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Settlements as tourist attractions? Palestinian minister says mine, environment experts to examine settler homes following pullout to ensure sites safe for Palestinian visitors By Ali Waked The Palestinian Authority plans to seal off evacuated settlements for three days immediately after Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Minister Muhammad Dahlan said late Sunday. In addition, 25,000 security guards will be deployed to secure the evacuated settlements, after which the PA will open the area “so the Palestinian people may enjoy observing the sites that have caused them so much frustration and depression throughout the years and that are now a...

On June 30, the army shut down Gush Katif. It became officially a "closed military zone". No cars were allowed in or out of Gush Katif. No cars were allowed to travel between settlements in Gush Katif. The IDF, using its mighty military force, first evacuated a group of teenagers occupying a building in the Muassi village across the road from N'vei Dekalim. (The Muassi are a Bedouin tribe living in relatively peaceful coexistence with Gush Katif. They are terrified of their fate after the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif. They must now show Hamas that they are not...

[Editor’s note: The proposed withdrawal of Israeli settlers from Gaza and a portion of the West Bank (also known as Samaria) has proven to be a highly controversial policy of the Sharon government. Some critics of the Labor Party government's policies during the Oslo process have been supportive of the current disengagement plan under the Likud Party. In part, this is because of their confidence in its architect, Ariel Sharon, but also because they believe that the disengagement from Gaza, along with completion of the security barrier, will enhance Israel's security. Others are horrified at the prospect of forcible removal...

New surveys show that the majority of Israelis support a referendum on the major question currently facing the Israeli public, namely, the disengagement-withdrawal-expulsion plan. One survey was carried out by the Brain Base (Maagar Mochot) research institute, headed by Prof. Yitzchak Katz, the day after Tuesday's Sharm a-Sheikh summit. The phone pollers spoke with 522 people, and found that though 65% support the disengagement plan, 54% of the populace feel it should be decided by referendum. The next day, Brain Base conducted another phone poll (609 respondents), and found that only 54% of them would vote in favor of the...

Police and soldiers Monday evening surprised a tiny community in Samaria and destroyed two trailer homes in a violent clash of stone throwing and gunshots with residents. More than 500 security troops destroyed Givat Shalhevet, near Shechem and associated with the nearby community of Yitzhar. Police arrested 19 residents and protesters, including one woman who suffered a fractured hip and was hospitalized. "I have been in all the evacuations here, but I've never seen anything as brutal," said Yitzhar's administrator Tzvi Berenstock. Police said the operation was kept secret, unlike previous attempts to dismantle the community which has been a...

If there were 100 settlement outposts before the IDF started evacuating them, there will be 150 by the time the mission is completed. The Keystone Kops routine being played out on the hilltops of the West Bank - soldiers take down one outpost, settlers put up another one or two - illustrates the overriding reason why I don't believe THERE WILL NEVER BE PEACE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS: BECAUSE WE'RE NEVER GOI8NG TO GET THE SETTLERS OUT OF THERE.there will ever be peace between Israel and the Palestinians: because we're never going to get the settlers out of there....

The seder that was organized for the Jewish community of Kosovo this year was most likely the last, as many of its members will be making their way to Israel. Prizren, KOSOVO - Every once in a while, some of the kitchen help peek from behind the window over the counter and stare curiously. There are two long rows of tables, at one of which most of the men are wearing skullcaps. Plates of matza are being passed around. At one end of the room a large blue American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) banner hangs, next to the many...