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Israeli army prepping temporary housing for evicted settlers

11 June 2012 20:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Cranes and flatbed trailers bearing segments of six expanded portable homes entering the West Bank settlement of Bet El on Monday signaled the start of the evacuation of some 30 families who the Israeli Supreme Court deemed were living on a private Palestinian land, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Last Wednesday, in a Knesset (parliament) defeat of a bill that would have sanctioned five apartment buildings in Bet El’s Ulpana neighborhood, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won a major victory for his policy of adhering to the law, while at the same time encouraging consensus-approved settlement.

The court in January ordered the structures razed by July 1, sparking an altercation within Netanyahu’s cabinet.

In a late-night meeting with Netanyahu, Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein approved the government’s request to uproot the houses and transfer them to a nearby defunct army base.

The Defense Ministry, which is responsible for moving the families, bag and baggage, on Monday said in a statement that they were "operating around the clock" in order to make the deadline, and "as soon as possible (to) allow residents of the Ulpana Hill to leave their homes in the most respectable and convenient way."

The former Binyamin Brigade base, where the total of 40 enlarged portable structures -- nicknamed "caravillas" -- will be located, is about 1 km away from the disputed area.

The housing units were delivered under disguise, according to the Ynet news site, which wrote that the measure was taken in order to throw off any possible protests during their arrival and emplacement.

Some two dozen Ulpana residents and supporters held a week-long hunger strike in front of the Supreme Court building in Jerusalem until Wednesday’s fateful vote, and held a protest march from the village in hopes of convincing wavering Knesset members to support their cause, to no avail: a day earlier, Netanyahu threatened to fire any cabinet member who supported the bill.

Ulpana’s denizens said they want their homes to be boarded up or otherwise made uninhabitable, rather than demolished.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who backed the evictions, ironically, was prime minister when Ulpana was built a decade ago with the encouragement of his government.

When the issue was first debated in the cabinet in late April, Barak opposed the proposals by its rightist members to defy the court’s ruling on Ulpana and leave the buildings in situ, telling ministers that Israel must maintain law and order.

"It eventually becomes clear that these are private ( Palestinian) lands, there will be no choice but to either evict ( the settlers) or purchase them, there is no other way," Barak said.

Netanyahu has echoed that sentiment in official remarks, saying that the government aims to balance between its desire to strengthen the settlement enterprise, maintain the rule of law, and satisfy the international community’s demands concerning settlement building.

Bet El resident Baruch Gordon, who directs development of the community’s institutions, who were the original buyers of the property, told the American Jewish Press weekly he was confident that the evacuations would - ultimately - end up increasing the village’s population.

"Instead of taking on the court head on, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is bowing to the dictates of the court, but at the same time is removing the harsh bite they intended to have," Gordon said, cautioning that "If the state prosecution wants to dictate to us, we will build ten houses for every one you are taking down."

And in fact shortly after last Wednesday’s vote, Netanyahu and Housing Minister Ariel Attias announced that 851 new apartments would be built in several West Bank settlements, and move that raised hopes for potential newcomers, but ired Palestinian and American officials.

The homes would be constructed in Bet El (300), Geva Binyamin ( 144), and Ariel (117), all north of Ramallah; and in Maale Adumim (92), Efrat (114) , and in Kiryat Arba (84) respectively, to the east and south of Jerusalem.

Netanyahu and Attias "agreed to immediately issue the construction tenders. The obstacles have been removed and we’re looking at where more construction can be approved," government sources said.