REPORT ON IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

A Bimonthly Publication of the Foundation for Middle East Peace Volume 13 Number 1 January-February 2003

PALESTINIANS PAYING THE PRICE FOR SETTLEMENT EXPANSION

By Geoffrey Aronson Sharon, far more than his contem- Approximately 25 houses have been poraries, understands the centrality Land is at the heart of the cen- demolished in Hebron’s Old City since of settlement as an instrument to tury-old contest between Israelis define the still-unfinished map of 1967 to facilitate settlement construc- and Palestinians. Settlements are the State of . He has always the most noteworthy manifestation tion. More than 100 dwellings have known that settlements are the of this continuing competition, the been abandoned by Palestinians due to spearhead of Israel’s effort to deny clearest barometer of relations settler and IDF actions, and 1,500 Palestinian sovereignty and inde- between the two peoples and the Palestinian businesses located in the pendence, and his efforts for more most potent obstacle to the estab- Old City have been closed by military than a generation have been dedi- lishment of a Palestinian state in cated to realizing this steadfast order. the West Bank and Gaza Strip. conviction. The notion that Israel’s expand- “Home Demolitions in the Name of When the settlement enterprise ing settlement enterprise can pro- ‘Security’: Focus on Hebron,” was in its infancy in the early years ceed without harming Palestinians prepared by the PLO Negotiations after Israel’s conquest of the occu- or infringing on their patrimony is Support Unit, December 18, 2002 pied territories in June 1967, propo- as old as the Zionist movement nents often argued that neither itself. If the slogan “a land without a Palestinians nor their lands were at people for a people without a land” tions of Jews to come and settle risk from Israeli settlement plans. It was proved successful in mobilizing genera- Palestine, it was from the outset, and also argued that settlements were an remains today, a notion at odds with the instrument of peace, because the conse- reality on the ground. Former prime quences of settlement expansion would minister Ehud Barak presided over the force Palestinians to make peace on Also in this issue: most extensive expansion of settlements Israel’s terms, securing their diminishing Bush Administration Changes and their lands in almost a decade, in patrimony in order to contain Israeli Tack on Jerusalem Voting 2 part because he underestimated the expansion. Palestinians always knew Sharon Maps Out “the Future” 3 continuing power of settlement to these mutually contradictory claims to U.S. Avoids Issue of Settlements’ “create facts on the ground” that be false, the product of willful igno- “Natural Growth” 8 Palestinians would find insufferable. rance, religious fanaticism, or deliberate Today Barak and his plan to evacuate hypocrisy. The architects of settlement, ——— ——— some settlements have passed from the like the Palestinians, have no illusions. Visit our website, www.fmep.org, for scene, but the many new settlements Each understands that settlement back issues of the Settlement Report, that he founded but claimed could be expansion threatens an honorable maps, and current analyses and removed as part of an agreement with Palestinian existence in the occupied commentary on the Israeli-Palestinian the Palestinians remain. territories. As settlements and their conflict. Current prime minister Ariel lands have expanded, so too has their The first in a series of Arabic and Sharon, a fighter for Jewish sovereignty destructive impact on the everyday lives Hebrew translations of the Settlement throughout Palestine since his youth, of Palestinians. Report can be viewed at www.fmep.org. knows firsthand the enduring Palestin- ian opposition to Israel’s expansion. EXPANSION, continued on page 7 TO OUR READERS FOUNDATION FOR In the November-December issue of the ington’s embrace of Sharon, which helps MIDDLE EAST PEACE Settlement Report, I criticized the