealed here.
Secret Agent TestifiesIronically, the court proceedings were to be held in the Ofir military base. Ofir, located within the "territories" I am forbidden to enter, also houses a military jail. The murderers of Rav Binyamin Zev Kahane were said to be held their several months ago, before their arraignment in the same military court that is to hear my appeal. As I pull up to the front gate of the base, dozens of Arabs can be seen, waiting to visit imprisoned family members or to attend trials. Evidently, we seem rather out of place to the guards at the gate, who asked us where we were going. They immediately allowed us entry into the base, assuming that we were officials who would enter through the side of the base that is designated for official witnesses or representatives of the state. I had no clue where we were going but was happy enough not to be detained for breaking the administrative order that effectively should have forbade me from entering into the area, which is officially part of Judea and Samaria.
There we stood, myself and Shmuel, a young aid who is in his third year of law school, waiting for Bereny, another friend from Tapuach and for Yitzchak Baum, our attorney. Suddenly a pair of "James Bond," shady looking individuals show up and were given immediate entry into the base. Looking at Shmuel I muttered, "These clowns must be the Shin Bet agents who are to substantiate the case of the government and "justify" the administrative order against me." After 25 years of being harassed by these characters, one develops the ability to sniff these disgruntled creatures out from miles away.
Sure enough, they were the agents, and it was not before long that a frantic officer came darting out of the base shouting at us, "you are supposed to enter the base from the other side, what are you doing here?" I answered, "We were directed here when we got to the front gate, where should we go?" Oops we already saw the "secret" agents. Several hours later, the secret agent "Moshe" would be testifying behind a makeshift metal standing curtain in the court room.
Naturally, "Moshe" was unable to answer any questions concerning the secret evidence that only he and the judge could review - making it rather difficult indeed to counter any of their secret claims. The only thing that was disclosed to us was the "paraphraza" - a one sentence general explanation of the cause and reasoning behind the administrative order: "If he is allowed to enter into Judea and Samaria before January of next year he could influence others to take actions that have within them definite potential to cause unrest between local PLO/Hamas Arab Muslim Nazis and Jews and could cause instability and damage in the region". Yitzchak brilliantly exposed the farce from a legal, constitutional and technical perspective. He proved that Arabs living in Judea and Samaria have more rights than Jews who are not protected by Israeli law or by international law and The Hague. He proved that throwing a person out of his home in such a procedure was unlawful and absurd, especially in view of the fact that in the age of the internet, expelling one from his home would not be effective in preventing him from communicating with his alleged co-conspirators. He argued that if there was truly any evidence of any conspiratorial crime being plotted, then the authorities should arraign me and bring me to trial where the evidence could be weighed based on its merit or lack of merit.
I am the real threat?Needless to say, "Moshe" went home, as did the military prosecutor, her aid, the attorney general of the Shin Bet and as did Moshe's assistant. After all, "Moshe" has a driver and a handyman who shleps the evidence and the metal curtains into the court room. And so everyone went home, including judge Benishu and his three young female clerks who type the transcripts and who assist him. Everyone went home, and I went back to my car, where I am living. The government will maintain law and order in Judea and Samaria now that Yekutiel Ben Yaakov and Nerya Ofan are out of Judea and Samaria. What madness! The very same day, we read of dozens of policemen wounded when they entered the Druze village of Pikeyin in the North. A policewoman was kidnapped during the debacle. The police left empty handed without the 12 Arabs that they came to arrest, who have been terrorizing a Jew who put an antenna up. Hand-grenades have been thrown, buildings torched, cops injured, shots fired - But the government will restore law and order to the land by expelling Yekutiel and Nerya! What insanity!
The following day saw 3000 Jewish vines destroyed and a synagogue torched near Talmon by Arabs and international anarchist sympathizers - but the government will maintain law and order by expelling us! The police succeeded in arresting three perpetrators out of the dozens who uprooted the Jewish fields, and they were later released. They pose no threat to the security and tranquility of the region.
For the record, the unofficial reason given to reporters "off the record" for the administrative orders handed down to us was, "there is reason to believe that Yekutiel and Nerya will be active in preventing Arabs from picking olives in areas under dispute". In the meantime, Arabs are effectively torching synagogues and uprooting thousands of trees and vineyards and they walk free, even after they have been caught red-handed, after the crimes have been committed.
The real reason they expelled meHowever, I am not complaining, for when the evil ones decree a curse, it is often more of a blessing than a curse, as we learn from Balaak and Bilaam. Obviously this decree has nothing to do with olives. Nerya and I would not know a Syrian olive from a Greek olive. What have we to do with olives? Talk to me about pickles and pastrami and maybe I can help you, but olives? Give me a break! It is obvious that behind this administrative order there is a far more sinister plan and it has nothing to do with olives or pickles. Olmert is presently planning his summit trip to Annapolis. I am presently running for "mayor" of Kfar Tapuach. The elections are to be held later this month on Nov. 27. The administrative order was issued on the very day that I submitted my candidacy. The government is particularly sensitive to potential opposition to Olmert's plan to dismantle Tapuach and most of Judea and Samaria. The last thing they need is for "extremists" to be in positions of power and influence in towns in Yesha at this time. Tapuach is an important town because it maintains a radical militant image. It is important for the government to make certain that Tapuach residents will walk like sheep back into the "Auschwitz borders" of 1967 that they are carving out of Israel. Expelling me during the month prior to the elections is a classic case of intervention and a futile attempt at that meant to hamper and influence the democratic process. While I am allowed to hold one meeting a week in Tapuach, that is not much of a match to the constant campaigning being done by the other candidates.
Kahane Outreach Mitzvah Tank - If I can't be in Tapuach I will preach throughout the land
We can only reverse the decree and turn it into a positive if we have a "klee" a vehicle or utensil on which to accept this blessing in disguise. I want to use every second of this administrative order to reverse the intended results of those who issued the order. Now, that I have the free time to travel the roads of Israel, I am holding weekly lectures in Tel Aviv and in Jerusalem, in English and in Hebrew and am available to lecture throughout the land about the authentic Jewish Idea and about Rabbi Kahane's ideology and program to save Israel.
I have appealed to some of our donors to sponsor the purchase of a special vehicle, known as an RV that I will live and travel in. "The Kahane Mitzva Tank" that we spoke about with Rabbi Kahane before his assassination, 17 years ago will G-d willing now become a reality. And after the expulsion order is over, I will take it up to our hilltop. While the government does not permit caravans or any housing to be built in Yesha these days, caravans on wheels are perfectly legal and can be used on our hilltop or on any other hill in Yesha.
You can help
To find out what you can do to help maintain or join our Yeshiva, hilltop and canine defense program in Tapuach or how you could participate in our classes and activities in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv feel free to call me from Israel
054 4 876 709. From US
011 972 54 4876709 or email to
[email protected]Contributions to help sponsor the
"Outreach Kahane Tank" or the other projects, including the publishing of our weekly parsha newsletter
"Kach Hee Darka Shel Torah," checks can be sent to
Mishalot Yisrael POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel.Sincerely,
Yekutiel Ben Yaakov