Defense Ministry Plans on Establishing New Israeli Settlement in West Bank

[Israeli]

The new community is intended for those currently living in the Amona outpost, which is slated for evacuation and demolition by the end of the year.

Chaim Levinson May 07, 2016

The Defense Ministry, together with the settlement movement Amana, is planning a new settlement near Shiloh in the northern West Bank. The new construction is intended for the 40 families now living in the outpost of Amona, which is set to be evacuated by the end of the year.

The settlement's architectural plans, obtained by Haaretz, show that it will be built on state lands near the outpost of Geulat Zion, which has been focal point of violence against Palestinians. Geulat Zion was the home of Amiram Ben-Uliel, charged with the arson-murder of the Dawabsheh family in the Palestinian village of Duma. The police frequently carry out demolition orders in the outpost.

The planning of the settlement is meant to dispel opposition to the evacuation of Amona. It will have 139 housing units, and Amana’s secretary general, Zeev Hever, could sell about 90 of them on the open market.

Hever was questioned under caution by the police last month on suspicion of fraud.

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.718424

[Israeli]

7. Do you know the history of the illegal outpost of Amona ?

re : " Just kidding ".

I do ....I had a relative badly beaten and injured by the settlers there in 2006 ...a member of the security services sent to remove them by the then government .

So excuse me if I dont find your comment amusing .

A history for you :

https://archive.peacenow.org/entries/archive2237

How bad were the clashes between settlers and security forces at Amona?

Settlers began gathering their supporters at Amona overnight on February 1st, and by the morning, when the High Court rejected the settlers' final petition to stop the demolitions, thousands of protesters, including many young people, had gathered at the site. As reported on the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth's website, security forces arriving in the area at 3:00 a.m. "were greeted with a barrage of rocks, oil, paint, and water." Regarding the actual operation, the paper reported that:

"Security forces completed the takeover of nine homes in the illegal West Bank outpost of Amona Wednesday following three and a half hours of unprecedented clashes with settlers. The evacuation degenerated into a violent confrontation between thousands of settlers and thousands of soldiers and police officers. By early afternoon hours, 200 people were reported to have sustained injuries, including 80 members of the security forces, most of them police officers. At least one police officer sustained very serious head wounds and was airlifted to hospital after he lost consciousness. Knesset Members Effie Eitam and Arieh Eldad, who arrived at the site to support the settlers' struggle, were also wounded [another right-wing Knesset Member, Benjamin Elon, was also injured]."

Some illustrations for you :

https://www.google.co.il/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=677&q=the+Amona+outpost&oq=the+Amona+outpost&gs_l=img.3...2739.2739.0.4358.1.1.0.0.0.0.148.148.0j1.1.0....0...1ac.2.64.img..0.0.0.mPlNXnAmu3Y

[6chars]

10. so you must be pleased Bibi is evacuating it.

[Israeli]

12. Really .....you think Bibi wanted it evacuated ....

Notice it says " Defense Ministry " .....do you know why ?

Because Ya'alon is terrified that it will happen again .....he knows what might happen if an other soldier is injured by these fanatics .

So he is bribing them for their good behavior .

See : http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/112477-160507-new-west-bank-settlement-slated-for-soon-to-be-evicted-outpost-residents-haaretz

The settlers claimed that they had legally purchased some of the plots, but a legal opinion ruled that some of the purchase documents submitted to the court were forged. At the end of 2014, then-Supreme Court President Asher Grunis ordered that the outpost be evacuated within the next two years — effectively giving them until December 2016.

According to Haaretz, the plans for the new settlement are intended by Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon as a message to Amona's residents, proposing that if they evacuate quietly they will get a new locale, otherwise they will be evicted with no follow-up solution for them.

[Israeli]

9. Another thing for you to ponder on 6chars......

Some facts from way back then ......

What was the public reaction to the demolitions and the confrontations?

In general the Israeli public has supported the evacuation and demolition of the illegal structures in the Amona outpost, and has generally blamed the settlers for the violence that occurred at the site.

