TORONTO — The Israeli government is implicitly encouraging Jews to leave the West Bank by cutting vital security services, charges a Jewish resident of Shilo.
Marc Prowisor
Cuts have been so extensive that many Jewish settlements have had their security apparatus compromised, said Marc Prowisor in an interview. He was here recently to speak at Shaarei Tefillah Synagogue, having been invited to Toronto by a friend, Rabbi Gedalia Zweig.
Prowisor, a 46-year-old American immigrant who made aliyah in 1978, lives in Shilo, a settlement of 285 families about 45 kilometres north of Jerusalem.
Originally from Philadelphia, he is the security projects director of One Israel Fund of America, which supports Jewish settlers in the West Bank, captured by Israel in the Six Day War.
Now a reservist in an infantry unit, and formerly a paratrooper in the Israeli army, Prowisor oversees security projects for the One Israel Fund in the West Bank and the western Negev region. From 1996 to 2006, he was the chief army security co-ordinator for the Shilo area, which lies between the Palestinian towns of Ramallah and Nablus.
An Orthodox Jew, he said that Israel has reduced the budget for communication equipment, maintenance of security vehicles and subsidies for rock-proofing windshields on cars and trucks. The government has also curtailed training for community defence.
“They’re doing this to encourage the migration of Jews from Judea and Samaria and to discourage new people from coming in,” he said.
In his judgment, these cuts jeopardize basic services that the government is duty-bound to maintain, regardless of politics, and endanger Jews.
According to Prowisor, the budgetary reductions, while potentially dangerous, have not caused an exodus from settlements, nor have they discouraged prospective settlers.
The cuts started when Ehud Olmert was prime minister and continue apace under Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu’s administration.
“I don’t trust politicians,” said Prowisor. “I see Bibi as a friend, but as a sincere friend I can only hope. Bibi wants to preserve his career. I’ve learned not to be surprised by what politicians do.”
He added, “We saw [Ariel] Sharon become a destroyer of settlements. Anything is possible.”
Prowisor said that the Shilo region – which contains 11 Jewish settlements and seven Arab villages and has a population of about 16,000 evenly divided among Jews and Arabs – has become increasingly volatile since the outbreak of the second intifadah in September 2000.
“We have stonings, Molotov cocktails and a few shootings in the Shilo area each day. Only a fraction of the incidents are reported in the press. Do people have to be hurt for something to be reported?”
In the past nine years, six Jewish residents of Shilo have been killed and many more have been wounded in terrorist attacks, he disclosed.
“Until 2000, our area was extremely quiet. This was coexistence, though we had our incidents. All this changed overnight. Today, it’s hostile and becoming more hostile.”
Claiming that Jewish settlements in the West Bank are part and parcel of Israel and the Jewish homeland, Prowisor said that the Israeli government must never give them up.
“It’s very important for Jews abroad, in the Diaspora, to come out to these communities and see what they are. They should understand our history in the area. We’re not these evil occupiers. I would like people to put themselves in our position.”
In an allusion to Israel and the Diaspora, he said, “We’re one people, and we have to start behaving that way. We have enough enemies.”
Asserting that a settlement freeze is a non-starter, Prowisor said, “It’s not human. How can you say to people, ‘Don’t grow.’”
Far from being “nut cases,” Jewish settlers are normal. “We work and we play. We have art and culture. Unfortunately, due to the media, the world doesn’t see us this way. We’re part of Israeli society. We’re one people. We’re not separate.”
Prowisor doubts that a two-state solution will ever see the light of day. “I don’t think it can happen. We’ll have to learn to live together, and that’ll bring about a solution.”
He regards the Palestinians as a “non-people.” As he put it, “The Arabs of Judea and Samaria are not a separate entity. They’re like the Arabs of the Galil.”
Asked if the Palestinians have a right to statehood, he replied, “That’s a loaded question. They should have a right to rule themselves within the framework of autonomy.”
He has no faith whatsoever in the mainstream Palestinian leadership. “If they were serious about peace, they would have accepted Olmert’s offer of 98 per cent of Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.”
He believes that a third, more violent Palestinian uprising is brewing. “Mentally, many people are prepared for it, though they’re not stockpiling weapons. The Arabs will be very, very sorry if they open up with a third intifadah.” When asked to elaborate, Prowisor said that the Israeli army will hit back hard.
Prowisor claims that U.S. President Barack Obama is naive. “I find it hard to believe that just because of Judea and Samaria, there is no peace in the Middle East. Things have been taken way out of proportion. Obama should leave us alone. We’ll manage. It’s embarrassing to think that people are so small-minded.”
