28.12.11

Retail and cellular baron Rami Levi teamed up with the Mega Or company and has won a tender to build the first shopping center in Ariel.

Levi and Mega Or offered NIS 7.3 million for the land, including development costs of NIS 2.9 million. Theirs was the only bid, but even so, they offered almost double the minimum bid set by the Israel Lands Administration.

The two-story shopping center will be built at the western entrance to Ariel, on Sderot Yerushalayim Road. (Nimrod Bousso )

12/27/11

“Palestinians and settlers are potential allies,” Jerusalem-born attorney Kamal Nawash tells ‘Post’ after improbable confab.

The Ariel University Center of Samaria was the unlikely setting Monday for an even unlikelier assemblage of participants in the second “Best Plans for a Peaceful Israel/Palestine” conference.

The event featured three Israeli and three Palestinian speakers, each of whom made his case for an alternative formula to the 18-year Oslo peace process that has brought neither a diplomatic nor a security solution to the conflict. The conference was scheduled as a follow-up to last month’s first “Best Plans” conference at east Jerusalem’s Ambassador Hotel.

Most of the attendees at Monday’s event were students at Ariel University Center (AUC), many wearing skullcaps and most expressing opinions that placed them on the Right. Also in attendance, however, were a smattering of Israeli Arab students at AUC and some two dozen Palestinians who had traveled from the West Bank.

“Some of our visitors were surprised to see we have hundreds of Arab students here from both sides of the Green Line,” said AUC Chancellor Yigal Cohen-Orgad. “We hope to have many more.”

AUC was founded in 1982 as the College of Judea and Samaria, a branch of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan.

Since then it has grown into Israel’s largest public college, with an enrollment of 14,000 students (by comparison, Ariel’s entire population is 17,000). In 2004 it broke with Bar-Ilan and tried to receive certification as a university, but its initial accreditation by the Council of Higher Education was later overturned and remains an unresolved issue.

AUC has also been a flashpoint of controversy for Israelis opposed to settlements over the pre-1967 Green Line, and early this year close to 150 Israeli academics announced they were boycotting the institution, whose very existence they described as an impediment to peace.

The star of Monday’s event was Kamal Nawash, a Jerusalem-born, New Orleans-raised attorney who founded the organization Free Muslims Coalition in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Based in Washington, the coalition is an anti-extremist organization dedicated to strengthening Muslim voices against terrorism. Much of its recent work, however, has focused not on Islamic extremism per se but on the loaded political issue emanating from the Middle East: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On Monday, Nawash took the podium sporting a keffiyeh-patterned scarf bearing an emblem of Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock and an outline of Mandatory Palestine.

“I’m going to put this on because it’s part of my identity,” he told the crowd to scattered applause. “I hope you can feel comfortable with that.”

Nawash then proceeded to outline his peace plan, which forgoes partition in favor of an Israel-Palestine confederation as two provinces within a single state.

Nawash said Israelis and Palestinians need to be honest with one another if they ever hope to achieve peace.

“For many of you, Israel includes not only the lands of 1948, but what you call Judea and Samaria and we call the West Bank,” he said. “For the vast majority of Palestinians, Palestine includes all the lands of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.”

Nawash said he understands Jews have a historical, spiritual and emotional connection to the Land of Israel.

“I can understand you love this place,” he said. “But you have to accept my right to live anywhere in Israel-Palestine just like I accept yours.”

Nawash said his plan is predicated on the free movement of labor and people.

“All settlements stay where they are, and Jews can even build more of them – as long as you buy the land and don’t just take it. Palestinians will be able to do the same,” he said. “Jerusalem becomes no big deal because its the capital of the country. Jews would be able to build anywhere in the city; same with Palestinians.”

Audience reaction was mixed, with some applauding at the idea of unrestricted Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria. Others, however, accused Nawash of either deliberate obfuscation or naivete in whitewashing historical Arab hostility to any Jewish presence whatsoever in the Holy Land.

Tsvi Misinai is an Israeli researcher who espouses the controversial view that most Palestinians are actually descendants of Jews from the Second Temple period. Palestinians, he said, should be educated on their own Jewish history and assimilated into the Jewish nation-state.

The remarks were met with derision by the Palestinians in attendance – most of whom had sat impassively for much of the event. One female Israeli Arab student lashed out at Misinai for what she dismissed as baseless conclusions.

