The Kashuela Organization in partnership with the Gush Etzion Foundation has launched a crowdfunding campaign seeking to enhance security at the Kashuela Farm. Part of the campaign includes augmenting the local sheep herd so as to thwart illegal land grabs by local elements deemed hostile.
According to the organization, any land that is not being utilized by farmers in the area could be seized by the neighboring Palestinians, thus gnawing at what could one day be the area on which a thriving Jewish community stands.
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The Kashuela Farm is home to the Ben David family who, in the spirit of true pioneering and Zionism, settled there in 2002, with the backing of the Gush Etzion Regional Council and the Jewish National Fund.
Their mission, as the family calls it, was to safeguard lands in Gush Etzion, extending to the west. Council officials say these lands were purchased by Jews in the 1930s and there is no dispute over its ownership.
For eight years, Tchiya and Yair Ben David and their five children have lived on the farm where, with the help of other volunteers, the family has been fulfilling a Zionist vision of farming, herding sheep, and providing a running a local tourist site.
The Ben David family and Gush Etzion council officials are adamant that if not for their presence, Palestinians from the surrounding area would usurp what is state land. Local Palestinians have also been known to damage the Lamed Hey forest, either by cutting down trees or carrying out arson attacks.
To prevent illegal land grabs, the family started raising sheep, a practice that under Israeli law is key keeping land under one's control.
Recently, the Kashuela Farm has faced challenges that require it improves security on the premises, as well as a need to bolster the number of sheep kept there as means of safeguarding the land across an area that stretches some 2,470 acres.
While the Gush Etzion Regional Council helps as much as it can, the Kashuela Organization has also decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign, to ensure the area's security needs are met, especially with regards to providing the Ben David family which the protection they need and deserve.
Organizers stress that the funds raised will be used to purchase security cameras and protective fencing, as well as other security measures. In addition, a security vehicle is required for patrols of the area, and to battle arson attacks. At the same time, Kashuela is greatly in need of firefighting equipment.
More information about the campaign as well as donation options is available here.
