Zionist Freedom Alliance
Encyclopedia
The Zionist Freedom Alliance (ZFA) is an activist grassroots Zionist movement that advocates Israel
's moral, legal
and historic rights for the Jewish people to the entire Land of Israel
, which they consider to include the territory captured during the 1967 Six-Day War
. It was established in 1999 by Magshimey Herut
activists in response to what they perceived to be growing anti-Israel sentiment among young people throughout the world. ZFA claims that their narrative has not been presented since before the start of the Oslo peace process and that this has resulted in the world’s ignorance of Israel’s claim to all territory between the Mediterranean Sea
and Jordan River. ZFA views Zionism as a revolutionary struggle and itself as the voice of Jewish national liberation. Its members are both religious and non-religious Jews.
, ZFA views Zionism as the national liberation movement of the Jewish people and a revolution unparalleled by any other in human history. The movement validates this claim by emphasizing that while various revolutions have succeeded in leaving their mark on human development, none have succeeded in reviving a dead language or relocating a scattered nation from dispersion to a central location. ZFA defines the Zionist Revolution as the liberation of Jewish land from foreign rule, the ingathering of the Jewish people from the exile to their soil, the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language for everyday use, and the creation of a utopian society that will serve as a model of social justice to the world. The movement views itself as the vanguard of this revolution and often calls itself the “voice of Jewish liberation.” The above views are featured on the organization’s website and have been expressed repeatedly by ZFA leader Yehuda HaKohen
, who hosts two internet based radio programs on Israel National Radio (channel seven).
told Israel National News that:
In that same interview, HaKohen angered American neo-conservative groups by stating that:
ZFA views the Jewish people as indigenous to the Middle East and the victims of Western
imperialism
. Leading activists of the movement have often pointed out that Great Britain
, the United Nations
and even the United States
government did everything in their power to prevent a Jewish state from coming into existence. The Zionist struggle, according to ZFA, is therefore an anti-imperialist struggle aimed at liberating the land of Israel from foreign rule and securing the Jewish people’s right to self determination in their country.
s, Kurd
s, and Irish
) but denies that freedom to a Palestinian nation whom ZFA claims does not exist. The movement officially argues in its "Covenant of Freedom" that while there has yet to be a serious and objective historical analysis of the claims that "Palestinian" Arabs constitute a distinct national group, there is overwhelming evidence that the notion of such a people was invented as a propaganda weapon to be used in the war against Zionism. ZFA activists have also been known to more assertively argue that a Palestinian national identity was invented in the 1960s by the Arab League
and Western powers for the purpose of robbing the Jewish people of their homeland. ZFA claims that multi-national corporations and Western governments seeking to promote globalization
have been using the Palestinian Arabs as a political tool against the State of Israel and that the front line in the battle against globalization is actually the struggle to retain Greater Israel
. Unlike movements on Israel’s political right, ZFA avoids anti-Arab rhetoric and actually advocates Israel becoming more Middle Eastern in character. Many ZFA leaders, including Elie Yossef
and Yehuda HaKohen
, have put forward the need for a genuine peace agreement between Israel and the Arabs but have rejected the notion of territorial concessions as this would be – in the view of ZFA – an historic injustice against the Jewish people.
Although opposed to many policies of recent Israel
i government
s, ZFA views the State of Israel as being of great historic significance and deserving of their loyalty. The movement places unity amongst Jews of all persuasions on equal footing with the territorial integrity of the land of Israel and therefore works to create dialogue and strengthen the bond between Jews with opposing political and religious opinions.
and has articulated a position that places blame for the conflict not on Arab or Jewish shoulders but on third parties, particularly the United States and Europe
, who attempt to broker solutions between the sides. In December 2008, HaKohen told Israel National News that:
reported the ZFA to be promoting Israeli nationalism on twenty American college campuses and described the group as socially liberal with a hard-right stance on Israeli border issues. On the organization’s website, ZFA claims to take a revolutionary step in the Zionist world by combining a faithful adherence to Jewish national aspirations with a steadfast commitment to social justice within society.
by holding an aggressive demonstration against Breaking the Silence, a group of ex-Israeli soldiers who came to the campus in order to speak against the IDF
's presence in territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War
. ZFA accused Breaking the Silence of being financed by Western governments to smear the State of Israel, an accusation that was later validated by The Jerusalem Post
in July 2009. At the time of the demonstration, a front page article and political cartoon in the Daily Pennsylvania portrayed ZFA activists as unwilling to hear opinions contrary to their own. These accusations were later refuted by local ZFA leader Brian Finkel in a letter to the paper's editor which explained ZFA's perspective on what had taken place.