At the end of the event a vote was held to select which of the proposals the audience deemed most practicable.

Surprisingly, two plans – those offered by the settlement activist David Ish- Shalom and architect Yosseph Harel Naim – appeared to win a majority of support among both Israelis and Palestinians (voters were asked simply whether the plans were preferable to the status quo or not).

Ish-Shalom – a prominent left-wing activist in the 1970s and ’80s who shifted to the Right after the outbreak of the second intifada – argued for a Jewish state from the Jordan River to Mediterranean Sea in which Arabs professing loyalty would be given citizenship after an unspecified amount of time.

Naim’s plan envisioned a two-state confederation of Israel and Palestine with Jerusalem as a shared capital.

“Most people see us as natural enemies, but I see Palestinians and settlers in the West Bank as potentially the best allies,” Nawash told The Jerusalem Post on the conference sidelines. “We know what settlers want – they want to stay here. The Palestinians want equality and a better life.

“I’m saying to settlers, ‘You love this place? That’s fine, I do, too,” he said. “You fight for my right over all of Israel-Palestine and I’ll fight for yours over all of Palestine-Israel – it’s that simple.”

JERUSALEM, Israel — U.S. dignitaries frequently visit Israel. But one recent congressional delegation went where none had gone before.

Five U.S. congressmen and their wives traveled to Israel for an official visit across what’s been known as the “green line.”

This congressional tour is the first delegation of U.S. congressmen to visit Judea and Samaria, Israel’s biblical heartland.

And it happened despite a long-standing State Department policy to avoid these areas.

Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman (click to watch video)

“This is a breakthrough day,” Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman said. Nachman said he believes that policy is shortsighted.

“They say ‘no,’ you cannot go over the green line. Here is reality. Don’t you want to see, to understand? And then they make mistakes and failures. Unless you come, you don’t understand,” Nachman explained.

A Whole New Perspective

Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., who led the delegation, told CBN News this personal visit brought a whole new perspective.

“When you call it the West Bank, for example, that’s the biggest misnomer in the world because people back home can picture this as some bank of a river when you pushed people out,” Forbes said.

“Really when you look at all these developments and what they are, (it) is no different than what we have in the United States, where individuals have communities and villages and towns, where there are real people,” he said.

“They’re not just lines on a map that somebody can move around anywhere they want to move them,” he added.

The group traced the same path Abraham took 4,000 years ago. They visited Shiloh, site of the First Tabernacle, and planted vines in the hills of Samaria just as the Bible prophesies.

Rep Louie Gohmert

“It’s been fabulous, and for somebody like me who grew up (and) my earliest stories I heard were Bible stories and then to see the things, the places where all those things took place,” Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said.

“At the same time (it’s) troubling because you know the disputes between those who want to divide Israel out of this region,” Gohmert said. “Clearly, Israelis have thousands and thousands of years of history here.”

Startup Companies in Samaria

The delegation also attended a summit highlighting startup companies in Samaria.

“We’re going in, we’re looking in places like Ariel where it’s just amazing what’s taking place there benefiting both Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said.

The congressmen hope to turn this experience into legislative action and a deeper appreciation of Israel’s situation.

“What I’m going to be taking back from Israel is that Israel is a small country and a very vulnerable country,” Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., said. “Israel needs the support of countries from all over the world, including the United States.”

“I think it’s really important that the elected officials in America, not just in Congress, but also in the White House, know that there’s a special role for the countries that support Israel,” he said. “So the U.S. needs to be with the program, you might say.”

Israel National News – A conference titled “The Other Faces of Domestic Violence” that was held at Ariel University Center Monday was an unusually dramatic one, as academic conferences go.

Several fathers who have been unable to see their children for protracted periods of time because of spurious complaints of violence lodged against them by ex-wives told their wrenching stories. One father barely managed to hold back his tears as he told of a young son he has not seen for eight years.

Introduced by MK Alex Miller (Yisrael Beitenu), Head of the Knesset’s Education Committee, and by the dean of AUC’s School of Sociology, Prof. Yisrael Nebentzal, the conference coincided with a week in which the Knesset and women’s organizations mark the UN’s “International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.”

It featured speakers on the variety of topics that fall under the heading of domestic violence, or intimate partner violence – including violence against children, violence against men, and violence against the elderly – as well as violence against women.

