| sharkman | | Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2002 2:45 pm Post subject: group of new york jews weighs move to west bank (ramallah) |
| Jun. 10, 2002
Group of New York Jews weighs move to Ramallah area
By THE JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The World Zionist Organization has launched a program to encourage
immigration to Israel, and is assisting Jews who choose to do so to move to
communities in the West Bank, a statement says. Ezra Rosenfeld, a spokesman
for Judea and Samaria communities says that a group of up to 70 Orthodox
families from Monsey, New York, is considering moving to Kochav Ya'akov, a
settlement near Ramallah. "In principle, we are trying to encourage Jews to
settle in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza. This is part of our
ideology," Rosenfeld told The Associated Press. "They want to live in
Israel and for ideological reasons, and want to live in Kochav Ya'akov, and
they know where it is and in spite of - or maybe because of - where it is,
have decided to live there," he added. The newspaper Ma'ariv reported
Sunday that the WZO had launched a program specifically meant to settle
Jewish communities, along with their rabbis, in the West Bank. A group of
about 15 Peruvian families, some 100 people, immigrated recently to two
Judea and Samaria communities as part of this program. In a statement, the
organization said it was assisting congregations in finding homes wherever
they wanted, not necessarily in the West Bank. Some Jewish communities,
like one from France, have contacted the Council of Jewish Communities of
Judea, Samaria, and Gaza on their own, seeking assistance in settling in
the West Bank, Rosenfeld said. | |
