Page 6 - Iton 12

Political Activism by Educational Movements:
Our concerns, and steps taken to avoid being tainted by the process
Sarah Michaels Levy, July 24, 2009

Bibi Netanyahu has been attempting to push through a drastic land reform bill without any public
(or even Knesset) discourse. Regardless of social/political views, all agree that if this reform passes,
it will have tremendous ramifications on all of Israeli society and all Diaspora Jews. Recognizing
this, the blue-shirt movements, starting with Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed (NOAL), quickly
formed a new NGO to fight this process. This NGO is called The Coalition against Land
Privatization in Israel, and its aim is to bring about an end to any type of land ownership transfer
from governmental to private hands by increasing pressure in three areas: legislative, political,
and public opinion.

This issue has brought together very strange bedfellows. The Coalition itself contains both official
and unofficial members, primarily because of this unusual and heretofore unknown grouping. [In
the Habonim Dror Olami mazkirut, we decided to stand firmly in favor of the Coalition and all its
efforts, but to not officially join it. However, members of the Tnuat Bogrim, as well as Silvio, have
been active in taking part in the struggle against the reform.] The backbone of the Coalition is
NOAL, both financially and strategically, joined by the other blue shirt movements: Machanot
Haolim, Hashomer Hatzair, and the Habonim Dror Tnuat Bogrim.

We (the blue-shirt movements) oppose the land privatization since this bill essentially allows the
theft of an asset that currently belongs to the public and sells it to the wealthy few, further
cementing the stronghold that the wealthiest class has on all areas of Israeli policy, and
preventing the majority of citizens from being able to shape their own society. We also oppose it
as part of our concern for Diaspora Jewry – the Law of Return will become moot if the
government abdicates its responsibility to ensure that there is a physical place to house Jews from
around the world seeking refuge. The Coalition also includes Teva Ivri (Hebrew Nature), a Jewish
environmental group that opposes the reform because they know that land development by
private investors will mean destruction of natural habitats and open spaces in Israel. The Bayit
Yehudi (Jewish Home) party is also (unofficially) involved; they are religious Zionists who believe
in Greater Israel (settlement movement) and are against the land reform because of the biblical
prohibition against permanent land sale in Israel (the jubilee, or yovel). There are about twenty
other groups in the Coalition, but the last one I will mention here, to generally round out the
range of opinions within the Coalition, is Professors for a Strong Israel (PSI), a group of Israeli
professors who believe in a Jewish Greater Israel and also want Israel to adopt a free-market
economy. They oppose the land privatization out of a concern that Israel’s enemies will buy up
Israeli lands and thereby threaten Israel’s existence.

How can we safeguard that we will not compromise our beliefs as part of this coalition?
During a discussion among Coalition members about creating an event that would draw public
attention to the land reform issue, excitement in the room became tangible as a collective mental
picture started to form of large billboards across Israel containing photos of blue-shirt movement