Prof. Ben-David, Dr. Hagit Bonny-Noach and Dr. Inna Levy, all of AUC’s Criminology Dept., went so far as to describe a “demonization” of men in modern Israeli culture that they compared to a “witch hunt” mentality.

The audience at AUC’s packed Ra’ab Auditorium heard data according to which Israel is a world leader in the percentage of parents – almost exclusively fathers – who are made to see their children under strict supervision in so-called “visitation centers.” According to the data, which relies on information published by the Ministry of Welfare, a whopping 25% to 33% of children in divorce cases that involve social workers’ intervention are sent to “visitation centers” to see one of their parents instead of meeting them in a natural environment..

The periods of time in which a parent sees his children only in “visitation centers” can last months or years, and parents who have undergone this experience say that it is an excruciating one, which can wind up damaging the parent-child relationship for good.

One of the speakers was Lt. Col Orna Nachmani Arazi, Head of the Police’s Department for Victims of Crime, which is in charge of domestic violence investigations. In the course of her lecture, a father who is prevented from seeing his daughter rose from his seat in the audience and accused the police of bias. In response, Arazi she told him that his was “an unusual case” and defended the police’s policy of automatically seeing the woman as victim in cases of alleged domestic violence.

]]> http://eyesonariel.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/first-ever-domestic-violence-conference-held-at-ariel-university-center/feed/ 0 cityofariel logo img304629 screen-capture-3 http://eyesonariel.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/hubble-telescope-engineer-volunteers-at-ariel-university/ http://eyesonariel.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/hubble-telescope-engineer-volunteers-at-ariel-university/#comments Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:15:15 +0000 City of Ariel http://eyesonariel.wordpress.com/?p=1016 ]]> Randy Billingham, who worked on corrective optic for the Hubble Space Telescope, volunteers to teach at Samaria university.

Randy Billingham with student

Arutz Sheva – The Ariel University Center (AUC) continues to attract volunteers from abroad who see bolstering the academic institution as a personal mission. This year AUC is hosting a highly qualified electrical engineer from the USA, with 30 years of experience in the field, as a volunteer teacher.

Randy Billingham of Iowa, who will be volunteering for the entire school year, was part of a team that worked on corrective optic for the Hubble Space Telescope. Randy says it was like fitting a new pair of glasses on the telescope.

Randy and his wife and son have all come to live in Ariel for this school year mainly so his wife, Mary, and son, Jason, can be a part of a special External Studies Modern Hebrew and Jewish Heritage program for non Jews from other countries. This one year program is organized by Heartland Studies – chaired by Kobi Pinhasov – in conjunction with AUC.

Graduate student and undergraduate lab instructor, Eldad Holdengreber, said that the students are already benefiting from Randy’s expertise and knowledge, and that the guest lecturer “is providing new information as well as reinforcing the knowledge they already have.” Eldad also said that while they have had advisors from other countries it is very unique to have a volunteer for an entire year. Students praised Randy for helping them understand “the smaller goals needed in order to complete their major project.”

AUC’s engineering program has students focusing on Electrical Engineering and Electronics, Industrial Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics (robotics), Civil Engineering, and Materials Science. The four areas that Randy is helping with include: mechanical, electrical, software, and project management.

On Sunday, it plans to propose the bill to the Ministerial Committee on Legislation.

If it becomes law, the government will be required to approve new building each year in Ma’aleh Adumim, Betar Illit, Ariel, Modi’in Illit, Alfei Menashe, Efrat, Karnei Shomron, Beit Aryeh, Oranit and Kiryat Arba.

National Union chairman Ya’acov Katz told The Jerusalem Post that this is the kind of legislation the Likud party headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should support.

“We are not talking about unlimited construction, we are talking about building to accommodate for the natural growth of these communities,” Katz said.

In lobbying for the bill, the National Union found that while many cabinet ministers supported it ideologically, they would not be willing to vote for it unless it had the prime minister’s support.

Netanyahu’s office did not comment on the legislation. But a political source told the Post the government was unlikely to support it.

Another political source said that the ministers should pay attention to the voters, and not to the prime minister.

Netanyahu’s term does not expire until October 2013. But his opponents on the Right have put in place a strategy to propose legislation that is unlikely to pass, but that creates a voting record on issues that will be part of the next national poll.

