Israel ousts Palestinian protesters in West Bank

By Ian Deitch / ASSOCIATED PRESS

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JERUSALEM — Palestinian protesters who pitched tents at a strategic West Bank site to protest plans to build a Jewish housing project there were evicted early today, police said. Palestinian activists erected tents in the area known as E-1 on Friday saying they wanted to “establish facts on the ground” to stop Israeli construction in the West Bank.

The Palestinian activists were borrowing a phrase and a tactic, usually associated with Jewish settlers, who believe establishing communities means the territory will remain theirs once structures are built. Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police evicted about a hundred protesters from the site early this morning after a court decision authorizing their removal.

He did not know which court had allowed the eviction. Haaretz reported that the eviction was carried out despite a temporary High Court injunction preventing it. Rosenfeld said no arrests were made during the half-hour operation and that no injuries were sustained on either side. He said the tents were not dismantled and that a decision on that would be made later in the day.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday evening ordered roads closed leading to the area and had the military declare a closed military zone and shut off access. Netanyahu’s office said the state was petitioning the Supreme Court to rescind an earlier injunction blocking the evacuation.

Israel announced it is moving forward with the E-1 settlement after the U.N. recognized a de facto state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in November. Palestinians say E-1 would be a major blow to their statehood aspirations as it blocks east Jerusalem from its West Bank hinterland.

Palestinians are demanding these areas, along with Gaza, for their future state. Activists said they want to build a village called Bab Al Shams at the site. The construction plans drew unusually sharp criticism from some of Israel’s staunchest allies including the U.S. who strongly oppose the E-1 project.

Israeli officials have said actual construction on the project may be years away if it ever gets off the ground, while Israeli critics have questioned whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu actually intends to develop E-1, or is pandering to hard-liners ahead of Israel’s Jan. 22 election.

How this transcription was made

Date and publication rest on the collector's slide label; no masthead, folio or printed dateline appears on this clipping.

Context added by this archive

Worth keeping in the Bennett run as a contrast case even though Bennett is absent.

The AP names the Palestinian tactic precisely and says in its own voice that it is borrowed from settlers who 'believe establishing communities means the territory will remain theirs once structures are built' - the clearest statement of the settlement method anywhere in batch B, and it appears in a story about Palestinians being removed.

No Palestinian is quoted: the only named sources are an Israeli police spokesman, Haaretz and Netanyahu's office. Palestinian positions appear three times as 'Palestinians say' and 'Activists said'. 'Occupied' does not appear.

Cite this clipping

"Israel ousts Palestinian protesters in West Bank," The Star-Ledger, 13 January 2013. Covering Palestine archive, CP-2013-021. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-2013-021