Bush him in the run-up to elections, is all the Merle Thorpe, Jr. administration for continuing to push the more remarkable given the pro-peace plat- Founder Quartet’s “road map,” which I considered a form of Amram Mitzna, the Labor chal- (1917–1994) meager response to the current crisis. I did lenger. Mitzna would negotiate uncondi- so in the view that the road map is a tionally with any Palestinian leadership and Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. warmed-over version of the Mitchell/Tenet unilaterally evacuate all settlements in Gaza President plan that failed for lack of a clear vision of within a year and 65% of the West Bank, a two-state, final status outcome and was pending a final agreement. Any previous Geoffrey Aronson Director, Research and Publica- front-loaded with unrealistic conditions. U.S. government, Republican or Democrat, tions, Editor, Report on Israeli Now the administration has retreated fur- would have loudly cheered this bold, Settlement in the Occupied ther by insisting that further discussion of unprecedented plan. Yet the Bush adminis- Territories the plan, originally authored by the United tration, departing radically from past policy, Mallika Good States, be suspended until after Israel’s backs Sharon and ignores Mitzna, whose Editorial Assistant January 28 elections. approach to peace far better serves U.S., The administration has all but acknowl- Israeli, and Palestinian interests. Why? The ADVISERS edged that it is backing off from even this reasons seem to be the administration’s fix- modest effort in deference to Prime ation on Iraq, the illusion that Sharon is a Lucius D. Battle Minister Ariel Sharon, who opposes the reliable partner against terrorism, and gen- Landrum R. Bolling plan’s settlement freeze. In doing so, uine ideological support for Sharon in Peter Gubser Washington consolidates its cozy relation- some quarters of the White House. Jean C. Newsom ship with Sharon, notwithstanding his his- Gail Pressberg toric opposition to a viable Palestinian state Nicholas A. Veliotes and his dedication to settlements. Wash- TRUSTEES Peter M. Castleman Bush Administration Changes Tack on Jerusalem Voting Chairman The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled Lucius D. Battle Calvin H. Cobb, Jr. “Jerusalem” on December 3, 2002. The resolution notes that “any actions James J. Cromwell taken by Israel to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Stephen Hartwell Holy City of Jerusalem are illegal and therefore null and void and have no Richard S.T. Marsh validity whatsoever.” It was approved by a vote of 154 in favor, 5 against Richard W. Murphy (including the United States), and 6 abstentions. William B. Quandt The Bush administration’s 2002 vote marked a change in the historical Sally S. Thorpe U.S. position on similar resolutions. The 2001 vote on the same resolution, for example, was 130 in favor, 2 against (Israel and the Republic of Nauru), The Foundation, a non- and 10 abstentions (including the United States). profit I.R.C. 501(c)(3) “The resolution on Jerusalem this year seeks to impose specific terms on organization, supports peace and security for Israelis and the issue of Jerusalem, which Israelis and Palestinians have agreed will be Palestinians through mutual addressed in their final status negotiations,” noted senior advisor Richard recognition and a negotiated Erdman in his explanation of the U.S. vote. “The United States objects to division of historic Pales- this intrusion by the General Assembly into the negotiations. Our position tine. It publishes the bi- monthly Report on Israeli continues to be that Jerusalem is one of the final status issues to be negotiat- Settlement in the Occupied ed directly by the parties, and the Quartet and others in the international Territories. community are working with the parties toward a resumption of political Copyright © 2003 dialogue to make such negotiations possible. “The United States fully supports the internationally recognized right of religious freedom for all people.”

