IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday that the IDF would destroy the Amona homes next week. As a result of a lawsuit initiated by Peace Now, claiming that the homes were built on privately-owned Arab land, the court issued the buildings razed. The latest court decision, issued a week ago, gave the Defense Ministry until today to delay the destruction.
To ward off the decree, the Yesha Council decided, after a meeting with the residents and other settlement organizations, to unilaterally seal off the buildings with cinderblocks. This action was taken last night.
"We want to enter this critical part of the struggle with totally clean hands," Yesha Council spokesperson Emily Amrusi told Arutz-7 today. "If even after this action, the government continues to act to destroy the buildings, then it means war on these buildings, and we will wage an all-out struggle."
This is the second time the home-owners have moved unilaterally in an attempt to solve the problem peacefully. They vacated the structures voluntarily this past July, after the original interim Supreme Court ruling. Just a few weeks ago, after it became clear that the destruction orders were still very much in effect, some of the families moved back in. They moved out again yesterday, however, in order to allow the sealing, re-joining the 25 other Amona families in ramshackle caravan homes (mobile homes without wheels).
The residents maintain that the homes were purchased and are in the process of being registered, but that politically-motivated delays have held up the finalization of the process.
Photographs of Amona can be seen here.
Pinchas Wallerstein, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, asked Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz to delay the destruction in light of the sealing of the buildings. Wallerstein also said that the residents are filing yet another court appeal - this one outlining in detail every step of the purchase process. The petition includes names of Arabs involved in the purchase, with a request not to divulge them so that they not be endangered. Arabs who sell land to Jews are considered traitors and have been murdered.
Wallerstein, who is also a senior member of the Yesha Council, as well as a resident of Amonah's parent community of Ofrah, wrote to Mofaz that within a very short while, "the Amona residents will be able to prove that they purchased the land."
If the unilateral gesture of sealing the buildings, together with the request for time to prove the residents' case, is not respected, Wallerstein explained this morning, "this will be proof that the government has no interest in a peaceful solution, but would rather strike out at the settlers for electoral purposes. In that case, we will wage a very stubborn struggle."
Wallerstein has also asked the head of the Judea and Samaria Civil Administration to begin a "pardoning" procedure, as is frequently carried out before the razing of illegal Arab structures. Such a procedure means a delay of 30 days.
Many thousands of illegal Arab structures throughout Judea and Samaria have been allowed to remain standing. The Amona court petition brought today cites many examples of illegal Arab construction regarding which the Supreme Court did not issue demolition orders, enabling the violators to complete the paperwork with the authorities.
The Amona (Hebrew) website explains:
"In 1992, we began land-clearing - paid for by the Government of Israel - for houses. Our goal was to better establish our community and give a solution to large families living in caravans.... Some of the nine houses [now in dispute] were purchased by Amona families. This past summer, the buildings were completed, and people moved in. We were so happy - we had moved up a class! Those who moved in were even happier, at being able finally to leave the strangling conditions of the caravan. The breathtaking view, with Jerusalem spread out on the palm of our hand, the shining Dead Sea, and the remnants of ancient Jewish agriculture outside our window - captured our hearts and gave us a deep sense of being connected. But the joy did not last long. After only a week, under Supreme Court pressure, the families returned to their caravans, in the hope of reaching an acceptable legal solution.
"We proposed several legal solutions to the Defense Minister that would prevent the razing of the buildings, but he rejected them all. It is clear to us that the government is interested not in justice, but only in pure harassment of the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel. No fewer than 7,380 demolition orders have been issued against illegal Arab structures, but the courts do nothing to enforce them. On the contrary, the Civil Administration can 'forgive' the delinquent builder for 'economic hardships' - on the condition that he is an Arab; for Jews there is no forgiveness.
"Therefore, together with prayer to G-d and political activity, we are also preparing for a struggle. Specifically after the destruction of Gush Katif, it is important for us to show that the destruction of a Jewish town is not so easy. It is important for us to correct the misimpression given by the embracing of those who came to expel. It is important for us to show that we have not lost our faith in our living ties with this Land, and that we continue to hold onto it with all our strength. As the verse says, we will be strong for our people and G-d's towns, and G-d will do as He sees fit."
Some Amona residents, with memories of the failed Yesha Council-led struggle for Gush Katif fresh in their minds, were unhappy with the Council's decision to seal the houses. "The Yesha Council is trying to take over the struggle and dictate the strategy," one resident said. "We want a much stronger and sharper approach, while the sealing of the buildings is a weak-kneed act. We have been working for weeks to cooperate with all the elements in the settlement enterprise so that the struggle against this expulsion will be very strong... We hope that as many people as possible will come when necessary to show solidarity with our struggle."
In response, Wallerstein said, "We want to prove that if the government insists on destroying the buildings even after they are sealed, this means that it has nothing to do with the rule of law, but merely the desire to 'hit the settler.'"