Border Police arrest 18 far-right activists during razing of pop-up outpost

Israeli security forces arrested 18 far-right activists for violently protesting the demolition of an illegal outpost in the central West Bank on Tuesday morning, a Border Police spokesman said.

The troops arrived at Maoz Esther, adjacent to the Koshav Hashachar settlement, in order to demolish all five makeshift buildings that had been built there on private Palestinian land, said a spokeswoman for the Civil Administration, the Defense Ministry body that authorizes West Bank construction.

A Border Police spokesman said that the majority of arrests were for assaulting officers and added that a number of the activists — primarily youths — hurled food at the troops as they pulled demonstrators away from the scene in order to bulldoze the buildings.

The Honenu legal aid organization representing the arrested activists, most of whom were not residents of the outpost, said the border cops used excessive force in detaining them.

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The arrested minors and adults were slated to be brought later Tuesday before the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court. A Honenu attorney said he expected they would be released.

Maoz Esther is a small outpost established for the first time in 2005 in memory of the Esther Galia, who was killed in a shooting attack three years before. Over the past decade and a half, the wildcat community has endured countless razings due to its placement on private Palestinian land. Only a handful of extremist settlers have been living there at a time and none of the site’s buildings have been permanent.

Following Tuesday’s demolition, the community’s Facebook page published a post saying activists had already started rebuilding and calling on the public to donate to a crowdfunding effort in order to assist with funds.

Also on Tuesday morning, police arrested a Palestinian man protesting the demolition of two homes and three cabins in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. According to municipal authorities who oversaw the razings, the structures had been built without the necessary permits.

Contrary to the demolition at Maoz Esther, security forces arrived at Silwan armed with rifles. Four Palestinian residents were injured, including three from rubber-tipped metal bullets and one who was hit in the head with the butt of a gun. All four were evacuated to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.