PM: Israel will not yield to 'bullying' by settlers

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that the eviction of three settler families holed up in a Palestinian-owned house in the West Bank city of Hebron was the expression of the government's uncompromising approach to lawlessness in the territories.

"We will not reconcile ourselves to bullying and creating facts outside of the law, certainly not in sensitive areas like this," Olmert said.

The prime minister spoke after security forces completed the eviction of the three families from the Al-Nazar house in Hebron. The families left the premises having agreeed with police that they would resist the eviction without exercising violence.



http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/712118.html

A good example for Hamas to follow re: the Kassams.

It is the duty of the government to uphold the law ,even when it is your own citizens that are doing wrong ....

all. No need for any bullying with close allies.

The persecution of Palestinians goes on unimpeded. The attacks on young Palestinian children by Israeli settlers is supported by the Israeli govt. The constant vandalism of Palestinian homes, crops, livestock. this is all supported or merely winked at by the Israeli military.

That the Israeli govt. decided to remove settlers out of one illegally occupied house (after several days, couldn't enforce the law during the Sabbath, mind you) that had been taken over for a full month is not very impressive. It is just a photo-op, more than anything.

Will these settlers be charged with a crime? Will they serve a prison sentence? (My guess: any arrested will be out in a few days... while courageous Israeli refuseniks, those that refuse to Oppress Palestinians, often serve months).

"The last month has been very difficult for us. We have had stones thrown at us and our electricity and water tampered with. I wish all the settlers in Hebron would leave," said Umm Nemer, a 43-year-old mother of eight who lives next door.

This went on for a full month, and the IDF could not enforce the law?

Or is everything Israel does bad ?

Some people call for the removal of Jews from Palestinian property with such enthusiasm and then when the government finally does it,unbelievably , something negative is found to say about the Israeli government.




Damned if they do , damned if they dont....


:shrug:

its like a fanatic religious person...all one has is a single mantra that continues irregardless of the changing environment.

its like hamas, a religious extreme settler, etc...same make up, same single dimensional character. Its the kind of person that depending on who "gets to him" while they're searching for their "mantra" they could be anything (like stem cells) it could be the environment, Marxism, religion etc, its doesn't make a difference, its all the same "person".

they are characterized by an inability to modify their belief even if the environment is changing..because it is a belief.....the "real truth", hence there is nothing to change.


reasoning with the "true believer" is quite impossible because it is they that hold the "truth"

and i am supposed to believe everything has changed?

any change is the sign of a religious fanatic....when change actually does occur , the response is either denial or an excuse not to accept it.....

also is the refusal to acknowledge facts that dont coincide with that same belief or the ability to understand that there may be various consequences, not all good for ones actions. In fact there is an inability to accept that ones actions may lead to consequences that dont fit the "perfect scenario"...for that negates the single "truth"

just like the religous fanatics...all hold a single "TRUTH"

I've seen posters bitch and moan when Abbas condemned suicide bombings, when the pre-Hamas PA took steps to try to control the militants, complaining about the Hudna, and more recently, complaining when Hamas made tentative steps to show it was willing to talk to Israel. Yet, none of the posters trotting out those were accused of being religious fanatics. Guess that has to do with the fact that there's one standard when it comes to criticism of Israel and a different standard when it comes to Palestinians...

Why is it that you find it unacceptable for someone to think that the IDF have started doing the right thing, but that the time it took for it to happen isn't something to praise? Why must there be lavish praise and everything else must be overlooked?

Violet...

I don't know or care where you are, but if that happened in my neighborhood, we would not be sending flowers to the police station for timely action.

I will say it was the right thing for the Israeli military to finally take action.

Just 300,000 illegal settlers left to evict from the West Bank.

From your post:

`while courageous Israeli refuseniks, those that refuse to Oppress Palestinians,

often serve months`




In reality:


`normally 28 days, with some cases of 14 or 21 days, and some cases of 35 days `


http://www.wri-irg.org/co/co-isr-03.htm


Edited to fix link.

Conscientious objector Adam Maor (ISR12843) was sentenced to a second prison term of 42 days. He already spent 28 days in prison recently (see ISR12701-12840to12847-070103: ISRAEL: New refuseniks in prison again).

So repeated jail sentences means months of their lives. FYI, 30 days equals one month, 60 days, as in the case above, equals two months. He may have had to serve more than this at another sentencing... for doing the Right Thing.

Will the settlers who attacked the IDF serve more than a day or two?
Will the Settlers who attacked Palestinians even be arrested?

We know the answer to these questions.

