Protesting Near Shilo And New Police Strategy

Erev Shabbath Qodesh Matoth 5768

100 Jews Throw Rocks, Burn Tires in Bourin

21 Tammuz 5768, 24 July 08 4:38 PM

(IsraelNN.com) About 100 Jews entered the Arab village of Bourin, threw rocks and burned tires Thursday, in response to a security forces sweep on Adei Ad near Shiloh. One of the activists reportedly took a gun from a soldier and fired in the air.

Also in response to the police raid, Jewish residents from the Shiloh area demonstrated at the Shiloh Junction and other activists from Samaria said they intend to carry out protests later today.

This afternoon at around 12:45 PM I arrived at Shiloh Junction, and saw six Yassa"mniqim [riot police] cleaning up the last vestiges of [unscathed] tires and rock from the road which blocked the northern end of the junction.

After completing their task, I saw them wash their hands from their drinking water supply, get into their police van and leave.

The "action" as it were, was over. I asked one of the three reserve duty soldiers what had happened. He replied that "youths" blocked the road, in protest of the removal of a caravan (trailer) from one the hills yesterday. He did not know which one.

Two Birds With One Stone?
This soldier then started asking me questions,...lots of questions, about living in the area. I asked him why he wanted to live in this area. He said because it was cheap.

I explained about some yishuvim preferring married couples over singles, that like kibbutzim, yishuvim had the right to grant entrance to residents, etc. until they reach certain a status, blah, blah, blah.

That's right. I didn't have any issue with answering his questions, and acting like it wasn't in the least bit suspicious, which it definitely was.

Everything I said is a matter of public record, or the Shabba"k (General Security Service, AKA Secret Police) probably knows already, like how I rent [legally] from a private home owner [and could give a rat's behind about va'ad haqelitah (absorption committee)].

Sound like a tangent?

It wasn't to the soldier. It sounds to me like he was doing his job, and I'm not talking about reserve duty....

By the way, for those of you not familiar with the area, the Shiloh Junction with Road No. 60 (Ramallah Bypass) is the gateway east to Shilo, Shvuth Rahel, and several hilltop communities, a couple miles from where I was standing.

This means that the protesters got around.

New Police Strategy
This is not the first anti-Jewish incident in this the Shilo area in recent weeks. A few young men have been camping out, trying to build another new stronghold in an area claimed by Arabs.

There have been arrests, and refusals to sign release agreements, thus these young Jews were held over at the Sha'ar Binyamin police station.

A source of mine, close to the youths reported to me that the police, or other officials, go to local Arabs and encourage them to file complaints against the Jews, as an additional way to discourage what they call "settlement activity," and which I call a misswah.