. During this week of events, ZFA reached beyond the Jewish community and targeted a wider student public through films, art exhibits and concerts that focused on Jewish rights to the land of Israel, the Jewish revolt against British rule and the need for the State of Israel to become an independent country.
in November 2008, ZFA activists made an effort to reach out to the Muslim Student Association in order to find common ground on a host of issues. ZFA leaders claimed success in reaching agreements with Muslim student leaders on several points and told Israel National News that the MSA at Albany recognized the Jewish people’s national rights, acknowledged that there really is no distinct Palestinian Arab nation and that in order for Jews and Arabs to make peace Western interference in the Middle East would have to end. ZFA and MSA agreed that both the Jewish and Arab peoples are Middle Eastern peoples with a great deal in common and that peace can only be achieved through grassroots dialogue.
at an Israel Liberation Week event taking place at UC Berkeley
. The incident, which took place during a ZFA concert featuring Black, Jewish and Mexican hip hop artists promoting freedom for Israel from Western pressure and foreign influence, began when anti-Israel students unfurled Palestinian flags from a balcony overlooking the concert stage. ZFA activists attempted to remove the flags and a fight broke out between the two organizations. While both groups accused the other of initiating the violence, both agreed that ZFA prevailed in the actual fight. Following the incident, SJP members told Berkeley police that pro-Israel students made racial slurs against Arab students during the fight but the charge was denied by ZFA leaders, who view both themselves and Arabs as belonging to the same Semitic
race.
ZFA leader Yehuda HaKohen, who had delivered a speech from the stage during the concert, told Israel National News that he opposed students attempting to remove the flags but nevertheless saw value in the incident.
Following the incident, one Jew and two Arabs were cited with charges of battery by Berkeley police. Mainstream Jewish organizations refrained from taking any sides in the conflict but distanced themselves from ZFA by denouncing all acts of violence and violations of university policy.
's assassination, L'Herut Tzion held a conference in Jerusalem that explained the root cause for most of Israel's problems to be a lack of political independence. ZFA activists present at the event told Israel National News that although most Israelis "oppose territorial concessions", they also believe that Israel must obey the directives of foreign governments, which often demand such concessions. While addressing the conference Yehuda HaKohen declared:
. The building had been inhabited by veteran Lehi
fighters following the 1967 Six-Day War and had remained the sole Jewish building in an otherwise Arab neighborhood. Concerned that as the elderly Lehi veterans die the Jewish hold on the building would be weakened, ZFA activists began to move into apartments left vacant by deceased tenants. One of the ZFA activists who moved into the building told Israel National News that his move was in response to the international community pressuring the Israeli government to halt Jewish development in Jerusalem neighborhoods liberated in the Six-Day War.
region. The controversial Jewish communities had been the central focus of American pressure on Israel's government and students looking to defy Washington and strengthen Israel's hold on the region spent a week working, building and farming in Yitzhar
, Shalhevet Yam, Har Brakha
, Kfar Tapuach
, and Havat Gilad
. The Jerusalem Post reported ZFA leader Yehuda HaKohen working with a dozen program participants planting a vineyard on a hilltop near the Har Brakha community, just outside Shechem
and saying:
, the executive director of the Shomron Liaisons Office, emphasized to Israel National News that the program had been a pilot run for what he hopes will become a mainstream experiential program for Diaspora Jewish students.
In October 2009 the week long volunteer program was repeated at the village of El Matan
.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's moral, legal
Natural rights
Natural and legal rights are two types of rights theoretically distinct according to philosophers and political scientists. Natural rights are rights not contingent upon the laws, customs, or beliefs of any particular culture or government, and therefore universal and inalienable...
and historic rights for the Jewish people to the entire Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
, which they consider to include the territory captured during the 1967 Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
. It was established in 1999 by Magshimey Herut
Magshimey Herut
World Magshimey Herut is a Zionist young adult movement founded in 1999 by a group of Jewish activists who felt the need for a young adult movement dedicated to the ideals of aliyah, social justice and the territorial integrity of the Land of Israel...
activists in response to what they perceived to be growing anti-Israel sentiment among young people throughout the world. ZFA claims that their narrative has not been presented since before the start of the Oslo peace process and that this has resulted in the world’s ignorance of Israel’s claim to all territory between the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
and Jordan River. ZFA views Zionism as a revolutionary struggle and itself as the voice of Jewish national liberation. Its members are both religious and non-religious Jews.
