Continued Israeli Settlement Expansion in the West Bank

FTA69

I put the following article up on Indymedia a couple of days ago regarding the continuing expansion of illegal Israeli settlements into the West Bank. I've quoted an extract of it below:

The city of Hebron is in many respects typical of most cities in this region but it is the Old City which has become the scene of most of the conflict here. Dating back to the Canaanite period, the Old City is one of narrow, winding streets, flat-roofed sandstone buildings and numerous obscure lanes which lead between them. This area centres on the Ibrahimi Mosque and Tomb of the Patriarchs, two of the holiest sites in Islam and Judaism (built on the same steppe) and scene of a notorious massacre in 1994 when a US-born Israeli settler, Baruch Goldstein, murdered 29 Palestinian men and boys with an assault rifle during Friday prayers. The community of settlers from which Goldstein came is approximately a thousand strong and represent the most fanatical elements of the settler project. It is an unfortunate fact that Goldstein remains a hero to many of them today, as evidenced by the well-tended shrine to him that was only removed recently by the Israeli military.

Under the auspices of protecting this community, the Israeli Army retains exclusive control over a part of the city which has been designated “H2”. H2 has (a rapidly falling) population of 30,000 Palestinians and includes most of the Old City, including the holy sites. As a consequence of the occupation, the Old City is punctuated by scores of checkpoints where Palestinians often face arbitrary detention, searches and harassment. The flat roofs of Hebron are also chequered with military outposts where soldiers survey the population below, often through their rifle scopes. In keeping with the wider road system in the West Bank, some streets have also been declared Israeli-only. Perhaps the most prominent example of this is Suhana Street. Once a thriving economic thoroughfare, it is now barren walkway which bisects the city. As the road is closed to Palestinians, all of the shops have now folded with some losing everything. Most ludicrously of all, Palestinians whose homes face Suhana Street are forbidden from opening their front door; thus many of them are forced to utilise ladders in their back garden in order to traverse the roofs and alight on a different street.

Coupled with the military restrictions, Palestinians in H2 and the surrounding villages also have to contend with systematic and organised attacks from the settlers. As I walk through a deserted market street, I wonder as to the purpose of the netting and steel cages above the walkways. I don’t have to wait long for an answer as a rock thrown from the settler apartments above crashes off the thick steel frame. As well as rocks, Palestinian shoppers and traders are also pelted with rubbish, bags of human excrement and most sinister of all, chemicals such as bleach and acid. Houses facing onto the settler-designated areas have also been targeted with windows being broken and racist graffiti being daubed on doors and walls. Most Palestinians on this interface have now left. Economic activity and life in general in this zone has almost been made impossible. Unsurprisingly, no settler in Hebron has been convicted of attacking Palestinian inhabitants. As a result of the H2 occupation, people in this part of Hebron are suffering some of the most extreme poverty you will find in an already-impoverished country.

http://indymedia.ie/article/104316

Personally I think the settlements (along with the segregation barrier) are going to be the definitive measures in preventing the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. Israeli settlers now constitute 1 in 5 of the population of the West Bank and most of the major ones have effectively been annexed into Israel with the construction of the barrier. East Jerusalem has also been heavily settled and surrounded by settlements which have also been enclosed by the barrier, leaving traditional Arab Jerusalem a dwindling enclave which is being undermined. Palestinians living there are prevented from accessing planning permission and have also been chronically neglected in terms of services provided by the municipality there. In essence, East Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital is looking increasingly unlikely.

With Palestinians in the West Bank being deprived of the majority of their own water resources, being forbidden from driving on many of their own roads and having their territory chipped away continuously; does anyone really think Israel is interested in a solution that falls short of a Greater Israel?

wes

The simple fact is that under every Israeli government since 1967, the settlements have increased in size. I think its very clear that the peace talks for the Israeli government are just that talks, that are not intended to lead to anything. For example the Netanyahu regime has announced various settlement increases during the most recent talks. How can anyone take the Israeli government as being serious about a 2 state solution is beyond me.

FTA69

To be honest, I don't think they've any real interest in having a Palestinian state on their borders. Gaza can be sealed off and pounded into oblivion whenever they feel like it. Up to 5% of the West Bank has been annexed and the settlements link on to the barrier and are heavily protected by the military and heavily subsidised with Palestinian water and Israeli-only roads. As we see in Hebron, settlers can also attack the local population with impunity and often in full view of the Israeli Army. The settlement project is in full swing with expansion taking place on an annual basis. It seems to me that Israel is perfectly content to keep the Palestinians in a vassal-like few enclaves while chipping away at the few places they have left under their control.

While I'm wary about making fascist comparisons between Israel and fascism for obvious reasons, there's more than a few similarities between them and much of what apartheid South Africa was doing for years.

Nodin

Going on the last 20 years, should a Palestinian state ever emerge, it will essentially consist of the left overs and cast offs of Israeli colonisation. It may not be contiguous, will probably be 'self governing' in the sense some parts of the OT are now, and will more than likely be a source of cheap labour to the nearby consolidated colonies.

