Nitzanit Riklin has become the first woman to join the ongoing hunger strike against the demolition of Israeli homes in Judea and Samaria.
Hunger strikers are calling on the government to pass the Regulation Law, which would protect legally built homes in established Israeli communities from destruction. Demolitions ordered by the Supreme Court have been based on rulings that the homes are built on land owned by Palestinian Authority Arabs, although this is disputed and if not, the option of monetary compensation for bona fide errors in land registration has not been utilized.
“It wasn’t a hard decision to make,” Riklin told Arutz Sheva. “On the day the Supreme Court decided not to accept Migron’s agreement with the state I proposed a hunger strike, and as soon as I saw a hunger strike forming, I joined in.”
“I hope more women will join me,” she added. “I hope that the protest will gain momentum and the Regulation Law will pass.”
Tel Aviv University sits on privately owned Arab land, she said. If the state wants to protect buildings, there are legal ways to do so, she argued, adding, “We are people who live by the law.”
One challenge for Jewish hunger strikers is deciding what to do on the Sabbath. “From a halakhic (Jewish legal) prospective, we have to enjoy the Sabbath,” said Riklin. “On the other hand, eating is not something I would enjoy today.” Fasting, except for Yom Kippur, is not allowed on the Sabbath.
Palestinian Authority terrorists imprisoned in Israel recently won concessions from Israel after a weeks-long hunger strike.