Revolutionary Zionism
Heavily influenced by the philosophy of Israel EldadIsrael Eldad
Israel Eldad , was a noted Israeli independence fighter and Revisionist Zionist philosopher...
, ZFA views Zionism as the national liberation movement of the Jewish people and a revolution unparalleled by any other in human history. The movement validates this claim by emphasizing that while various revolutions have succeeded in leaving their mark on human development, none have succeeded in reviving a dead language or relocating a scattered nation from dispersion to a central location. ZFA defines the Zionist Revolution as the liberation of Jewish land from foreign rule, the ingathering of the Jewish people from the exile to their soil, the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language for everyday use, and the creation of a utopian society that will serve as a model of social justice to the world. The movement views itself as the vanguard of this revolution and often calls itself the “voice of Jewish liberation.” The above views are featured on the organization’s website and have been expressed repeatedly by ZFA leader Yehuda HaKohen
Yehuda HaKohen
Yehuda HaKohen is an Israeli activist and critic of government corruption and globalization in the Middle East. He is Director-General of the Zionist Freedom Alliance, which sites him as an activist for justice, peace and Jewish national rights in the Middle East.HaKohen is also a vocal member of...
, who hosts two internet based radio programs on Israel National Radio (channel seven).
Jewish National Rights
While mainstream Jewish leaders and pro-Israel organizations on American campuses often try to present the State of Israel as a democratic Western country with numerous security challenges, the Zionist Freedom Alliance speaks of Israel as a Middle Eastern nation with a legitimate moral and historic right to its entire country. In a July 2008 interview, ZFA leader Yehuda HaKohenYehuda HaKohen
Yehuda HaKohen is an Israeli activist and critic of government corruption and globalization in the Middle East. He is Director-General of the Zionist Freedom Alliance, which sites him as an activist for justice, peace and Jewish national rights in the Middle East.HaKohen is also a vocal member of...
told Israel National News that:
"We must make the world understand that the Jewish nation, like any other nation on the planet, has a right to self-determination in our country. Not in half of our country, but in our whole country. We have nothing against any other peoples, but the world today has no shortage of Arab states. 77% of Palestine [the territory east of the Jordan River] was made into an Arab state, and we are at least entitled to the remaining 23% that was left us by international law to be a Jewish state. No power on earth has the moral authority to rob us of our land."
In that same interview, HaKohen angered American neo-conservative groups by stating that:
"There is nothing right-wing or conservative about wanting to keep our [the Jewish] homeland free from foreign rule. If we are truly the indigenous natives in the conflict, then our cause should really be championed by liberal students everywhere. Especially since the Bush administration that occupies Iraq and imposes a Patriot Act on the American people is the very same administration pushing to ethnically cleanse the Jewish people from portions of our homeland."
ZFA views the Jewish people as indigenous to the Middle East and the victims of Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
. Leading activists of the movement have often pointed out that Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and even the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government did everything in their power to prevent a Jewish state from coming into existence. The Zionist struggle, according to ZFA, is therefore an anti-imperialist struggle aimed at liberating the land of Israel from foreign rule and securing the Jewish people’s right to self determination in their country.
National Liberation
As a national liberation movement, ZFA alleges to advocate freedom for all nations from foreign rule (specifically the ChechenChechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
s, Kurd
Kürd
Kürd or Kyurd or Kyurt may refer to:*Kürd Eldarbəyli, Azerbaijan*Kürd Mahrızlı, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Goychay, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Jalilabad, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Qabala, Azerbaijan*Qurdbayram, Azerbaijan...
s, and Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
) but denies that freedom to a Palestinian nation whom ZFA claims does not exist. The movement officially argues in its "Covenant of Freedom" that while there has yet to be a serious and objective historical analysis of the claims that "Palestinian" Arabs constitute a distinct national group, there is overwhelming evidence that the notion of such a people was invented as a propaganda weapon to be used in the war against Zionism. ZFA activists have also been known to more assertively argue that a Palestinian national identity was invented in the 1960s by the Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
and Western powers for the purpose of robbing the Jewish people of their homeland. ZFA claims that multi-national corporations and Western governments seeking to promote globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
have been using the Palestinian Arabs as a political tool against the State of Israel and that the front line in the battle against globalization is actually the struggle to retain Greater Israel
Greater Israel
Greater Israel is a controversial expression with several different Biblical and political meanings over time.Currently, the most common definition of the land encompassed by the term is the territory of the State of Israel together with the Palestinian territories...
