Druse clash with cops in North

Landowners protest plan to lay gas pipeline in village.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Five police officers were lightly injured and four people were arrested in the Druse village of Usfiya following a day of violent clashes over construction work to lay a natural gas pipeline in the village.
Demonstrators said land-owners were not receiving proper compensation in exchange for allowing the pipeline to run through their fields, and that construction work on the pipeline had begun before the landowners formally accepted the government’s compensation proposals.
But the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement on Tuesday saying that compensation offers made to the landowners had been “far-reaching,” adding that “in recent days, unfortunately, some of the landowners have backtracked and have taken up more extreme positions regarding the compensation they seek.”
Police said some 50 residents attempted to disrupt work as a tractorlay the pipeline on Tuesday morning, adding that the protest wasorganized by the Druse Association for Land Protection. Police accusedthe association of going back on a pledge to hold a peacefulprotest. After being denied access to the construction zone, protestersheaded to Route 70 and disrupted traffic. Police sealed off the roadand cleared the protesters, resulting in clashes. One officer suffereda broken nose during the clearance, and two others were lightly injured.
The disturbances resumed a few hours later, when protesters returned tothe road and pelted police with stones. Heavy reinforcements weredeployed in the area to confront the rioters. They were met with“massive amounts of stones” thrown at them by rioters, according topolice. Three officers were injured by the stones. Five protesters intotal were arrested for attacking police and disrupting traffic.
After using force to evacuate some of the villagers, police turned tonegotiations in an effort to convince the remainder to evacuate theroad.