It appears the mesirus nefesh of Women in Green activists has paid off, with the IDF Etzion Brigade Commander Colonel Eran Makov announcing the military is planning to return to Shdemah in about a week, to set up a base at the location.

The battle of this strategically located area in Gush Etzion has been ongoing for years, a site that the government literally handed over to the PA (Palestinian Authority), slated to host a hospital, as was reported by YWN-Israel in August 2008 (http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=22837).

Women in Green supporters working with Land of Israel Faithful have been maintaining an unrelenting battle, including weekly events such as last Friday’s vehicular convoy, as seen in the photos [furnished by Gemma Blech] (http://picasaweb.google.com/gemmablech/SHDEMATuBShvatCARCONVOY#).

Gush Etzion Regional Council leader Shaul Goldstein welcomed the military commander’s announcement, calling it progress, expressing confidence that Shdemah will ultimately be a Jewish community.

Goldstein added, “The Council for a Jewish Shdemah has succeeded in its mission and it can now continue and become the ‘Council for a Jewish Jenin’ or ‘for a Jewish Shechem’,” he said half-jokingly.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)