Peretz orders IDF to evacuate settlers who took over Hebron house

[Scurrilous]

Hebron Jewish Settlement Committee in response: Do not to make a decision that means Jews will be expelled from their home for political-racial reasons

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3385179,00.html

<snip>

"Defense Minister Amir Peretz instructed the Israel Defense Forces on Thursday to evacuate the Jewish settlers who took over a house in Hebron about two and a half weeks ago.

The timetable for the implementation of the order has yet to be set.

The decision is based on a clause according to which the settlers must have the defense minister’s authorization to stay in the disputed house, which they do not have.

Members of the Hebron Jewish Settlement Committee said in response to Peretz's decision, "We know that there is no reasonable basis for evacuating the house. We call on the defense minister not to make a decision that means Jews will be expelled from their home for political-racial reasons."


Injustice in Hebron

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3385017,00.html

Settlers reign supreme, wheels of justice turn slowly in Hebron

<snip>

"Last week Israeli Arabs celebrated Land Day, marking 31 years since the first such event, which took place on March 30th 1976. On that day Israeli Arabs held stormy rallies in protest of the expropriation of 2,000 hectares of land in the Galilee. Six Arab citizens who partook in the demonstrations were killed by Israeli security forces.

As time passes by, what is less remembered are the events that transpired on that same day in Hebron. In this city as well – which until then was known as one of the calmest cities in the West Bank – sporadic protests were held by local residents in protest of land expropriation in order to build Kiryat Arba.

Several settlers, residents of Kiryat Arba, decided to take the law into their own hands and arrested four youngsters from Hebron who they claimed hurled stones at them. They put them in a car, took them to Kiryat Arba and locked them in a basement of a building under construction.

The youngsters later told me that the settlers had brought in a Great Dane used by border police. The dog attacked the boys and bit two of them. One of the settlers who partook in this abduction confirmed the key facts in the Arab boys' story. It was one of the first times that Israel was shocked by illegal acts carried out by settlers from Hebron.

Law enforcers in Hebron, who were asked to respond, said that "a complaint was never filed." And indeed, the Arab boys, who were terrified by the settlers' force and the memory of the dogs' sharp fangs, were scared to file a complaint (had they filed a complaint, it is doubtful whether it would have been handled, just like thousands of other complaints filed against settlers that have piled up since then at the Hebron police station.)

Since Land Day in 1976, relations between the Arab and Jewish communities in Hebron have worsened, but one similarity has remained: The government – all governments – fear the settlers and allow them to run wild."

[breakaleg]

1. I'll guess we'll have to wait and see if they are removed. But the picture painted of the power

of the settlers is startling. To think that the government is afraid of them and let them run loose, breaking the law, making matters worse? When will they see that this is making the Israeli cause worse, not better?

[Scurrilous]

2. Sneh: Settlers to be removed from Hebron building within two weeks

<snip>

"Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said Friday that settlers occupying a vacant Palestinian building in Hebron will be removed from the structure by April 19, one month after they entered the site.

In an interview with Army Radio, Sneh settlers' needed the authorization of the defense establishment in order to enter the site, regardless of the issue of ownership of the building.

Sneh added that the settlers' action was in essence an expansion of the Jewish settlement in Hebron - an action that requires cabinet approval.

"The selection of this building was not incidental," said Sneh. "This building is not next to other settler homes in Hebron. It is part of these people's strategic attempt to change the internal situation in Hebron."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/846321.html

[Violet_Crumble]

3. Let's hope it happens...

I think if the Israeli govt really wanted to send a message to the religious whackjob contingent, they should use the Israeli law that the whackjobs thumb their noses at to impose prison sentences on those who have to be physically removed...

[msmcghee]

4. As time goes by and statements are made by . .

. . various actors I am more convinced that an earlier comment I made on this topic is possibly accurate.

For cultural reasons Olmert (Israel) realizes that no peace treaty will ever be signed that does not exact some painful concessions from Israel. While Israel would be very happy if the militant attacks would really stop and some permanent borders established - I doubt any Palestinian government could survive through any agreement that did not appear to humiliate Israel in some way that could be celebrated on the Arab street.