Total lawlessness.

the real story is that those that dont want to serve can get out of it quietly if they want. Unit commanders simply dont want them in the units, bad for moral, and nobody wants a soldier who doesnt want to be there to be with you.

the ones who do actually serve time, in many cases, do it for the protest....they are not "victims" they have chosen to make a protest.


and for those who serve two stretches...its because they have chosen to......all combat soldiers and reservists are volunteers as its extremly easy to get out, as many do.

what a Settler will get for attacking Palestinians.
I don't believe that these refuseniks are asking for the jail time just to protest... but let's just leave that for another day. CO day is coming up on the 15th, maybe we can discuss it then.

My point is that the settlers almost never serve time, even for very serious crimes. As long it is directed at Palestinian children, seniors, women, little girls...

If they liberated a beer from a store in Tel Aviv i bet they would face more serious consequences then stoning and injuring a Palestinian child in Hebron. Nothing has changed.

certain facts just have to be ignored....

if you really wanted to know some truths about the "refusniks"...you should try asking from those who actually know how the system works as opposed to keeping what you want to believe and ignoring the rest....so reminds me arguements with the religious right.

and the settlers..perhaps your not paying attention, or then again, more likly you prefer not to as it really ruins the "israeli politician are ruthless" routine and the IDF is (whats your prefered description of us?)..things have change

did you miss the gaza pullout?....and the subsequence aftermath of kassams and mini civil but then those are "consequences" that dont fit the "ultimate truth of the true believer, hence they are to be ignored.

fanatics come in all shapes and sizes....and they follow the single "truth" be they on the right or left, they're also bllnd.

<snip>

"The Jewish community of Hebron, in the city itself and the surrounding countryside, once again provided the headlines over the weekend. The group of thugs who decided to mark for themselves the borders of disagreement did not like the deal on the evacuation, which was reached between the Israel Defense Forces and the families who have infiltrated the al-Nazar house in the center of Hebron. These thugs used eggs, paint, stones and blows to clash with the army, which was operating on the authority of a High Court of Justice directive.

This ruling was handed down after it became clear that the infiltrating families had presented a fraudulent rental agreement that said they had rented the house legally from its owner. It is not superfluous to mention that the al-Nazar family had been living legally in the house, known as Beit Shapira, until a few years ago, when they decided to leave it after settlers seriously harassed them."

<snip>

"In other circumstances, it would have been possible to be encouraged by the determination with which the Israel Defense Forces and the police carried out the evacuation of the house in Hebron, just as the activity of the soldiers near Maon is praiseworthy.

However, the driving consideration is that this isn't about the security forces shirking their responsibility or a response that indicates a change in the way in which they typically relate to the settlers' illegal actions. The IDF, as the sovereign in the territories, has got the settlers and their supporters used to foot-dragging responses. Incursions such as those settlers made into the stores in the Hebron market and the al-Nazar house could have been prevented had the IDF shown determination of the kind it exhibits upon encountering Arab lawbreakers. Arab children would not need a military escort had the IDF and police decided, along with the courts, to enforce the law on all residents of the region equally.

The new defense minister, Amir Peretz, and public security minister, Avi Dichter, who is familiar with the thuggery of the Hebron settlers from up close, are now obligated to prove that the law is not an air bubble when it reaches the territories. Arresting the protesters, putting them on trial quickly and issuing the army with strict and precise instructions aimed at protecting the Palestinians' rights: These actions are likely to make it clear that the security forces' recent actions are not just a momentary legal spasm, but part of a policy that has come to stay."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/713275.html

That is an excellent description, but I would not call them settlers:
they are by definition nothing more than criminals to the one.

Palestinians: Settlers torched our cars

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3248189,00.html

Residents of Hebron neighborhood claim settlers set fire to three Palestinian vehicles, beat several residents; 'this was not a one-time incident,' says Rajab Abeido, whose car was burned

<snip>

"Palestinian residents from the Hebron neighborhood of Tel Rumeida claimed that settlers, who flocked to the city Saturday night ahead of the evacuation of a Hebron house by the IDF, set fire to three of their cars. Earlier, the Palestinians said, the settlers also beat several of the neighborhood's residents.

According to the residents, the incident was not a one-time harassment, but rather a phenomenon they have been suffering from for a long time now."


Soldiers indicted for shooting during settler-Palestinian clash

<snip>

"Two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were indicted Sunday for firing their weapons during a confrontation between settlers, Palestinian farmers and Israeli left-wing activists six weeks ago.

The soldiers were indicted in the Northern District Military Court, which described their behavior during the confrontation near the Skali farm outpost in the northern West Bank as "thuggish."

A number of Israeli volunteers had come to the area, east of Elon Moreh, to protect the farmers of the village of Salem while they worked in their olive groves and fields. The clashes began after settlers prevented a Palestinian riding a tractor from reaching his field, located near Skali farm."

<snip>

"The court ordered the two soldiers confined to their base until the end of proceedings against them.

"The accused caused an unnecessary escalation of the incident when they sought through their thuggish behavior and by using their weapons to chase the Palestinians away," the court said."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/713231.html