Israelis rally to protest removal of illegal West Bank settlement News
Israelis rally to protest removal of illegal West Bank settlement

[JURIST] Some 30,000 Israelis protested in Jerusalem Sunday against the recent demolition of illegally built homes on the West Bank, a move which they fear heralds the beginning of a new wave of government-ordered Jewish settlement evacuations under the administration of Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert [official profile]. The destruction of nine settler buildings at Amona [JURIST report] last Wednesday triggered the most violence between settlers and Israeli troops since last year’s mass withdrawals from Gaza [BBC report]. At least 160 settlers and police were injured, and Israeli police have opened an inquiry into allegations of police brutality. About 240,000 settlers and 2.4 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, though the International Court of Justice [official website] has said that settlements on the occupied territory taken from Jordan in 1967 are illegal. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Egypt President Anwar Sadat visits Israel

On November 19, 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visited Israel, becoming the first leader of an Arab nation to officially visit. Two years later, President Sadat became the first Arab leader to recognize Israel by signing the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty. Read President Sadat's address to the Israeli Knesset.

Jay Treaty signed

On November 19, 1794, US Chief Justice John Jay and British foreign secretary Lord Grenville signed a treaty in Philadelphia under which British forces pulled out of the disputed Northwest Territory. Review the Jay Treaty.