. Unlike movements on Israel’s political right, ZFA avoids anti-Arab rhetoric and actually advocates Israel becoming more Middle Eastern in character. Many ZFA leaders, including Elie Yossef
Elie Yossef
Elie Yossef is a London-born Israeli educator and political activist.Eli Yossef grew up in London and attended the Hasmonean High School where he established Betar England in 1973. In 1975, Yossef came on Aliyah to Israel and served in the Golani and Paratroopers brigades of the Israel Defense...
and Yehuda HaKohen
Yehuda HaKohen
Yehuda HaKohen is an Israeli activist and critic of government corruption and globalization in the Middle East. He is Director-General of the Zionist Freedom Alliance, which sites him as an activist for justice, peace and Jewish national rights in the Middle East.HaKohen is also a vocal member of...
, have put forward the need for a genuine peace agreement between Israel and the Arabs but have rejected the notion of territorial concessions as this would be – in the view of ZFA – an historic injustice against the Jewish people.
Although opposed to many policies of recent Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
s, ZFA views the State of Israel as being of great historic significance and deserving of their loyalty. The movement places unity amongst Jews of all persuasions on equal footing with the territorial integrity of the land of Israel and therefore works to create dialogue and strengthen the bond between Jews with opposing political and religious opinions.
Views on Peace and the Middle East Conflict
Although ZFA members are not known to have uniform views regarding possible solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the organization officially opposes the notion of territorial concessions by Israel. At the same time, Yehuda HaKohen has used his radio show on several occasions to speak out against IslamophobiaIslamophobia
Islamophobia describes prejudice against, hatred or irrational fear of Islam or MuslimsThe term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States....
and has articulated a position that places blame for the conflict not on Arab or Jewish shoulders but on third parties, particularly the United States and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, who attempt to broker solutions between the sides. In December 2008, HaKohen told Israel National News that:
"It was the British who originally turned local Arabs and Jews against one another in order to further their own colonialist agenda for our region. And now Western governments arm both sides and then attempt to impose artificial diplomatic solutions. The Israeli government and PA leaderships today both behave as puppets to foreign regimes and both the local Jewish and Arab populations are suffering. The way to achieve real peace between peoples here is to work from the bottom up and not the top down. The Jewish and Arab peoples are both native to the Middle East. We have a great deal in common. But for efforts at genuine peace to succeed, Western governments and multinational corporations need to leave our region alone and let the indigenous Jews and Arabs settle things between ourselves."
Activities
ZFA differs from other Zionist movements is that it fights for social causes often associated with the left while maintaining a hard right position on Jewish national identity and Israel’s borders. In November 2007, the Jewish Telegraphic AgencyJewish Telegraphic Agency
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency is an international news agency serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world. The JTA was founded on February 6, 1917, by Jacob Landau as the Jewish Correspondence Bureau in The Hague with the mandate of collecting and disseminating news among and...
reported the ZFA to be promoting Israeli nationalism on twenty American college campuses and described the group as socially liberal with a hard-right stance on Israeli border issues. On the organization’s website, ZFA claims to take a revolutionary step in the Zionist world by combining a faithful adherence to Jewish national aspirations with a steadfast commitment to social justice within society.
On American campuses
ZFA trains activists on college campus to promote what the group terms "Jewish liberation." In the field of pro-Israel advocacy, the movement is unique as it speaks of Israel's moral right to the land rather than the country's security needs. In February 2008 the ZFA created controversy at the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
by holding an aggressive demonstration against Breaking the Silence, a group of ex-Israeli soldiers who came to the campus in order to speak against the IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
's presence in territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
. ZFA accused Breaking the Silence of being financed by Western governments to smear the State of Israel, an accusation that was later validated by The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
in July 2009. At the time of the demonstration, a front page article and political cartoon in the Daily Pennsylvania portrayed ZFA activists as unwilling to hear opinions contrary to their own. These accusations were later refuted by local ZFA leader Brian Finkel in a letter to the paper's editor which explained ZFA's perspective on what had taken place.
