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Israeli settlers use cemeteries to gain foothold on land

The decision to bury terror victim Rabbi Raziel Shevach in the unauthorized West Bank outpost where he lived serves the settlers’ agenda of establishing facts on the ground.
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The funeral procession of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, who was killed Jan. 9 in a shooting attack in the West Bank, took place in the illegal outpost of Havat Gilad. The settlement had no cemetery until the rabbi's death, but in a hasty decision made together with the rabbi's family, the settlers decided to prepare a plot and bury him in the unauthorized settlement where he lived.

By doing this, the settlers of Havat Gilad established a new fact on the ground. Not only had they created the outpost, which grew from a small farm into a settlement that is now home to 40 families, their decision to act rashly and establish a cemetery in the settlement makes any future evacuation of the settlement virtually impossible.

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