In the next election, the source said, these same ministers will have to explain to their right-wing constituencies why they did not support this kind of legislation.

From Hebron to Ariel, US Republican lawmakers take rare drive across Green Line to see for themselves what life in W. Bank settlements is all about.

Jerusalem Post – From Hebron to Ariel, five Republican US Congressmen recently took a rare drive across the Green Line to see for themselves what life in West Bank settlements is all about.

They watched a dance performance, tasted wine, and stood on the hilltop overlooking Nablus, to get a view of Joseph’s Tomb.

Where the Palestinians see “occupation” and “illegal” Israeli activity, these proud supporters of the Jewish state saw biblical stones and newly built apartment buildings.

“Settlements is a misnomer. We are talking about cities, towns, families and communities,” US Representative Randy Forbes of Virginia explained as he spoke with The Jerusalem Post at a hotel in the capital at the end of the eight-day trip.

A delegation of Republican congressmen who strongly support Israel and stand behind many of its policies is hardly an unusual sight.

Like many who have come before, they shook hands with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and visited the Western Wall.

But in an unusual move, they veered from the well-worn diplomatic path, to see some of the spots at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Noam Arnon, spokesman for the Jewish Community of Hebron, said this was the first time he knew of that a delegation like this had ever come to see the Jewish sites in his city and to speak with residents there.

“They will now be strong and knowledgeable ambassadors for Israel, even more than our own,” said Naftali Bennett, the director-general of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, who spent time with the delegation.

Their fact-finding mission last week was kept under wraps until they left the country at the start of this week.

It was important to go beyond the media images of the country, Forbes said as he sat in a suit, with a view of the Temple Mount behind him.

Very few Americans even knew what the West Bank was, he said.

“When you talk about it, they think you mean the Western side of some river that is moving through the Middle East,” he said.

It was always important, he said, to see the geography of a place. But that was particularly true in Israel, given its small size. If there were a military attack, “you have seconds to respond, we have hours,” he said.

“It is a big difference, and it changes the way you think of security,” he said.

He said he didn’t want to dictate to Israel the terms of a two-state solution or what its borders should be. But any final-status agreement must guarantee Israel’s security.

“If Israel would ask,” he said, “I would say, not at the 1967 line.

“That would be a mistake,” Forbes said and added that he did not believe Israel could defend itself, if the pre-1967 lines became the border.

Israel should not compromise its security needs in an effort to jumpstart the peace talks with the Palestinians, he said.

“It may create long-term instability,” he warned.

Nor does he believe that the US should insist on a freeze of settlement activity.

While in Ariel, he said, he heard how the city had been harmed by the lack of construction.

Forbes was ]struck by the fact that Palestinians in the West Bank could build, while Jews struggled for permits.

He also had strong statements to make about Jerusalem. The US should move its embassy from Tel Aviv to the capital, Forbes said.

“We should not tell the people of Israel where to put their capital.

Once they have decided that Jerusalem should be their capital, I think it is important that our embassy should be in their capital and I would support that move,” he said.

His support for the Jewish state, which he visited for the first time in 2001, stretched back to his childhood, he explained.

As a college student, Forbes was so intrigued by Israel that he wrote his senior thesis on the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Already then, he said, he understood Israel’s significance to the Western world, as both a democratic nation in the Middle East and a strong American ally.

“My conclusion has only been solidified over the years,” he said.

Israel has strong support among Christian Americans like himself, said Forbes.

Christian Americans can be more supportive than many American Jews, he said.

He is touched by the land’s religious history.

“You can not walk on this land without thinking about the people who walked here 4,000 years ago,” he said.

But he was equally moved by modern-day Israel.

When they were in Ariel, they listened to a children’s choir. As they sang, he thought of the daily risks people take to live in Israel.

While in Israel last week, Forbes and the other members of his delegation – Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, John Fleming of Louisiana, Doug Lamborn of Colorado and Louie Gohmert of Texas – also visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and a Palestinian refugee camp in that city.

But their main focus was learning about Israel. During the trip, which was organized by the America Israel Education Association, the congressmen toured the aerospace and defense industries, and met with top officials such as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.

Forbes would not divulge the content of his talks with the Israeli leaders, but he did give his position on a number of policy issues in the headlines.

