Nabi Salih

"In October 1977, a month before Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s famous visit to Jerusalem to proclaim his desire for peace, the settlement of Halamish (pop. ca. 1,000) was implanted on the hillside opposite al-Nabi Saleh.  Since then – in parallel with the never-ending “peace process” – Halamish has expanded from its original foothold in a Jordanian police fort to occupy nearly half the historic lands of al-Nabi Saleh.  The remaining village lands are mostly on the north side of Road 465, which runs on the floor of the valley separating al-Nabi Saleh from Halamish.  In December 2009 settlers from Halamish expropriated the natural spring of ‘Ayn al-Kus on the south side of Road 465.  Several weeks later, Halamish settlers burned down 150 of al-Nabi Saleh’s olive trees near the spring.  The Halamish settlers did not receive authorization from any Israeli authority for these acts of aggression.  Both the US government and the European Union recently reaffirmed that all settlement activity is illegal according to international law.  But this does not impinge on the army’s mission to protect the settlers, whether or not their actions are “legal.”" (thanks Joel)