Posted on 05/18/2008 7:08:00 AM PDT by Nachum
(IsraelNN.com) Arabs burned Jewish-owned wheat fields in the Samaria town of Yitzhar Friday. The regular vandalism has led residents to ponder soliciting assistance from humanitarian groups.
The most recent fire was set Friday, minutes before the onset of Shabbat. A volunteer fire brigade made up of Yitzhar residents succeeded in extinguishing the fire, but were then attacked by Arabs rioting and throwing stones at them.
A contingent of IDF soldiers arrived on the scene and used non-lethal riot-control methods to restore order, but residents say their complaints usually result in no response whatsoever from security forces.
The fields, which were sown before the onset of the Shemitta (sabbatical) year, have been burned by local Arabs in the past. Local farmers say that in addition to their livelihood being impacted, the pain of seeing their crops repeatedly burned just before harvest time is too much to bear. The Arab residents of a neighboring village succeeded in burning the entire year's crop two and a half years ago and the fields were set ablaze five times during the course of a single summer last year. In another incident, most of the fence installed around one farmer's fields was stolen.
In 2005, Yitzhar resident Akiva Cohen spotted the raging fire and fired shots in the air to frighten the arsonists away. About 100 dunams of wheat were burned in the blaze. IDF troops conducted a search for the arsonists in the adjacent village of Atzira al-Kabliya to no avail.
Cohen was brought into the Ariel Police station for questioning and had his weapon confiscated. It still has not been returned to him.
Residents Consider Humanitarian Groups Yitzhar residents facetiously suggested that perhaps the Kibbutz movement, which regularly sends volunteers to accompany local Arabs during the olive harvest, would be interested in sending volunteers to guard Jewish agricultural crops as well.
"Is the assistance of [Kibbutz movement head] Yoel Marshak withheld from Jews who are trying to make a living through farming?" Cohen asked. "Is such assistance reserved only for the Arab enemy?"
1 dunam = 1000 square meters.
100 dunams are about 25 acres.
Time for citizens to start their own armed patrols and use whatever force is proper or necessary to protect thier lively hood.
(2008)
"Never mind."
This town and its fields are located on the West Bank.
Its another form of harassment of Jewish settlers there.
Not intending to sound cruel about it, but these people are in the wrong place, they will never be able to live peacefully with the Palestinians, as reforming the Palestinians is hopeless and getting rid of the Palestinians isn’t an option within the capacity of Israel, given Israels humanitarian ideals and its susceptibility to foreign opinion. For Israels sake the best policy is to get everyone on the other side of the wall, defining contiguous borders, and have no contact with the Palestinians.
Mistake #1. Mow down these thugs with some real firepower and they won't bother you anymore.
Just as I suspect the muzzies in the U.S. have been doing here — and will soon do at a higher level then we have thus far seen.
If I hated America as much as some of these folks do, arson is a relatively safe and hard to prove guerilla activity with a big bang for the buck in terms of resources consumed to fight and investigate.
And, NO, I’m not giving these clowns ideas they haven’t already thought up — or implemented.
ML/NJ
Well, at least one part of that is true. There is no living in peace with them or their religion.
um... let me guess. These genius’s will be the same ones complaining that there is no flour available in the markets for their flat bread in a couple of months.
What's the news?
That the Israeli forces aren’t willing to respond to calls is probably a result of the massive international pressure on Israel to play nice with these racist monsters.
Well, if they were Arab wheat fields they wouldn’t have had to burn them.
It will still be the fault of the Jews one way or another.
“Cohen was brought into the Ariel Police station for questioning and had his weapon confiscated. It still has not been returned to him.”
sounds like he should of just roll over and play dead./SARC!
Non Lethal?
I would have sprayed them with a .50 cal Machine gun.
The Arab residents are responsible for such attacks against Israelis but Israelis elected this miserable current government.
Burning the foodstuffs is an act of war.
250 acres of Arab held land should be burned or if there arwe buildings on it, razed. The israelis should fight chaya with chaya..
Can we just go ahead and make it official that the word 'Arab' is synonymous with the word 'moron'!
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