I think the settlers (at least most of them) on the WB are Olmert's sacrificial concession. He's holding them, even making them more hated, by expanding their numbers and locations, so that when the time comes they can be forcefully hauled back to Israel. Video of outraged settlers screaming and struggling as they are dragged from their homes and the bulldozers rumble in to level their homes - at 11:00.

Some may consider that deceptive, perhaps even cruel to the settlers - but I'd call it smart. It could be the only fact on the ground that could make a peace treaty acceptable enough to both sides that it could actually be negotiated and signed. All the talk about how they are permanent (Avnery) and an attempt to annex the WB help Olmert and ultimately the chances for peace. That's good for both sides.

[bemildred]

5. Peretz officially orders IDF to clear disputed Hebron building

Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Tuesday issued official instructions to the the Israel Defense Forces to evacuate a disputed building occupied by settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron.

The order was given to the coordinator of operations in the West Bank, Major General Yosef Mishlav.

The Defense Ministry did not release a timetable for the evacuation, but it appears that Peretz expects the building to be evacuated within two weeks.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/847084.html

[bemildred]

6. Settlers to be given 30 days to leave disputed Hebron building voluntarily

Settlers will be given 30 days to voluntarily leave a disputed building in the West Bank city of Hebron that they occupied three weeks ago, following which they will be evacuated by force.

The Defense Ministry has not released a timetable for the evacuation, but Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said Wednesday that the legal process will allow the settlers 15 days to leave voluntarily, followed by a 15-day extension.

---

Sheetrit also criticized the state's "foot-dragging" in evacuating outposts, saying it was "severely harming the rule of law in Israel, thus harming us internationally."

Officials said last week that the question of the legality of the purchase is irrelevant, since the settlers did not ask for approval to inhabit the property as they should have according to the regulations, the official said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/847084.html

[bemildred]

7. Olmert won't let Peretz evacuate Hebron house

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert intends to delay the evacuation of a contentious Hebron home despite a decision by Defense Minister Amir Peretz to evacuate the settlers, sources who spoke to Olmert said on Wednesday.

Olmert made a point of being silent on the issue on Wednesday to avoid sparking another dispute with Peretz. The official word out of the Prime Minister's Office was that it was a legal issue that had not been presented to Olmert and he had not yet made a decision on the matter.

But ministers and MKs who spoke to Olmert said he opposed evacuating the home at this stage. They hinted that the prime minister would prefer to stall on the issue until after the May 28 Labor primary when Olmert is expected to have an easier defense minister with which to work.

Interior Minister Roni Bar-On, who is the closest minister to Olmert, urged cabinet secretary Yisrael Maimon to convene an urgent cabinet meeting to overrule Peretz's decision. Maimon said no decision had been made yet about whether the matter would be on the agenda of next Sunday's meeting.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152774627&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[Englander]

8. AG: Settlers can petition court against Hebron house eviction

By Eli Ashkenazi and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents and AP

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said Wednesday that the disputed building in the West Bank city of Hebron could not be evacuated immediately. The attorney general said that during a debate on the matter Tuesday at his office, he had approved a process of evacuation according to which the settlers would be able to petition the High Court of Justice against the eviction.

According to Mazuz, the settlers' inhabitance of the house - which they claim to own - cannot be defined as "invasion" and is therefore not subject to immediate eviction.

During the meeting, it became clear that it would be impossible to evacuate the house immediately - as suggested by Defense Minister Amir Peretz - because the settlers are in possession of ownership documents testifying to their purchase of the house from its former owners.

Mazuz also ruled out issuing an evacuation order under the category of "immediate military needs" because the Israel Defense Forces has said that the settlers do not present an immediate security disturbance.

In the end, he ordered a third process of eviction, based on the fact that even if the house was legally acquired, the settlers still required permission from the IDF's Civil Administration to inhabit it.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/847084.html

[Violet_Crumble]

9. Both Olmert and Mazuz are idiots...

It's amazing the difference in treatment that those extremist settlers get compared to Palestinians...