Middle East Roundup: February 28, 2017

Israel carries out evictions in Ofra settlement

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Some 100 Israeli security officers arrived Tuesday in the Samaria community of Ofra to carry out the court-ordered eviction of nine homes that were illegally built on private Palestinian land. The evictions were carried out a week ahead of the March 5 deadline set by the court.

The security officers arrived at the settlement unarmed. Hundreds of protesters barricaded themselves in one of the nine homes slated for eviction and faced off against security forces, while others climbed on the roof and urged police to refuse the eviction orders.

Ofra-based Rabbi Avi Gisser had instructed the settlement’s residents to show restraint and mount only nonviolent resistance to the eviction.

“What’s happening here is a great injustice. No one will gain anything from it. This is destruction for the sake of destruction only. Nevertheless, we are law-abiding citizens, and there will be no violence here,” Gisser said.

 

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New survey shows 89 percent of Israelis satisfied with their lives

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) About 89 percent of Israelis are satisfied with their lives, a new survey from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics shows.

According to the survey, 91 percent of Jewish respondents and 82 percent of Arab respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their lives. The categories used to measure satisfaction were employment quality, personal security, health care, housing, education and skills, personal and social welfare, the environment, civic involvement, and material wealth.

The number of Israelis who were satisfied with their employment rose from 81.5 percent in 2002 to 88.4 percent in 2015. Seventy-one percent of respondents were satisfied with the health care they have received, with 15 percent calling it “very good” and 56 percent deeming it “good.”

 

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Israeli soldier wounded in shooting attack near Efrat

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) An Israel Defense Forces soldier sustained minor injuries Tuesday when Israeli troops on routine patrol in Judea and Samaria came under fire.

The incident took place on the outskirts of the community of Efrat in the Gush Etzion region. The soldier was treated onsite. Security forces canvassed the area for the terrorist, who remained at large as of Tuesday.

Overnight, Israeli military forces and Shin Bet security agents operating in several locations across Judea and Samaria arrested four Palestinians wanted for questioning by the defense establishment.

 

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New data reveals massive extent of Turkish leader Erdogans crackdown on opponents

(JNS.org) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist regime has been carrying out a massive crackdown on its opponents in the public-sector workforce, recent research from several sources has revealed.

Citing data compiled by organizations including Turkey Purge, PEN International, the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Stockholm Center for Freedom, Turkish journalist Burak Bekdil noted in a recent analysis for the Gatestone Institute that 128,398 public employees have been fired under Erdogan, and that 91,658 are currently being detained.

Turkish Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz, meanwhile, said that a total of 33,065 staffers have been dismissed from his ministry, Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reported.

“Qualitatively speaking, the situation at Turkish universities is no better. Most university presidents, appointed by Erdogan, staunchly ally with his party politics and dismiss academics they view as ‘Erdogan’s political adversaries,’” wrote Bekdil, a fellow for the Middle East Forum think tank. Turkey purged 330 scholars from universities Feb. 7.

“After he came to power in November 2002, Erdogan promised to make Turkey a land of freedoms, devoid of the military’s tutelage. Since then, he has tamed the once-secular military establishment. Nevertheless, his Islamist ‘land of freedoms’ vision has only been partially materialized: You have all the freedoms you want—so long as you are a pro-Erdogan Islamist,” Bekdil wrote.

Erdogan has also been known for a history of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric, although Turkey and Israel agreed to normalize relations last year following a six-year rupture.

 
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Articles from JNS are sponsored on San Diego Jewish World by Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.