Three British Women Activists and Members of ISM Caught Destroying Jewish Vineyards

Destruction under the guise of Humanitarian Assistance brought to you by some of the she-pigs at ISM. Greta Berlin must be so happy. From INN:

Jewish-owned vineyards in Samaria were once again destroyed by leftist “humanitarian groups” Friday. This time some were caught in the act and arrested.

Shortly after residents of Dolev, located north of Jerusalem, discovered Friday that a local synagogue had been burned to the ground overnight, they saw that 3,000 plants in nearby vineyards had been destroyed. This is the third case of major agricultural vandalism in the region in recent months.

Vines were torn from the ground, and expensive irrigation equipment was damaged. The Jewish locals saw a group of foreign activists and Arabs heading toward an additional Jewish agricultural plot and alerted the police and IDF. The group fled, but three female activists from the United Kingdom were slower and were caught by police.

The three British women who were apprehended by police are accused of responsibility for the destruction Friday. Police also have evidence, however, that the women were part of the group that destroyed farm equipment in the nearby town of Neria in an earlier incident as well.

The women are activists with the International Solidarity Movement, a militantly anti-Zionist group that seeks to enable provocative actions against the IDF and Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, under the assumption that their foreign citizenship will raise the threshold on the response of security forces. The lines between ISM and local terrorist groups are quite blurry. In the past, British terrorists even carried out a suicide bombing after being embedded in an ISM cell.

Most of the vandals also take part in clashes with the IDF near the Arab village of Bilin. The militants were recently handed a victory by the Supreme Court, which ordered the IDF to move the security fence in the area of the weekly protests.

The International Solidarity Movement, founded in August 2001 by Adam Shapiro, Huwaida Arraf, Ghassan Andoni, and George Rishmawi, describes itself as "a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land." Though professing a commitment to nonviolence, ISM members openly advocate the "liberation" of Palestinians "by any means necessary," including "legitimate armed struggle." Led by Palestinians working closely with American recruiters, ISM invites American volunteers to travel to the Palestinian territories and disrupt the actions of the Israeli Defense Force, which is engaged in anti-terror operations in the region.

Arabs uproot 100s of Jewish trees and grape vines in Gush Etzion

Death is the Arab's master. From Israel National News:

Residents of the Gush Etzion hilltop community of Sde Boaz had hundreds of grape vines and scores of fruit trees uprooted and destroyed Friday. The latest vandalism, though the most costly yet, is just the latest in a string of attacks on the community’s property.

The agricultural, eco-friendly community, located about a mile north of the town of Neve Daniel, was victim to a similar attack on the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shvat earlier this year, when one of its orchards was destroyed.

Residents of the agricultural community said that in addition to the destruction of the Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards and fruit trees Friday, expensive irrigation systems were damaged and stolen as well. The Arab Muslim vandals used donkeys to plow under the hundreds of vines and uproot the fruit trees. “This carob tree was planted so our grandchildren could eat of its fruits,” said resident Gideon Kelman, holding the broken remains one of the slow-growing trees. “They have destroyed that.”

Amit Barak, a native of the Galilee city of Nazereth and now in charge of security in Sde Boaz, said that the entire incident happened during a three-hour window period Friday morning. “Someone went down this morning to prune his vines and everything was fine, and then, just a few hours after he finished, we noticed everything had been destroyed.” The vineyards and fruits trees were located on terraces lower down on the unfenced community’s hillside that cannot be seen from the community itself, where the IDF and residents conduct regular patrols.

Arabs and leftists, including ISM and Peace Now, have been frequenting the vicinity on almost a weekly basis since the initial attack on the community’s orchard. That attack took place in a valley below the community as residents stood by peacefully on the Sabbath of Tu B’Shvat, refusing to respond to the provocations by the crowd of foreign activists, who later attacked IDF soldiers attempting to carry out an arrest.

Last week, foreign activists, at least one claiming to be a journalist, engaged residents in an hours-long discussion regarding Jewish rights to live in Judea, Samaria and Israel as a whole. The foreigners, from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM), Taayush and other groups, claimed to be on a fact-finding tour and were accompanied by local Arab handlers.

“Every time we take the high road when dealing with leftist provocations, we pay for it soon after,” said one resident who declined to have his name published. “The Arabs they bring with them are emboldened by what they view as our powerlessness and the clear message projected by the police – that it is open season on Jews and their property. When they turn on the radio and hear our Defense Minister [Amir Peretz] talking about how the Jews in Hevron’s Peace House don’t have the right to be in a building they paid $700,000 for – and they take it as a cue to attack us and grab state land - land that belongs to Jews and is being systematically grabbed by the PLO.”

Incidentally, at roughly the same time Friday as the most recent destruction took place, a left-wing/Arab protest against the Partition Wall took place at the nearby Arab village of Um Salamuna, west of the town of Efrat. At the protest, one of the main handlers hosting international activists in the village of Beit Omar was arrested.

Click here for an report by Omedia on the growing phenomenon of Arab uprootings of Jewish agriculture.