View source for Sondra Oster Baras


[[Sondra Oster Baras]] is the Vice-President of [[Christian Friends of Israeli Communities]] (CFOIC) a Christian Zionist organisation that supports illegal settlements in the occupied territories. Born in Ohio in the United States she moved to the West Bank in 1995.<ref name ="President 'should">Howard Jones, 'President 'should butt out'', ''The Border Mail'', 7 February 2013</ref>She lives in the illegal Israeli settlement Karnei Shomron in the occupied West Bank.<ref name ="President 'should">Howard Jones, 'President 'should butt out'', ''The Border Mail'', 7 February 2013</ref>  

The CFOIC website provides the following biography:

:Sondra Oster Baras was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio in an Orthodox Jewish home. She was educated at the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, a religious all-day school sponsored by the Cleveland Jewish community. Upon graduation from high school, Sondra studied religious studies at the Jerusalem College for Women in Israel. She completed her B.A. in history and English at Barnard College in New York. She obtained her J.D. at Columbia University’s School of Law.

:In 1984, after practicing law in New York for a short time, Sondra moved to Israel. Sondra continued her legal career in Israel, after being accepted to the Israeli bar.

:In 1985, the Baras’ joined Neve Aliza, a group of North American Orthodox Jews that were building a new neighborhood in the small Samarian town of Karnei Shomron. Sondra soon became an active member of the governing board of the group and moved into the new neighborhood in 1987. Shortly thereafter, the first Intifada began, and Ms. Baras was drawn into activities advocating for the settlement movement. Since then, Baras has been an active spokesperson for the communities of Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

:Baras maintained contact with CFOIC Heartland since its inception in 1996, and in 1998, she opened the Israel office in an effort to enhance the organization’s activities in support of the communities of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Since then, Sondra has been the director of the Israel office, coordinating much of CFOIC Heartland’s community support programs world-wide...

:Sondra Oster Baras currently resides in Karnei Shomron, together with her husband Edward, a computer programmer, and their five children.<ref name ="Sondra Baras">CFOIC Website [http://www.cfoic.com/sondra-baras/ Sondra Oster Baras]. Accessed 26 April 2015.</ref>

She is the coauthor of a book entitled 'Shabbat Shalom: Insights on the Weekly Torah Portion From the Heart of Biblical Israel'.<ref name ="Shabbat Shalom">Amazon.com [http://www.amazon.com/Sondra-Oster-Baras/e/B00NO0OA68/ Shabbat Shalom: Insights on the Weekly Torah Portion From the Heart of Biblical Israel]. Accessed 28 April 2015.</ref>

==Views==

Baras views the occupation and colonisation of the West Bank as being the will of God:

:I see the liberation of Judea and Samaria, which is the heart of biblical Israel, in the 1967 war as just the next step of this amazing miracle and fulfillment of prophecy... God is basically beckoning you; and realize that all you need to do is do your part... God doesn't put cities down from the heavens; he's never done that... He opens the opportunities, but humans have to make it happen."<ref name ="How some Israelis">Christa Case Bryant, 'How some Israelis see the sacred in settlements; The expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is driven by more than politics and security concerns. Religious Zionists say settling the land is ushering in a messianic age.', ''Christian Science Monitor'', 18 December 2012</ref>

In 2013 Baras criticised US president Barack Obama's decision to vitis Israel and the West Bank. She commented that 'I have a problem with the president of another country trying to influence Israel'.<ref name ="President 'should">Howard Jones, 'President 'should butt out'', ''The Border Mail'', 7 February 2013</ref>    She lives in the illegal Israeli settlement Karnei Shomron in the occupied West Bank.<ref name ="President 'should">Howard Jones, 'President 'should butt out'', ''The Border Mail'', 7 February 2013</ref>

Baras has suggested that more than half of West Bank settlements receive direct or indirect support from Christian Zionist organisations.<ref name ="Want to stop">Ronit Avni, 'Want to stop Israeli settlements?Start with Americans', ''The Star'', 29 June 2009</ref>

==Contact==

email: sondra@cfoic.com 

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sbaras

blog: http://cfoic.blogspot.co.uk/

==Notes==

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[[Category:Israel]][[Category:Foundations]]