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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israeli Army Completes Pullout from West Bank Settlements |
| 2005-09-22 |
| The Israeli army has announced its withdrawal from two more Jewish settlements, thus completing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's historic pullout from the Gaza Strip and a small corner of the northern West Bank. The army left the settlements of Ganim and Kadim -- the first two enclaves to be declared evacuated in August -- on Tuesday evening, the military said in a statement. It pulled out of the nearby West Bank settlement of Sanur on Monday and Homesh last week. On August 23, Sanur and Homesh became the last enclaves to be evacuated of Jewish settlers under Sharon's pullout plan. Israeli military sources have stressed that unlike the Gaza Strip, the area evacuated in the northern West Bank will remain under Israeli control with soldiers continuing to patrol the district. Hundreds of Palestinians swarmed into the evacuated Jewish settlement of Sanur in the northern West Bank on Tuesday after Israeli troops left the tiny enclave. A joyful crowd of civilians and policemen hoisted Palestinian flags from a former mosque, once used by Sanur settlers as a Jewish seminary and synagogue, as well as a former British mandate garrison, an AFP photographer said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 The Israeli deal is not necessarily a bad one. They have traded a little space for some security reliant on no one but themselves. Unilateral action is the only sane choice. The sticking point has always been their trying to obtain security from their enemies, but that was a pipe dream. Their enemies were never willing to offer it at any price, and only by ignoring them and acting in their own interests does Israel really get what it wants and needs. The future for the Israelis is truly disengagement from their enemies. Ignoring them, leaving them alone, not letting them attack effectively. Forcing the Paleos to look at themselves, which is truly hell for such irresponsible people. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-09-22 19:26 |
| #2 Here's hoping that those who are now in the West Bank get everything they deserve. |
| Posted by: Scott R 2005-09-22 18:02 |
| #1 It is significant that the mosque was not razed by the Israelis, but used as a synagogue and seminary. Of course, given the state of the islamist mind, this was probably a more intolerable act than razing the mosque. Still, they'll keep the mosque as a sign of Islamic triumph, rather than raze it out of pique: The Hagia Sophia's beauty did not come from the Muslims, but from the Byzantines who first erected it as a Christian temple. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2005-09-22 14:30 |