The 18-month old struggle to keep the Shdema ex-IDF army base in Jewish hands - the key to the Jewish development of southeastern Jerusalem - continues, thanks to the perservering pioneering spirit of youths from around the country.

Shdema is situated between south Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood (population: 15,000) and the eastern Gush Etzion towns of Nokdim and Tekoa. Located in what the Oslo Accords designated Area C, under full Israeli security and administrative control, it was a large army base that was abandoned by the IDF in late 2006.

The Arabs of nearby Beit Sahour and Bethlehem saw this as their opportunity to expand to the east, thus choking off the Jerusalem-Gush Etzion connection. In fact, rumors were soon substantiated that the Olmert government had agreed to turn the area into a Palestinian Authority hospital/neighborhood - despite the many other areas in the region that were already under PA control that could have been used for the same purpose.

At that point, local Jewish activists immediately got to work to stop the plans – and have not ceased since.

Nearly every Friday, activists led by The Committee for a Jewish Shdema and Women in Green have held lectures and other activities at the site. The army originally did not know how precisely to relate to them, and sometimes forcibly stopped and evicted them. Now, however, all activities are coordinated with the army, and the activists are allowed nearly a free hand – not including, however, permanent construction.

“We have met with government ministers and Knesset Members,” says Women in Green’s Nadia Matar, “and they have thanked us for our activities, which they acknowledge as having kept the hilltop from being given away – though illegal Arab construction still continues below. Retaining Shdema is also vital to ensure that the development of southern Jeruslem is not choked off.”

Though a court has rendered the Arab construction illegal, not only has it not been razed, it continues apace. Letters have been sent to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and MKs have promised to speak with him as well, asking him to order an end to the unauthorized and dangerous Arab expansion.

Har Homa Joins the Battle
The Har Homa neighborhood administration is particularly concerned about the possible loss of Shdema to Arab control. The administration notes that while there are government plans to develop Har Homa towards the west with thousands of new apartments, it is important that construction first develop towards the east – “with the goal of joining the Shdema camp in the southeast of the neighborhood.” The Har Homa administration says that “in order to achieve this important goal of Jewish settlement continuity and the maintenance of the demographic balance in greater Jerusalem,” the only option is to stop the the Arab expansion south of Har Homa and near Shdema.

Shdema Youth: Energetic and Dedicated
The backbone of the Shdema struggle is a dedicated, pro-active, informal group known as Shdema Youth. “Don’t follow the path, blaze it!” is their motto, as these energetic young people from around the country organize and encourage others to participate in various Shdema events. Realizing the importance of Shdema as a flagship for the struggle for the Land of Israel, they have intensified their activities in recent months with events, hikes, and building projects.

Among the activities were the following:

* During the month of Elul (two months ago), dozens of students from the Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav Kook "Yashlatz" high school took part in daily Selichot penitential prayer services at Shdema.

* This past Friday, students of the pre-military academy in Nokdim came to Shdema to hear a lecture by Brig-Gen. (res.) Yehuda Duvdevani in memory of the late Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi, murdered by Palestinian terrorists eight years ago this month.

* This past Sunday, the Shdema Youth hiked from Shdema to Herodion – a route that has barely ever been hiked, and they therefore made many “discoveries:” water wells, almond orchards, and hidden caves. “So far, there’s no water or electricity in Shdema,” organizers say, “so the discovery of nearby water sources is propitious for our future development plans.”

* On Monday of this week, young women from Midreshet Tohar in Yad Binyamin “visited” Shdema for several hours of painting, planting and cleaning. They also heard talks on the importance of their work and on the Matriarch Rachel, whose resting place in Bethlehem is just a few hilltops northwest of Shdema. At the same time, another group was there as well, helping to clean some of the trash from the area – and even recycling old tires into armchairs…

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