Gush Etzion Revisited

Background - Activity V - Lobbies:
Shalom Achshav/Gush Emunim

SHALOM ACHSHAV - "PEACE NOW"

Shalom Achshav was launched in July 1977 by a letter signed by 300 IDF reserve officers. The letter urged Prime Minister Menachem Begin to hand back the West Bank and Gaza Strip in order to advance the chances of peace agreements. Its slogan was: "Peace (shalom) is better than the whole (shelema) Land of Israel."

A striking feature of the movement is its independence from the political parties, and its effective publicity methods. The existence of grass-roots (mainly middle-class plus liberal and intellectual circles) support for its outlook was corroborated by a turnover of 20,000 to 30,000 at its first demonstration.

Shalom Achshav warmly welcomed the Camp David Agreements in March 1979. Its members have since protested against every government measure which they consider to be a stumbling block to peace, such as the proposal to expand existing West Bank settlements, or to add new ones.

Shalom Achshav was very active during the Gulf War. It contributed to the groundswell of popular feeling which in October 1982 brought 400,000 people to Tel Aviv's biggest square to protest against the dramatic events at Sabra and Shatilla.

In February 1983, a demonstration by Shalom Achshav militants making for the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem was attacked by extreme right-wing elements; one of the Shalom Achshav leaders, Emil Grunzweig, was murdered, and nine others were injured when a grenade was thrown at the throng.

As early as 1988, Shalom Achshav called for direct negotiations with the PLO. The movement expressed support for the current government in the peace process, while showing itself to be slightly more radical on the problem of disbanding settlements in the territories. However, Shalom Achshav is now finding it difficult to survive as a protest movement, because on the whole its ideas have been adopted by consensus on the part of most of the population. It may therefore be said to be a victim of its own success.

GUSH EMUNIM - THE BLOC OF THE FAITHFUL

A religious-political movement established in order to implement a belief in the fact that the creation of the State of Israel is the "beginning of the Redemption", which will lead to total redemption through the settlement of all the territories situated west of the Jordan.

Gush Emunim was formally set up in Kfar Etzion in 1974, by members of the National Religious Party, the Land of Israel Movement, students of the Yeshiva Merkaz Harav, and members of the Bnei Akiva movement.

They have been responsible for the establishment of a large number of settlements in the territories, sometimes following violent confrontations with the authorities.

Gush Emunim was officially recognized after Menachem Begin gained power following the 1977 elections. It immediately brought pressure to bear to establish at one go twelve settlements in Judea and Samaria.

Since the Labour Party's return to power and within the peace process setting, Gush Emunim has acted as spokesperson for the Jewish residents of the territories, who are protesting in advance against the prospect of the settlements being broken up.

Gush Emunim must not be confused with the Kach Party of the late Meir Kahane, which calls for an armed struggle against the Arabs of the territories and against the peace process, and which has just been outlawed by a decision of the Government of Israel. In contrast, Gush Emunim is determined to keep its protest within the bounds of the law.

Green Line: Israel's pre-June 5, 1967 eastern border delineated in the Armistice Agreements with Syria and Jordan, and its southern border with the Gaza Strip in the Armistice Agreement with Egypt in the aftermath of the War of Independence. The line marking the border was coloured green on the original maps drawn up in Rhodes. Israel's border with Lebanon since 1948 and its border with Egypt since 1982 are referred to as "international boundaries", since these are internationally recognized as fixed boundaries. Until the Madrid Conference (November 1991), there was a broad consensus in Israel that the existing disengagement lines in the Golan Heights and along the Jordan River should remain Israel's "security borders", even if certain territories will eventually be returned to Arab sovereignty.

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