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| 2 US Jewish women get 10-year ban from Israel for entering IDF zone to aid Palestinian olive harvest |
| 2025-11-03 |
| [IsraelTimes] Two American Jewish women who entered a closed military zone in the West Bank to help Palestinian olive growers with their harvest have been banned from Israel for 10 years. They had been deported over the incident. The women were detained on Wednesday for entering a closed military zone imposed by the IDF over the Palestinian village of Burin on October 29, the same day the women and nine other activists went to volunteer picking olives. They were held in the Givon Prison in Ramle and were deported on Friday. The two women, one an 18-year old and the other in her 50s, were participating in a project run by the Rabbis For Human Rights organization to help Palestinians harvest their olives. The program aims to show solidarity with Palestinians in the face of violence by extremist settlers, which has erupted in the West Bank since the olive harvest season began in mid-October. During a hearing at the Detention Review Tribunal at Givon Prison, the judge noted that both women were accused of violating a military order and not obeying instructions from security forces. Democrats MK Gilad Kariv, the chairman of the Knesset Diaspora Affairs Committee, described the 10-year ban against the women as “outrageous,” and said he intends to hold a hearing in his committee on the issue and summon the relevant officials to explain the decision. “Beyond the injustice, this does direct harm to Israel’s relationship with Diaspora Jewry, and harms the legitimacy of liberal-Zionist worldviews,” said Kariv, a left-wing lawmaker. Director of Rabbis for Human Rights Avi Dabush says it is “anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish to ban Jews from Israel,” and insisted that his organization’s activities are non-violent and law-abiding. “Two Jewish women came to Israel with with Zionist values and for Zionist purposes, How does picking Arab olives help Jews return to Israel? Would not helping the poor in Israel be more to the point? and to help people in distress, and the outcome is really crazy,” says Dabush. “The fact that the police don’t stop the Jewish terrorists working against us and the Palestinian olive growers is also very frustrating.”According to Wikipedia, Rabbis for Human Rights was founded in 1988, has received funding from the EU, Spain, and the UK, and since 2002 has sent activists to protect the Arab olive harvest at the request of a Palestinian peace activist — which means the PLO. Of their membership, something like 100 are rabbis or rabbinic students, which is not impressive. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
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| Posted by: trailing wife 2025-11-03 21:06 |
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| Posted by: Clem Shiper4283 2025-11-03 18:04 |
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| Posted by: Besoeker 2025-11-03 05:06 |
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| Posted by: Catman Deux 2025-11-03 04:08 |
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| Posted by: Catman Deux 2025-11-03 03:25 |