Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: dall'Inghilterra alla West Bank

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20727921
 
 
Every year hundreds of British Jews make the life-changing decision to
emigrate to Israel. A small number of these decide to join settlements
in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. What is life like for the West Bank
Britons?
 
"We are not obstacles to peace, we believe in the two-state solution
and anti-occupancy," insists Leicester-born British Jew Dr Samuel
Lebens.
 
Along with his Londoner wife Gaby, Samuel moved to the West Bank from
the UK in winter 2009. They now live with their two children in a
gated community in Alon Shvut, about 10 miles south west of Bethlehem.
 
Samuel is a modern Orthodox Jew, meaning he believes is it possible
for Jews to maintain Jewish law, ritual observance and customs while
embracing secular knowledge and modern ideas.
 
He is also an academic. He holds a PhD in metaphysics and logic from
the University of London and is chairman of the Association for the
Philosophy of Judaism. Politically, his views are left-wing.
 
"We were uncomfortable at first about coming to the West Bank. We came
here almost against our own principles," he said.
 
"The media stereotype of settler is racist, against two-state
solution, lawless, expansionist, extremist, but the reality is very
different."
 
Israel occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle
East War. To Israelis and religious Jews, the West Bank is known by
its Biblical name of Judea and Samaria.
 
Successive Israeli governments have built settlements there since
1968, for both strategic and ideological reasons.
 
Many settlers regard living there as fulfilling God's will, based on
God's promise in the Bible to give the land to the Jewish people.
Currently about 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements.
 
Settlements are considered illegal under international law, though
Israel disputes this.
 
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have broken down over
the issue of settlements. Palestinians demand a full Israeli
withdrawal from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which they want for
a future state.
 
Israel had indicated it is prepared to withdraw from some of the
settlements while retaining the larger settlement blocs in any final
peace deal.
 
"We didn't say to ourselves, we want to settle on the West Bank. We
looked at the best place to settle and this was it," he explains.
 
"We simply considered communities as a whole, based on their size,
population, amenities, shops, medical facilities and number of English
speakers."
 
Daniel, his wife and three children live in the Gush Eztion district,
which he describes as a suburb of Jerusalem, in a gated community of
about four or five other families in the sizeable village of Efrat.
 
He works for the world Mizrachi movement, which actively encourages
Jews around the world to make aliyah, the process of immigration to
"the land of Israel".
 
As a religious Zionist, he views his emigration to Israel as a
spiritual return and prays three times a day for God to return the
Jews to Zion, a synonym for the biblical land of Israel.
 
'Misconception of life'
But, like modern Orthodoxy, Daniel says religious Zionism also
embraces the secular world.
 
He continues: "There's a misconception of life in the settlements.
People are not aware of how close we are to 'civilisation'.
 
Daniel Cohen says practical reasons were behind his move
"About 90% of settlements are right on the border of the Green Line
[the 1949 armistice line]. It is relatively rare to find a hilltop
settlement.
 
"We don't see ourselves as any different to British Jews who have
moved to Jerusalem. I see myself as a citizen and resident of Israel.
I have not come here, gung-ho, to settle the land. I am living here
because it is a place to live."
 
Despite the fact that they are born out of disputed land, neither
Samuel nor Daniel feel threatened by life in the settlements.
 
Samuel says: "I don't carry a weapon and I don't feel unsafe, but
certainly places in occupied territories can be unsafe. Some towns
have had many infiltration incidents.
 
"We live in a gated community, but the terror threat is low. It is not
heavily armed and there's no feeling that we need to be.
 
"We shop and eat among Palestinians. We live in a relatively affluent
area for the West Bank. I wouldn't want to subject my children to
living in a dangerous area."
 
Samuel did however say the fact that some rockets had reached the West
Bank from Gaza during the conflict in November 2012 had done little to
allay their safety fears.
 
Security concern
Daniel, who also does not carry a weapon, insists he feels safer in
his gated community than in parts of England.
 
"In terms of security, it is here 24/7. We can't rest on our laurels
and say we are fine, it is in the back of my mind sometimes that
something horrible could happen, but that's the reality of living in
Israel and elsewhere in the modern world."
 
Samuel is now studying for his rabbinical ordination at Yeshivat Har
Etzion, and sees his future in either Israel or the West Bank.
 
He tells me he is likely to move away from the settlements and back to
the city in the coming years, although he does not believe he will
ever return to the UK.
 
"Israel needs people to contribute to civil society, and I feel a big
calling to be here. It is the home we prefer, marginally."

 Britons?
 
 
Oh, like in Chiantishire, more or less.
 
 

 scripte:
 
Perch� "ha scripte"?
-- 
Namib
.....
- God will take care of you. Whatever you need, God will give it to you.
- I need a shave. Am I next?
(Tom Kromer)

 Perch� "ha scripte"?
 
Ho rispolverato il vecchio 40titude che ha configurato diesel, le xface,
nonch� il template di risposta in Interlingua


Ehm, non ho capito un accidente; confesso la mia ignoranza in materia. 
In traduzione for dummies? ["Interlingua"?].