- A "Dialogue" poll of adult Israelis (including Israeli Arabs) carried out on January 31st for Ha'aretz newspaper and Israel's Channel 10 (and published on February 2nd), asked people if they "support or oppose the forceful evacuation of the Amona outpost." Of those polled, 58.8% said "support," 22.1% said "oppose," and 19.1% gave some other answer.

- A "Dahaf" poll of 500 adult Israelis (including Israeli Arabs) for Yedioth Ahronoth carried out on February 1st (and published on February 3rd), asked people, "should the illegal outpost Amona have been evacuated?" 58% of those polled answered "yes," and 34% answered "no." The poll also asked, "Who is responsible for the violence that broke out during the course of the evacuation?" 57% of those polled responded "settlers," 16% responded "army/police," 10% responded "both sides," and 4% blamed "Olmert/government."

- A "Geocartography" poll commissioned by Army Radio and carried out the morning of February 2nd asked people to assess blame for the confrontations and violence at Amona (with those polled apparently permitted to select more than one answer). Of those polled, 70% blamed the violence at Amona on "past Israeli governments who encouraged the settler enterprise," 64% blamed the settler leadership (the Yesha Council), 57% blamed the rabbis who indoctrinated the protesting youth, 51% blamed the Israeli government for not finding a peaceful solution, 39% blamed the violence on settlers and their supporters, and 31% said the blame was shared by the settlers and the police. Of those polled, 63% said that they "understood the settlers' sense of betrayal" but "their use of violence was unjustified."

What does the violent resistance in Amona mean for future actions against outposts?

Some observers believe that the settlers - and in particular the segment of the settler youth that is remains energized, alienated, and angered by the Gaza disengagement - deliberately sought to raise the stakes at Amona by engaging in far more violent resistance than in the past. In doing so, they wanted to send a message about the political costs of any future settlement evacuations in the West Bank.

Early indications are, however, that their tactics may have backfired. Acting Prime Minister Olmert responded forcefully to the reports of settlers attacking Israeli soldiers, stating at a Knesset meeting that "This is a phenomenon that cannot continue or be accepted. When bricks are thrown at the heads of soldiers and police officers, a line has clearly been crossed." He reportedly went on to say that, "This is reaching a scope we haven't seen before. This was an organized activity on the part of the settlers for political ends. The State of Israel will not tolerate it."

Other senior officials took a similarly hard line, including Cabinet Minister Roni Bar-On, who stated that, "We will not allow any law-breaker, even if he is a member of Knesset...to harm the State of Israel as a state of law. We restrained ourselves in Gush Katif. We restrained ourselves in Hebron, in Yitzhar, and in outposts for a long time, even if people there physically injured security forces. That's finished. The era of restraint has come to an end. From now on, this will be a nation of law, which enforces the law." He also said that, "Whoever breaks the law, whoever harms the army, whoever harms the police, will pay the price, and immediately. No one in the State of Israel will be above the law," he concluded. Bar-On also criticized settler leaders for cowardice in "hiding behind children" and inciting them to climb onto rooftops and attack security forces evacuating Amona.

Source : https://archive.peacenow.org/entries/archive2237

[6chars]

11. Exactly. Israel government - doing the right thing again

[Scootaloo]

2. Well, that sounds like it'll help things.

I'm continually amazed at how much "state land" Israel is able to find outside its own borders, too.

[Israeli]

3. How ???

............

596 Dunams were Declared as State Line in Eli through Blue Line Team Amendments

22/3/16

The Palestinian News agency Ma'an reported yesterday that the Civil Administration issued a new order determining state land boundaries in the settlement of Eli.

The order is a result of the work of the Civil Administration's Blue Line Team which works to correct inaccurate state land declarations made during the 1980s. According to the new order, 2,781 dunams of the lands of the villages Lubban al Sharqiya, Karyut and Al-Sawiya are now considered state lands, 596 dunams of which were not considered state lands according to the old declaration. Additionally, 590 dunams were detracted from the old declaration.

