Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: MIDEAST:  Settlers Stay, Or It's Civil War

Chi ha consentito, per 40 anni, la colonizzazione dei Territori Occupati 
puntava proprio a questo: a rendere impossibile il tornare indietro.
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MIDEAST:  Settlers Stay, Or It's Civil War
By Cherrie Heywood
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 26 (IPS) - The resolution of the protracted 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and future stability in the Middle East 
could hinge on Hebron, a little town in the southern Palestinian West 
Bank, 30 km south of Jerusalem.
Thousands of Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers were put on high alert 
over the weekend as 20,000 Israeli settlers from across the West Bank 
descended on Hebron.
The settlers were there to mark an annual Jewish pilgrimage and lend 
their support to a group of fellow settlers threatened with eviction by 
an Israeli court ruling. The Israeli government feared an outbreak of 
rioting.
Hebron is home to approximately 600 of Israel's most extreme Israeli 
settlers, who are surrounded by a Palestinian population of more than 
170,000, and protected by several thousand Israeli Defence Force (IDF) 
soldiers.
Baruch Goldstein, a doctor who had emigrated from the U.S. 
machine-gunned 29 Palestinians to death in 1994 as they prayed in 
Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan.
Hebron settlers later built a shrine to him, and many settlers from the 
occupied territory pay their respects to the late doctor, who was beaten 
to death by survivors, during visits to the shrine.
There are about 430,000 Israeli settlers living in hundreds of 
settlements throughout the West Bank, which are illegal according to 
international law and UN Security Council resolutions.
A recent UN report documented 222 settler attacks against Palestinians 
and Israeli security forces in the first half of this year, against a 
total of 291 for the whole of last year.
Last week clashes broke out between Israeli soldiers and Hebron settlers 
following a controversial ruling by the Israeli High Court of Justice.
The court ruled that a group of settlers illegally occupying a 
Palestinian home in the town had to vacate the property.
Following the ruling angry settlers went on a rampage, vandalised 
Palestinian property, desecrated Muslim graves, uprooted 40 olive trees, 
and scrawled graffiti on a local mosque.
As the Israeli security forces tried to restore a vestige of law and 
order, a soldier had turpentine thrown in his face, while others were 
assaulted. IDF vehicles were damaged.
IPS received an urgent media alert from the Christian Peacemakers Team 
(CPT), a group of international peace activists based in Hebron's old 
city, who try to protect Palestinian children and farmers from settler 
attacks.
"This morning 15 masked settlers from the illegal outpost of Havot Ma'on 
attacked three Palestinian shepherds who were grazing their flocks in a 
valley south of the outpost.
"The settlers hurled rocks and killed one of the shepherd's donkeys by 
stabbing it in the chest. They slashed another across the throat, but 
the donkey survived."
The increasing levels of violence during the past few months have 
included Israeli soldiers being threatened with knives and guns, and 
having their hands and arms broken by settlers as the forces tried to 
evacuate settler outposts.
A holocaust survivor and harsh critic of the settlements, Prof. Zeev 
Sternhall who lectures at Hebrew University in Israel, was injured after 
a pipe-bomb exploded outside his Jerusalem home several months ago.
Police found posters in Sternhell's neighbourhood offering a 278,000 
dollar reward to anyone who killed a member of Peace Now, an Israeli 
group that campaigns against settlements in the West Bank.
The Israeli government has expressed alarm, and threatened to take 
action despite having a history of not only appeasing the settlers but 
of supporting the settlement policy both militarily and economically 
over the decades.
Following a threat by a settler to kill Israeli soldiers, outgoing 
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet during its weekly 
session that such violence would no longer be tolerated.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak added, "These riots and public disturbances 
are extremely grave, and their objective is to undermine the authority 
of the state and its ability to impose order on its citizens."
But Israeli human rights organisations accuse their government of 
turning a blind eye to settler attacks on Palestinian civilians and 
their property. Yesh Din released a report recently titled 'Justice for 
All?'. In the report the organisation stated that few of the probes into 
offences allegedly committed by Israeli soldiers and settlers against 
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank yield indictments.
The group's research director Lior Yavne told IPS, "Conviction rates for 
Israeli settlers and soldiers involved in violence against Palestinians 
are around six percent of cases opened, due to what we consider 
unprofessional investigations.
"In many instances the paperwork is either 'lost' or the police or 
military personnel involved in the investigations claim they are 'unable 
to identify the perpetrator'."
Sarit Michaeli from B'tselem also accused the Israeli authorities of 
being lenient on settlers accused of assaulting Palestinians, while 
being extremely harsh on Palestinian violence against settlers.
"Many times the authorities allow settler children to get away with 
attacks and stone throwing, claiming they are minors. The same doesn't 
apply to Palestinian juveniles who carry out attacks. The parents of 
settler children should be held accountable under international law," 
Michaeli told IPS.
Israeli President Shimon Peres during a recent visit to London 
questioned the consequences of firm action. "Israel will find it 
difficult to evacuate the settlements without a civil war," he said.
Moshe Ma'oz, professor emeritus of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at 
Jerusalem's Hebrew University and Senior Fellow at the Harry S. Truman 
Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, said that a crackdown 
on the settlers would depend on the next Israeli government.
"If Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is elected premier in the forthcoming 
elections there is more hope for the settlements to be dismantled, but 
if right-wing party Likud hawk Binyamin Netanyahu is elected, there is 
less chance.
"However, it will all depend on how much pressure the new American 
administration is willing to exert on Israel, whoever the next 
government is," Ma'oz told IPS.
"The future of a successful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict depends on the settlements and settlers being removed as 
outlined by international law. In turn a stable Middle East is 
contingent on this core contentious issue being resolved as it will have 
a domino effect on Israel's neighbours and the entire region," added Ma'oz.
Yossi Sarid, Israeli political commentator and former leader of the 
progressive and left-leaning Meretz party commented that high court 
rulings were one thing while reality was another.
"The High Court of Justice did pronounce judgment ordering the 
evacuation of the disputed house in Hebron within three days. But as the 
rulings of the court have recently become rulings for the Messiah to 
deal with when he comes -- who takes them seriously? The government 
therefore has to decide who it fears most -- the judges or the 
settlers." (END/2008)
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