Some 250 residents of Beit El demonstrated today outside the entrance to their town, against a relatively new phenomenon that they feel could be fatally dangerous. The only entrance to Beit El is now crossed by a road on which hundreds of Arabs walk to and from Ramallah. The fear is that an Arab could easily perpetrate an attack against a Beit El vehicle, as has happened in several variations throughout the country over the past months.
The army claims that it was forced, for security reasons, to close off the road previously used by the Arabs. In addition, the army has cut down the area of friction and potential danger to a minimum by placing barriers between the walkway and the road - and that the plan is to station soldiers at one or two strategic points. The residents maintain, however, that the waist-high barriers along most of the route cannot stop a terrorist bent on committing an attack.
The army claims that it was forced, for security reasons, to close off the road previously used by the Arabs. In addition, the army has cut down the area of friction and potential danger to a minimum by placing barriers between the walkway and the road - and that the plan is to station soldiers at one or two strategic points. The residents maintain, however, that the waist-high barriers along most of the route cannot stop a terrorist bent on committing an attack.