by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu and Gil Ronen
(IsraelNN.com) A group of Arabs and Israeli leftist collaborators attacked a Jewish outpost in Samaria Wednesday morning, killed a dog and burned holy books, while the outpost’s residents were away protecting a nearby olive orchard.
The outpost that was attacked is called Churshah and is located next to the community of Adei Ad which was established ten years ago. The residents number about a dozen.
(left) Kacha’s carcass. – Yona Tzoref
According to Evyatar Karo, one of Chursha’s residents, the Arabs and leftists carried out a successful ruse before their attack when they told police that they had come to harvest olives. The police then notified Chursha’s residents that officers and soldiers were escorting the Arabs to pick olives. This apparently caused the outpost’s residents to leave the outpost without guards except for their dogs and go off to guard a nearby olive grove planted by Jews several years ago, which Arabs claim is on their land.
(right) Holy books in stone building were burned – Yona Tzoref
The attack took place at around 8 A.M., under the cover of fog. Karo estimates that the attackers numbered at least 20 Arabs and a few leftist-anarchists. The perpetrators parked their car in the nearby village of Turmus-Ayah, south of Shilo, and reached Chursha by foot. They then proceeded to burn and destroy the makeshift living quarters and meager furnishings, and to kill Kacha, a mixed-breed female Caucasian Shepherd puppy. Kacha’s carcass bears signs of violence and she seems to have been beaten or bludgeoned to death.
(left) Burnt-down shack at Chursha. – Yona Tzoref
Another one of the outpost’s three dogs was taken away by the attackers. The third was not harmed.
When the Jewish residents heard noises from the outpost and hurried back, the attackers fled. Security officer David Yoel of the nearby Shilo community blocked the path of four of the suspects as they tried to escape on foot and held them at bay until police and soldiers arrived and arrested them.
(right) Arabs and leftists burned and pillaged. – Yona Tzoref
Defense Minister Ehud Barak several weeks ago authorized the expulsion of three residents of Churshah and Adei Ad from Samaria until the end of the olive picking season.
Three of the arrested suspects two men and a woman are in their early 20s. The fourth is an older man, apparently an Arab. Police have not commented on the arrests and have asked outpost residents to identify the attackers.
Partial enforcement
MK Uri Ariel of the National Union / National Religious Party said that the attack on Adei Ad marked a new peak in the violence perpetrated by the leftists and Arabs. “These grave phenomena, along with the destruction of vineyards and olive trees in the Binyamin area, are the result of the fact that the Minister of Defense and OC Central Command are busy selectively enforcing the law against the settlers,” he said. This kind of partial enforcement, he added, encourages violence by the Arabs and leftists.
Shilo resident Yona Tzoref said he arrived at the scene after being notified of the attack. He photographed the damage, but the attackers already had escaped.
