Free Republic

For the second time in a week, police forces arrived at Givat Ohavia Monday morning and began evacuating the settlers and destroying the rebuilt buildings, including the Beit Midrash. However, it soon became clear that this was not "ordinary" demolition, but rather the evacuation of the area for the benefit of Arabs from the nearby village of Zurif, who arrived with the forces and began plowing the hill. The residents sharply criticized the action, saying: "For almost a year we have been fighting in the field every day to stop the spread of the village of Zurif towards the settlement...

Protestors block light rail Hundreds of demonstrators continued Wednesday night to protest the conduct of the police in the chase in which their late Ahuvya Sandak was killed. The demonstrations took place in three centers. At the Bar Ilan junction, the demonstrators blocked the road and police confronted them and forcibly evacuated them. Five of the protesters were arrested for questioning. In Zion Square, the demonstrators sat down on the sidewalk and the road and stopped the light rail traffic. Two protesters were arrested. A youth was arrested on Mount Herzl for blowing a whistle. .....

Residents of Bat Ayin in Gush Etzion say police committed a provocation today when two police officers disguised as Arab technicians arrived. According to a report by the Honenu legal aid organization, the secret police were wandering around the kindergartens in the center of the locality, awaiting reactions by residents. The presence of the "technicians" reportedly aroused the suspicion of two boys passing by, who approached them in an attempt to understand their actions. The secret police did not provide any clear answers increasing the boys' fears and at one point, pushing started between one of the boys and a...

Palestinian Authority Arabs have accused Jews from Bat Ayin of carrying out a price tag attack last week on an old Arab farmer’s vineyard and olive grove. The accusation came in a report published on the website of the Stop The Wall organization under the self-described “Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign,” subtitled “Settlements, Land and Resource Theft, Destruction of Land.” According to the report, residents of the Judean Jewish community of Bat Ayin allegedly cut and destroyed “dozens of trees on the land of farmer Hamad Abdul Hamid Jaber” last Thursday morning, including 55 grape vines, 1 quince tree and...

Foreign anarchists and Palestinian Authority Arabs were caught on film Sunday setting fire to a wooded area outside the Jewish town of Bat Ayin, between Jerusalem and Hevron. The fire damaged many plants, including olive trees. Residents who witnessed the incident said they believe the group was planning to blame the arson attack on the Jews of Bat Ayin.

Tension remained high in the Gush Etzion settlement of Bat Ayin on Thursday as the IDF retained a reinforced presence in the area after 16 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with settlers the day before. The violence erupted after Bat Ayin residents were allowed to say the Birkat Hahama prayer early Wednesday morning on a hill between their settlement and the nearby village of Hirbat Safa. According to the settlers, at a certain point during the prayer service a number of Palestinians began throwing stones. The Palestinians, however, claimed that the settlers entered their village and shot in the air,...