Settlers plan defiant return to West Bank

[oberliner]

A group of deeply religious Jewish settlers is planning to take advantage of the Israeli prime minister's political weakness by retaking the abandoned West Bank town of Homesh.

Leaders of the Homesh First group have toured settlements on the West Bank to drum up support, handing out maps of the approach routes to their destroyed hilltop town and manuals instructing thousands of followers on how to thwart soldiers and police who are preparing to block them.

The group is hoping to benefit from the growing pressure on prime minister Ehud Olmert to resign over his handling of last year's war against Hezbollah. Mr Olmert has been further handicapped by a series of corruption scandals allegedly involving himself and other cabinet ministers. "The government is weak and it won't want clashes," said Rabbi Motti Ganeram, a Homesh evacuee.

Homesh was one of 23 settlements in the northern West Bank and Gaza cleared out by former prime minister Ariel Sharon in his unprecedented disengagement from Palestinian territories.

Homesh evacuees and other settlers are expected to launch the first attempt to re-establish an evacuated settlement tomorrow. They plan to take with them tents and electric generators and to spend two days camped out amid the rubble.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/25/wmid25.xml

[ret5hd]

1. Deeply religious my ass...

maybe deeply greedy or deeply bigoted or deeply covetous...but hardly deeply religious.

[kaal]

2. How do you determine if someone is deeply religious?

[breakaleg]

3. The point is, what does being religious have to do with taking over illegal settlements?

[Lurking Dem]

4. The "deeply religious"

using their beliefs to justify their insanity is hardly novel.

[breakaleg]

6. Of course. I meant in a rational sense. That classification is meant to soften their

actions, in a way. If it were any other group openly planning to break the law, steal land, and actively petition to ignore the IDF, the government and give out instructions on how to obstruct them, it would be another story. But because they are "religious", then it's somehow not nearly as serious.

[oberliner]

8. I don't think it's meant to soften their actions

The UK newspaper, The Telegraph, referred to them as "deeply religious".

The Israeli newspaper, Ha'aretz, referred to them as "right-wing activists".

YNet uses the phrase "right-wing extremists" in this article:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3380972,00.html

[breakaleg]

11. I don't get the same image when I hear "deeply religious" as when I hear the other two. nt

[oberliner]

12. But why would the British paper soften the image

While the Israeli papers use the other terminology?

Not sure what the implication is.

[breakaleg]

13. I'm not sure. But when it comes to reporters, they know the power of words and I'm sure

there was a reason. I looked but didn't find anything. What do the major US news sources call them in situations like these?

[oberliner]

21. CBS News calls them "settlers"

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/26/world/main2609050.shtml

Thousands of Israeli settlers and their supporters converged on the former West Bank settlement of Homesh, which was dismantled by Israel a year and a-half ago, for a one-day demonstration, reports Berger. "We have no intention of reoccupying settlements that were disengaged as part of the disengagement that took place at the end of 2005," Olmert said. The settlers, however, say that some day they'll return to stay.

[pelsar]

15. its because they religious....

and they belief is such that they believe the westbank/gaza belongs to the jews...because of their religion..its pretty obvious when one talks to them.....

but then hey....its just a matter talking to them, listening to them, etc

[breakaleg]

17. That makes no sense.

I'm religious. I believe God meant for me to be a millionaire. Now, if doesn't come through with that cash soon, should I rob a bank in his name? That's about as rational as these rabid settlers.

[Lurking Dem]

18. I believe that pelsar

doesn't think "religious" and "rational" belong in the same sentence.

[pelsar]

22. of course not...

religion makes a mockery of rationality.....

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Scurrilous]

5. IDF: Force will be used against attempts to resettle Homesh

<snip>

"The Israel Defense Forces and police will invest only limited effort in preventing right-wing activists from marching Monday on the ruins of the former West Bank settlement Homesh, but warned that protesters would be evacuated by force if they tried to resettle the area.

Security forces estimate that they will be outnumbered by about three times the number of protesters expected to participate in the march on the former northern West Bank settlement, which was evacuated as part of the disengagement in 2005.

