Amona - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Israeli settlement

An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...

in the central West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

, on a hill overlooking Ofra

Ofra

Ofra is an Israeli settlement located in the northern West Bank in the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. It is situated on the main road between Jerusalem and Nablus , 25 km from Jerusalem and has 3,200 inhabitants ....

. Located within the municipal boundaries of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, the village was founded in 1997 on a hilltop of privately owned Palestinian land and inhabited by young settlers from Ofra.

By late 2005 there were some thirty families living in Amona, usually categorized as an outpost since it has never been fully approved by the Israeli government, even though several separate government ministries have contributed to its growth. Its name is derived from the Book of Joshua

Book of Joshua

The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....

18:24, where it is named Kfar HaAmmonai, literally, Village of the Amonites

Ammon

Ammon , also referred to as the Ammonites and children of Ammon, was an ancient nation located east of the Jordan River, Gilead, and the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan. The chief city of the country was Rabbah or Rabbath Ammon, site of the modern city of Amman, Jordan's capital...

.

The High Court of Israel

Supreme Court of Israel

The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...

determined in 2006 that the settlement is illegal under Israeli law.The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law

International law and Israeli settlements

The international community considers the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories illegal under international law, but Israel maintains that they are consistent with international law because it does not agree that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the...

, but the Israeli government disputes this.

Confrontation

In 2005, the Amana settlement organisation completed the construction of nine permanent homes for some of the families. In response to this, the Peace Now movement petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Israel

, demanding that the houses be demolished since they were built on private Palestinian

Palestinian territories

The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...

land. The Attorney General

Attorney General of Israel

The Attorney General of Israel stands at the head of the legal system of the executive branch and the head of the public legal establishment, in charge of protecting the rule of law and as such entrusted with protecting the public interest from possible harm by government authorities...

’s office then gave the orders to destroy the buildings. At approximately 3:00 a.m. on February 1, 2006, a petition was successfully filed with the Supreme Court to delay the demolition until a special hearing at around 8:00 a.m. The Supreme Court heard the case, requested time to consider the situation, and issued a 2-1 verdict to go ahead and destroy the nine homes.

10,000 Israel Police

Israel Police

The Israel Police is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism...

, Israel Border Police

Israel Border Police

The Israel Border Police is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav , meaning border guard, whilst its members are colloquially known as Magavnikim . Border Guard is often used as the official name of the...

, and Israel Defense Forces

Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

troops appeared in Amona to carry out the demolition and to secure the troops involved in the operation. They faced an estimated 4,000 Israeli protesters, one thousand actively protesting inside and around the houses, and another few thousand in the surrounding area. The protesters mostly consisted of youths from across the country, but especially from nearby settlements and schools, some of which had fortified themselves inside the homes and on the roofs in an effort to block, delay, or protest the order being carried out. The violent clashes that ensued surpassed any previous clashes between the security forces of the State of Israel and civilians, including the 2005 unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...

and destruction of the Gush Katif

Gush Katif

Gush Katif was a bloc of 17 Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza strip. Gush Katif was specifically mentioned by Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who fell victim to an assassin in 1995, as essential to Israel's security border. In August 2005, the Israeli army moved the 8,600...

settlements.

Demonstrators sat in front of the homes linking arms and legs after the roofs and rooms inside the homes were filled. The demonstrators threw cinderblocks, metal pipes, rocks, and paint bottles on the security forces from the roof, causing injuries to some personnel. According to the demonstrators, Israeli security forces beat them over the head and body with truncheons, and some were trampled by police horses. Central Region Commander Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh

Yair Naveh

Yair Naveh is a Major General in the Israel Defense Forces and is the current Deputy Chief of the General Staff. In 1975, he was drafted into the IDF where he served in all positions in the Golani Infantry Brigade from Company Commander to Brigade Commander...

said the police used "reasonable force" in responding to the "grave violence of the protestors." After Home Front Command disaster rescue units breached the barricaded houses, riot police

Yasam

The Yasam is the Israel Police Special Patrol Unit , a police unit dedicated to continuous security, riot and crowd control and other special operations....

entered the houses and forcibly removed the protesters sitting inside, using physical violence employed against protesters sitting on the floor in non-violent civil disobedience style. Numerous reports emerged later of girls who suffered various forms of verbal and physical abuse from the police while being removed from the houses. After several hours, the houses were demolished.

Over 300 people were injured, including about 80 security personnel. Among the injured were three Knesset Members: Effi Eitam

Effi Eitam

Efraim "Effi" Eitam is an Israeli politician. A former leader of the National Religious Party, he later led a breakaway faction, Ahi, which merged into Likud in 2009. He served as a member of the Knesset between 2003 and 2009.-Biography:...

was hospitalized after being trampled by a horse, Aryeh Eldad suffered a broken arm; and Nissan Slomianski. Many injuries were treated on-site. More seriously injured people were evacuated to hospitals in Jerusalem on buses, ambulances, and army Humveess, and airlifted for medical treatment by CH-53 helicopters. Some required emergency surgery.

In March 2006, the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

parliamentary inquiry into the events at Amona determined that security forces had employed excessive brutality, striking protesters with clubs and charging them with horses. Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra

Gideon Ezra

Gideon Ezra is an Israeli politician, member of the Knesset for Kadima and a former Minister of Environmental Protection.-Biography:Ezra was born in Jerusalem and served in the Israeli Defense Force between 1955 and 1958 in the Nahal...

was criticised for preventing police commanders from testifying at the hearings. The committee also found contradictions in the testimonies of the Army Chief of Staff

Ramatkal

The Chief of the General Staff, also known as the Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Defense Forces is the supreme commander and Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. At any given time, the Chief of Staff is the only active officer holding the IDF's highest rank, Rav Aluf , which is usually...

Dan Halutz

' is an Israeli Air Force Lt. General and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and commander of the Israeli Air Force. Halutz was appointed as Chief of Staff on June 1, 2005. On January 17, 2007 he announced his resignation. He has a degree in economics. He was born to a Mizrahi...

and the Internal Security Minister. Despite these findings, no resignations followed. In May 2006 Israeli President

President of Israel

The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...

Moshe Katsav

Moshe Katsav is an Israeli politician. He served as the eighth President of Israel, a leading Likud member of the Israeli Knesset, and a Cabinet Minister in its government....

met with some of the protesters injured at Amona and stated that he would ask for a renewal of the investigation.

Many on both the left and the right warned of the danger of repetitions of the tragedy of Amona if the Realignment plan

Realignment plan

The realignment plan was a plan by Israel to unilaterally disengage from the most of the West Bank and annex the rest, incorporating most Israeli settlements into Israel...

was put into action.

External links

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