As Settlement Freeze Expires, Settlers Struggle To Build Without Necessary Labor

Even though the prohibition against building during a festival's intermediate days was lifted by the chief rabbinate, settlers still can't build because their Palestinian laborers can't enter Israeli-controlled areas until Sukkot ends.

The new problem: Prohibition to build during the holiday
Akiva Novick • Yediot Achranot, 9-27-2010 [p. 4]
Translation: Didi Remez • Coteret.com
 
The freeze order expired yesterday, but the settlers who wish to resume construction in Judea and Samaria now face completely different obstacles.
 
The main problem is the closure that has been imposed on the Palestinian cities and villages until the end of the Sukkot holiday.  As a result, most of the construction sites will remain inactive until October 3, when the Palestinian contractors and builders—who are responsible in practice for most of the construction in the area—are able to return to work.
 
The second problem is a problem of Jewish law: On the intermediate days of the holiday, it is customary to do little work, unless it is to “avert a loss”—meaning work that cannot be deferred until after the holiday.  In order to solve this problem, MK Danny Danon turned over a month ago to Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar and requested that he issue a religious ruling permitting construction during the intermediate days of the holiday.
 
Rabbi Amar wrote the following: “It is a commandment to build on the 18th of Tishrei As we know, the commandment of settling the land enables one to tell a Gentile on the Sabbath to write a bill of ownership, and therefore, from a Halachic standpoint, it is permissible and even required to build new houses in Judea and Samaria, on the intermediate days of the holiday as well.”
 
However, despite the religious dispensation, many of the land owners are expected nevertheless to wait for the end of the holiday, and not to depend on the ruling.
 
Another obstacle that faces the settlers is a lack of manpower: Last night, contractors waiting for the resumption of construction estimated that no more than several dozen houses could be built in simultaneously.  This is due to a shortage of suitable manpower for a higher number of construction starts.

Comments

[Mr. Apikoros]

Yes, the settlers have a special dispensation from Shlomo (The Homo) Amar, meaning they can build during Sukkot. Forget about the proposition that if Palestinians are barred from the Jewish-controlled areas of the West Bank on Jewish holidays, shouldn't Jews be barred from Christian-controlled areas of the world (such as the United States and Canada) on Christmas, Easter, and Good Friday?

I particularly like the part of the article which says that it's traditional not to do much work on Sukkot. For the ultra-Orthodox, is traditional not to do much work the other 357 days of the year as well.

[harold]

Settlers Struggle To Build Without Necessary Labor

Might be easier to just take the week off and spend some time on the beaches of Eilat. Lots of people that I know are taking succos off and have gone to Israel. My own daughter went to Israel for succos. I think she is off to the Dead Sea tomorrow for a Matisyahu concert.

[who knows]

Mr.A you comment is off the mark. Jews don't blow up Christians during Christmas, Easter and Good Friday. Palestinian Arabs do have a habit of killing Jews during Jewish Holidays. Do you see the difference?

This closure is not racist and relatively new new measure which started after hundreds of Jews were murdered and thousands wounded by the terroris recently.

[ah-pee-chorus]

there will never be peace until people stop believing that ancient books were written by some kind of god. my book says i must settle and conquer the land and your book says says you must control it. compromise is not possible.
i can understand (though not agree with)an argument for the settlements on the basis of security or as bargaining chips. but this article highlights the fact that the true impetus for the settlements is religion based. the justification given by amar for building now is the ever present commandment to settle the land. and as we know, if a 3000 year old book says so it must be true.

[Mr. Apikoros]

Virtually no Palestinians blow up Jews on any day of the year. And the Jews in the territories are as much instigators as the Arabs are, especially those Kahanist and similar settlements which are deep in the West Bank.

[who knows]

If "virtually no Palestinians blow up Jews on any day of the year" then who killed more then 1100 Jews in the last few years? Also, for each successful bombing there are quite a few that were prevented.

As for Kahanists in the West Bank, they don't employ Palestinians out of principle. The settlements that employ Palestinians are not right wing trouble makers.