Residents of Bat Ayin, in Gush Etzion, charge that the government is responding to Kassam rocket fire by destroying Jewish homes, four of which were demolished in the middle of the night.
Security forced arrived at “Bat Ayin Bet,” a neighborhood to the west of Bat Ayin, which is located on the western edge of Gush Etzion and is home to dozens of yeshiva students and families involved with organic farming and ecological projects.
Before security forces arrived to tear down the structures, one of which was two stories high, residents of the 15-family neighborhood sent text messages to friends to help them resist.
“Response to firing in the south, with sensitivity and determination – destruction of homes in Bat Ayin Bet,” read the message.
The use of the expression “sensitivity and determination” was a reference to the same slogan used by police in the violent and often illegal methods employed against protesters and expulsion victims before and during the destruction of nearly two dozen Jewish communities in Gaza in the summer of 2005.
National Union Knesset Member Dr. Michael Ben-Ari responded to the destruction by saying, ”Netanyahu and Barak are the cause of outbursts of anger of youth in Judea and Samaria, There is a feeling of discrimination through enforcement of the law only against [Jewish Judea and Samaria] residents, creating frustration.”
Demolitions of building erected without a permit rarely take place at Arab locations in Judea and Samaria, if ever, although the High Court has questioned the government on this lack of equality.