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The Yesha Council (Template:Lang-he, Moatzat Yesha) is an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, known by the Hebrew acronym Yesha.
The Chairman of the Yesha Council is Dani Dayan, elected in July 2007. Dayan is a secular businessman, resident of Maale Shomron.
In 2005 it was found to have misappropriated funds in organizing a protest campaign against the disengagement plan.
History
The Council was founded in the 1970s as the successor to Gush Emunim ("Block of the Faithful"), an organization formed to promote Jewish settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which they regarded as the return of Jews to their Biblical homeland. The Council consists of 25 democratically elected mayors and ten community leaders, representing municipalities with a combined Jewish population of around 225,000. Its resettlement policy was criticised by the Sason Report. Its mandate is to assist Jewish settlements in every possible way. The Council works to improve security by (for instance) arranging the acquisition of bullet-proof ambulances and buses. The Council works with the Israeli government to provide roads, electricity, and water to the settlements.
In addition to municipal and security issues, the Council serves as the political arm of the Jewish residents of Yesha. The Council lobbies for their interests with the Knesset and the government. The Council carries on public relations campaigns for the settlements and has organized several large public protests.
Activism
Protest Campaign
In 2005 the Council led the protest campaign against the disengagement plan with peaceful mass protests: the human chain of 130,000, the Kfar Maimon march of 50,000, the Kotel rally of 70,000, and the Tel Aviv rally of 200,000. The council was praised by centrists for refraining from the use of violence—although some right-wing activists did resort to violence. It was also criticized by the right for failing to prevent the disengagement. In February 2005, Israel's Minister of Interior found that the Yesha Council had misappropriated funds provided by the Israeli government for this political campaign.
Rejection of Violence
The council chairman Dani Dayan said that settlers must not use violence to advance their means. He said that such actions were "morally bankrupt" and only serve to "hinder the settlers' struggle."
Misplaced Pages editing course
On 3 August 2010, it was reported that the Yesha Council together with Israel Sheli (My Israel), a network of online pro-Israel activists committed to spreading Zionism online, were organizing people at a workshop in Jerusalem to teach them how to edit Misplaced Pages articles in a pro-Israeli way. Around 50 people took part in the course.
The project organiser, Ayelet Shaked was interviewed on Arutz Sheva Radio. She emphasized that the information has to be reliable and meet Misplaced Pages rules. She cited some examples such as the use of the term “occupation” in Misplaced Pages entries, as well as in the editing of entries that link Israel with Judea and Samaria and Jewish history"
"The idea is not to make Misplaced Pages rightist but for it to include our point of view," said Naftali Bennett, the director of the Yesha Council.
A course participant explained that the course is not a “Zionist conspiracy to take over Misplaced Pages"; rather, it is an attempt to balance information about disputed issues presented in the online encyclopedia.
he goal of this workshop was to train a number of pro-Israelis how to edit Misplaced Pages so that more people could present the Israeli side of things, and thus the content would be more balanced... Misplaced Pages is meant to be a fair and balanced source, and it is that way by having people from all across the spectrum contributing to the content.
Another participant was not positive about the publication of the initiative, warning that going public in past occasions has had a bad effect, and recommending that the initiative would be better taken underground.
Construction
The Council responded to the August 2010 West Bank shooting by organizing the immediate restarting of construction projects throughout the West Bank in violation of the construction freeze under the slogan "They shoot, we build."
See also
References
- Summary of the Opinion Concerning Unauthorized Outposts, Talya Sason, Adv.]
- Yesha Council chair Dayan condemns recent settler violence, Jerusalem Post 12/08/2009
- Benari, Elad (3 August 2010). "Zionist Internet Struggle to Hit Misplaced Pages". Israel National News. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
- Hasson, Nir (18 August 2010). "The right's latest weapon: 'Zionist editing' on Misplaced Pages". Haaretz.
- ^ Rachel Shabi, Jemima Kiss (18 August 2010). "Misplaced Pages editing courses launched by Zionist groups". Guardian.
- ^ The right's latest weapon: 'Zionist editing' on Misplaced Pages
- Zionist Internet Struggle to Hit Misplaced Pages
- Readers Discuss Misplaced Pages Editing Course That Aims for ‘Balanced and Zionist’ Entries By ROBERT MACKEY August 23, 2010, 1:12 PM
- " Settlers begin construction in settlements all over W.Bank; Residents hold signs saying 'They shoot, we build.' staff, September 1, 2010, Jerusalem Post.