The IDF believes that at least 5,000 people will participate in the march, but only 1,000 policemen and Border Policemen and 500 IDF soldiers will try to block access to the site. With this ratio, the IDF knows the chances of completely blocking all the participants from reaching Homesh are slim.

Senior officers in the IDF Central Command held talks throughout the day with the march's organizers, in an attempt to dissuade the participants from trying to bypass security forces by walking through Palestinian villages and thus taking an unnecessary risk."

more

[Scurrilous]

10. Evacuees say returning to Homesh for good

Former residents of evacuated West Bank settlement, thousands of other right-wing activists plan to march on site despite defense minister’s warning; ‘Even if we will be evacuated we’ll return the following day, and after Independence Day we’ll begin working on the political front,’ organizer says

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3381064,00.html

<snip>

"A year-and-a-half after their evacuation from Homesh, the former residents of the West Bank settlement plan on returning to the site on Monday along with other right-wing activists from across the country.

Homesh was one of four West Bank settlements evacuated in 2005, along with the Gush Katif settlements in the Gaza Strip.

Despite Defense Minister Amir Peretz’s warning that the IDF would prevent their planned march on the former settlement, the evacuees said they "are coming back to stay."

“Even if we will be evacuated we’ll return the following day, and after Independence Day we’ll begin working on the political front,” one of the march’s organizers said.

The organizers told Ynet that several hundred right-wing activists have already arrived at nearby settlements, where they plan to spend the night and then head for Homesh in the morning."

[rodeodance]

7. Nothing but trouble-----no matter their degree of religiousness.

[cali]

9. Aaargh. Zealots of the worst kind n/t

[pelsar]

16. we shall see...

they want 1,000 people to show up.....didnt work in the gaza evacuation, now we'll see who actually supports them (i'm betting on less than a couple hundred)

[msmcghee]

19. Zealots of the worst kind?

I appreciate your usually even-handed views and I see these settlers as typical religious nutjobs - but certainly you don't mean that zealots who orchestrate a protest and occupation of uninhabited land to make a political statement - like we did at People's Park in the 60's - are worse than the zealots who strap explosives to their bodies and walk on to a bus full of innocent civilians and blow them to pieces.

I think that a lot of the psychology underlying ME politics - especially for the left - is centered around emotional responses to the bully/victim narrative. Much of the success of the Palestinian movement on the left is due to their success at identifying themselves in the West, on college campuses, etc. - as the poor underdogs in the conflict and Israel as the great imperialist oppressor.

Many of the posts in this forum carry this frame through very effectively. Some members show very vividly in their posts how strongly that bully/victim perspective affects their views of the conflict.

I don't criticize anyone for having those feelings. I share those feelings at a very basic level and they are a large part of my personal commitment to liberalism. Our differences lie in who we identify as the bullies and who as the victims.

I think it's very important in a violent world to be very careful about the choices that we on the left make in that regard. If we choose incorrectly we end up rewarding those who use violence against others to get what they want - and we end up punishing their victims. That bullying behavior, rewarded, leads directly and immediately to more death and destruction in the world - a very un-liberal outcome. For that reason we should be careful of words and assertions that could support false characterizations in this bully/victim narrative.

Being a bully has nothing to do with the size of your muscles or the caliber of your guns. It has to do with your actions. If you attack others to get what you want instead of using persuasion and negotiation (or protests) - you are a bully. If you are willing to respect others' rights but are attacked by them wanting to take what you've got - you are a victim.

News photos that show heavily armed IDF facing down teenagers throwing rocks on WB streets effectively promote an opposite emotional frame. We should remember however, that those IDF are on those WB streets, away from their families, exposed to that danger for one main reason - so that the next suicide bomber will not be able to so easily step onto that bus in Tel Aviv.

