NEWS
Arab-Jewish Tensions
Rise in West Bank
Jerusalem (JTA) — As
Israeli and Palestinian
negotiators attempt to talk
peace in Washington, rela-
tions between Jews and
Arabs have deteriorated
sharply in the West Bank
and east Jerusalem.
The West Bank was espe-
cially tense over the
weekend, as security forces,
egged on by angry settlers,
expanded curfews, barred
Arabs from parts of main
highways and conducted
mass arrests in Palestinian
towns and refugee camps.
Settlers, seeking reprisals
for recent ambush attacks on
Jewish vehicles, rampaged
through Arab towns for the
second time in a week, caus-
ing extensive damage to
Arab property.
In the West Bank, the
Israel Defense Force and
police mounted joint opera-
tions that netted 25 suspects
believed responsible for ter-
rorist acts and a large
arsenal of weapons.
Police sources said they
were mostly "cold" weapons,
such as knives, swords and
hatchets. But they also un-
covered some home-made
handguns.
The sweeps were con-
ducted in and around the
Askar refugee camp near
Nablus, where a settler's car
was attacked driving to
Eilon Moreh.
Another settler was shot at
from ambush near Tekoah,
in the Judean hills. No one
was hurt.
But settlers are still
furious over the fatal
shooting of Zvi Klein, a set-
tler from Ofra who was driv-
ing through El-Bireh on Dec.
1.
E1-Bireh and its sister
town of Ramallah, north of
Jerusalem, had been under
24-hour curfew since then. It
was reduced over the
weekend to a nighttime
curfew, in effect from 4 p.m.
to 5 a.m.
At the same time however,
Palestinian residents of the
West Bank were banned
from using sections of
highway from 5 p.m. to 6
a.m.
The ban applies not only to
the pavement but to a strip
nearly 500 feet wide along
the major highways where
they pass through
uninhabited areas. Any
Arab found in those areas
during the curfew would be
arrested.
The army said it was only
one of several measures in-
tended to reduce the oppor-
tunities for ambush. It had
considered placing all of the
highways under curfew but
feared that would not stand
up in court.
The IDF acted at the urg-
ing of settlers, who have
long complained that securi-
ty is lax. The settlers de-
mand more severe punish-
ment, including large-scale
deportations of Palestinians
suspected of violent acts.
But reserve Gen. Ori Orr,
retired commander of the
central sector, which in-
cludes the West Bank, said
the new measures would
prove ineffective, as they did
when imposed in Lebanon.
Other military experts
agreed. They said that more
troops would have to be sent
to the West Bank to enforce
the ban, which could harm
innocent citizens while ter-
rorists would find ways to
circumvent it.
Jewish vigilantes ranged
through Ramallah for the
second time since Dec. 9,
smashing the windows of
two homes and the wind-
shields of eight Arab-owned
cars.
Several settlers were de-
tained for questioning but
soon released.
Settlers in the Hebron
area boasted that they had
damaged 20 Arab vehicles in
Hebron and nearby Halhoul.
A group calling itself the
Committee for Security on
the Roads, which is assoc-
iated with the late Rabbi
Meir Kahane's extremist
Kach movement, took credit.
Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir condemned such ac-
tions saying they were "not
necessary."
Defense Minister Moshe
Arens used somewhat
stronger language, saying
that vigilantism contributes
nothing to security and war-
ning that those who engaged
in such activities would be
prosecuted.
Mr. Arens made his state-
ment near Eilon Moreh,
where he met with angry
left-wing Knesset members,
who complained that
government was doing little
to stop anti-Arab violence by
Jews in the administered
territories.
Yossi Sarid of the Citizens
Rights Movement said the
settlers have begun an
"uprising" against the state
and its elected institutions.
If the government doesn't
act to "suppress" it immedi-
ately, that will mean the
"end of the democratic
system in Israel."
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