Foes and Backers of Settlement Exchange Blows in Two Clashes

The unsuccessful attempt to establish a Jewish settlement near Nablus sparked clashes between supporters and opponents of the settlers. One of the most serious was at the farm owned by Likud leader Arik Sharon in the Negev where groups of Mapam youth and Moked members congregated Friday night. They set up a tent and put up flags and posters against the attempted settlement. The demonstration was quiet until Mordechai Levy, who was Sharon’s driver during the Yom Kippur War, became involved in a fight with demonstrators and his right leg, which had been broken during the war was broken again, and he was hospitalized. Later more Sharon supporters arrived and fights ensued until police forcibly removed the demonstrators from the farm.

Earlier Friday in Jerusalem, a group of Hebrew University students affiliated to the Labor Party were demonstrating at a major shopping area with signs such as “Law is not a Joke.” and “Beigin – the Negev is Empty,” when they became involved in a clash with religious youths who tore their signs and poured water into their megaphones. Avraham Gal, secretary of the Labor Party Students Organization, was taken to the hospital after being kicked in the head. The students had passed out leaflets accusing Likud of introducing fascism into Israel and trying to abolish democracy. The students demanded that government act promptly against the settlers and bring them to court.

The writer Amos Oz, one of the leaders in the demonstration at Sharon’s farm, noted that “This farm symbolizes the contradiction between the Sebastia act and the notion of settlement. Here are thousands of dunams owned by one person who employs Arab workers. Here there is plenty of land, waiting for Jews. They do not need to look for land near Nablus.” Later, many of the demonstrators at the Sharon farm returned to Jerusalem where a sit-in strike opposite the Knesset building began last night.