Supreme Court Chief Justice Salim Jubran issued, on Friday, a restraining order against the government's plans to destroy nine permanent houses in the Jewish neighborhood of Amona, in the Binyamin region, north of Jerusalem. Jubran ruled that no action must be taken until the Court concludes its hearings on the matter, which are to resume at 11:30 this morning. The Amona Agricultural Settlement Cooperative Society and three families living in Amona have submitted a petition against the government's intention to destroy the buildings.
A police spokesman for the Samaria/Judea District told Arutz-7 that it plans to distribute a total of 21 distancing orders, to activists in Amona, Yitzhar and Hevron. Asked if the police would rescind the orders if the Court orders the demolition called off, he said, "For what? We still have Hevron." The reference is to the plan to evacuate 11 Jewish families from Jewish-owned land outside the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. The 21 activists are to be distanced from Amona and the Hevron market until March 5. Seven such orders have been given out as of this morning, including four in Yitzhar and three in Amona. Several arrests were made in Yitzhar as well.
Though the Amona demolition had originally been scheduled for this past Wednesday, the Court ordered the government last week to push it off for another week, in order to allow the Amona residents to appeal. The appeal was submitted on Thursday, asking the Court to refer the issue back to the Military Government's planning council. The residents have claimed all along that their purchase of the lands in question is missing only the final authorization, and that the planning council's considerations in putting them off were solely political.
The State, in response, asked the Supreme Court to totally reject the petition. The State's response states, "The settlers are planning a struggle against the forces coming to evacuate them, and they have already prepared trenches and dirt hills... Their petition was submitted very close to the scheduled date of evacuation, showing a lack of 'clean-handedness' and taking the law into their own hands."
A spokesman for Amona explained in response, "The State's response is not true. No dirt barriers were placed. On the contrary, we sealed the homes in order to show that the razing of the structures is not necessary, and that we wish dialogue and not a clash. It is very sad that specifically now, the legal system is pushing the State into an unnecessary physical confrontation."
Pinchas Wallerstein, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, said, "Ever since the sealing of the homes, no changes such as fortifications or preparations for illegal activity have been made, as the State's response charges. I find it hard to believe that the State would lie outright."
MK Uri Ariel had a similar, though sharper, response: "The government continues to bring citizens and uniformed men and women to fight with each other, and forces IDF officers to lie. No changes have been made and no illegal actions have been taken in Amona, and the government's claims are a gross lie."
The Supreme Court's hearings and rulings are dependent only on the declarations by the two sides, as well as witnesses' declarations. Witnesses are not cross-examined.
Amona's petition, submitted by Atty. Naftali Wurtzberger, states that the government itself encouraged the residents to build their homes in Amona, and connected them to the electric and water infrastructures. "Their rights are based on chazakah [a form of status quo, given their presence there]," Wurtzberger said, "as well as their purchase of the land. They have been there since August 1995, purchased part of the land, and are in the process of registering the land in their name."
An ad in some newspapers on Friday called upon the authorities: "Stop the games. Stand before the Jewish public and reveal openly your destructive intentions. Your goals are not 'law and order,' but rather to detach the People of Israel from its Land."
Referring also to the government's intention to throw Jews out of Jewish-owned land in Hevron, the ad continues:
"Is it not possible to legally arrange that Jews should live on their land that was stolen from them after the pogroms of 1929? Where is the highly-lauded 'law and order' regarding the more than 60,000 illegal Arab structures? Can't a way be found to legalize the residence of Jewish families on the hills of Judea and Samaria?
"The Jewish public will not allow another destruction of Jewish Hevron. We will not rest until the Jewish Nation strikes roots in the Land of Israel that has always belonged to it."
A police spokesman for the Samaria/Judea District told Arutz-7 that it plans to distribute a total of 21 distancing orders, to activists in Amona, Yitzhar and Hevron. Asked if the police would rescind the orders if the Court orders the demolition called off, he said, "For what? We still have Hevron." The reference is to the plan to evacuate 11 Jewish families from Jewish-owned land outside the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. The 21 activists are to be distanced from Amona and the Hevron market until March 5. Seven such orders have been given out as of this morning, including four in Yitzhar and three in Amona. Several arrests were made in Yitzhar as well.
Though the Amona demolition had originally been scheduled for this past Wednesday, the Court ordered the government last week to push it off for another week, in order to allow the Amona residents to appeal. The appeal was submitted on Thursday, asking the Court to refer the issue back to the Military Government's planning council. The residents have claimed all along that their purchase of the lands in question is missing only the final authorization, and that the planning council's considerations in putting them off were solely political.
The State, in response, asked the Supreme Court to totally reject the petition. The State's response states, "The settlers are planning a struggle against the forces coming to evacuate them, and they have already prepared trenches and dirt hills... Their petition was submitted very close to the scheduled date of evacuation, showing a lack of 'clean-handedness' and taking the law into their own hands."
A spokesman for Amona explained in response, "The State's response is not true. No dirt barriers were placed. On the contrary, we sealed the homes in order to show that the razing of the structures is not necessary, and that we wish dialogue and not a clash. It is very sad that specifically now, the legal system is pushing the State into an unnecessary physical confrontation."
Pinchas Wallerstein, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, said, "Ever since the sealing of the homes, no changes such as fortifications or preparations for illegal activity have been made, as the State's response charges. I find it hard to believe that the State would lie outright."
MK Uri Ariel had a similar, though sharper, response: "The government continues to bring citizens and uniformed men and women to fight with each other, and forces IDF officers to lie. No changes have been made and no illegal actions have been taken in Amona, and the government's claims are a gross lie."
The Supreme Court's hearings and rulings are dependent only on the declarations by the two sides, as well as witnesses' declarations. Witnesses are not cross-examined.
Amona's petition, submitted by Atty. Naftali Wurtzberger, states that the government itself encouraged the residents to build their homes in Amona, and connected them to the electric and water infrastructures. "Their rights are based on chazakah [a form of status quo, given their presence there]," Wurtzberger said, "as well as their purchase of the land. They have been there since August 1995, purchased part of the land, and are in the process of registering the land in their name."
An ad in some newspapers on Friday called upon the authorities: "Stop the games. Stand before the Jewish public and reveal openly your destructive intentions. Your goals are not 'law and order,' but rather to detach the People of Israel from its Land."
Referring also to the government's intention to throw Jews out of Jewish-owned land in Hevron, the ad continues:
"Is it not possible to legally arrange that Jews should live on their land that was stolen from them after the pogroms of 1929? Where is the highly-lauded 'law and order' regarding the more than 60,000 illegal Arab structures? Can't a way be found to legalize the residence of Jewish families on the hills of Judea and Samaria?
"The Jewish public will not allow another destruction of Jewish Hevron. We will not rest until the Jewish Nation strikes roots in the Land of Israel that has always belonged to it."