A large contingent of IDF soldiers arrived at a vineyard adjacent to Adei Ad, a community of about 40 families near Shiloh in Samaria established in 1998. To the horror of the residents, the army began ripping up grapevines, the products of years of dedication and work, and the physical embodiment of prophecy.
כוחות משטרה וצבא עוקרים כרם של תושב גוש שילה.
צפו בוידאו: pic.twitter.com/q4SPkTDJG6— הקול היהודי (@hakolhayehudi) January 6, 2020
Four rows of grapevines, approximately 100-150 plants, were uprooted. Replacing the grapevines would take a minimum of three years, though the vines improve with age and these were old vines. The real tragedy lay in the image of the prophecy the farmers had worked so hard to bring about suddenly being uprooted in such a callous manner.
Again you shall plant vineyards On the hills of Shomron; Men shall plant and live to enjoy them. Jeremiah 31:4
The soldiers resorted to tear gas and five of the non-violent protesters were arrested and taken to the Shaar Benjamin Police Station. Nati Rom was called in to help. Rom is a lawyer from Honenu, a non-profit legal aid organization providing legal assistance to soldiers and citizens who, due to the security situation, are persecuted by certain government authorities and a court system heavily influenced and pressured by anti-Israel “human rights” groups, usually funded by the European Union and other anti-Israel entities.
“It was an unusually large force of soldiers, several dozen, for such a mission that involved dealing with Jews. This was even more distressing since the farmers planted the vineyard with the prophecy specifically in mind and now, our own brothers are uprooting that prophecy. Anyone familiar with the Bible would be horrified to see Jews uprooting vineyards in Samaria.”
Rom noted that the disturbing event will actually lead to another prophecy materializing.
Tzion shall be saved in the judgment; Her repentant ones, in the retribution. Isaiah 1:27
“We are going to raise funds and protest this in court,” Rom said. “It was clearly unjust but we want to prove that it was also illegal. For Biblical reasons, it is absolutely essential that we replant those vines.”
Rom emphasized that the most powerful weapon against the forces that threaten Israel is for visitors to come to see with their own eyes prophecy unfolding in Samaria.
“These are the front lines in the battle,” Rom said. “No reasonable government would do such a thing to its own people. This is only because there are foreign forces at work, funneling money from outside Israel, trying to prevent Jews from living in Israel, trying to prevent prophecy.”
Rom explained that anti-Israel organizations have targeted the area, bringing court cases demanding the community should be destroyed. They claim the town’s presence prevents local Arabs from reaching their farmland. Some left-wing political organizations are working to ethnically cleanse Judea and Samaria of Jews in order to create a Palestinian State inside of Israel that will be entirely Arab.
The Israeli High Court ruled last year that the community sits on state land, leading the government to announce plans to triple the size of the community of Adei Ad.
The town sits in Area C designated by the 1993 Oslo Accords as an area falling under Israeli jurisdiction in which Jews can live. In August, the Palestinian Authority announced it was officially reneging on the conditions it agreed to under the Oslo Accords and has begun building in Area C with no regard for building or security regulations.
All 42 families that were uprooted by the Israeli government from Amona in February 2017 currently live in Adei Ad. Dismantling Adei Ad would displace these families for the second time in less than five years.
