A group of Israeli left-wing activists together with PA Arabs on Saturday morning arrived this morning (Saturday) and began plowing lands that stretch next to the Jewish outpost of Givat Ronen, a mile south of the settlement of Har Brakha in the Samaria mountains near Shechem. According to a report issued by the Givat Ronen residents, the IDF Civil Administration authorized the Arabs to plow in the area, but not at that point. In fact, the Arabs began plowing without the knowledge or approval of the IDF.
Seeing the Arabs plowing only a few yards from their boundary line, the Jewish residents of Givat Ronen went out toward them and alerted the Military. When IDF forces arrived, the Arabs and the Israeli left-wing activists began to move away. But before leaving, they set the field on fire. The fire spread quickly with the help of the hot wind that blew all day. Dozens of acres of a vineyard and a nature reserve of pistachio trees were destroyed.
Fire Brigade Deputy Commander Avishai Shafir who commands the Samaria regional firehouse, reported: “Firefighters and volunteers from the Samaria Regional Station are currently working on a fire that started near Givat Ronen. The fire moved with support from the winds toward the Amasa spring, and there is fear that it will climb toward the settlement of Har Brakha. About ten firefighter teams are working at the scene, and a pair of planes from the Elad Squadron were launched to attack the fire using extinguishing foam. We continue to be prepared, and are responding to additional fires in the station’s sector.”
The Givat Ronen residents reported: “Left-wing activists are once again coming to set the area on fire, and today large areas of Jewish agriculture have been burned. Without the vigorous labor of the residents and the fire brigade crews, the terrorists would have managed to burn down our homes and our families in the middle of the Sabbath meal. We call on the IDF to stop authorizing terrorist activity under the guise of agriculture, and to not allow left-wing activists to come and stir up strife.”
Last January, following a clash between settlers and leftist intruders, Peace Now issued a statement saying, “This lawlessness must be put an end to. Law enforcement agencies must act and fulfill their role of enforcing the law to destroy the illegal construction, prevent new outposts from popping up on the ground, arrest the violent criminals and prosecute them. For a start, it is worth starting with the evacuation of the violent outpost Givat Ronen, around which violence against Palestinians and their property and against Israeli activists frequently flares up.”
The Givat Sneh Yaakov outpost (aka Givat Ronen) was established in 1998 by Ronen Arussi, who was accused by the Shin Bet of attacks on PA Arabs. The outpost is named after Yaakov Parag, a resident of Har Brakha who was murdered ten years earlier.
