It made the New York Times May 21, when Israeli security forces “dismantled” a small Jewish outpost in the West Bank—in what was seen as a gesture by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to President Obama three days after their meeting in Washington. No arrests were made at the “illegal” outpost—Maoz Esther, is in the Ramallah region—where at least four families lived in a couple of concrete structures and several temporary shacks. Hours after security forces withdrew, residents set about rebuilding the demolished structures. Israel’s YNet quotes settlers who vowed to make the outpost larger. MK Michael Ben Ari (National Union) also arrived at the scene and nailed a mezuzah to the wooden structure being raised by the settlers, stating: “It’s my duty as a legislator.”
The Times account didn’t put “illegal” in quotes, despite that fact that under international law all the West Bank settlements are illegal—not only those thusly designated by Israel. The YNet story did not use the world “illegal” at all.
See our last post on the West Bank.
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