Police and army personnel earlier this week boarded a bus to tour the northern Samaria area where they barged their away into a community after protestors had blocked their path. The defense establishment had said it wanted to tour the area to understand the geography and location of the four communities slated for dismantling under the government's so-called disengagement program, which the Knesset has not yet approved. Residents say they came to test the resistance.
After area residents blocked the road with their bodies, police got off the bus and dragged them away. At the community of Sa-Nur, residents shut down the electricity so the front gate would not open. The commander of the area's IDF forces cut the barbed wire and opened the gate by force. Police and other soldiers then dragged away families, including women and children, who had laid down on the entrance road.
"They used unwarranted force and broke the law by letting policemen, instead of women, physically pull away the women," Sa-Nur resident "T" told Arutz-7. "They then drove through the community and rode out in a couple of minutes. They didn't come to check out the geography. They came to see what we would do, and they found out." He said several people, including his 18-year-old wife, suffered serious cuts and bruises and had to stay in bed to recover.
The reaction confirmed fears expressed by the new police chief in the southern division who will have to oversee forcing Gaza Jews out of their homes. He sparked a controversy last week when he openly said that he had doubts whether the police would be able to cope with massive opposition.
A private visit last week by security officials to one of the country's leading rabbis also revealed concern. General Security Service agents visited Rabbi Yisroel Ariel at his home in the Old City in Jerusalem. Rabbi Israel was forced out of Yamit during the evacuation of the Sinai town in 1982 and heads the Jerusalem Temple Institute which has made vessels for Temple service according to the Biblical description.
They asked Rabbi Ariel to estimate the protest that will await defense officials if the government tries to dismantle the Jewish communities, and they heard him describe a worrisome scene of massive resistance.
The Haaretz newspaper also quoted Rabbi Ariel as saying, "What has G-d done to us? Why, after two decades, are we again confronting a crisis of this kind? Why are the homes of the just being destroyed? Why are the homes of the just people in Gush Katif under threat, a place of grace, work, heroism and precepts?"
After area residents blocked the road with their bodies, police got off the bus and dragged them away. At the community of Sa-Nur, residents shut down the electricity so the front gate would not open. The commander of the area's IDF forces cut the barbed wire and opened the gate by force. Police and other soldiers then dragged away families, including women and children, who had laid down on the entrance road.
"They used unwarranted force and broke the law by letting policemen, instead of women, physically pull away the women," Sa-Nur resident "T" told Arutz-7. "They then drove through the community and rode out in a couple of minutes. They didn't come to check out the geography. They came to see what we would do, and they found out." He said several people, including his 18-year-old wife, suffered serious cuts and bruises and had to stay in bed to recover.
The reaction confirmed fears expressed by the new police chief in the southern division who will have to oversee forcing Gaza Jews out of their homes. He sparked a controversy last week when he openly said that he had doubts whether the police would be able to cope with massive opposition.
A private visit last week by security officials to one of the country's leading rabbis also revealed concern. General Security Service agents visited Rabbi Yisroel Ariel at his home in the Old City in Jerusalem. Rabbi Israel was forced out of Yamit during the evacuation of the Sinai town in 1982 and heads the Jerusalem Temple Institute which has made vessels for Temple service according to the Biblical description.
They asked Rabbi Ariel to estimate the protest that will await defense officials if the government tries to dismantle the Jewish communities, and they heard him describe a worrisome scene of massive resistance.
The Haaretz newspaper also quoted Rabbi Ariel as saying, "What has G-d done to us? Why, after two decades, are we again confronting a crisis of this kind? Why are the homes of the just being destroyed? Why are the homes of the just people in Gush Katif under threat, a place of grace, work, heroism and precepts?"