Settler youths clash with Ulpana outpost residents

One resident lightly injured after group of around 20 arrive at West Bank outpost to protest peaceable evacuation.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Settler youth at Ulpana outpost 370 (photo credit: Courtesy Beit El Residents)
Settler youth at Ulpana outpost 370
(photo credit: Courtesy Beit El Residents)
A group of around 20 settler youths arrived at Ulpana Wednesday to demonstrate against the residents' acceptance of a government plan to peaceably evacuate the West Bank outpost.
Violence broke out between the group and residents of the outpost, during which Yoel Tzur, one of the founders of Ulpana, was lightly injured. The activists also cursed local residents and the Beit El Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed, a prominent national-religious leader.
Melamed had initially objected to the evacuation deal, issuing a public letter calling for a “decisive struggle” over the outpost. However, he eventually consented to the move following extensive negotiations with the Prime Minister's Office.
The High Court of Justice ruled in May that the evacuation and destruction of five apartment buildings in Ulpana, built on private Palestinian land, must go ahead and be completed by July 1.
Fifteen out of 33 families in the outpost relocated on Tuesday to modular homes in the Beit El settlement, while the remaining 18 families are scheduled to move on Thursday.
The incident marks the second of its kind after the same group of right-wing activists was thrown out of the outpost Tuesday night after taking over one of the buildings.