2 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement January-February 2003 SHARON MAPS OUT THE FUTURE

On December 4, 2003 Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon offered In this context, it is important to remember that political the most detailed view of the territorial and political concepts concessions which will be made in the future—as those made guiding Israeli policy in the occupied territories. His view of the in the past—are irreversible. prospective Palestinian state is reminiscent of the autonomy plan of Even the current security reality, with the IDF operating Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The most notable feature of freely inside Palestinian cities, arises from security needs and Begin’s plan was its support for “autonomy for the people, but not has not changed the political situation of two years ago. Israel for the land.” Excerpts from Sharon’s address to the annual confer- will not re-control territories from which it withdrew as a ence sponsored by the Institute of Policy and Strategy in Herzliya result of political agreements. follow. The entire address can be viewed at: http://www.herzliya- The achievement of true coexistence must be carried out, conference.org. first and foremost, by the replacement of the Palestinian lead- ership. The U.S. administration—with the world following in From the first days of the establishment of the State of its footsteps—has already accepted our unequivocal position Israel, our bond with the United States has been a supreme that no progress will be possible with Arafat as the chairman strategic asset. My government has further consolidated our of the Palestinian Authority. This man is not—and never will relations with the United States be —a partner to peace. and formed a special closeness with The two sides will advance to the U.S. administration and Con- President Bush’s sequence the next phase of President Bush’s gress. These special relations, the proposes the establishment of a sequence when a new, different, understanding of Israel’s needs, and responsible and non-corrupt the cooperation with President Palestinian state with borders yet to Palestinian leadership emerges. Bush and his administration are be finalized, and which will overlap Terror will cease, and the Palestin- unprecedented. with territories A and B, except ian leadership will not allow it to Our political understandings for essential security zones. This be renewed. Civil and economic with the United States and the cooperation will be established. administration’s understanding of Palestinian state will be completely Incitement will be stopped and our security needs have provided us demilitarized. It will be allowed to education towards peace will be with the required leeway in our maintain lightly armed police and fostered. At the same time, Israel ongoing war on terrorism. interior forces to ensure civil order. will act to lift military pressure, On June 24th this year, Presi- create territorial continuity dent Bush presented his plan for a Israel will continue to control all between Palestinian population true solution to our conflict with entries and exits to the Palestinian centers, and ease daily life for the the Palestinians. The peace plan state, will command its airspace, Palestinian population. outlined in the President’s speech and not allow it to form alliances The second phase of President is a reasonable, pragmatic and Bush’s sequence proposes the practical one, which offers a real with Israel’s enemies. establishment of a Palestinian state opportunity to achieve an agree- with borders yet to be finalized, ment. We have accepted in princi- and which will overlap with terri- ple the President’s plan and the sequence presented therein. tories A and B, except for essential security zones. This Our agreements with the Palestinians are based on the lessons Palestinian state will be completely demilitarized. It will be the Americans learned from the Clinton-Barak plan, and my allowed to maintain lightly armed police and interior forces to experience as one who has, for many years, participated in the ensure civil order. Israel will continue to control all entries and security and political campaign in the Palestinian arena. exits to the Palestinian state, will command its airspace, and After concerted efforts, the U.S. administration has under- not allow it to form alliances with Israel’s enemies. stood and agreed that the only way to achieve a true peace In the final phase of President Bush’s sequence negotia- agreement with the Palestinians is progress in phases, with the tions will be opened to determine the final status of the first phase being a complete cessation of terror. Only after a Palestinian state and fix its permanent borders. As I empha- cessation of terror—and this is already agreed by most world sized, no progress will be made from one phase to the next leaders—will the commencement of peace negotiations until such time as quiet has been restored, Palestinian rule has between the parties be possible. undergone fundamental changes, and coexistence is ensured. On the basis of lessons learned from past agreements, it is Israel is prepared to make painful concessions for a true clear to all that Israel can no longer be expected to make peace. However, the government under my leadership will not political concessions until there is proven calm and Palestinian be seduced into believing false promises which will endanger governmental reforms. the security of the State of Israel.

January-February 2003 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 3 SETTLEMENT TIME LINE

