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Settlements in South Hebron Hills to be blocked during Yom Kippur By Akiva Eldar Tags: Palestinians, Israel News  The authorities are implementing a closure on settlements in the South Hebron Hills east of the separation fence for Yom Kippur, citing a lack of manpower to keep the road open. At the beginning of the week, the residents of the settlements of Teneh Omarim and Shama'a found out that road 60, the main artery connecting Hebron-area settlements with central Israel, will be completely blocked except for emergency vehicles. So far, limitations on traffic have been in effect during Jewish holidays only for the Palestinian population. The Meitar crossing in the South Hebron Hills will be minimally staffed and will therefore be closed except for emergencies, meaning that the settlers there will be cut off from the rest of the West Bank and Israel during the holiday. Advertisement According to Shlomo Dror, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry and the crossings administration: "The crossings administration views Yom Kippur as a special date in the State of Israel. Due to the security problems in the South Hebron Hills, this decision is very important. The significance of the request is that dozens of people will have to violate Yom Kippur and work on the holiday. The crossing will be open for humanitarian and security needs of the residents, and any exceptional case will be dealt with as required." Dror added that in previous years, when the crossings were run by the Israel Defense Forces, they were also closed on Yom Kippur to "respect the people's rest." A group of settlers asked MK Avshalom Vilan (Meretz) to intervene in the matter, and Vilan asked Defense Minister Ehud Barak to explain why the freedom of movement of the Israelis affected was different from that of other Israelis. Vilan, a founder of "One Home," an organization promoting voluntary evacuation of settlers living east of the separation fence, said he sees the order to lock the settlers in their settlements as a serious infraction of their basic civil rights and outright discrimination between them and residents of Tel Aviv, for example. Itai Noah, a non-Orthodox setter who has lived in Teneh Omarim for 18 years, said that if the Israeli government is unable to assure equal rights to its citizens living over the Green Line, it should immediately offer them appropriate compensation to allow them to move to within that line. He added that this was the first year a closure was imposed on his settlement and that it was linked to the changeover of responsibility for the roadblocks from the IDF to the border crossings administration, which is run by private companies. Related articles: Settlers to Barak: Don't give PA security control of Hebron Israel Police: Settlers were not behind Palestinian teen's death Settlers clash with rabbis guarding Palestinian olive harvest near Hebron Bookmark to del.icio.us   A man of peace Vatican defends wartime pope Pius XII against charge he turned blind eye to Holocaust. Feminine features An Iranian motor company unveils plans to design cars specifically tailored to women.   1.   a serious infraction of their basic civil rights 05:40  |  rm 08/10/08   2.   A lake of tears for their horrible hardship 09:06  |  Pablo B 08/10/08

Read & React Bradley Burston: For the journalist, on Yom Kippur Responses: 123 Edgar Bronfman: Judaism must recognize mixed marriages for Israel's sake Responses: 136 Arab lawyer detained after refusing to remove pants during airport check Responses: 185 Nadav Shragai: Settlers have become punching bag of the media and the left Responses: 65 Acre sees worst violence in years as Jews and Arabs resume clashes Responses: 171 More Headlines 00:10 Acre sees worst violence in years as Jews and Arabs resume clashes 22:25 Israeli Arab lawmaker: Acre violence is Jewish pogrom against Arabs 00:02 Russia hints it won't sell advanced missiles to Iran 18:03 Fatah says Hamas stalling on Palestinian unity plan 01:14 Israel on standby as global financial rescue takes shape 22:51 Syria releases two U.S. journalists who entered state illegally 23:46 New Nazi parody aims to smash German Third Reich comedy taboo 22:36 N.Y. rabbi: Animal rights backers threatened me over Yom Kippur chicken slaughter ritual 14:22 Germany launches nationwide crackdown on neo-Nazi youth group 23:57 Lebanese union to sue Israel for 'claiming ownership' of falafel 18:30 Nasrallah: We have not abandoned plan to avenge Mughniyeh 20:15 Vatican defends wartime pope against charge he turned blind eye to Holocaust 16:06 Delegation of Israeli doctors to Gaza denied entry 17:01 Left-wing terrorist turned neo-Nazi tried for Holocaust denial Previous Editions Select Day 09 oct 08 oct 07 oct 06 oct 05 oct 03 oct 02 oct 01 oct 30 sep 29 sep 28 sep 26 sep

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