The Jewish community of Givat Ronen is about to be demolished by the Israeli government in accordance with notices delivered on Sunday to the families who live there – some of them with small children.
According to the notices, authorities are empowered to evacuate and demolish the homes – located south of Shechem — within three days.
The move follows an incident that took place Friday that allegedly involved masked Givat Ronen residents attacking leftist Israeli activists helping Palestinian Authority citizens in the nearby village of Burin.
The due process provided to families of Arab terrorists whose homes are slated for demolition — time to organization a court appeal of the order, and the right to a second appeal if the first is unsuccessful — is not always offered to those living in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria when the Israeli government decides to demolish a Jewish home.
It is not clear whether those living in Givat Ronen were offered the opportunity to appeal the decision to destroy their homes.
One Givat Ronen family likely to be made homeless is Achiya and Ariel Aboudraham and their small baby daughter Eden.
תכירו: אחיה ואריאל אבודרהם, והתינוקת עדן.
זה הבית שלהם בגבעת רונן שהממשלה מתכוונת להרוס בעוד 3 ימים.
אחיה לא היה בכלל בשטח בזמן האירוע האלים ביום ששי, לא נעצר, לא נחקר, לא כלום.
אבל כדרכה של ענישה קולקטיבית – הם נבחרו כקורבן. https://t.co/afr0a3c4zP pic.twitter.com/Q9BFeo6RY4— אורית סטרוק (@oritstrock)
Achiya was not involved in the attack, according to former Knesset Member Orit Strook. “He wasn’t arrested, he wasn’t questioned, nothing,” she wrote in a tweet. “But as part of collective punishment, they have been selected to be victims.
“Acts of assault and arson have specific penalties in the [Israeli] Penal Code, and there is an orderly process of investigation – prosecution – sentencing,” Strook noted, pointing out, “home demolitions are not part of that process, and have not been carried out in similar cases in Lod, Acco, the Negev, in Jerusalem, and also in Judea and Samaria.
“It appears for this government, settlers are truly ‘subhumans.’
The latter remarks in a reference to one made by Meretz Deputy Minister Yair Golan who called those living in outpost communities “subhuman” earlier this month.
The attack was indeed horrific; but an entire Jewish community is clearly being made to pay for the actions of a splinter group of violent Jewish extremists.
Caution: Graphic Footage in Video
תיעוד של : רעולי פנים מכים באלות פעילים שלהם ושל קואליציית המסיק שבאו לסייע לחקלאים פלסטינים באזור הכפר בורין ליד שכם. pic.twitter.com/IdsmdIuVdS
— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan)
Videos posted to social media show the attackers hitting alleged villagers and their leftist Israeli supporters with metal bars and bashing a car with the bars and rocks before setting it ablaze in a field. It’s not clear who the car belonged to.
Israeli Public Security Minister Omer Barlev denounced the attack on Sunday, calling it “the organized action of a terror group” and telling Israeli public broadcaster KAN News, “It is the tip of the iceberg of a terror organization.”
Barlev admitted, however, that Friday’s attackers may not have been from Givat Ronen but rather, “others who arrive from other places.”
The activists who were at the scene and were affiliated with the leftist Rabbis for Human Rights organization said they were helping Palestinian Authority farmers plant trees on land inside their boundaries of their village.
The ‘Rabbis for Human Rights’ organization sends volunteers into Judea and Samaria allegedly to protect Palestinian Authority Arabs from Jewish settlers during the olive harvest. Some have been accused of inciting villagers against their Jewish neighbors.
At least six Israeli activists were wounded in the attack, according to media reports quoting medics and witnesses. The number of injured Arabs, if any, was unknown.
The Yesha Council (Judea and Samaria Regional Council) condemned the attack, saying it was “horrified” by the images from the incident.
“Such grave conduct is against the values of the people of Israel and harms the settlement movement,” the Council said in a statement. “This is not our path. We call on authorities to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.”