Jewish Unrest Spreads Throughout W. Bank

HEBRON, the West Bank [MENL] -- The Jewish community in the West Bank has
erupted in the worst unrest in more than two years in wake of the Israeli
expulsion of a Jewish-held apartment building in Hebron.
Jews in communities throughout the West Bank blocked roads, vandalized
Arab property and clashed with police and military troops on Dec. 4 in wake
of an Israeli attack on a Jewish home ordered evicted in Hebron. At least 30
people were injured as 600 black-uniformed special operations police and
soldiers raided the four-story building and clubbed and gassed women and
children who refused to leave. Later, police fired plastic bullets toward
Jewish demonstrators.
"In Israel, the rule of law prevails, and not the rule of the
vigilante," Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said.
Hours before the attack, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, facing
dwindling support from within his Labor Party, considered an offer by the
nearly 100 residents of the apartment building to remain peacefully in the
building until a court decides on whether the purchase of the building from
a Hebron man was legal. He said the offer stood until noon on Dec. 5.