A new internet site has been opened with the goal of pointing out the damage caused by the far-left Peace Now organization.
Aryeh King, a long-time activist on behalf of Jewish interests in eastern Jerusalem, has opened the new Hebrew-language website as part of his long-time struggle against the dangers of Peace Now. Peace Now was founded in 1978 on the basis of the belief that only the removal of all Jewish presence from Judea, Samaria and Gaza would lead to peace, and has ever since made it its goal to destroy all vestiges of Jewish life in those areas.
King is hoping to prepare an English version of the site as well.
The new website is replete with little-known details about Peace Now and its history, and tells the stories of the organization's founders: Education Minister Yuli Tamir, Eran Shendar (who was Israel's State Prosecutor until last week), Meretz MK Avshalom Vilan, and Attorney Tzali Reshef, the brother of nationally-known Army Radio broadcaster Rafi Reshef.
One section of the website includes the various legal cases that have been filed and opened against Peace Now members, including accusations of assault against Tel Aviv Municipality workers, stealing a caravan in the Binyamin area, contempt of court, false accusations against Rabbi Zalman Melamed of Beit El, and more.
"If it Can't be Sued, it Can't Sue"
Website founder King recently filed a suit against Peace Now based on Tzali Reshef's admission that the organization does not legally exist. In response to an earlier suit by King against Peace Now demanding an award for damages, Reshef said that Peace Now cannot be sued because it is not technically a legally-recognized association. King then countered with a suit demanding that Peace Now be erased from all the cases it itself brought against Jewish interests in Judea and Samaria.
"If it can't be sued, then it can't sue," King says. He expresses astonishment that the State Prosecution - headed until last week by Peace Now co-founder Eran Shendar - never "realized" that the many court suits filed over the years by Peace Now were illegal.
"How can it be," King asks in his latest suit, "that no one in the State Prosecution, over the course of many years and dozens of court suits and petitions by Peace Now, ever noticed that Reshef himself said that Peace Now cannot be recognized as a legal association that can sue and be sued?"
King's new site invites all those who feel they have been harmed by Peace Now or its members to submit their stories and reveal relevant documents. A warning reminds would-be submitters not to include information that may serve Peace Now in its efforts to close down the new site.
King writes that his new website has three objectives: "To reveal the truth regarding the radical organization known as Peace Now; to enable mutual help among those who have been hurt by Peace Now in sharing information and the like; and to encourage judicial and other legal actions against Peace Now and its activists."
Bedein: Peace Now "Spying on Israel" in the Service of Foreign Countries
An often-forgotten tidbit that appears on the site is the fact that Peace Now was funded to the tune of nearly two million shekels by European Union countries in 2003 - including from the Foreign Ministries of Great Britain and Norway - as well as another 1.75 million in 2005. In later years, reports independent researcher David Bedein, other EU countries joined in the funding, which was reached a total of five million shekels ($1.25 million) in 2006.
Britain and Norway are fundamentally opposed to the existence of Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, thus the money they give Peace Now invariably serves those governments' foreign policy interests. Bedein reports that Peace Now is thus "in effect spying on Israel for foreign governments," as its surveillance activities cover not only Israeli communities, but also military installations belonging to the IDF.
The new site also informs its readers that Reshef is the Director-General of the Erldan Company, which has built in the past in Gilo and French Hill - areas that were liberated from Jordan in the Six Day War. Similarly, Peace Now co-founder MK Vilan is a "settler since the day he was born," the site tells us, as he was born and lives in Kibbutz Negba - on lands formerly occupied by two Arab villages, Biet Afa and Abdis.