Another Act of Fundamentalist Thuggery (Israel)

[Pelranius]

Hebron mayor: Jewish settlers on 'terror' rampage

HEBRON, West Bank (CNN) -- Jewish settlers are on a "terror" rampage in the West Bank city of Hebron, angry over the Israeli military's seizure of a disputed home, the city's mayor said Thursday.
Israeli police struggle to remove Jewish settlers from a disputed house in Hebron on Thursday.

Israeli police struggle to remove Jewish settlers from a disputed house in Hebron on Thursday.
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"What's happening in Hebron is terror by the settlers," the mayor, Khaled Osaily, told CNN. "They are attacking houses, setting fire to property and injuring people."

Some of the settlers opened fire on Palestinians, critically injuring one, Palestinian sources told CNN. Five other Palestinians have been wounded in the rioting, the sources said.

The latest round of violence comes hours after Israeli police and military forcibly removed a group of settlers from a disputed home in Hebron. The settlers inside the residence had ignored court orders to vacate the house, which a Palestinian man claims belongs to him. The situation has led to recent clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinian residents.

Osaily called on the international community to pressure Israel to remove all settlers from Hebron, one of the most contested cities in the West Bank, with a Palestinian section and a Jewish settler enclave. It is home to about 160,000 Palestinians and 500 Israelis.

"We warned the Israelis about this," the mayor said. "They didn't do enough to stop the settlers from their aggression."

Shortly after seizing control of the disputed home, the Israeli military declared the southern part of the West Bank, including the entire city of Hebron, a closed military zone.

Israeli media reported that the settlers are vandalizing Palestinian residences in the Hebron area, including setting fire to some homes. Israeli daily Haaretz reported that police used stun grenades and tear gas to subdue the rioting settlers.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told CNN the rioting was not widespread.

"There have been sporadic incidents," he said. "We have stepped up police patrols in the West Bank to increase security."

A line of Israeli forces stood outside the disputed home on Thursday, as specially trained Israeli police pulled the settlers out of the home, according to Israeli military spokesman Maj. Avital Leibovitch. A banner castigating Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the president of Israel's Supreme Court, Dorit Beinisch, hung above the home's entrance.

Some of the settlers walked out unassisted, while others were physically escorted by the security forces. One settler, who was on the ground in tears, was carried away.

The entire operation took just over an hour, Leibovitch said.

"The events today in Hebron demonstrate clearly that in Israel the rule of law will prevail and not the vigilante extremist," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
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Ambulance services reported 20 people -- settlers and Israeli security forces -- were injured in the struggle, none seriously.

The Israeli military dispatched two helicopters in case of a medical emergency, Leibovitch said.

Earlier this week, the Israeli army established a closed military zone around the disputed house.

Israeli security forces moved in to remove the settlers a short time after Barak and the Settler Council failed to agree to resolve the situation peacefully.

Barak told the council leaders that "all citizens must accept the authority of the state."

The settler leaders agreed but called on Barak not to forcibly remove the settlers from the house, council spokesman Yishai Hollander told CNN.

The council leaders offered to Barak several non-violent solutions to end the confrontation. Hollander noted that there is a small group of settler extremists who do not abide by Israeli law nor the council's demands.

Barak vowed that Israel "will not allow extremist elements to undermine the authority of the state and its foundation."

"The people who are residing in the disputed house must vacate the house and follow the instructions by the state organizations and the courts," Barak told the council, according to his spokesman. "Only after the house is vacated will it be possible to clarify the disagreements."

Israeli settlers moved into the so-called "house of contention" last year, claiming they bought it from the Palestinian man. That man, however, says no deal was ever made.

A court ruled two weeks ago that the settlers living in the house must evacuate. It said they would be evicted within 30 days if they did not leave voluntarily, but the settlers ignored the court's orders.

Violence flared Monday over rumors that the contested house would be evacuated. Eleven people were wounded. Settlers and Palestinians threw stones at each other and settlers rioted elsewhere in the West Bank.

Hebron also is the location of the Cave of the Patriarch, a religious site holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, and has been the site of high-profile violence between Palestinians and Israelis.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast ... index.html

Just goes to show you that they're no different than the other bunch, circle wanking by Orson Scott Card and Mike Savage aside.

[Ace Pace]

Fuck these guys. They're not the settlers. They're a bunch of religious youth who came in from all over the country to fight this and when they didn't get their nice Amona show, they decided to make one.
You can see this very much in broadcasts, they can't see TV? They're civil. They know they're going to be on the news? They'll fight tooth and nail. The religious girls with their whining of "you can't touch me" is the most hypocritical self serving piece of shit ever.

Though I'll repeat a correction to the article. These arn't the Jewish settlers. Most settlers don't really care for Hebron seeing as how it's full of exactly these type of incidents and they just like living quietly. These are a bunch of teenagers who are still angsty over the disengagment.

[Pelranius]

Ah, I stand corrected. Thanks.

Frankly, it'll only be a matter of time before the fundamentalist hooligans start shooting at Israeli troops and police.

Edit: Maybe a mod could change the title then?

[Edi]

Interesting news item. Awfully close to the IvP moratorium, but not in violation. Let's keep it that way.

[hongi]

Settlers to Ethiopian troops: Niggers don't expel Jews

Not only do they serve long and tiring hours in the reserve forces, and not only are they forced to deal with violent clashes with settlers, but now, Border Guard officers of Ethiopian descent are also faced with rising racism.

"Niggers don't expel Jews! This isn't what we brought you to Israel for!" are just some of the degrading slurs Border Guard officers reported hearing from masked settlers.

During the violent clashes between Israeli forces and settlers in Hebron on Tuesday "a bunch of veiled people started yelling at us: Who are you to expel us from our home? An Ethiopian does not expel a Jew! A nigger does not expel a Jew!" one Border Guard officer of Ethiopian descent recounted.

"I just didn't know what to do with myself," he said.

Whackos.

[bobalot]

These ultra right Jewish extremists are going to be the people who rot Israel from within. They pay less taxes, have higher levels of unemployment, many are exempt from military service, breed like rabbits (I'm talking 6+ kids per family), have special funding for their religious schools and pick fights with the Palestinians by simply seizing property. Quite frankly they are parasites on the Israeli state. I don't quite understand why they seem to be such a pampered group within Israel.

[Maraxus]

If I understand the situation correctly, it's because a lot of ultra-orthodox Jews originally did not want to jump on the Israel bandwagon back in the 40s, and the government needed their backing to seem religious rather than racist. All the little goodies the ultra-orthodox Jews get are apparently attempts to gain their support and provide the state more legitimacy. There are, however, some who still don't accept the legitimacy of the Israeli state. The Jews present at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's forum on the Holocaust refuse to recognize Israel's legitimacy, IRC.

[Rye]

I've been wanting to call this the "Large Hebron Collider" for ages, but I can't work out how to get it in there.

I recall when the last group were forcibly shifted from an illegal settlement; they were calling Israeli police and army "nazis", naturally (really original, there ) and said that God gave them the land and that's all that matters. It's so weird to see people actually say that and mean it, instead of just taking the piss.

[Kanastrous]

While I'm not about to just dismiss what Mayor Osaily has to say, I also can't quite forget the 'massacre/genocide/thousands of dead civilians/etc' business the Palestinians were pimping after the Israelis rolled into Bethlehem, a few years ago, that turned out to be a tissue of fabrications.