Free Republic

The wonderful village of Migron is laid waste. Is there a next one? Givat Assaf? Amona? Then what? The police made Migron “jüdenrein”. The tragic lesson of Gush Katif has proven to be correct. The settlers’ public has been so traumatized that in Migron it looked impotent and mute. Dozens of heroic families lost their homes and the state retreated from a strategic peak. The surprising thing is that it was all very easy. The Palestinian Arabs could not have done it better. After Migron, some fear that everything else in Samaria risks going down in a slow process. The...

One of the hardest things about the actual expulsion of Jews from their homes in Migron, says one resident, was the massive amount of press and cameras that swarmed around them, clicking pictures and putting microphones in their faces, as soon as their family opened their door to leave peacefully. ..... Deitch explained that the community of Migron had several meetings where they debated on whether they should leave peacefully or not. After listening to all sides, it was decided that the residents would leave without fighting or violence. Some would walk out peacefully to save their children from trauma,...

The eviction of Israeli families from Migron on Sunday brought back painful memories for many of the 9,000 citizens expelled from Gush Katif in 2005. Now Katif expellees are asking the government for just one thing: leave the synagogue standing. “We, who seven years ago felt on our flesh the Israeli government’s decision to uproot our lives and our towns in Gush Katif, are pained and shocked today at the fact that the Israeli government is repeating the terrible mistake, and crime, of demolishing settlement and uprooting homes in Migron,” wrote Eliezer Orbach of the Gush Katif Residents’ Committee, in...

To our Brothers and Neighbors, the Courageous Residents of Migron, On this difficult day for the Jewish people, we are one. Ten years after we moved into our neighborhood, built with the blessing and aid of Israeli governments, we experienced firsthand the sufferings brought on by the hatred-motivated verdicts of the radical fringe groups that have taken over the state prosecutor's office and the Supreme Court. In pretending to uphold the rule of law, they have trampled upon both law and justice, destroying a lovely residential neighborhood in the heart of Israel and divided its population into two. But how...

By Tuesday, 50 Israeli families will have been tossed out of their homes in their village of Migron, which is set for destruction. They will not be dispossessed because they unlawfully squatted on someone else's property. The residents of Migron will be tossed from their homes - on the order of the Supreme Court - because Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein and his associates believe they are above the law. And due to this opinion, Weinstein and his associates refuse to recognize the sovereign authority of Israel's government or to act in accordance with its lawful decisions. The media have alternatively presented...

On Tuesday, a fateful hearing took place at the Supreme Court to determine the destiny of the Jewish community of Migron. The complicated history of the site, and the legal wrangling surrounding it over the past six years, have left many people wondering where right begins and wrong ends. But regardless of one’s political views, there is something about the case that should send a shudder down the spine of every Israeli who values liberty. Standing before the justices, Osnat Mandel of the State Attorney’s Office said that Migron in its entirety should be evacuated within a few days. Mandel...

Residents of Migron face expulsion and are being pressured by the government to leave peacefully and by neighboring communities to protest. Migron has been the victim of the same type of government policies that uprooted Gush Katif Jews from their homes after years of government support and promises they would never be forced out of their homes. Promises from the Netanyahu administration to back Migron fell, one by one, even when investors bought a number of land parcels from alleged Palestinian Authority owners. The High Court did not deny the recent purchases were legal but ruled the change in property...

Residents of the community of Migron told Arutz Sheva on Sunday that they did not understand why the State was demanding that they leave their homes right away, particularly when the Supreme Court has not even yet discussed their case and is not scheduled to do so until Tuesday. Video .....

"Official" name change ceremony held. Residents: If we were Arabs, we would not be treated this way. Video .....

The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel says the State Attorney's Office (SAO) and Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein have put politics before professionalism in the matter of Migron. The Forum asked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to devote time in the next cabinet meeting to a discussion of the professional behavior of the SAO and the AG in legal proceedings regarding the community of Migron. Forum Director Nachi Eyal accused the Justice Ministry officials of purposely disobeying the government's decisions in the way they presented the official position on Migron in the High Court. Supreme Court President Asher Gronis ruled...

Police and Yassam officers equipped with a backhoe arrived on Wednesday night at the community of Ramat Migron in Binyamin, the Tazpit news agency reported.

The Cabinet Sunday approved a nearby temporary housing site for residents of Migron, over whose heads hangs an expulsion order. Nationalist Knesset Members in the coalition have insisted that Migron must remain in its current location, and the High Court has rejected a government petition to defer the scheduled expulsion beyond a July 15 deadline. The unanimous vote by the Cabinet approved a temporary housing site on Givat HaYekev in Kochav Yaakov, located in central Samaria. This was part of an agreement negotiated between the residents and the government as a site for the town if the present location is...

In a disappointing decision for nationalists, the High Court Sunday threw out a compromise deal between the government and the residents of Migron, and set a new deadline for the eviction of the residents. The three judge panel is headed by Supreme Court President Asher Grunis, and includes judges Miriam Naor and Salim Jubran. They gave the government until August 1 to evict the residents. "Now the petitioners are entitled to enjoy the fruits of the verdict," the judges wrote. "They have the right to see the ongoing disruption of their rights end. The public interest in enforcement of the...

A top officer in the Israeli Police slammed the Defense Ministry's decision to allow Arab workers to participate in the demolition of buildings in new neighborhoods (“outposts”) conducted by the IDF, police, and Border Guards over the past few months. Last September, Arutz Sheva reported that Arab workers participated in the demolition of Migron. According to witnesses, the Arabs laughed and joked while pulling apart structures, making fun of the Jews who were being “exiled” from the site. The officer criticized the inclusion of Arabs in the demolition and evacuation of Migron, terming it “heartless.” The officer also criticized the...

Members of the Jewish Home Party met on Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and told him that if any houses in Migron are forcibly evicted and demolished, they will pull out of the government coalition. They met with PM Netanyahu to discuss a new bill which would lead to the legalization of new development communities in Judea and Samaria such as Migron. Prime Minister Netanyahu informing them that he opposed legislation...

Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch has ruled, not for the first time, that any area in Judea and Samaria that has not been declared state land is considered private Arab land by default and all buildings in such areas must be demolished. She could just as well have ruled that this land is not claimed and therefore could be settled by Jews according to the law that land that is worked on for ten years without prior proven ownership can become the property of those working it, or that unclaimed land can be given to Jews outright. It is a...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYtfZ07Fh4U

Several residents from Migron have signed a petition thanking a soldier who refused orders to demolish homes in the town. They called on other soldiers to do the same. The petition accused the government of turning the IDF “from the Israel defense army to a political army, thus dealing a blow to human rights and our rights as citizens.”

The Shomron Residents’ Council filmed a video on Sunday night as security forces in large numbers marched into the community of Migron and demolished three homes. The security forces can be seen as they are marching into the community while residents are wondering why they were not wearing any ID badges. Prior to the demolition, the residents held Selichot prayers, the prayers traditionally recited during the Jewish month of Elul which leads to the high holy days. Videos, Pictures

Despite the extensive media coverage of Migron's legal battles to survive, judicial edicts by a few members of Israel's Supreme Court, and misrepresentations by lawyers and NGO's who oppose Migron's presence, the facts concerning this Jewish community have not been presented fully, or fairly. A small community of 50 families a dozen kilometers north of Jerusalem, Migron is a test case for all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and may affect many within Israel's "Green Line" as well. The controversy revolves around two main issues: (1) who owns the land, and (2) if there was government negligence, who was...