The High Ground at Chomesh

Thousands of Israelis ascended to the top of the hillside
that once hosted the West Bank settlement of
Chomesh. Today in the ruins of the city,
right wing activists and settlers gathered to listen to speakers and to protest
the Israeli government’s policy of disengagement and demand they be allowed to
rebuild the settlement there.

A young woman who asked to be identified as Sarah came to
Chomesh in 2005 to sit in solidarity with the families as they were
removed. She currently lives in the West
Bank settlement of Ariel.

“This is the heart of our land,” she said referring to the West
Bank. “It is sad to come
back today because we see this land sits empty.”

Chomesh was evacuated in 2005 along with four other
settlements in the West Bank and a number in Gaza
in an attempt to withdraw from these areas with the hope of facilitating a
peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Aaron Fischer and Yitz Levine, eighteen year old yeshiva
students from Atlanta and New
York, hitch hiked to Chomesh from Jerusalem
to participate in the day’s events.

Fischer acknowledged that the government gave the land to
the Palestinians in Gaza in hopes
of making peace but said that these measures had failed.

“The people down there,” he said pointing to the small
Palestinian village below as he stood on the top of the hill waving an Israeli
flag for the shepherds to see, “want all of us dead.

“We are the first front of in a war against extremism.”

This is the first protest at Homesh in the past two years
that the government of Israel
has sanctioned. With permission from the
government to protest also came heavy army protection for the activists.

Guy, a soldier doing his annual reserve duty, said that he
understands why the settlers come here.
He asked only to be identified by his first name.

“They feel this is their home,” he said. “I am happy to defend my country but I resent
putting my life on the line for these people.
Today, they slashed the tires on our jeeps because they are mad that we
pulled them out of this settlement two years ago. Tomorrow, when we have to force those who
spent the night to leave, they will fight against us.”