VARIOUS: ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER BINYAMIN BEN-ELIEZER ORDERS JEWISH SETTLERS TO REMOVE TEN ROGUE OUTPOSTS IN WEST BANK

Record ID: 640784

  • Title: VARIOUS: ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER BINYAMIN BEN-ELIEZER ORDERS JEWISH SETTLERS TO REMOVE TEN ROGUE OUTPOSTS IN WEST BANK
  • Date: 2nd July 2002
  • Summary: (W5) TUNNEL ROAD, WEST BANK (JUNE 30, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV ISRAELI SIDE OF SITE WHERE THE FENCE IS BEING BUILT; MV ISRAELI FLAG; MV ISRAELI SOLDIER (4 SHOTS) MV BINYAMIN BEN ELIEZER, ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER, ARRIVING AT SITE WHERE FENCE IS BEING BUILT; MV ELIEZER AT SITE; MV ELIEZER ARRIVES TO TALK TO MEDIA (4 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) BEN ELIEZER SAYING "The government coordinator office is already acquainted with my latest order to try and ease the life as much as possible. Number one, to try and restrict the curfew only to night and try and allow people to move freely and, thirdly, to get people to submit what is required, so their life is back to normal." MV BEN ELIEZER TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) BEN ELIEZER TALKING ABOUT ROGUE SETTLEMENTS, SAYING "The establishment itself brings about actual danger to whoever lives there and the second thing is that the outposts were established against the law." MV BACKSHOT BEN ELIEZER WITH SOLDIERS (W3) JERUSALEM (JUNE 30, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV ISRAELIS DEMONSTRATING AGAINST DEFENCE MINISTER'S DECISION TO REMOVE TEN JEWISH SETTLER OUTPOSTS IN THE WEST BANK; MV BANNER READING (English): "JEWISH BLOOD VERSUS EMPTIED HOUSES"; SLV DEMONSTRATORS (3 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMONSTRATOR SAYING "We are here demonstrating in front of the Prime Minister's offices and demanding from Ariel Sharon to stop building the fence that is built on 1967 borders, also known as the Auschwitz borders, and we are telling the prime minister, 'fence the terrorists in, kill the terrorists, don't fence the victims in. Secondly, we are shocked and outraged to hear this morning that Ariel Sharon allows the ministry of defence to evacuate ten or more Jewish outposts. We are horrified that, in a time when Jews are being murdered, the proper response should be building a Jewish settlement for a Jewish city for each Jew that has been murdered, that Ariel Sharon allows Ben Eliezer to do such a crime." MV BANNER READING "FENCE THE TERRORISTS, NOT THE VICTIMS"
  • Embargoed: 17th July 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JERUSALEM / BETHLEHEM, RAMALLAH, TUNNEL ROAD, DHEISHE CAMP, AL-AMARY REFUGEE CAMP, NEAR THE MAALE HEVER SETTLEMENT AND NEAR THE BEIT HAGGAI SETTLEMENT, WEST BANK
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA80ZOUZ7XQMWDAUA4SAUVKHNZ0
  • Story Text: Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has ordered Jewish settlers to remove 10 rogue outposts in the West Bank, attracting criticism from settlement leaders who accused him of rewarding a Palestinian uprising.
    Israeli security forces began to remove two Jewish settler outposts shortly after Ben-Eliezer's statement.
    While Ben-Eliezer took aim at the rogue settlements, the army eased its West Bank clampdown slightly when it lifted a curfew in Bethlehem. But hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remained confined to homes elsewhere.
    Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said he would uproot 10 rogue Jewish outposts in the West Bank on Sunday (June 30, 2002), setting the stage for possible confrontations with militant settlers.
    The umbrella Yesha Council of Jewish settlements criticised Ben-Eliezer's decision as a "reward and encouragement for terrorism", after 21 months of bloodshed in a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
    Settlers were told to take down 10 outposts themselves on Sunday. If they did not, Israel said troops would move in on Monday (July 1) to do it. Defence ministry officials declined to say which outposts were ordered to be dismantled.
    On Sunday afternoon, Israeli security forces began to remove two outposts south of Hebron.
    Israeli media said the two outposts had not been inhabited and that additional settlements, established without government permission in the northern West Bank, were also expected to be removed in the coming days.
    On Sunday, Ben-Eliezer toured the frontier between Jerusalem and the West Bank where Israel is building the controversial fence designed to stop Palestinian militants entering Jerusalem and Israeli cities.
    Speaking to journalists after his tour, he explained why the decision to close the rogue settlements was taken.
    "The establishment itself brings about actual danger to whoever lives there, and the second thing is that the otuposts were established against the law," Ben Eliezer said.
    Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, a group of demonstrators gathered in front of the Prime Minister's house demanding Sharon reverses Eliezer's decision.
    They also protested against the construction of the fence.
    Settlers living in the West Bank say it will lead to the de-facto establishment of a Palestinian state.
    "We are here demonstrating in front of the Prime Minister's offices and demanding from Ariel Sharon to stop building the fence that is built on 1967 borders, also known as the Auschwitz borders, and we are telling the prime minister - 'fence the terrorists in, kill the terrorists, don't fence the victims in," a demonstrator said.
    Palestinians see settlements as legitimate targets in a struggle for an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
    Some 200,000 Israelis live in 145 settlements that the world community largely views as illegal.
    An Israeli security source said later on Sunday that soldiers were dismantling two outposts south of Hebron, in the West Bank.
    One of them is near the Beit Haggai settlement and the second one close to the settlement of Maaleh Hever.
    The source said the removal of the two outposts was, apparently, being carried out in cooperation with the Jewish settlers on the site. A settler spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
    Israeli journalists said the two outposts had not been inhabited and that additional settlements, established without government permission, in the northern West Bank were also expected to be removed in the coming days.
    In Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, Sharon attended a memorial a service after declining to comment on Ben-Eliezer's earlier announcement.
    While Ben-Eliezer took aim at the rogue settlements, the army eased its West Bank clampdown slightly when it lifted a curfew in Bethlehem. But hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remained confined to homes elsewhere.
    In Ramallah, Israeli troops hunting for alleged Palestinian militants went house-to-house at al-Amari refugee camp and detained dozens of people, but freed most after questioning.
    In Bethlehem, Christians went to church on Sunday morning, whilst others went to market to stock up on food as a curfew was temporarily lifted.
    Despite the lifting of the curfew in Bethlehem, the Israeli military presence was heavy in the town and shots could be heard just outside the town in the Palestinian Dheishe refugee camp.
    In another sign of mounting tension, Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Beit Jala closed the Palestinian side of the District Coordination Office (DCO), a joint Israeli-Palestinian security group formed under the Oslo accord in 1993.
    The Palestinian news agency carried a report from an Israeli newspaper claiming that Israel intended to close all other Israel-Palestinian liaison offices in the West Bank and Gaza. The Israeli army has denied the claim.
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