Monday, December 14, 2009

Yasuf and the National Priority Map

Last Friday a mosque in the village of Yasuf on the West Bank near Nablus was vandalized by Jews. There was some physical destruction and a fire was started that burnt some prayer books and Korans, and a slogan was spray painted on the floor "Price tag, greetings from Effi." "Price tag" refers to the cost of the freeze of Jewish building in the West Bank and is considered by the Jewish extremists to be a "pay-back" for the losses that they are suffering.
This act was immediately denounced by the Israeli Government, by the PM, FM, and President Peres. Even the settler council rejected this as a way to oppose the freeze. Nevertheless, the feelings of the settler community are running so high, that other acts such as this can be expected and they may be trying to cause a breakdown in security.
On Sunday, a group of moderate Rabbis and settlers came to Yasuf to offer their condolences and brought Korans to replace those destroyed. However, the villagers were very upset and did not want this group to enter the village and the IDF blocked them. After some time the village Mukhtar came with a delegation to meet with the Jewish group, that was led by Rabbi Froman, and they were told that the Rabbis wanted to help renovate the mosque. However, the PA anounced that they would carry out the renovations. The Rabbis and others met with the village delegation and assured them that they and the vast majority of Jews, including the settler community, opposed such acts of vandalism. The PA Governor of the region said he feared that someone might do something similar in revenge. Meanwhile the Shin Bet are intensively seeking the culprits.
On Sunday, the new Israeli National Priority Map was approved by the Cabinet. This had been suddenly introduced by PM Netanyahu, possibly as a means to try to mollify the settlers. For the first time many settements were included on the map. This included some blocs of settlements, such as Etzion, but not Maale Adumim. Also some smaller settlements were added, while some Israeli towns near the "front-line" such as Ashkelon were left off. Being on the map means that the location will receive a share of millions of dollars mainly for improving security. During the discussion in the Cabinet some changes were made to the list so that Ashkelon and Maale Adumim were replaced, but this gave an impression that the list was compiled in a hurry. Five Labor Party leaders voted against the acceptance of the map. The US State Dept. issued a statement criticizing the list and some EU Foreign Ministers also protested. This move was seen by them as a means to reverse the effects of the freeze.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, a close supporter of Netanyahu, voiced the opinion that if the PA leadership rejects the freeze offer by Netanyahu and does not come to negotiations, then the freeze could be cancelled sooner than 10 months.

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