“Behold, Hashem your God has given you the Land. Go up and inherit it, as Hashem the God of your forefathers has spoken to you. Do not fear and do not be afraid.” (Devarim 1:21)

We must be unequivocal about the rights of Jews to live everywhere in the land of Israel and bring real prosperity to all her peace-loving citizens.

This begins with our language.

We do not live in the defunct “West Bank” of Jordan, but in historic Judea and Samaria.

We must also be clear about the fact that reports of “settler violence” in the international media are consistently based on misinformation, fabrication, and/or Arab incitement and violence to provoke a Jewish response. They are propaganda which we should not disseminate or mimic in our media without checking sources.

Such reporting is ultimately designed to delegitimize Jewish life in Israel, and particularly in Judea and Samaria – the cradle of Jewish civilization and the backdrop of every story in the Book of Genesis and much of Tanach.

It is also the alarmed response of our enemies to the new Jewish farms and communities that have been built in Judea and Samaria over the past two and a half years.

Israel’s detractors will never acknowledge what we must say without stuttering:  Jewish settlement – a word Israel’s founders used proudly – brings progress, security and well-being for all the peace-seeking citizens of our country.

Dismantling or preventing Jewish life anywhere in Israel creates a vacuum which leads to terrorism.

We recently spent the most uplifting Shabbat in our son and daughter-in-law’s house in Tzur Misgabi, a 920-meter high hilltop community above the yishuvim of Eastern Gush Etzion.

From the macrame swing on their........

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