While the fight for Gush Katif continues, a smaller-scale - but even more immediate - struggle is underway to save a piece of the Land of Israel in the Shomron (Samaria). Mitzpeh Yitzhar - a small neighborhood with a stone house that will soon be home to a newly-married couple, as well as two containers in which reside a the HaCohen family and a number of single men - has been under threat of demolition for the past two days. Hundreds of people have responded to the situation and are at the site, waiting for what was thought to be a momentarily-imminent evacuation and demolition. The tension has decreased since this morning, however, and it is in fact felt that the neighborhood is safe for at least another week.
Yehuda Libman, a resident of Mitzpeh Yitzhar, told Arutz-7 today his reasons for optimism - while at the same time giving high grades for patriotism to the Yesha-supporting public:
"There are several reasons why we think the security forces will back down, at least for the next few days. For one thing, the Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) Council and supporters of Yesha in general had decided to fight for each and every outpost. This meant that the army had to allocate great forces in many different places. This, together with intensive work on the part of Orit Strook and others, led to last week's decision by the Knesset Interior Committee that the evacuation forces should comprise mostly police and Border Police, and not soldiers. Even the army itself had been increasingly asking why it should be involved in evacuating Jews in what is not at all a security issue... And so, the forces available for each evacuation are fewer.
"In addition, a precious man named Aviad Visouly of Haifa submitted to the Magistrates Court, in the name of the Mitzpeh Yitzhar residents, a claim stating that this land belongs to us. The claim is based on the fact that no one has ever claimed ownership, and that we have been here for ten years - an accepted legal claim to ownership - and we have worked it, etc. The petition states that it would have to be a draconian law indeed that would allow the State to expel people from land that belongs to them. The State is not even claiming ownership over the land, so why should we be expelled? Visouly therefore asked for a restraining order against the evacuation so that the status of the land could be adjudicated. Now, the court did not issue a restraining order - but it is reviewing the entire matter, taking the problem of the land status as one of its considerations. It has asked for the reactions of both sides by tomorrow, and will then make a decision within the coming days.
"In sum, with Memorial Day coming up on Monday, and Independence Day the next day, it seems very reasonable to assume that the police will not take action until then, for the following reasons: The court is currently reviewing the issue; the matter of ownership of the land is not clear; the limited available police forces; and another important point: since Monday afternoon, there has been a constant presence of hundreds of people here, determined to prevent the demolition of this neighborhood. It's really a sign of honor for us, that even though the main issue these days is the Likud referendum and almost all our strength is directed to getting people to visit the Likud members house-to-house, still and all, I would say a total of 1,000 people have been here in the past two days, including some of them for two days straight, to save this piece of Eretz Yisrael.
"So it looks like we have until after Independence Day, and even then we're hoping that they won't want to take action against us until after the Likud referendum five days later. With G-d's help, we will prevail."
Yehuda Libman, a resident of Mitzpeh Yitzhar, told Arutz-7 today his reasons for optimism - while at the same time giving high grades for patriotism to the Yesha-supporting public:
"There are several reasons why we think the security forces will back down, at least for the next few days. For one thing, the Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) Council and supporters of Yesha in general had decided to fight for each and every outpost. This meant that the army had to allocate great forces in many different places. This, together with intensive work on the part of Orit Strook and others, led to last week's decision by the Knesset Interior Committee that the evacuation forces should comprise mostly police and Border Police, and not soldiers. Even the army itself had been increasingly asking why it should be involved in evacuating Jews in what is not at all a security issue... And so, the forces available for each evacuation are fewer.
"In addition, a precious man named Aviad Visouly of Haifa submitted to the Magistrates Court, in the name of the Mitzpeh Yitzhar residents, a claim stating that this land belongs to us. The claim is based on the fact that no one has ever claimed ownership, and that we have been here for ten years - an accepted legal claim to ownership - and we have worked it, etc. The petition states that it would have to be a draconian law indeed that would allow the State to expel people from land that belongs to them. The State is not even claiming ownership over the land, so why should we be expelled? Visouly therefore asked for a restraining order against the evacuation so that the status of the land could be adjudicated. Now, the court did not issue a restraining order - but it is reviewing the entire matter, taking the problem of the land status as one of its considerations. It has asked for the reactions of both sides by tomorrow, and will then make a decision within the coming days.
"In sum, with Memorial Day coming up on Monday, and Independence Day the next day, it seems very reasonable to assume that the police will not take action until then, for the following reasons: The court is currently reviewing the issue; the matter of ownership of the land is not clear; the limited available police forces; and another important point: since Monday afternoon, there has been a constant presence of hundreds of people here, determined to prevent the demolition of this neighborhood. It's really a sign of honor for us, that even though the main issue these days is the Likud referendum and almost all our strength is directed to getting people to visit the Likud members house-to-house, still and all, I would say a total of 1,000 people have been here in the past two days, including some of them for two days straight, to save this piece of Eretz Yisrael.
"So it looks like we have until after Independence Day, and even then we're hoping that they won't want to take action against us until after the Likud referendum five days later. With G-d's help, we will prevail."