Peace Now, and Dror Atkes, the organization's chief tracker of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, filed a suit in the Supreme Court on Wednesday against the Defense Minister, the IDF, and four regional councils.
The suit expresses Peace Now's concern that the orders for the destruction of the six flowering Jewish communities, issued almost two years ago, will soon expire, and that therefore the towns must be destroyed immediately. The demolition orders for five town expire two months from now, and another one three months later.
Similar action by the European-funded group led to the destruction of nine houses in the community of Amona, which entailed use of severe violence by police. A Knesset commission of inquiry is currently investigating the affair.
The six threatened communities are:
* Givat HaRoeh – A satellite community of the Binyamin region town of Eli, home to 16 families and several singles. Click here for a photo essay and interviews with the residents prior to the community’s then-slated destruction ahead of the Yom Kippur holiday two years ago.
* Givat Assaf - Named for terror-victim Assaf Hershkovitz, who was murdered only hundreds of meters away, it is located at the turn-off to Beit El from the main Jerusalem-Samaria Highway, Route 60. The ramifications of removing the 15 Jewish families from this site are that the only road leading to Beit El, and a key location along the highway leading to Ofrah, Eli, Shilo and all the Samaria hilltop towns would then come under Arab control.
* Mitzpeh Yitzhar – A satellite community of Yitzhar, in Samaria, three families and several bachelors live there, despite the repeated demolition of structures built there. It was most recently destroyed in May 2004, and has since been rebuilt. A Jewish man was lightly injured there today, when Arab provocateurs arrived and caused a disturbance.
* Ramat Gilad - Located on a neighboring hilltop abutting the Jewish town of Karnei Shomron. It was named after Gilad Zar, the slain son of settlement legend Moshe Zar, whose sister Michal and husband founded the neighborhood with their ten children and six other families. The community is connected to water and electricity by the government and has been issued all the necessary permits, save for final authorization from the Defense Minister.
Supporters say that the government refers to the site as Flag Hill, its name from eight years ago in order to blur the fact that it received authorization under the name Ramat Gilad. The name Flag Hill was given it after the youth of Karnei Shomron fashioned there an 800-square-meter Israeli flag - the largest flag in the world, as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. The flag was later set on fire by Arab hoodlums. Ramat Gilad can be seen from the distance by the huge lit-up Star of David erected above one of the homes.
* Mitzpeh Lachish - Also known as Negohot West, it is located on the southwestern corner of Judea. Five families live there and it is considered a full-fledged neighborhood of the community of Negohot.
* Maaleh Rehavam – A mixed religious-secular community in eastern Gush Etzion, Maaleh Rehavam is home to 24 residents – five families and several singles. Residents lived in caravans for the first two years after its founding, but three permanent homes have been built in recent years. It overlooks the Judean Desert, the Herodion, Tekoa and Nokdim, where Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman lives. The community is an eight-minute drive from Jerusalem, but the residents must now drive almost an hour due to the government’s refusal to open a newly paved road. All construction and agriculture in Maaleh Rehavam use Avoda Ivrit – Jewish labor. Residents explain the importance of Jews returning to manual labor in building permanent homes in the Land of Israel, and also feel that the exploitation of cheap Arab labor in most Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria is a destructive and unethical phenomenon.
The Peace Now suit claims that the government has done almost nothing to enforce the demolition orders signed nearly two years ago by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "This is a blatant example of lack of law enforcement in [Judea and Samaria]," Peace Now laments.
Another blatant example of lack of law enforcement in Judea and Samaria is the estimated 30,000 illegal Arab structures in the region that are allowed to remain standing. Peace Now did not note this phenomenon in its court suit.
Peace Now's initiative follows two recent successful court suits, one of which led to the violence-ridden destruction of nine homes in Amona, and the other to stop-work orders on over 30 apartment buildings in Modiin Illit (Kiryat Sefer).
Regarding the latter case, Peace Now claims that a small portion of the land - on which construction has not even begun - belongs to the nearby Arab village of Bil'in. It further states that the contractors in Modiin are building a project that is double the size of the approved plan.