Israel Liberation Week
In April 2008, ZFA launched a week long program called Israel Liberation Week at Hofstra UniversityHofstra University
Hofstra University is a private, nonsectarian institution of higher learning located in the Village of Hempstead, New York, United States, about east of New York City: less than an hour away by train or car...
. During this week of events, ZFA reached beyond the Jewish community and targeted a wider student public through films, art exhibits and concerts that focused on Jewish rights to the land of Israel, the Jewish revolt against British rule and the need for the State of Israel to become an independent country.
Reaching out to Muslim students
During Israel Liberation Week at the University of AlbanyUniversity at Albany, SUNY
The State University of New York at Albany, also known as University at Albany, State University of New York, SUNY Albany or simply UAlbany, is a public university located in Albany, Guilderland, and East Greenbush, New York, United States; is the senior campus of the State University of New York ...
in November 2008, ZFA activists made an effort to reach out to the Muslim Student Association in order to find common ground on a host of issues. ZFA leaders claimed success in reaching agreements with Muslim student leaders on several points and told Israel National News that the MSA at Albany recognized the Jewish people’s national rights, acknowledged that there really is no distinct Palestinian Arab nation and that in order for Jews and Arabs to make peace Western interference in the Middle East would have to end. ZFA and MSA agreed that both the Jewish and Arab peoples are Middle Eastern peoples with a great deal in common and that peace can only be achieved through grassroots dialogue.
Violence at Berkeley
On November 13, 2008, violence erupted between ZFA and the Students for Justice in PalestineStudents for Justice in Palestine
Students for Justice in Palestine is a student organization which was first established at the University of California, Berkeley in 2001...
at an Israel Liberation Week event taking place at UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. The incident, which took place during a ZFA concert featuring Black, Jewish and Mexican hip hop artists promoting freedom for Israel from Western pressure and foreign influence, began when anti-Israel students unfurled Palestinian flags from a balcony overlooking the concert stage. ZFA activists attempted to remove the flags and a fight broke out between the two organizations. While both groups accused the other of initiating the violence, both agreed that ZFA prevailed in the actual fight. Following the incident, SJP members told Berkeley police that pro-Israel students made racial slurs against Arab students during the fight but the charge was denied by ZFA leaders, who view both themselves and Arabs as belonging to the same Semitic
Semitic
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
race.
ZFA leader Yehuda HaKohen, who had delivered a speech from the stage during the concert, told Israel National News that he opposed students attempting to remove the flags but nevertheless saw value in the incident.
"Even though I wanted to avoid the altercation, I recognize the value in anti-Israel activists getting put in their place by the very students they so often try to bully into silence… ZFA might not have started the violence but we definitely finished it. I hope Husam [Zakharia, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine] and his crew think twice next time they want to get physical with any of our students."
Following the incident, one Jew and two Arabs were cited with charges of battery by Berkeley police. Mainstream Jewish organizations refrained from taking any sides in the conflict but distanced themselves from ZFA by denouncing all acts of violence and violations of university policy.
In Israel
Following the trend of many ZFA student activists immigrating to the State of Israel, the organization has created a chapter in the Jerusalem area. According to the group's website the main focus of ZFA activities in Israel is to increase the country's political independence through educating the public against accepting foreign aid from the United States. ZFA has also participated in the struggle against territorial withdrawals and the fight against discrimination within Israeli society.L'Herut Tzion
Following the 2009 Israeli national elections, ZFA leaders teamed up with Kumah and other nationalist organizations to establish the L'Herut Tzion (For the Freedom of Zion) movement and champion the cause of Israeli independence. On the anniversary of Jewish freedom fighter Avraham SternAvraham Stern
Avraham Stern , alias Yair was a Jewish paramilitary leader who founded and led the militant Zionist organization later known as Lehi .-Early life:Stern was born in Suwałki, Poland...
