At Jews Sans Frontieres, I learn that the UNICEF decision to cut off Lev Leviev, the diamond merchant who is expanding settlements on the West Bank, has been covered all over thanks to Reuters, and the JTA. But Leviev continues to build:
“It doesn’t appear to be stopping Leviev’s plans to expand his
settlement Zufim onto the land the Israeli government is helping the
“diamontaire extraordinaire” steal from the beleaguered village of
Jayyous, which already can neither feed nor educate its children anymore. Recently the village has reported electrical
pylons have been erected to grid a new 1,500 unit outpost for Zufim,
and Israel has shown villagers a map that shows only 50% of the
village’s farmland which it has enclosed behind its wall (which is 70%
of its land overall) will be “returned” to the village. And it won’t
even put a gate in the wall anywhere near the village, so any farmers
whose land won’t be flattened under “Zufim North” will be screwed
anyway.
“In Jayyous, as in Bil’in, the Israeli High Court of Justice has shown just how worthless its diktat is — the army has simply ignored its highly touted decision to move the wall and give back some of Lev’s ill-gotten gains. In
Bil’in Israeli forces have lately been bravely shielding Leviev’s
illegal suburban paradise Mattityahu East with new multiple-round tear gas machine, a sound weapon that messes with the inner ear and causes protestors to tumble, and shooting an Italian judge in the head with a tear-gas grenade.”
Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers have tried to shut down outpost settlements near Nablus, and the settlers have rioted and blocked roads, according to Americans For Peace Now, which also reports that Yeshiva students at another settlement lately fired a crude rocket at a Palestinian village. “A Kassam of Their Own,” says APN.
