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Gabriel Boxer, a board member of American Friends of Judea and Samaria, spoke with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News about his decision to visit Israel precisely during this troubled time.
“I was here during the massacre,” he explains. “When we returned to America, I and my friends asked - what can we do? We have the war in Israel, antisemitism on the rise in America, so how can we help?”
The answer wasn't long in coming. “With the approval of the board, we quickly pivoted the organization and raised over one million shekels for much-needed tactical gear in just a few short days, got on the plane, and said, ‘We're going to Israel to help’.
‘Help’ turns out to be any number of things. ‘’People thank us just for being here. Business owners thank us for coming in when traffic is at an all-time low. We bring things from tactical gear to clothing and diapers to communities in Judea and Samaria and evacuated communities. What we've been hearing here from Knesset Members is that all of this is making a huge impact. We can't stop and don't want to.’’
Boxer is also using his visit to continue educating the public on the importance of Judea and Samaria. ‘’From the hilltops of Judea and Samaria, you can see all of central Israel. I always ask people - who do you want on those hilltops, Israel or Hamas? Israel or Hezbollah? The people living there are protecting all of Israel by keeping that territory in our hands, and that is why they need to be supported.’’
The recent revelation that Hamas had planned to extend the massacre to Judea and Samaria has put the entire region on high alert. ‘’These communities have so many babies, children, and women whose husbands are on reserve duty, and they are busy protecting themselves. They need all the help we can give them. They have also taken in many evacuees from both the north and south and brought them into their community. I was talking with the manager of the Eshel Council yesterday to try and make a list of humanitarian items, things we take for granted, to bring some kind of normalization to them. The MKs we met today were totally behind us and helped get us on the right track to help throughout Israel.’’
Click here to be part of the American Friends of Judea and Samaria.
Boxer may be leaving Israel, but he hopes to return soon. ‘’What I've learned from this visit is that we are home. We see rising antisemitism in the rest of the world as the truth comes out, we see riots - not protests, riots- and we see that it is not about Israel, but vile hatred towards the Jewish people. In Israel, we have a Jewish army and police to protect us. In America, while I support our politicians and government as much as possible, I have never felt safer than I do in Israel.’’
‘’Our message to the people in America is that our brethren need our support. Here, we are all together, and the unity and support that we have seen developing must continue.’’
Boxer also notes the need to push back against misinformation surrounding the war: “We need to keep sharing support with each other and to keep sharing facts with the outside world. The other side has such a media blitz of false narratives that we must fight back and be a light to the nations, getting out the truth and not being intimidated.”
Click here to be part of the American Friends of Judea and Samaria.