's assassination, L'Herut Tzion held a conference in Jerusalem that explained the root cause for most of Israel's problems to be a lack of political independence. ZFA activists present at the event told Israel National News that although most Israelis "oppose territorial concessions", they also believe that Israel must obey the directives of foreign governments, which often demand such concessions. While addressing the conference Yehuda HaKohen declared:
"We are starting a new movement tonight that will work through different channels to achieve freedom for our nation. That means pressuring members of Knesset from different parties to advance legislation against accepting foreign money or foreign dictates. And it also means strategically planned public demonstrations and educational initiatives geared towards fostering a desire for freedom among our people. This is the great cause of our generation because this is the root cause of Israel's major challenges. In ancient times, when indigenous peoples would fight for their freedom from foreign rule, they would mint coins as a declaration of liberty. And when Yohanan of Gush Halav led his Zionist rebels into battle against Rome, he minted coins with the statement L'Herut Tzion – For the Freedom of Zion. This is the name that we have chosen to march under."
Strengthening the Jewish presence of Beit Hanina
In 2009 a number of ZFA members moved into the Beit Shiva building in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit HaninaBeit Hanina
Beit Hanina is a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem on the road to Ramallah. It is bordered by Hizma to the east, Shuafat to the south, Beit Iksa and Nabi Samwil to the west, and Bir Nabala, al-Jib, Kafr Aqab and ar-Ram to the north. The total area of Beit Hanina is 20 sq. kilometers...
. The building had been inhabited by veteran Lehi
Lehi (group)
Lehi , commonly referred to in English as the Stern Group or Stern Gang, was a militant Zionist group founded by Avraham Stern in the British Mandate of Palestine...
fighters following the 1967 Six-Day War and had remained the sole Jewish building in an otherwise Arab neighborhood. Concerned that as the elderly Lehi veterans die the Jewish hold on the building would be weakened, ZFA activists began to move into apartments left vacant by deceased tenants. One of the ZFA activists who moved into the building told Israel National News that his move was in response to the international community pressuring the Israeli government to halt Jewish development in Jerusalem neighborhoods liberated in the Six-Day War.
"We are here not only to show the current residents of Beit Shiva our support, but also to show the world that all of Jerusalem is and will continue to remain under Hebrew sovereignty. We cannot allow foreign leaders to push for anti-Jewish discriminatory housing policies anywhere in Israel, much less in our capital."
Shomron Volunteer Program
In August 2009 ZFA and the Shomron Liaisons Office cooperated to create a volunteer program for American students in the hilltop communities of the SamariaSamaria
Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
region. The controversial Jewish communities had been the central focus of American pressure on Israel's government and students looking to defy Washington and strengthen Israel's hold on the region spent a week working, building and farming in Yitzhar
Yitzhar
Yitzhar is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank south of the city of Nablus just off Route 60, north of the Tapuach Junction. The predominantly Orthodox Jewish community with a population of 895 is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council...
, Shalhevet Yam, Har Brakha
Har Brakha
Har Brakha is a communal village and an Israeli settlement located on the southern ridge of Mount Gerizim at an elevation of 870 metres above sea level, in the West Bank's Samarian mountains near Nablus...
, Kfar Tapuach
Kfar Tapuach
Kfar Tapuach is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, founded in 1978. It sits astride one of the major traffic junctions in the West Bank. The executive director of the village council is Yisrael Blunder. As of December 2007, it had 800 residents...
, and Havat Gilad
Havat Gilad
Havat Gilad is an Israeli settlement outpost in the West Bank, beyond the jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. It was established in 2002 in memory of Gilad Zar, security coordinator of the Shomron Regional Council, who was shot and killed in 2001. It is considered an un-authorized...
. The Jerusalem Post reported ZFA leader Yehuda HaKohen working with a dozen program participants planting a vineyard on a hilltop near the Har Brakha community, just outside Shechem
Shechem
Shechem was a Canaanite city mentioned in the Amarna letters, and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as an Israelite city of the tribe of Manasseh and the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel...
and saying:
"For us the main issue is justice. When we come here to build and plant and support local residents, we are not simply taking a political stance on Israeli policy. We are resisting an historic crime from being perpetrated against our nation."Binyamin Rubin, a ZFA leader from the University of Pennsylvania who had moved to Israel a month prior to the program, told the Post that:
"We're here to strengthen the connection to this land specifically, because it is under so much pressure right now from foreign powers that want to take it away from us. It's a statement that says, we're building something, we're planting something, that we will be here in the future to enjoy."Rubin, who served as the trip councilor for the program was quoted by Israel National News as saying:
“We are working to strengthen the Jewish people's hold on Samaria which foreign powers are trying to take from us. For the students, the main issue is not politics but justice. The Jewish people have every legal and historic right to this land, and the program affords an outlet to express our resistance.”David Ha'ivri
David Ha'ivri
David Ha'ivri is an Israeli settler and political activist. He emigrated with his family from the United States to Israel at the age of 11 and served in the IDF. Ha'ivri lives with his wife and eight children in Kfar Tapuach in the northern West Bank...
