Settler Violence (Extract)

By LEORA EREN FRUCHT
Extract from an article in Issue 14, October 27, 2008 of The Jerusalem Report. To subscribe to The Jerusalem Report click here. Settlement leader Dani Dayan believes that violence perpetrated by a small number of settlers is being exploited to demonize the whole movement Shortly after a Palestinian infiltrated the settlement of Yitzhar last month, setting fire to a home and stabbing a child, dozens of armed settlers went on a three-hour rampage in the nearby Palestinian village of Asire el-Kibliyeh, shooting in the air and destroying property. This was the latest in a series of violent attacks by settlers against both soldiers and Palestinians in Judaea and Samaria / the West Bank; security and political officials assume that these acts are part of a systematic retaliatory policy advocated by some of the settlers' groups. According to a recent U.N. report, there were 222 incidents of settler violence in the first half of 2008, compared to 291 in all of the previous year. Central Command Chief Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni warned in a recent newspaper interview that the number of settlers committing violent acts has increased from a few dozen to hundreds and that they are receiving encouragement from some settlement leaders and rabbis. And on September 25, a pipe bomb exploded outside the home of Prof. Zeev Sternhell, an outspoken critic of the settler movement. The police assume that the perpetrators were right-wing nationalist extremists. Dayan, the head of the YESHA Council, an umbrella organization representing the settlements in Judaea and Samaria, spoke to The Report about settler violence. The Jerusalem Report: How do you explain the increase in the number of settlers resorting to violence? Dani Dayan: There is no doubt that the withdrawal from Gush Katif was a signal to conduct a struggle in Judaea and Samaria. The withdrawal had many consequences, including strategic ones. Among the settlers, there are certain groups - not large numbers - whose identification with the main institutions of the state, such as the government and army, was damaged as a result of the withdrawal. These groups do not even see us, the YESHA Council, as their leadership. They have cut themselves off. So are you saying that you have no authority over them? We have no formal authority. The media portrays the settlers as one homogenous bloc, whereas, in fact, we are a heterogeneous population united only by a shared belief in the need to strengthen the Jewish presence in Judaea and Samaria. Still, we are not shirking responsibility for those groups. Their approach is wrong and we feel committed to attempt to influence them. How can you influence them, when they do not recognize your leadership? We are working closely with the political and spiritual leadership at various settlements. Extract from an article in Issue 14, October 27, 2008 of The Jerusalem Report. To subscribe to The Jerusalem Report click here.