Israeli settlers burn olive groves in ‘price tag’ retaliation attack

[bemildred]

Israeli settlers on horseback set fire to fields of olive trees and stoned Palestinian cars in the West Bank yesterday, apparently in response to the Israeli army’s removal of an illegal outpost in the area.

At least 1,500 Palestinian-owned trees were destroyed and two Palestinians were injured in the attack, near the city of Nablus, by about 30 settlers, security officials said. Farmers fought fires late into the afternoon, as fears grew that the flames would spread across the dry summer fields.

It was the most recent example of the “price tag” policy, in which settlers seek revenge by attacking Palestinians for every outpost that is demolished. “The goal is to create a price for each evacuation, causing Israeli authorities to think twice about carrying them out,” the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said.

A settler activist, Itamar Ben-Gvir, put it more directly: “We will not be suckers for the Israeli Government. We will not sit idly by and allow them to remove our homes,” he said.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6721173.ece

[AnOhioan]

1. The Israeli gov't should be making arrests

of settlers who commit crimes. Unfortunately, the criminals have many friends in the gov't.

[bemildred]

2. It just didn't seem to me like the image these people ought to be trying to project.

Pissing off the Israeli government doesn't seem wise either.

[pelsar]

7. fanatics are fanatics...

the usual balance between of responsibility doesn't exist..doing gods work has its own rewards......

and these 300-400 kids (under 18) don't use cell phones, dont print stuff (all is word of mouth), have lawyers on hand to cause havoc with the justice system...and leave little trail for the security services to follow....

"congats to the parents and the religious system for producing such wonderful citizens...."

[LeftishBrit]

10. They don't care about their country; only about their own fanatical movement

Those who did this should be in jail.

[bemildred]

12. They ought not be left running around loose, that's for sure. nt

[depakid]

3. Talk about cutting off noses to spite faces....

[safeinOhio]

4. Send settlers back to Russia if they don't stop.

[peacetalksforall]

5. Killer logic. Mad at your own people so you take it out on Palestinians.

Olive trees. Beautiful olvie trees.

The idiocy. The utter idiocy.

How many years of income is lost?

[azurnoir]

6. Settlers attack Palestinians after outpost evacuations

According to Ghassan Dughlus, a Palestinian Authority official in charge of settlement activity in the northern West Bank, Israeli forces evacuated an illegal outpost near the village of Sinjil on Monday morning. Angered about the evacuation, settlers set fire to Palestinian fields near Yizhar settlement south of Nablus.

Dughlus was also quoted by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz saying that 10 settlers riding horses and carrying torches set fire to between 1,500 and 2,000 olive trees.

Firefighters were sent to the fields in an attempt to put out the flames. A Palestinian photojournalist also said he was assaulted by settlers when he attempted to cover the incident.

Settlers also threw stones at Palestinian cars and blocked the road near the Huwwara checkpoint on the outskirts of Nablus. Two Palestinian motorists were lightly injured and five cars damaged, according to Dughlus. Israeli soldiers clashed with the settlers, ultimately arresting two, and escorting the others away from the scene. Palestinian cars were also attacked in the city of Hebron.

The settlers’ attacks on Palestinians were a continuation of what they call a “price tag” campaign, in which they respond violently whenever outposts are removed by the Israeli government.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=213360

[Scurrilous]

8. Palestinians: Settlers cut down 40 olive trees in fresh West Bank rampage

<snip>

"Settlers rampaged in the West Bank for a second straight day on Tuesday, cutting down some 40 olive trees belonging to Palestinian farmers in the village of Burin, said Mayor Ali Eid.

The Israel Defense Forces said it received reports of the rampage, but by the time troops arrived, the settlers had fled.

Extremist settlers often vandalize Palestinian property to protest Israel's removal of small, illegal outposts in the West Bank - a tactic they call "the price tag."

more

[shira]

9. despicable - something needs to be done about them

[IndianaGreen]

11. shoot them!

That's what we would here in USA.