The army evacuated a small Palestinian “outpost” south of Hebron, that activists
had named “Canaan.”
Palestinian activists began erecting the outpost on
Friday overnight, south of Yatta, in what has recently become a weekly act of
protest against Israeli settlements.
The IDF spokesmen said on Saturday
that troops arrived and dismantled the outpost, evacuating some 30
activists.
“We came here to build a Palestinian village upon Palestinian
land, and to freely use our land in the way we want. As Palestinians we have
rights and own this land,” activist Younis Araar said.
The army declared
the area a closed military zone.
Last Saturday, the IDF reported a
violent disturbance involving some 150 Palestinians at Burin, near Nablus, at
the site where Palestinians pitched tents over last weekend.
Abir Kopty,
spokeswoman for the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, said that outpost
was named “Almantir,” which in Palestinian culture means “the hut built from
stones and mud used for guards who are safeguarding their homes.”
The
attempted creation of Canaan marks the fifth Palestinian effort of this kind in
as many weeks, in a phenomenon that began with the creation of Bab al-Shams in
the E1 area of Ma’aleh Adumim.
Reuters contributed to this report.