He is among those Republicans who support freezing US funding to the Palestinian Authority as long as it continues to support incitement, particularly in educational material. It also needs to stop the portrayal of suicide bombers as martyrs, he said.

The PA needs to show proof, beyond words, “that they are not using those funds to create propaganda for terror activity and hatred toward Israel or any other nation.

“We can’t mandate that it be stopped, but we say we won’t fund it,” he said.

As long as this kind of indoctrination continues, “you will never have successful negotiations” between the PA and Israel, he said.

US financial support for the United Nations should also be reduced, Forbes said.

His position here has little to do with the Palestinian pursuit of statehood at the UN without negotiating with Israel.

The UN had to do a better job of being accountable for its spending, he said. “I want a full accounting of what we are giving and where those dollars are going.”

Turning to the issue of US President Barack Obama’s relationship to Israel, Forbes said the Democratic leader could do a better job.

“The president’s relationship as it has been expressed in gestures and in words toward Israel has not been the relationship that I would support,” said Forbes.

In light of the dangers facing Israel, particularly from Iran, “it is important that we leave no lack of clarity in our resolve to stand with Israel in its defense,” he said.

This is an issue that goes beyond assuring the Israeli public that the US stands behind it, he added.

“When you have a president who, whether intentionally or unintentionally succeeds in confusing that message over and over again, it is a dangerous place to be both for the US and for Israel and for peace throughout the world,” he said.

“That is why it is important that our president and our political leaders be very clear in defining our [foreign] relationships and the stand the US will take in certain situation,” he said.

Forbes spoke very clearly of the dangers to Israel, the US and the world of Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The international community must unite to impose strong sanctions on Iran, such as targeting its central bank and prohibiting the export to Iran of refined petroleum products.

“We need a unified resolve on a worldwide basis when it comes to Iran,” he said. “Iran it is not an Israeli problem, or a US problem. It is a worldwide problem.”

When it comes to a military strike, the option should be on the table, but not talked about or spelled out.

“The military option needs to be on the table, but not discussed,” Forbes said.

Arutz Sheva – Two students who recently made aliyah to Israel, each from a different country, were married 5:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon at the Ariel University Center.

Igor Kachalov from Ukraine is now Peretz Kachalov since making aliyah, and Alyona Stelmachenko from Russia became Ruth Stelamchenko. Both Peretz and Ruth completed a four-month special study program at Ariel University sponsored by Masa, a program that helps students to build a life-long relationship with Israel and a firm commitment to Jewish life.

During their semester at Ariel University Center they not only learned about their Jewish Heritage, but met each other and decided on a life together as citizens of Israel.

After the completion of their course a few months ago, each returned to their home countries to complete the process for aliyah and prepare for marriage. They decided that since they would be living their married life in Israel and because AUC and the Masa course was so meaningful, they would be married on the campus where they first met.

The wedding was preceded by a graduation ceremony for another Masa class. One notable piece of music performed was composed by Evgeny Chubara, a current student from the Republic of Moldova, as an anthem for the city of Ariel. The words of the chorus are: “Ariel, may your heart be brave and your people safe forever.”

The wedding was conducted by Rabbi Shalom Zadok, Chief Rabbi of Ariel, and Amos Tzuviel, Manager of the Jewish Council of Ariel. Following the blessings, singing, and the bridegroom’s breaking of the fourth wine glass, a great cry of rejoicing went up from the hundreds witnessing the occasion as Peretz and Ruth became a married couple.

The Masa Program brings 100 to 120 Jews from the former Soviet Union to Israel two times a year for a total of eight months. Since the program began 160 of the graduates have made aliyah.

Ariel University Center is located in the largest Samaria settlement of Ariel, with a student population of 12,000 and with majors in engineering, communications, architecture, and more.

Press release – 11/14/11

Five U.S. Congressmen Venture into Uncharted Territory

SAMARIA, ISRAEL – On November 9th five Congressmen ventured into otherwise uncharted territory by traditional diplomatic delegations to Israel. A strong affinity to Israel and genuine frustration with the repetitive and fatal failures of peace plans and processes drove these American leaders to take a fresh look and Israel’s heartland.