Iwasfrozen

Nodin wrote: »

Going on the last 20 years, should a Palestinian state ever emerge, it will essentially consist of the left overs and cast offs of Israeli colonisation. It may not be contiguous, will probably be 'self governing' in the sense some parts of the OT are now, and will more than likely be a source of cheap labour to the nearby consolidated colonies.

For once I couldn't agree more and the sad thing is it's gotten to a stage where a two state solution isn't even viable. Palestine won't even be a continuous state and 4 million people will be crammed into a few thousand square kilometres of desert. Perhaps at this stage absorbing the West Bank and Gaza into Syria and Egypt respectfully would be the best way to protect what little land they have left?

wes

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

For once I couldn't agree more and the sad thing is it's gotten to a stage where a two state solution isn't even viable. Palestine won't even be a continuous state and 4 million people will be crammed into a few thousand square kilometres of desert. Perhaps at this stage absorbing the West Bank and Gaza into Syria and Egypt respectfully would be the best way to protect what little land they have left?

In the case of Gaza, would Egypt really want to take responsibility for a small impoverished, and heavily populated region. Then there is the problem that the Palestinians wouldn't want that solution.

Syria doesn't share a border with the West Bank. Jordan does, but Israel wants to keep the Jordan valley (which would mean no connection with the West Bank), then the rest of the West Bank is just swiss cheese. So the the continued increase of settlements that make a 2 state solution impossible also makes what you suggest similarly impossible.

Finally there is the other problem of the stateless Palestinian refugee's. Where do they go? Its already ridiculous that so many have been left stateless as long as they have.

The Israeli's are shooting themselves in the foot, as the only other viable solution to the 2 state one is a one state solution, which would make things very cut and dry from a Palestinain POV. Afterall, a call of one man one vote, is far easier to sell the world over, if a 2 state solution becomes impossible. The only way to save a 2 state solution, is simple, putting crippling sanctions on Israel, until they end the settlement enterprise once and for all.

FTA69

The Palestinians themselves have no interest in being subsumed into other Arab countries; remember it wasn't that long ago when the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan fought a bitter conflict against the PLO when they realised that their goals of annexing East Jerusalem and the West Bank were never going to be tolerated. I have never met a Palestinian who wanted a political union with Jordan or Egypt. In fact, most Palestinians feel quite a deep bitterness toward their Arab neighbours for using them in a broader game and neglecting them when it suited.

A Palestine based on the 1967 borders would perhaps be viable but it would entail the mass dismantling of the settlements and the segregation barrier. Considering Israel itself openly advertises for aaliyah (the immigration of the world Jewry) then it can start by re-accommodating the 500,000 illegal settlers in the West Bank. However this would take enormous political will and the dropping of the concept of Eratz (Greater Israel) which seems to be embedded in the Israeli state.

One thing I am convinced of though, is that international action will be a key factor in any development in the formation of a Palestinian state. However, despite the mass goodwill of most Europeans toward that goal, the establishments in most European countries are simply determined to broadly support Israel in its current actions.

Iwasfrozen

FTA69 wrote: »

The Palestinians themselves have no interest in being subsumed into other Arab countries; remember it wasn't that long ago when the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan fought a bitter conflict against the PLO when they realised that their goals of annexing East Jerusalem and the West Bank were never going to be tolerated. I have never met a Palestinian who wanted a political union with Jordan or Egypt. In fact, most Palestinians feel quite a deep bitterness toward their Arab neighbours for using them in a broader game and neglecting them when it suited.

A Palestine based on the 1967 borders would perhaps be viable but it would entail the mass dismantling of the settlements and the segregation barrier. Considering Israel itself openly advertises for aaliyah (the immigration of the world Jewry) then it can start by re-accommodating the 500,000 illegal settlers in the West Bank. However this would take enormous political will and the dropping of the concept of Eratz (Greater Israel) which seems to be embedded in the Israeli state.

One thing I am convinced of though, is that international action will be a key factor in any development in the formation of a Palestinian state. However, despite the mass goodwill of most Europeans toward that goal, the establishments in most European countries are simply determined to broadly support Israel in its current actions.

Unfortunately that's just not going to happen. I think we can assume at this stage a one state solution is the only solution..

Nodin

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

For once I couldn't agree more and the sad thing is it's gotten to a stage where a two state solution isn't even viable. Palestine won't even be a continuous state and 4 million people will be crammed into a few thousand square kilometres of desert. Perhaps at this stage absorbing the West Bank and Gaza into Syria and Egypt respectfully would be the best way to protect what little land they have left?

The Egyptians already handed over Gaza to the Palestinians, Syria is off the table for obvious reasons, nor would the Israelis consent to it. Jordan is in a situation where its own population is already a minority due to Palestinian refugees.

FTA69

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Unfortunately that's just not going to happen. I think we can assume at this stage a one state solution is the only solution..

