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Last update - 08:46 06/04/2008
Border Police let settlers retake illegal West Bank outpost
By Meron Rapoport
Tags: west bank, illegal outposts 

The Border Police last week allowed settlers to return to an illegal outpost on Palestinian land in the West Bank and force out left-wing activists who had been authorized to guard the place.

Officials at the Yesh Din human rights group say they had warned authorities of the settlers' plans ahead of time. The Border Police say their forces were unable to gain control over the settlers due to "numerical inferiority."

The incident occurred Wednesday on the Shvut Ami outpost, near Kedumim. According to Israel Defense Forces records, the structure is on land owned by Badriya Amar of the village of Qadum. The outpost has been evacuated nine times, but each time settlers return, preventing the legal owners from reaching the land.
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Right-wing activist Datia Yitzhaki, a settler leader in the area, said the structure is "abandoned property" that therefore belongs to the state. "There was an understanding that it belongs to Kedumim and it doesn't matter what the army and the Civil Administration say now," Yitzhaki said.

After repeated evacuations and returns by settlers, Yesh Din, which represents Amar, proposed an arrangement whereby the IDF would allow a group of Israelis and Palestinians to occupy the building to keep out the trespassers.

Attorney Michael Sfard of Yesh Din said the agreement was for the IDF to notify Yesh Din in advance when it planned to evacuate the settlers so that it could send representatives to the venue.

The IDF said in a statement that "the military commander permitted a group of 10 Israelis who were invited by the landowner to enter the site because the IDF recognizes the rights of the Palestinian owners of the building to bring people to the place on their behalf."

On Wednesday morning, the IDF notified Yesh Din of the evacuation planned for that afternoon, but somehow the announcement also reached the settlers, who posted on the Internet calls for supporters to come to Shvut Ami.

Sfard called the IDF's legal department to warn them of the settlers' actions. "They told me not to worry, they'll send four Border Police officers to guard the place," Sfard said. He also sent a letter to the Samaria District Police on the matter, but when he called the office he was told the entire command staff was on a field trip to Eilat.

At 1 P.M., about 100 Border Police officers arrived and evacuated the four young settlers who were there at the time. About two hours later, the leftists arrived, as per the arrangement with the IDF. One of them said the IDF did not permit Amar herself to approach.

"When we arrived there were six or seven Border Police officers and a few settlers," one of the Israelis said. "The settlers started to hit and punch us. At first the Border Police pushed them away but then they left. About 100 settlers climbed up to the site and attacked us. When I approached one of the Border Police he said, 'Do I look like your bodyguard?'"

Sfard sent a second letter, this time to Judea-Samaria District Police Chief Shlomo Ka'atabi, asking him to secure the site "before the violence gets out of control." But only a few Border Police officers remained at the outpost, and they stayed in their vehicle.

"I realized that if the activists stayed their lives would be in danger, so I ordered them to leave," Sfard said. The activists left at about 4 P.M.

Yitzhaki confirmed that many settlers who were "furious" about the evacuation went up to the site, but she says it was the police officers who used violence against the settlers. She added that the settlers reoccupied the building after the IDF repaired damage caused during the evacuation.

"They used us to inflate the number of outpost evacuations," Sfard said. "The state says it has evacuated 11 outposts, but 10 of those evacuations were repeated evacuations of Shvut Ami."

Related articles:
  • Most rightists leave sites of new illegal West Bank outpost
  • Court case reveals how settlers illegally grab West Bank lands
  • Settlers, peace activists clash at illegal outpost close to Kedumim
  • In rare ruling, court orders settlers off Arab family's land

