PROTEST THE DISCRIMINATORY DESTRUCTION OF HERO MAJOR ROI KLEIN'S HOME

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: AFSI <afsi@rcn.com>
Date: Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 1:41 PM
Subject: PROTEST THE DISCRIMINATORY DESTRUCTION OF HERO MAJOR ROI KLEIN'S HOME
To: afsi@rcn.com

 

1751 Second Ave, New York, NY 10128

Tel: 212-828-2424; Fax: 212-828-1717; afsi@rcn.com; www.afsi.org

Contact: Helen Freedman, Executive Director

Feb. 19, 2010

 

            Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI featured a front –page report in its February 2010 OUTPOST, entitled, SAVE ROI KLEIN'S HOME. In the article, it was explained that  Major Roi Klein had thrown himself on a live grenade during the 2006 Lebanon war in order to save his men. Although Major Klein has been honored for his extraordinary bravery by the Israeli government, that same government is permitting the Israeli Supreme Court to order the demolition of Major Klein's home in the Hayovel neighborhood of Eli. This would make his widow and  two children into homeless victims of inexplicable cruelty on the part of the Supreme Court and the government.

AFSI agrees with those who believe that the destruction of the Klein home would tear away the fabric of Israeli society, making a mockery of the "duty to the fallen." We are sending a message to Israel's Prime Minister, Ministers and Knesset Members asking them to prevent this unconscionable act from taking place. We call upon all caring people to do the same.  The link to the Israeli government offices is: www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Government/Offices. The number to contact Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. in Washington is: 202-364-5560.

See below for the Arutz Sheva report on the High Court decision.

 

. Nationalists Appalled: Court Insists on Razing Maj. Klein's Home
by Gil Ronen

Nationalists expressed shock and dismay this week after the High Court demanded that the state provide a timetable for demolition of 12 houses in the HaYovel neighborhood of Eli, including the home of slain Second Lebanon War hero Maj. Roi Klein, and six houses in Haresha in Binyamin.

Nationalist forces in Israel had breathed a sigh of relief in January when the state's representative told the court it was "examining alternatives" to demolition of the homes "in order to resolve the issue." 

On Tuesday, however, High Court President Dorit Beinisch and Judges Elyakim Rubinstein and Yoram Danziger announced that the state's answer was unacceptable. The panel ruled that the state has 60 days to complete the hearings it is conducting regarding the demolition and present a deadline for its execution. 

Systematic cruelty

MK Yaakov 'Ketzaleh' Katz (National Union) wondered, in response, "How did we reach a situation in which an entire establishment dulls its heart to any positive, Zionist and Jewish value and despises its own people, who revile its decisions?"

"President Beinisch's systematic cruelty toward the heroes of the land, pitting the IDF with its commanders against itself, its own widows and orphans, is connected to the coldness of her heart in the face of the pleas of the residents of Gush Katif, Northern Samaria and Amona, when she ruled in favor of destroying their strip of land and the fabric of their lives."

The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel asked the Minister of Defense to immediately grant a permit for the home of Maj. Klein to stay standing. The process of approving the continued existence of the other houses in Haresha and HaYovel must be completed in 60 days, the Forum said.

Regavim, the NGO that is most prominent in fighting for Jewish lands, said it was "shocked at the discriminatory policy led by the Supreme Court President." Beinisch, the NGO said, wants Jewish homes razed but systematically rejects completely identical motions filed by Regavim against illegal Arab construction.