, the executive director of the Shomron Liaisons Office, emphasized to Israel National News that the program had been a pilot run for what he hopes will become a mainstream experiential program for Diaspora Jewish students.
"Through this one week program, these kids get a unique hands-on opportunity to meet the pioneers settling the barren hilltops of Samaria and take part in reviving Jewish culture and agriculture in our ancient homeland. We are grateful for the cooperation of the ZFA and plan on jointly promoting additional such programs throughout campuses in America. This partnership between youth volunteers and Jewish farmers in Samaria is a blessing for both sides: the farmers need working hands, and the youth get an unforgettable experience that connects them to the Land of Israel."
In October 2009 the week long volunteer program was repeated at the village of El Matan
El Matan
El Matan is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank, located around a kilometer south of Ma'ale Shomron, under the jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. The outpost was established in 2000 allegedly on state lands by a group of religious youths from nearby settlements...
.
See also
- Greater IsraelGreater IsraelGreater Israel is a controversial expression with several different Biblical and political meanings over time.Currently, the most common definition of the land encompassed by the term is the territory of the State of Israel together with the Palestinian territories...
- International law and the Arab-Israeli conflictInternational law and the Arab-Israeli conflictThere is a broad international consensus that the actions of the nations involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict violate prohibitions contained in international law. However, this legality is disputed by some of the nations involved...
- IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
- Israel EldadIsrael EldadIsrael Eldad , was a noted Israeli independence fighter and Revisionist Zionist philosopher...
- Israeli SettlementIsraeli settlementAn Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
- Israeli settlements, Palestinians, and human rightsIsraeli settlements, Palestinians, and human rightsIsraeli settler violence refers both to acts of violence committed by a restricted number of Israeli settlers against Palestinians and Israeli security forces, predominantly in the West Bank. Although the vast majority of settlers are law abiding, there is a rise in violent acts by extremists in...
- Labor ZionismLabor ZionismLabor Zionism can be described as the major stream of the left wing of the Zionist movement. It was, for many years, the most significant tendency among Zionists and Zionist organizational structure...
- Land of IsraelLand of IsraelThe Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
- Left-wing nationalismLeft-wing nationalismLeft-wing nationalism describes a form of nationalism officially based upon equality, popular sovereignty, and national self-determination. It has its origins in the Jacobinism of the French Revolution. Left-wing nationalism typically espouses anti-imperialism...
- Lehi (group)Lehi (group)Lehi , commonly referred to in English as the Stern Group or Stern Gang, was a militant Zionist group founded by Avraham Stern in the British Mandate of Palestine...
- Movement for Greater IsraelMovement for Greater IsraelThe Movement for Greater Israel was a political organisation in Israel during the 1960s and 1970s which subscribed to an ideology of Greater Israel....
- Magshimey HerutMagshimey HerutWorld Magshimey Herut is a Zionist young adult movement founded in 1999 by a group of Jewish activists who felt the need for a young adult movement dedicated to the ideals of aliyah, social justice and the territorial integrity of the Land of Israel...
- Religious ZionismReligious ZionismReligious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Jewish religious faith...
- Revisionist ZionismRevisionist ZionismRevisionist Zionism is a nationalist faction within the Zionist movement. It is the founding ideology of the non-religious right in Israel, and was the chief ideological competitor to the dominant socialist Labor Zionism...
- Status of territories captured by IsraelStatus of territories captured by IsraelThe United Nations Security Council and the International Court of Justice both describe the West Bank and Golan Heights as "occupied territory" under international law, Israel's government calls all of them "disputed" rather than "occupied",...
- Yehuda HaKohenYehuda HaKohenYehuda HaKohen is an Israeli activist and critic of government corruption and globalization in the Middle East. He is Director-General of the Zionist Freedom Alliance, which sites him as an activist for justice, peace and Jewish national rights in the Middle East.HaKohen is also a vocal member of...
- ZionismZionismZionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
- Zionist youth movementZionist youth movementA Zionist youth movement is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideological development, including a belief in Jewish nationalism as represented in the State of Israel...