Most of the white part of the West Bank is simply "Area C" i.e. areas which are entirely Palestinian but under Israeli military occupation. If you subsumed the West Bank and Gaza into Isarel then the state would be nearly 45% Palestinian compared to a much less homogenous Israeli Jewish population. The latter is already starkly divided between Ethiopians, secular and orthodox Jews and also a range of Eastern European "Jews" who are there for economic reasons. A one state solution isn't viable for the Israelis either as it will gravely threaten their desire of an inherently Jewish state.

ElChe32

New UN report saying Gaza will be "unlivable" by 2020...

http://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/press-releases/gaza-2020-liveable-place

Iwasfrozen

FTA69 wrote: »

Most of the white part of the West Bank is simply "Area C" i.e. areas which are entirely Palestinian but under Israeli military occupation. If you subsumed the West Bank and Gaza into Isarel then the state would be nearly 45% Palestinian compared to a much less homogenous Israeli Jewish population. The latter is already starkly divided between Ethiopians, secular and orthodox Jews and also a range of Eastern European "Jews" who are there for economic reasons. A one state solution isn't viable for the Israelis either as it will gravely threaten their desire of an inherently Jewish state.

The idea of forming a Jewish nation in all ready inhabited land should never have gotten off the ground. Unfortunately it did and I don't see any simple solution but I do believe if somehow Arabs and Jews could get along a one state nation is the best solution.

FTA69

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

The idea of forming a Jewish nation in all ready inhabited land should never have gotten off the ground. Unfortunately it did and I don't see any simple solution but I do believe if somehow Arabs and Jews could get along a one state nation is the best solution.

If the Israelis vacated the West Bank, took back the settlers and actively worked in a co-operative spirit then a Palestinian state would be viable. The West Bank could be restored to what it was in a relatively short space of time provided the political will existed. The greatest tragedy here is that that will doesn't exist and the Palestinians are utterly powerless to prevent themselves being strangled out of existence. It really is an awful, awful situation.

riffmongous

FTA69 wrote: »

If the Israelis vacated the West Bank, took back the settlers and actively worked in a co-operative spirit then a Palestinian state would be viable. The West Bank could be restored to what it was in a relatively short space of time provided the political will existed. The greatest tragedy here is that that will doesn't exist and the Palestinians are utterly powerless to prevent themselves being strangled out of existence. It really is an awful, awful situation.

Are they really powerless though.. if they got rid of Hamas or got them to be less hostile to Isreal perhaps they could get some more support. While this wouldn't effect the hardliners in the israeli military I do not think the hardliners could hold out from condemnation forever without someone to blame.

Nodin

riffmongous wrote: »

Are they really powerless though.. if they got rid of Hamas or got them to be less hostile to Isreal perhaps they could get some more support. While this wouldn't effect the hardliners in the israeli military I do not think the hardliners could hold out from condemnation forever without someone to blame.

They were colonising before the creation of Hamas. Besides, that organisation is largely confined to Gaza.

Condemnation is just more hot air, tbh. As long as the state is protected from consequences for its actions such as sanctions, it will carry on regardless.

ElChe32

As long as Israel continues to defy INTERNATIONAL LAW in building settlements there will be no solution.

Iwasfrozen

ElChe32 wrote: »

As long as Israel continues to defy INTERNATIONAL LAW in building settlements there will be no solution.

As long as Israel remains the biggest kid in the playground international law means jack shít and they know it.

Nodin

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

As long as Israel remains the biggest kid in the playground international law means jack shít and they know it.

To an extent. The real problem is that economic sanctions are blocked via the US veto on the UNSC.

FTA69

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K-mGWy9iUg

While we're on the subject of illegal settlements; the above is a link to an award-winning documentary called Five Broken Cameras. It covers the building of the segregation barrier around a town in the West Bank called Bil'in and captures the reaction of the local community to the subsequent land-grab that took place. It really is a harrowing piece of work and is essential viewing for anyone concerned with this issue.

Beavishead

The Israelis are decent people wheras the Palestinians have proven to be nothing but savages.

ElChe32

Beavishead wrote: »

The Israelis are decent people wheras the Palestinians have proven to be nothing but savages.

Jog on troll.

Beavishead

ElChe32 wrote: »

Jog on troll.

Hamas is a constant threat to the decent Israeli Jews and therefore they have the right to defend themselves and push the Palestines further away to secure the future of their Jewish Homeland.

ElChe32

By killing 400 Palestinian children and 1,000 others in operation cast lead? How humanitarian of them.

Beavishead

ElChe32 wrote: »

By killing 400 Palestinian children and 1,000 others in operation cast lead? How humanitarian of them.

Collateral damage can't be stopped altogether. It is not as if they are trying to commit genocide here.

ElChe32

400 children is acceptable collateral damage? An apartheid policy that has been in place since 1948 would be the genocide you'd be speaking of.

woodoo

America are a disgrace acting as the big protector of the Israel. Israel itself is beyond contempt as far as i'm concerned.

Iwasfrozen

woodoo wrote: »

America are a disgrace acting as the big protector of the Israel. Israel itself is beyond contempt as far as i'm concerned.

America doesn't care about Palestinians. They're playing their own game in the Middle East and the Palestinians have no role to play in that game. Justice is irrelevant.