[Scurrilous]

14. Dozens march to Homesh under tight security

At last moment, IDF and police decide to allow right-wing activists to march to former West Bank settlement and to guard them. Thousands expected to arrive by buses from across country in bid to rebuild settlement evacuated and destroyed during disengagement; Palestinians threaten to block them with gunfire

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3381130,00.html

<snip>

"Dozens of youths began marching Monday morning toward the former northern West Bank settlement of Homesh, which was evacuated about a year and a half ago as part of the disengagement plan.

The marchers were guarded by IDF and Border Guard forces and were carrying sleeping bags. The first group entered the former settlement in the late morning hours.

Thousands of right-wing activists were expected to arrive in the area later in the day from the across the country in a bid to resettle the former settlement.

In an effort to prevent violent clashes, the IDF announced that it would enable settlers to arrive in Homesh but would not allow them to rebuild the settlement."

[oberliner]

20. Some 2,000 protesters reach site of evacuated West Bank settlement

Some 2,000 right wing activists, most of them youths, arrived Monday at the site of the evacuated settlement of Homesh in an effort to repopulate the former West Bank enclave.

The activists are equiped with tents and sleeping bags and intend to spend the night at the sight. Participants in the march are still arriving at Homesh.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday vowed, however, that Israel would not let them to re-occupy the site.

"We have no intention of re-occupying settlements that were evacuated as part of the disengagement," he said, referring to the forced evacuation of all Gaza settlements and four in the northern West Bank, Homesh among them, in 2005.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/841857.html

[bemildred]

24. "Squatters plan defiant return to West Bank"

Better headline. Calling them settlers suggests they are some sort of pioneers, a ridiculous notion in the area, where people have been living there and fighting over it for millenia.

[breakaleg]

25. thank-you! This is what I've been trying to say in this thread. nt

[oberliner]

26. "Hundreds of Jewish Colonisers Storm Vacated Colony of Homesh in Jenin"

http://www.wafa.ps/english/body.asp?id=9662

How's that headline?

[bemildred]

27. LOL. There you go.

I tend to think "squatters" is better usage, although the governments support for their activities, such as it is, gives some credence to calling them "colonizers".

[henank]

30. I'm not quite sure why you think the gov't supports them

If they did, they wouldn't have tried so hard to evacuate them.

On Tuesday, police officials warned that should the settlers fail to evacuate willingly, the government would be inclined to give the green light for the forceful evacuation of the several dozen teenage settlers who vowed to put up a tough resistance.

[bemildred]

31. The government has a schizophrenic attitude towards the settlements.

These particular loons, the government most likely fears the political fallout mainly. You will note that a point is made that there were "no arrests".

[henank]

29. It's all over

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3382114,00.html

[Violet_Crumble]

33. That's very good news

Thanks for posting that. In the end it didn't take all that long for them to get evicted, which was good...

[bemildred]

28. Israel police move Homesh squatters

Israeli police have removed more than 450 pro-settlement squatters from the former Jewish settlement of Homesh in the West Bank.

Mickey Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the police, said on Wednesday: "Police have completed the evacuation of Homesh.

"There have been no injuries ... and no arrests."

Hundreds of police officers armed with batons were seen dragging some of the hundreds of protesters who had remained at the site.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CEF31013-09D6-4363-BCD7-78EE2DC6EA0B.htm

[Englander]

32. 2 soldiers injured by settlers near Homesh

Two soldiers were lightly injured Tuesday afternoon during confrontations with a group of settlers who they tried to prevent from reaching the former settlement of Homesh in the West Bank, the army said.

Hundreds of right-wing activists arrived in Homesh, defying a government decision to bar settlers and their supporters from marching to the evacuated settlement on Independence Day.

The army said a scuffle erupted when the soldiers told the settlers that Homesh was off-limits.

The army set up roadblocks on roads leading to the settlement which was evacuated in 2005 part of the disengagement plan.

Many more settlers are expected to march to Homesh, including Noble Prize for Economics laureate Prof Yisrael Aumann.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3391440,00.html

[The Magistrate]

34. The Soldiers, Sir, Had Better Start Injuring Settlers

Nothing short of that is going to serve the turn Israel needs to take here.