The historic visit began with a bus tour led by Mayor Ron Nachman along the Trans-Samaria highway, where the delegates learned about Israel’s narrow waste line, security needs and strategic provisions. At the Ariel and Barkan Industrial Parks Mayor Nachman discussed co-existence, the 4,000 Arabs employed at the factories and the indiscriminate boycotts imposed by the Palestinian Authority and European Union on products from the factories. Mayor Nachman also showed the group the layout of the Ariel Bloc of communities, and the short distance from the Tel Aviv Coastal Plain.

The Congressmen learned about Judeo-Christian teamwork and at Israel’s primary outdoor training facility, the Ariel National Leadership Development Center. From there the group proceeded to the Ariel Regional Center for the Performing Arts, where they enjoyed a private performance by Ariel’s young singers and internationally renowned dancers.

Mayor Ron Nachman

Before travelling north, the visit to Ariel culminated with the inaugural Samaria Summit luncheon, where municipal leaders, industrialists, business-people and professional athletes from across Samaria and the Jordan Valley gathered to discuss issues of relevance. Lior Shachory, CEO of the Ariel based Incentive Technology Incubator presented some of the R&D at the award winning center, whereas Eldad Halachmi, VP at Ariel University Center, made reference to U.S. State Department boycotts of R&D funding for academic research due to Ariel’s location beyond the green line. The Samaria Summit was the first time that a Congressional delegation engaged face to face with the geo-political realities in one of the most media-covered regions in the world.

Rep. Randy Forbes (R -VA-4th) addressed the Summit by stating his unwavering support for Israel’s peace and security. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO-5th) discussed Israel’s inherent value and the commitment of the Congressional Republican Israel Caucus and the Israel Allies Caucus which he co-chairs. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX-1st), who is known for his instrumental role in arranging for Prime Minister to deliver his acclaimed speech to both houses of Congress in May, 2011, explained how Israel cannot sacrifice its own security by relinquishing land to those who are committed to its destruction. They were joined by Congressman John Fleming (R-LA-4th) and Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH-4th), who shared the sentiments of their colleagues. They were accompanied by Ruth Lieberman and Enia Krivine of the International Israel Allies Caucus during their stay in Israel.

The travels through Samaria included a stop at Joseph’s Tomb Overlook, where David Ha’Ivri of the Samaria Regional Council Liaison Office explained the discrepancies between popular rhetoric concerning the status of Arabs living in Nablus with the unfortunate circumstances presented by the Palestinian Authority which prevents refugees under their jurisdiction from improving their quality of life.

Following an examination of the difficulties that Jews are faced with in attempt to worship at their Holy sites, Ha’Ivri introduced the delegates to Rabbi Eliezer Melamed. The congressmen were pleasantly surprised to discover that Rabbi Melamed had recently publicized an article which encourages Israelis to be welcoming rather than suspicious of Christians who choose to support Israel. The group then proceeded to the vineyards in the community of Har Bracha, where they met with the Director of the Samaria Regional Council Gershon Mesika. Tommy Waller and the Christian volunteers from across the US who accompany him in the fields of Samaria greeted the group with some of their original music.

Following a visit to the site of the Tabernacle in Shilo where they were guided by Eve Harow, the delegation had dinner at the Psagot Winery. Yesha Council CEO Naftali Bennet delivered concluding remarks following the previous day’s visit to Gush Etzion and their short stay in Samaria. He challenged the MOC’s both to change the anti-Israel rhetoric prevalent in the media by describing the realities that they encountered and to help their colleagues and constituents understand that the Iranian nuclear program is not merely a threat to Israel but a threat to the free world.

The 2011 Congressional Initiative was arranged by Heather Johnston, who identified the need for America’s leading Congressmen to become familiar with Judea and Samaria and develop ties with Members of Knesset. Each of the delegates was thoroughly appreciative of this groundbreaking educational experience.

It is located on “disputed territory” and many of its students are “settlers.” So why do Arab students like Ariel University too?

Arutz Sheva– The largest Jewish community in Samaria, Ariel, has a population of 20,000 – but this number increased by about 50% Sunday as 12,000 students from all over Israel began their studies for the fall and winter term at the Ariel University Center (AUC). The university center is very well known for its engineering, communications, and architecture schools, among others.

Students were busy finding their classrooms, learning about their schedules and chatting with friends whom they had not seen for a while. The atmosphere was alive with excitement and expectation.