Israel Matzav

Blame the murders on the moonbats

The two 'Palestinians' who murdered Udi, Ruti, Yoav, Elad and Hadas Fogel HY"D (may God avenge their blood) knew their way around Itamar because they had been among a group of 'Palestinians' from Awarta who were allowed into Itamar to pick olives.

The IDF Civil Administration allowed PA Arabs from the nearby village of Awarta to harvest olives within Itamar that they claimed belonged to their village, despite concerns voiced by Itamar residents, who expressed fear that some PA Arabs could use the opportunity to learn the layout of the town in order to plan an attack.

Residents of Itamar even said they would be willing to pick the olives themselves, and deliver them to residents of Awarta, rather than open their town to potentially hostile PA residents. However, Civil Administration officials insisted that Awarta residents not only be given possession of the olives in question, but be allowed to harvest the produce themselves.

Residents reported Sunday that one of the PA “farmers” had been caught red-handed as he took pictures of IDF positions in Itamar during the harvest. The man was detained for questioning, but released on the orders of the Civil Administration.

The security guard's report may explain a comment a Shin Bet official made regarding the murders. The Shin Bet man said the killers had not spied on the town prior to the murders, because they were already familiar with its layout.

The IDF and the Civil Administration face pressure each year from the PA and the foreign and Israeli left to allow Arabs to harvest olives freely, regardless of security concerns. Many far-left groups, among them the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and Rabbis for Human Rights, hold annual “olive harvest” events aimed at forcing Israel to allow PA Arabs to enter Israeli land during the harvest.

But of course, Israel's security considerations are regularly dismissed. Instead, IDF soldiers are called upon to 'protect' the 'Palestinians' during the olive harvest. And the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East 'Peace Process' compares vandalism committed against 'Palestinian' olive trees (by whom is apparently irrelevant) to terrorism.

Now some of you may be asking how the 'Palestinians' of Awarta could have olive trees in Itamar. In an email, Yisrael Medad tells me that "literally dozens of yishuvim [Jewish towns CiJ] face the same situation in that while the Arabs have olive trees, they have no title deeds of any officilaity so the compromise is they get to harvest the olives but nothing else while the yishuvim can't touch the trees." The Jewish towns did not plant the trees (although that doesn't necessarily mean that the 'Palestinians' own the land on which they were planted).

So will the 'Palestinians' of Awarta be allowed to harvest olives in Itamar again this fall? I'd bet on it.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Awarta, Fogel family massacre, Itamar, olive harvest, Palestinian terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:25 PM