Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – The Israeli forces Saturday razed a small Palestinian “tent" village near the West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli and Palestinian sources said. The Israeli army spokesmen's office said that troops arrived at the scene and dismantled the small village, evacuating some 30 Palestinian and foreign activists who had named the outpost “Kan'an." “The hill on which the outpost was formed was declared a closed military zone" to prevent the rebuilding of the camp, the spokesman said. No injuries or arrests were reported. Younis Arar, the coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Hebron area, said that the activists began erecting the new camp Friday overnight, south of Yatta “to defend our lands." The area is scene of weekly demonstrations against Israeli settlements. Arar said that the Israeli soldiers confiscated their equipment to prevent them from any further activities in the area. The coordinator said that they decided to build the tent village to protest Israel's settlement policies in the South Hebron Hills area and its decision to demolish several Palestinian villages there. On July, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered the demolition of several Palestinian villages in the South Hebron Hills saying the territory is needed for the Israeli army training exercises. The Israeli government is seeking a High Court of Justice backing to raze the villages. The villages slated for demolition are: Masafer Yatta, Majaz, Tabban, Safa, Halaweh, Fakheit, Markez, Jinba, and Kharubeh. The Israeli defense establishment regards all of them as squatters in Firing Zone 918, even though the villages have existed since at least the 1830s. The Israeli army had declared some 30,000 dunams in the area a closed military zone back in the 1970s. Under Israeli military law, only permanent residents are allowed to remain in a closed military zone. The attempted creation of Kan'an marks the fifth Palestinian effort of this kind in as many weeks, in a new phenomenon that began with the creation of Bab Al-Shams. Last week, clashes erupted near the village of Burin, south of Nablus, after a group of Palestinians activists erected a new camp named Al-Manateer in the area. Two Palestinian “tent" villages that were formed last month, Bab al-Shams in E1 and Bab al-Karamah near Beit Iksa north of Jerusalem, were evacuated within a few days by the Israeli army. According to activists, the Palestinian outposts are constructed as part of their battle against Jewish settlements.
