Israel has a complex population, its made of secular and religious Jews, a vast community of ex-Russian citizens and a large Muslim minority (that is also spilt between religious and secular). The difference among Israeli religious Jews can be as big as (if not larger) then the difference between two Americans living in both ends of the great continent.
Migron, a Israeli settlement, has been the cause of much trouble in the political scene in the last four months, the Israeli high court of justice decision to evacuate the settlement was the final one in a long line of legal disputes over the case. The Israeli government itself had gotten into rough waters over the case, and much of the composition on the parliament today is a result of the Migron affair.
In simple words, Israeli settlers have established themselves on land that is Palestinian owned, without permits or license, or any agreement on the side legal owners. The settlers did go into negotiations over purchase of the land and how to make it legally theirs, but they did not conclude these negotiations or reached an agreement with the Palestinian owners. All these are facts that have been known and true for many years now, it is only the recent few months activity that exposes the many different faces of Israeli society.
The Israel left, namely “Shalom Achshiv” (“Peace now”) had been one of the major forces to come to the aid of the Palestinian land owners in this case and help them find legal counseling as well as public recognition of their side of the story. The activists of this movement are (mostly, but not only) secular Jews who seek justice for an Arab Palestinian minority.
The settlers themselves took a side part in the whole affair, they have been clear from them very start that they would not let this situation get out of hand or escalate into violence of any kind (towards the Israeli police or the Palestinians who live around them), they have only expressed a deep and profound sorrow about leaving their homes and not being sure of what alternative they will be given by the government. A few days ago the settlers were evicted, and they did so without any kind of resistance or trouble to the authorities, in a way it was a “model eviction” – showing that even far right Israeli settlers can be as peaceful and law-abiding as anyone else.
Only the events of last night shed a different light on the matter, and show another dimension to the Migron affair, in what has been by now called “price tag operations” far right activists have vandalized a monastery near Latrun in Israel, in a way that is consistent with the state of mind of the religious fanatics that they are they sprayed the walls with offenses directed towards the virgin Marry and Jesus.
And there you have it – three sides to the Israeli society, left wing activists helping out Palestinians get the law to rule in their favor, religious violent activists who engage in a war of religion on anything non Jewish in the land of Israel, and Israeli religious settlers who are evicted peacefully out of their houses of 30 years.
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