Printer Friendly

Email to A Friend

Friday May 30, 1997

Settlers start phone lines to aid Palestinian targets

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Right-wing Knesset members and Jewish settlers have launched a hotline to help Palestinians who have sold pro
The move came last week in the wake of a Palestinian Authority declaration that such sales were offenses punishable by death.

Palestinian officials have denied any involvement in the killings.

But Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has justified the death penalty, saying Palestinians who sold land to Jews were "traitors." A Palestinian official has also repeatedly justified the new law.

Palestinian security forces have arrested four residents of Hebron and two residents of villages in the Hebron area on suspicion of selling land to Jews, Khaled Al-Kidra, the Palestinian Authority attorney general, said last week.

A spokesman for the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza said the line was intended to help Arabs who felt threatened and sought financial assistance or physical protection.

The spokesman, Yehiel Leiter, told Israel Radio that some Arabs had turned informally to Jewish settlers for help.

He said that all information would be passed on to Israeli security forces.

Did you find this article interesting? Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and you'll be notified each week when "J." goes online. We'll tell you about the most important stories of the week and give you a link to each one.

This page contains a BETA version of Amazon contextual links. They are marked by the dashed underline.  Your purchases support our site. At times they point to items which are not related to the actual link. Please alert us by email if you discover objectionable links.