Gush Etzion was a bloc of Jewish settlements south of Bethlehem overrun by the Arabs in 1948. Although they fought to the last man, the settlers were, in the article's word, "defeated," in common parlance, "murdered." The Arabs did nothing with the territory, naturally. When Israel recaptured it in 1967, they re-settled the area. Every map has Gush Etzion remaining inside Israel. This, too, is unacceptable to the Arabs, and some of the most ferocious attacks have come on that bloc, including the bombing of a newly-built medical clinic. Snipers also favor the road leading from Jerusalem south.
How ironic, then, that the mayor of Gush Etzion has to come to the US on a speaking tour to buck up our morale.
