Israel MP moves into settler house despite evacuation order

[imgAn Israeli settler and her children are photographed in the unfinished Palestinian house which they have occupied along with other hardline Jewish settlers since March 2007, in the West Bank city of Hebron. An Israeli MP, who is also a rabbi, on Tuesday joined a group of Jewish settlers defying a High Court order to leave a house in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron.(AFP/Marco Longa.]

There is one and only one reason why these Jews of Europe feel so emboldened as to stampede towards Palestine and take over the homes of the Palestinians, and that is because they can count on the backing and guarantee of the West. How many of you would wish this evil on your own families? (ziomania)

HEBRON, West Bank (AFP) – A right-wing Israeli MP on Tuesday joined a group of Jewish settlers living in a controversial house in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron which the High Court ordered them to evict.

Rabbi Nissim Zeev of the religious Shas party -- a key ally in the governing coalition -- moved into the house in a symbolic protest against the Sunday ruling, which gave the settlers three days to leave the building since its ownership was disputed.

The High Court ordered the state to empty the house of its residents within 30 days should they refuse to leave, raising fears of violence between security forces and hardliners.

On Tuesday evening, hundreds of right-wing activists gathered in the Kiryat Arba settlement bordering Hebron for "an emergency meeting" to discuss their reaction.

"The court order is illegal and we will fight for our rights. There is no reason for the evacuation," Noam Arnon, a spokesman for the Jewish settlers in Hebron, told AFP.

"We will defend this house with our bodies," Arnon warned.

Hardline settlers said four more Jewish families would move into the house -- which the settlers brand "the house of peace" -- in the coming days.

The ruling, which was slammed by settler leaders, followed a series of violent clashes between Israeli security forces and hardline Jews seeking to erect unauthorised outposts in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967.

The head of the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now denounced Zeev's action, saying: "It is inconceivable that an MP should break the law with impunity by using his parliamentary immunity.

"We demand that legal proceedings be brought against him," Yariv Oppenheimer told AFP.

The controversial house was occupied by dozens of hardline Jewish settlers in March 2007.

Settlers claim they had purchased the house from a Palestinian who denies the deal had been complete. Police said the settlers' ownership documents were forged.

The issue of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967, is one of the thorniest in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.