Jews rampage in West Bank
2009-06-01 20:05
Nablus - Jewish settler mobs rampaged in the West Bank on Monday, hurling stones, burning fields and wounding at least four Palestinians, furious that Israel may raze outposts in the territory under US pressure.
Jewish extremists blocked roads, hurled rocks at drivers, set fields ablaze, cut down olive trees and opened fire at Palestinians who tried to chase the trespassers from their fields in the northern West Bank, witnesses said.
West of the city of Nablus, an area with some of the most hard-line settlers in the occupied territory, dozens of masked men blocked a road in the early hours and hurled rocks at Palestinian drivers who stopped their vehicles to move the obstructions, they said.
One of the four people wounded was in serious condition in hospital with a fractured skull, medics said.
Police arrested six Jewish activists, among them an MP, Michael Ben Ari, who represents the pro-settler National Union party.
Army didn't intervene
A police spokesperson said Ben Ari was among protesters who entered a restricted area and denied charges that the deputy had been mistreated.
Near the settlement of Yizhar, heavy smoke billowed into the air as settlers set fire to Palestinian fields.
When a group of Palestinians threw stones trying to chase young men off the land, settlers hiding nearby opened fire in the direction of the Palestinians and journalists, an AFP correspondent said.
Three army patrol vehicles at a nearby junction stood by and did not intervene to stop the violence, but they prevented a Palestinian firetruck from reaching the field.
The police and army had no immediate comment.
"These sorts of rock hurling incidents are unfortunately very common in the West Bank," one army spokesperson said as he sought more information on the incidents.
Angry mobs of settlers also set fire to fields, sawed down olive trees and threw rocks at Palestinians outside the villages of Burin and Far'ata, south of Nablus.
"It took us six months to plant everything, this is our whole life," Shaher Tawil said, as his fields of wheat and olive trees burned on the outskirts of Far-ata.
Asked about the settler violence, northern West Bank settler leader Gershon Messika said: "It's natural that people who face expulsion from their house do what they can to avoid being expelled."
Groups of settlers converged on the area overnight after rumours spread that Israeli security forces were moving in to evacuate settlement outposts.
Dismantle unlawful outposts
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to dismantle several dozen wildcat outposts - settlements that were erected without government approval - in response to demands from Washington, which has called to a halt to all Israeli settlement activity.
"Our intention is to dismantle the unlawful outposts," Netanyahu told a parliamentary committee on Monday, while pledging to continue construction in other settlements to accommodate population growth.
In the past few weeks, Israeli police have taken down some tents and tin huts in the occupied territory, though settlers usually rebuild them swiftly.
On Monday, police and army removed several shacks containing farming equipment outside the settlement of Elon Moreh northeast of Nablus. New shacks arose on the site within a few hours, local settlers said.
Hard-line settlers believe the Jewish people have a God-given right to live on the land, though most of the more than 280 000 Israelis who live in the settlements dotting the West Bank are there for economic reasons.
The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Arab land illegal, but Israel makes a distinction between those built with and those without government approval.
