Israeli Liquidates Jewish Settlements in Palestine

Sharon breaks his election pledges
Israeli soldiers started the liquidation of several illegal Jewish settlements on the West Bank Wednesday morning. This is done on an order by Israeli Minister of Defense, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. In accordance with the defense minister’s plans, Israeli soldiers will remove from 20 to 30 settlements. Two settlements in the region Ariel-Kedumim and one more to the north of Ramallah have already been destroyed today. However, this time, soldiers met no people in the settlements, as they left their homes before the action. This was done in accordance with Ben-Elizer’s schedule, which supposes that desert settlements will be liquidated first, and then villages with few people. The majority of Israelis, mostly leftists, consider the West Bank and Gaza Strip settlements to be illegal, as they are built on Palestinian territories and continue to create tension. And the right-wing, on the contrary, says that the settlements are outposts due to which the defense of Israeli territories is maintained. As a result of long-lasting disputes, it was decided to liquidate settlements that are smaller in size and situated further from others.

However, head of the colony council of Judea, Samaria and Gaza Strip Adi Minz already said that he would press for abolishment of the decision and “use all democratic instruments for this.” Settlers remind Sharon of his election pledges, when he promised not to liquidate the settlements, a reason why people voted for him. People say that they will vote differently next time and are already going to promote the candidature of Benjamin Netanjahu, who they consider a reliable person to trust.

Dmitry Litvinovich PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/10/09/48181.html

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