Illegal Settlers Squabble Over Evacuation Plans
Residents of the West Bank outpost of Givat Assaf have sent a letter to neighboring residents of the outpost of Migron blaming them of harming the settlement enterprise, saying that their actions will bring about the evacuation of additional West Bank outposts.
Givat Assaf is located near Migron on privately owned Palestinian lands, with the exception of a small residential area that they claim was recently purchased. The outpost was set to be evacuated by the end of June, but the state has requested that the High Court of Justice postpone the evacuation to the end of January.
The letter, sent by the residents of Givat Assaf to the residents of Migron ahead of the High Court’s final decision on the evacuation of Migron on Tuesday, shows the different approaches taken by the settlers – one that favors compromise with the state versus another, which is more militant.
This rift was apparent in the recent struggle for another West Bank outpost, Ulpana Hill, in which the settlement’s Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed promised at first to fight against its evacuation, but ended up folding in return for the state’s promise to build 300 new housing units in the West Bank. Rabbi Melamed’s decision to compromise with the state was strongly criticized by other rabbis and right-wing activists.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
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