Last update - 00:00 17/07/2007
Police: Kfar Shalem residents rigged bomb over land ownership row
By Roni Singer-Haruti, Haaretz Correspondent
Police arrested on Tuesday three Kfar Shalem residents suspected of wiring gas canisters to an explosives device as part of a land ownership dispute.
The men, who are residents of a neighborhood the Israel Land Administration claims is built on state-owned property, are suspected of rigging the device in order to prevent their forced eviction.
A neighborhood representative said police seized gas canisters but did not find any residents in possession of weapons.
An injunction delaying the demolition of the neighborhood housing some 30 families expired Saturday, while the extension of a previous injunction gave a "flexible" time of eviction between July 15 and 19.
Israel Land Administration sold the land on which the residents live to private-sector businessmen who demand the alleged squatters be evicted without awarding them compensation.
A year and a half ago some 350 residents stopped traffic on nearby Moshe Dayan Road to demonstrate against the eviction.
MK Doc Khenin (Hadash) who participated in the rally said "the struggle is over the character of the city and the question whether or not it belongs to its citizens or the financiers and real estate sharks."