Peace Now: This is a new land expropriation, even though the government refers to it as a 'correction of state land boundaries.' The new procedure of announcing the results of the Blue Line Team's work exposes only a fraction of the land takeover that occurred in the last decade without any public knowledge. Under the excuse of technical corrections, without publication and without the knowledge of Palestinian landowners, tens of thousands of dunams of private Palestinian lands had become state lands for the purpose of settlements. While the public and legal debate were focused on settlement building on private Palestinian lands, the real story has been the government's massive and systematic state land declarations through the Blue Line Team work. The Netanyahu government continues to sabotage the chance for peace and crosses many red lines avoided by previous governments such as massive land expropriations meant for settlement expansion.

See much more @

http://peacenow.org.il/eng/BlueLineEli

[Scootaloo]

4. Well, my title line was sarcasm

But the body... Yeah. I wonder if the US has any state land that's gone missing down in Mexico or something.

[Israeli]

8. More dunams for you ....

The Government Declares 2342 Dunams South of Jericho as State Land
Home

15/3/16

The Army radio exposed today that on March 10, 2016, during Vice President Biden’s visit to Israel, the Civil Administration’s Head of the Government Property signed a declaration according to which 2,342 dunams (580 acres) south of Jericho are now government property. This declaration of state land comes two months after it was reported that the Minister of Defense approved a declaration of 1,500 dunams as state lands in an area south of Jericho. It appears that the January approval by the MoD permitted the land declaration which is now being implemented. However, the size of the land declared is larger than what was published in January and includes 2,342 dunams. The declaration, which is in fact a confiscation, was meant for the expansion of nearby settlements as well as for trade and tourism projects operated by the settlers. This is one of the largest declarations in recent years, and it is another illustration of the government’s policy of land confiscation, including those far beyond the green line and the separation barrier.

Peace Now: This declaration is a de-facto confiscation of Palestinian lands for the purpose of settlement. Instead of trying to clam the situation, the government is adding fuel to the fire and sending a clear message to Palestinians, as well as to Israelis, that it has no intention to work towards peace and two states. Netanyahu proves yet again, that settler pressure is more important to him than the deteriorating security situation.

See much more @

http://peacenow.org.il/eng/JerichoDeclaration100316

[TubbersUK]

5. K & R

[Israeli]

13. West Bank Settlers Prepare for Clash, With Israeli Government

By ISABEL KERSHNER
OCT. 6, 2016

AMONA OUTPOST, West Bank — Thousands of Israeli police officers stormed this hilltop settler outpost in the occupied West Bank to raze nine illegally built homes. Settlers and their supporters hurled cinder blocks at the officers, who charged on horseback and beat protesters with batons. The homes were torn down, but 300 people were injured and the emotional scars ran deep. Some later called it a pogrom.

That was a decade ago. Now the residents of Amona are readying for another battle with their own government and security forces, trying to thwart an Israeli Supreme Court order that the entire outpost be dismantled by Dec. 25. Barring an 11th-hour compromise, organizers expect up to 20,000 sympathizers to move into Amona, where 40 families live in prefabricated homes and trailers, to resist a forced evacuation.

“I will sit down on my backside with my arms folded,” said Avichay Buaron, a lawyer who moved to the outpost a few months after it was established in 1996. “Thousands will sit down,” he added. “If they hit us, they hit us.”

A flagship of the settler enterprise, Amona is becoming a test of how far Israel’s right-wing government will go to avoid a clash with its constituency and how vested it is in more than 100 outposts built without authorization across the West Bank. It is forcing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to balance the demands of his conservative coalition partners, the state’s judicial authorities and world leaders, who overwhelmingly view the settlements as violations of international law.

The Obama administration on Wednesday condemned Israel’s plan to build 98 housing units east of Shilo, a settlement a few miles north of Amona, which are meant to accommodate the outpost’s evacuees. In an unusually sharp statement, the State Department said the plan, which Israel described as a new neighborhood of Shilo, was “deeply troubling” and would “create a significant new settlement deep in the West Bank.”

Continued @

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/world/middleeast/west-bank-settlement-amona-israel.html?ref=world&_r=0