Free Republic

Border police evicted Jews from the Mitzpeh Avichai outpost in the Hevron region on Saturday, residents of the area report. The outpost has been destroyed and rebuilt dozens of times. Homes have sometimes been destroyed in the middle of the night, and on at least one occasion, residents say, an Arab demolition crew stole valuables. However, they said Saturday night, never before have police carried out a demolition on the Sabbath. Resident Aryeh Davis accused the police of “adding insult to injury.” Davis, who has previously spoken to Arutz Sheva, said, “It’s not enough to destroy the land of Israel,...

A top officer in the Israeli Police slammed the Defense Ministry's decision to allow Arab workers to participate in the demolition of buildings in new neighborhoods (“outposts”) conducted by the IDF, police, and Border Guards over the past few months. Last September, Arutz Sheva reported that Arab workers participated in the demolition of Migron. According to witnesses, the Arabs laughed and joked while pulling apart structures, making fun of the Jews who were being “exiled” from the site. The officer criticized the inclusion of Arabs in the demolition and evacuation of Migron, terming it “heartless.” The officer also criticized the...

Residents of a demolished outpost in Judea say that the IDF facilitated Arab looting of their belongings Sunday. According to residents of Mitzpe Avichai, near Kiryat Arba, trucks sent by the IDF's Civil Administration took belongings from the site and dumped them in a landfill where Arabs were apparently waiting to cart them away. The residents of the outpost were evicted from it one month ago, in nighttime raid. They took only what they could carry, leaving behind most of their equipment and belongings – including refrigerators, beds, solar thermal collectors and cabinets. There are conflicting versions regarding what happened...

Police and Civil Administration personnel demolished homes in the new community (“outpost”) of Mitzpeh Avichai, near Kiryat Arba, early Thursday morning. Residents said that the forces destroyed at least 10 temporary buildings. Nine families were kicked out of their homes in the raid. Residents told Arutz Sheva that the forces entered the homes and forced whole families – including mothers, infants, and small children – into the near-freezing cold rain that fell overnight Wednesday. Residents said they were not deterred, however, and would rebuild. “Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are tough when it comes to pushing...

Today I followed the installation procession from Remat Mamre to the tiny outpost of Mitzpeh Avihai on Hill 18. Accompanied by a throng of hundreds, we held a wedding canopy, or 'huppa' over the Torah scroll and walked into the night along the hilly, windy path down into the valley and up to the height of Hill 18, immediately opposite the exclusively Arab enclave of North Hebron. The procession was illuminated by torchlight, and accompanied by a guitar and flute duet as the revellers sang and danced along. In between the Remat Mamre and Hayekev communities, a high barbed wire...

They don't just call us "mitnachalim (inheritors)"; it's a title of honor concerning those that work to inherit the birth-right of our forefathers. But the job is not done. "Very much land remains to inherit!" and to our distress, the government prevents the continuing expansion in Judah and Samaria and even tries to uproot that which was planted. Raising the flag of love of the Land of Israel and expanding beyond the boundaries of existing communities - Mitzpeh Avihai was established (on Hill 18, in the northern corner of Remat Mamre) dedicated to the memory of Avihai Levi (May G-d...