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      1.   Pro-Settler! 02:14  |  Yered Shmuel 06/04/08
      2.   What B-S!! 03:25  |  Moshe 06/04/08
      3.   Can`t you just make these settlers Pals? 03:46  |  Aphemia 06/04/08
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      6.   No Surprise - Israel standard policy 04:33  |  spyguy 06/04/08
      7.   Israeli settlers = world famous SQUATTERS 06:00  |  POP 06/04/08
      8.   Jews and Samaritans are the aborigines of Judea and Samaria 06:02  |  Haldrik 06/04/08
      9.   Aphemia - The PA has refused to allow Jewish residents 06:37  |  Tom 06/04/08
      10.   it`s increasingly clear that U.N. intervention is needed 07:07  |  eric 06/04/08
      11.   Facts cannot and should not be denied : 08:29  |  Jean Van Daem 06/04/08
      12.   How much longer will this travesty continue?! 08:54  |  Esther 06/04/08
      13.   Anti-Jewish leftists deserve no protection 09:09  |  Moshe 06/04/08
      14.   Jean Van Daem - Clothes and Kids, Too? 09:24  |  Mark of Lewiston 06/04/08
      15.   it`s increasingly clear that U.N. intervention is needed 10:25  |  eric 06/04/08
      16.   it`s increasingly clear that U.N. intervention is needed 10:25  |  eric 06/04/08
      17.   # 6 your claim is illegitimate, jean van daem 10:50  |  eric 06/04/08
      18.   Who runs Israel? 10:57  |  Clickfool 06/04/08
      19.   Imagine what would have happened to Palestinians 10:59  |  Clickfool 06/04/08
      20.   Israeli "girlie-police" scared to death by a few settlers....???? 11:06  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/04/08
      21.   Re Jean-from-Metula #10 11:18  |  Esther 06/04/08
      22.   More of the same hypocrisy and lies 11:20  |  Sylvie 06/04/08
      23.   funny 11:40  |  RM 06/04/08
      24.   Is Israel a failed 1948 UN experiment? 11:43  |  Clickfool 06/04/08
      25.   Settlers: the human version of a nasty cancer 11:48  |  anti-racist 06/04/08
      26.   With Such a Weak Israeli Government, Israeli Nukes Are a Concern 11:56  |  Mr. Know-It-All 06/04/08
      27.   Israeli leftists should join settlers to speed up peace 12:06  |  Sam 06/04/08
      28.   #8 Haldrik 12:21  |  Boycott 06/04/08
      29.   #11 Jean Van Daem 12:24  |  Boycott 06/04/08
      30.   #18 Clickfool 12:32  |  Boycott 06/04/08
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      33.   #15 eric as usual writing out of the top of his head! 13:17  |  v hardman 06/04/08
      34.   #24 boris the clucking fool and a lack of history 13:21  |  v hardman 06/04/08
      35.   Sqwatters paradise 13:29  |  Smith 06/04/08
      36.   # 11 One piece of advice, Jean van Daem: hebraize your name 14:32  |  Ben Alofs 06/04/08
      37.   So be it, POP #7... so be it! 14:36  |  Rozz 06/04/08
      38.   Scared by female settlers. Dino # 20 14:40  |  Rozz 06/04/08
      39.   #9 Tom It`s all about incentive 14:58  |  Aphemia 06/04/08
      40.   Re V Hardman from Belfast or is it Harris fr TA 16:52  |  Labhras 06/04/08
      41.   If Israel is not seeking peace, the arabs should ally with Iran 17:13  |  Aounist 06/04/08
      42.   ??Double talk and double policy?? 17:30  |  H.H.M 06/04/08
      43.   The job of border police is to get tough with enemies, not patrio 17:34  |  Chaim 06/04/08
      44.   More of Israel,s "Confidence Building Measures" 17:35  |  Labhras 06/04/08
      45.   Aounist- confused Arabs 17:44  |  Sam 06/04/08
      46.   Why don`t the settlers just buy the land? 17:54  |  American Christian 06/04/08
      47.   Complete administration of Gazans Unacceptable 18:04  |  The Archives 06/04/08
      48.   # 38 Rozz 19:46  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/04/08
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      50.   #49 Wakey wakey meester johnson 20:57  |  Labhras 06/04/08
      51.   No surprise here... 21:01  |  Silvienne 06/04/08
      52.   #44, Labhras... 21:02  |  Silvienne 06/04/08
      53.   this is one of the proves 21:33  |  amihai 06/04/08
      54.   Border Police let settlers retake illegal West Bank outpost 21:43  |  ta7kish 06/04/08
      55.   #52 Silvienne re Obama and sanity 21:47  |  Labhras 06/04/08
      56.   #40 the mystery man labarse of erewhon objects 22:17  |  v hardman 06/04/08
      57.   Border Police incompetent-Should have shot settler terrorists 22:34  |  Yossi Cronenberg 06/04/08
      58.   The principle of law and order: If you violate the law, 22:39  |  Jozef 06/04/08
      59.   #56 Poor Victor Paul got his toes stepped on 23:16  |  Labhras 06/04/08
      60.   #58 jozef and the law are strangers 23:20  |  v hardman 06/04/08
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      62.   #59 v hardman: If this is the case, Israel is lying 01:05  |  Jozef 07/04/08
      63.   SHAMELESS LAND THEFT 01:16  |  Ilya 07/04/08
      64.   46 American Christian - Two Problems 01:57  |  Mark of Lewiston 07/04/08
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