A group of activists from the ‘Pioneers of Bashan’ movement were arrested overnight Tuesday near a makeshift tent they erected at the Tel Hermon site. Over the past month, the movement’s activists have reached the location numerous times in an attempt to establish a Jewish foothold in the area, and have been evacuated and arrested several times by Israeli forces.
Before their arrest, the activists said that Jewish settlement is the only way to ensure Israeli forces maintain their hold on the site, and that the only way to achieve this is by insisting on a presence in the field. “Arrests and bullying won’t stop us,” they said. “Better to make the effort now, so that in a few years soldiers won’t die here like they died in southern Lebanon in the days of Shamir and Peres.”
The Pioneers of Bashan movement said in a statement: “The IDF Spokesperson’s campaign continues to clash in order to hide the real story. The real story is, if these teenagers and young people are crossing the border again and again, the security method isn’t proving itself. Instead of fences and cameras, the space needs to be filled with civilian presence.”