Kfar Shiloach, known to the world as Silwan, has a rich Jewish history dating back to the Yemenite Aliyah of the early 1880s. While the Yemenite Jews were eventually chased out by the late 1930s by Arab pogroms, the desire for a Jewish return to Kfar Shiloach or the Yemenite Village, which lies just South-East of the Old City, never left.

Now, there are more than 22 families living in Kfar Shiloach. While the community is thriving it has been continuously threatened by rocks, firebombs, and property defacement. This has continued to happen during the coronavirus pandemic.

Imagine not only being held captive in your own home, but besieged – literally by your neighbors who wish you were dead.

The ongoing struggle over Kfar Shiloach is one of the most crucial tests for our nation’s strength and determination. After all the neighborhood was fully Jewish just a short while ago only to be destroyed and now reborn.

For Zionism to be meaningful, especially in the days of corona, the Kfar Shiloach remains the key for moving forward.