Settlers in Judea and Samaria vowed to fight the IDF as it
started to act on the road map by taking down 10 uninhabited
outposts from an initial list of 15. On Tuesday it is taking
down the other five, which include five that are inhabited.
According to reports, the army intends to remove 94 outposts
in the near future in what is called Operation Naked
Hilltop.
The most controversial outpost slated for removal on Tuesday
is the one known as Gilad Farms. It was evacuated repeatedly
in the past, most recently last October when it was directed
by then Minister of Defense Binyamin Ben Eliezer and involved
chilul Shabbos. On Tuesday its removal was being
argued in court, as those who are currently living there
claim that they have a legal right to do so.
The other inhabited outposts are known as Beit El Mizrach,
Nofei Nechemia, "693," and Shavei Shomron West. Residents of
Shavei Shomron West were surprised to hear that they were on
the list because the area was built five years ago and is
considered by its inhabitants to be a neighborhood of Shavei
Shomron, not an outpost.
Hundreds have gone to the outposts, especially Beit El East,
to try to prevent or delay their dismantling, but leaders
have made repeated promises not to use any violent means of
resistance.
The settlers plan to use parliamentary pressure within the
coalition, legal cases, and demonstrations at the sites. They
have also pledged to return and rebuild demolished sites.
There is no call at this point for right-wing parties to
leave the government, as it is believed that they can do more
to help the outposts inside.
Sharon took pains to separate the decision to remove the
outposts from the road map, in order, as one official said,
not to create any moral equivalence between terrorism and the
settlements. Sharon said the outpost removal should be seen
as the implementation of the government's decision of a few
months ago that "what is legal is legal, what is not legal is
not legal."
A senior diplomatic official also said the decision to remove
the outposts would have been taken regardless of the road
map.
One official said Israel does not want to present the removal
of the outposts as steps along the road map, similar to the
opening steps the Palestinian Authority is obligated to take
to stop terror, because they are not symmetric. "If the
outposts were not removed," he said, "this would not cause
the loss of any more life. That is not true if the PA does
not stop the terrorism."
On Monday, there was no confrontation when the army took down
the Neveh Erez South outpost near Ramallah, which consisted
only of two empty trailers. Outside of Amona, however,
soldiers met resistance when they came with trucks and a
crane to take down the five-meter-high water tower. As they
tried to drive it away on the back of a truck, more than 100
people mainly teenagers rolled stones into the road and
formed a human blockade.
The implementation of the road map was initially expected to
only target the 62 outposts built after Sharon took office in
March 2001, and not small settlements constructed prior to
that date. The extreme left wing Peace Now organization
estimates that there are 102 illegal outposts.
PA Cabinet Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo dismissed the removals
as "just a symbolic step. Sharon is playing a game of
deception through the evacuation of some empty trailers in
order to give legitimacy to the dozens of settlements he
established during his term in office."
A settler spokesman said that Sharon is under enormous
pressure from Bush to move quickly on the map. He said it was
a mistake because it looks as if Israel is capitulating to
terrorism.
Yesha council leaders met unsuccessfully with OC Central
Command Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky in the hopes of reaching a
settlement. He showed them the list of outposts slated for
removal.
According to IDF officers, the goal of the meeting was to
reach an understanding that the Jewish residents dismantle
the outposts themselves without destroying the
infrastructure. However, when it became clear that the
council leaders were moving in a different direction, the
officers just asked them to act responsibly and prevent any
violent outbursts.
