By: Avraham Zuroff – Arutz Sheva

“The stories of the Bible, of Abraham, of Jacob’s dream, and of Ruth the Moabite, and others are part of the greater story of the Jewish People. All these stories took place in Judea and Samaria. If we give up these places, we’re giving up our historical connection. This is essentially the story of the Jewish People,” explains Yaniv Chonah, spokesman of the Judea and Samaria Campaign, which ran a convention for students on Sunday in Jerusalem, where public relations experts and a rabbi explained how to promote settling the land of Abraham.

Talking about a Jew’s historical connection to the Land of the Bible would be expected from a religiously observant Jew. What is surprising is that Yaniv describes himself, along with the other organizers, as non-observant. Nor do they live in Judea and Samaria, the historic regions that they promote.

Yaniv, nevertheless, feels historically attached to the land of his forefathers, and wants to explain his connection to Israeli youth. “The youth will come in contact with a non-observant populace. They should know how to influence others who are not yet convinced.”

In the past, sympathizers with the pro-Land of Israel cause would draw on political arguments, using Kassam rockets landing in Sderot as proof that a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria serve strategic importance.

Eitan Dor-Shav, who helped design the campaign, decided to emphasize Judea and Samaria’s historic, rather than military connection. “Yesha Council head Danny Dayan and I have been toying, ever since Annapolis, with the idea that we need this ‘strategy change’ not just as a long-term educational goal, but rather as part of Yesha’s routine media and PR policy,” Dor-Shav stated.

Yakir feels that a great part of decline in values in Israeli society stems from a lack of historical ties and values to the Land of Israel. “In Israeli society, settling the land is no longer considered valuable,” Yaniv states. While the political Left promotes the value of peace, Yaniv feels that the rest of the population needs to counteract their promotion of territorial concessions by promoting one’s historical connection to the Land of Israel, which provides his or her Jewish identity.

Although mostly students who identified themselves as moderates from the religious-Zionist camp, the Yesha Council organizers were surprised to see a handful of more radical elements. “The more radical elements are used to participating in demonstrations, but are unfamiliar with engaging in dialog,” Yaniv comments.

How does one promote a positive message when the media typically portrays residents of Judea and Samaria as undemocratic extremists?
“Firstly, you know as well as I know that the extremist stance is given better press coverage than that of the moderates,” Yaniv remarks. “However, the majority of Judea and Samaria residents are moderate and democratic. We emphasize dialog. We are not afraid of dialog, even with people who are against the settler’s movement.”

“Today’s youth are still idealistic, stable, and have values,” Yaniv adds that he plans to promote Jewish historic ties to Judea and Samaria via the youth and through tourism.

Before the High Holidays, the Yesha Council advertised the numerous historical sites available in Judea and Samaria. According to Yaniv, the campaign was a success. “Tour operators haven’t seen such numbers of tourists since the days before the Intifada,” Yaniv remarked.