Dozens of settlers protest dismantling of outpost
Site was built in memory of Evyatar Borowsky, 31, who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian nearby on Tuesday
Dozens of settlers demonstrated Friday against the dismantling of a West Bank outpost near Tapuah Junction by Israeli security forces overnight Thursday. IDF soldiers who arrived at the scene arrested one protester.
The outpost was built in memory of Evyatar Borowsky, 31, who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian nearby on Tuesday. A tent office set up by the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Gershon Mesika, was removed, along with an additional structure at the site.
On Thursday, Mesika said he would begin working from a hilltop tent overlooking the scene of the attack on Evyatar Borowsky, 31.
The council head blasted the outpost’s removal, calling it a “cowardly operation,” and placing the blame on GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon.
“He who is unable to protect Jews, and is afraid of confronting the Palestinian Authority, will be the hero of mourning Jews,” Mesika stated cynically. He blamed Alon directly for lifting restrictions on movement for Arabs, thereby, according to Mesika, leading to an increase in terror.
Borowsky, a father of five from the Yitzhar settlement, was stabbed to death on Tuesday by Salam As’ad Zaghel at the Tapuah Junction in the northern West Bank as he waited at a bus stop. Zaghel also grabbed Borowsky’s gun and opened fire on Border Police at an adjacent checkpoint. The police returned fire, wounding Zaghel before apprehending him. He was taken to an Israeli hospital for treatment.
Palestinians and Jewish settlers clashed in and around the northern West Bank village of Bitilu on Tuesday night in ongoing violence that followed the fatal stabbing.
Palestinians threw stones at Israelis near the village, while a group of settlers entered the village during the night and sprayed the slogan “Price Tag” on a house, Ynet reported on Wednesday.
The exchanges prompted a confrontation between dozens of Palestinians and settlers, and security forces arrived to quell the riot. One settler was lightly injured, the report said.