Hundreds of families are affected by the latter decision, according to which construction on some 33 high-rise buildings must be halted, and new residents - some of whom have already paid for their apartments - may not move in.
The suit expresses Peace Now's concern that the orders for the destruction of the six flowering Jewish communities, issued almost two years ago, will soon expire, and that therefore the towns must be destroyed immediately. The demolition orders for five town expire two months from now, and another one three months later.
Similar action by the European-funded group led to the destruction of nine houses in the community of Amona, which entailed use of severe violence by police. A Knesset commission of inquiry is currently investigating the affair.
The six threatened communities are:
* Givat HaRoeh – A satellite community of the Binyamin region town of Eli, home to 16 families and several singles. Click here for a photo essay and interviews with the residents prior to the community’s then-slated destruction ahead of the Yom Kippur holiday two years ago.
* Givat Assaf - Named for terror-victim Assaf Hershkovitz, who was murdered only hundreds of meters away, it is located at the turn-off to Beit El from the main Jerusalem-Samaria Highway, Route 60. The ramifications of removing the 15 Jewish families from this site are that the only road leading to Beit El, and a key location along the highway leading to Ofrah, Eli, Shilo and all the Samaria hilltop towns would then come under Arab control.
* Mitzpeh Yitzhar – A satellite community of Yitzhar, in Samaria, three families and several bachelors live there, despite the repeated demolition of structures built there. It was most recently destroyed in May 2004, and has since been rebuilt. A Jewish man was lightly injured there today, when Arab provocateurs arrived and caused a disturbance.
* Ramat Gilad - Located on a neighboring hilltop abutting the Jewish town of Karnei Shomron. It was named after Gilad Zar, the slain son of settlement legend Moshe Zar, whose sister Michal and husband founded the neighborhood with their ten children and six other families. The community is connected to water and electricity by the government and has been issued all the necessary permits, save for final authorization from the Defense Minister.
Supporters say that the government refers to the site as Flag Hill, its name from eight years ago in order to blur the fact that it received authorization under the name Ramat Gilad. The name Flag Hill was given it after the youth of Karnei Shomron fashioned there an 800-square-meter Israeli flag - the largest flag in the world, as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. The flag was later set on fire by Arab hoodlums. Ramat Gilad can be seen from the distance by the huge lit-up Star of David erected above one of the homes.
* Mitzpeh Lachish - Also known as Negohot West, it is located on the southwestern corner of Judea. Five families live there and it is considered a full-fledged neighborhood of the community of Negohot.
* Maaleh Rehavam – A mixed religious-secular community in eastern Gush Etzion, Maaleh Rehavam is home to 24 residents – five families and several singles. Residents lived in caravans for the first two years after its founding, but three permanent homes have been built in recent years. It overlooks the Judean Desert, the Herodion, Tekoa and Nokdim, where Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman lives. The community is an eight-minute drive from Jerusalem, but the residents must now drive almost an hour due to the government’s refusal to open a newly paved road. All construction and agriculture in Maaleh Rehavam use Avoda Ivrit – Jewish labor. Residents explain the importance of Jews returning to manual labor in building permanent homes in the Land of Israel, and also feel that the exploitation of cheap Arab labor in most Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria is a destructive and unethical phenomenon.
The Peace Now suit claims that the government has done almost nothing to enforce the demolition orders signed nearly two years ago by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "This is a blatant example of lack of law enforcement in [Judea and Samaria]," Peace Now laments.
Another blatant example of lack of law enforcement in Judea and Samaria is the estimated 30,000 illegal Arab structures in the region that are allowed to remain standing. Peace Now did not note this phenomenon in its court suit.
Peace Now's initiative follows two recent successful court suits, one of which led to the violence-ridden destruction of nine homes in Amona, and the other to stop-work orders on over 30 apartment buildings in Modiin Illit (Kiryat Sefer).
Regarding the latter case, Peace Now claims that a small portion of the land - on which construction has not even begun - belongs to the nearby Arab village of Bil'in. It further states that the contractors in Modiin are building a project that is double the size of the approved plan.
Hundreds of families are affected by the latter decision, according to which construction on some 33 high-rise buildings must be halted, and new residents - some of whom have already paid for their apartments - may not move in.