July 30 Israeli officials report that 583 Settlers from Eli break into a Palestinian Yunis. The attack is in retaliation for the Israelis have been killed since the start of the home in Luban al-Sharqiyya near the loca- IDF’s assassination of a Hamas member. al-Aqsa intifada in September 2000: 38% tion where snipers killed two settlers on Israel responds by shelling the residential inside the Green Line, 35% in the West August 2. The IDF places a curfew on area from which the guerrilla fired, killing a Bank, 18% in Jerusalem, and 9% in Gaza. Palestinian residents during negotiations 15-year-old Palestinian boy. (al-Ahram (Ma’ariv) between settlers and the IDF. Settlers leave Weekly) the building before nightfall. August 2 A settler couple are shot dead on August 22 Israeli defense minister Benja- their way home to the settlement of Eli. August 14 Shas Party spiritual leader min Ben-Eliezer announces that 19 illegal Rabbi Ovadia Yosef visits the settlement of outposts have been dismantled in the West An Israeli soldier and a Palestinian bystander Emmanuel, marking a dramatic reversal of Bank. Opposition leader MK Yossi Sarid are killed when a Palestinian fires on border his long opposition to settlements. “Yesha claims that no settlers have been evacuated police and a Bezeq telecommunications residents are heros,” he declares. and that any talk of removing illegal out- vehicle near the Damascus Gate of Jerusa- posts is trickery. lem’s Old City. (Israel Line) August 15 B’Tselem reports that during the al-Aqsa intifada, at least 40 Palestinian August 23 At the Kfar Darom settlement The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) begin homes belonging to Palestinians allegedly in the Gaza Strip, three armed Palestinians enforcing a ban on the movement of involved in attacks have been destroyed, at are killed by an IDF patrol near the security Palestinian vehicles in the northern West least 21 in recent weeks. (B’Tselem) fence. The al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade claims Bank and Gaza Strip. (Ha’aretz) responsibility. (Kol Yisrael) A tender is published in Ha’aretz for the August 6 U.S. secretary of defense Donald construction of 290 dwelling units in August 25 Defense Ministry director- Rumsfeld refers to lands Israel seized in Emmanuel. general Amos Yaron announces that the the 1967 war as “so-called occupied territo- first 112 kilometers of the seam-line fence A tender is published in Ha’aretz for the ries,” contradicting the long-standing U.S. will be completed by July 2003. (Ha’aretz) stance that regards East Jerusalem, the construction of 303 dwelling units in the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip as occupied Olive Hill section of Efrat. August 26 Two mortar shells fall in settle- ment communities in the Gaza Strip, and an territory. A tender is published in Ha’aretz for the antitank rocket is fired at an IDF outpost construction of 72 dwelling units in Ariel. In the settlement of Itamar, a Palestinian near Netzarim. No injuries are reported. stabs a resident. In the village of Jammain, Settlers from Eli, Ma’ale Levona, and Shilo (Ha’aretz) Palestinian gunmen kill two settlers selling reoccupy the house in Luban al-Sharqiyya. The Jerusalem municipality announces plans fuel to a cement factory. (al-Ahram Weekly) They demand the house’s destruction and to demolish 15 homes in Wadi Qaddum to the “cleansing” of an area nearby. August 7 Ha’aretz reports that the IDF is expand a road to connect the settlements of paying $2 million a year to settlements in August 16 The Israeli High Court rejects Gilo and Har Homa to Ma’ale Adumim and the West Bank and Gaza to rent buildings the petition of a Palestinian resident in Gaza Mishor Adumim. (al-Quds) contesting the confiscation of his land for for housing soldiers protecting the settle- August 27 Mortar shells are fired at the the construction of a road to the settlement ments. settlement of Neve Dekalim in Gaza, strik- of Netzarim. (Jerusalem Post and Ha’aretz) U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer ing one home and damaging others. It is reported that the Israeli Religious states that Secretary Rumsfeld’s August 6 (Jerusalem Post) Affairs Ministry, along with the Housing remarks were personal and do not signal a August 29 Ha’aretz reports that “some and Interior Ministries, plans to invest more change in U.S. policy. Kurtzer adds, “I use months ago the IDF put forward a plan for than $4 million to build 55 synagogues, con- the language of the president of the United an interim agreement that includes evacua- struct 30 ritual baths, and renovate 43 exist- States and he talked in his speech about the tion of all settlements in Gaza and seven in ing baths in the settlements over the next territories that were occupied in 1967.” the West Bank in return for a provisional two years. (Yediot Aharonot) (Jerusalem Post) Palestinian state and the extended postpone- August 19 A tender is published in Yediot ment of a final status agreement.” IDF rede- August 10 A woman from Aharonot for the leasing of 86 “build your ployments would establish “full” Palestinian Mechora, in the Jordan Valley, is shot and own” plots in Har Adar. territorial continuity throughout the Gaza killed in her home by a Palestinian who is Strip and “transport links” between then killed by IDF soldiers. (Yediot Aharonot) A tender is published in Yediot Aharonot for the construction of six dwelling units in Palestinian blocs in the West Bank. August 11 The Israeli security cabinet Ma’ale Adumim. August 31 An Israeli couple is injured approves the first phase of the seam-line when a Palestinian infiltrates the settlement fence, or separation wall, dividing Israel from August 20 An IDF soldier is killed by a sniper at the Yakinton outpost in the Katif of Bracha, near Nablus, after the IDF kills a the West Bank. The initial part of the fence Fatah suspect and four children. (Ha’aretz) will run 110 kilometers along the northern bloc in Gaza. (Yediot Aharonot) section of the West Bank from Kafr Salem A Hamas guerrilla shoots and kills an Israeli to Kafr Kassem. (Ha’aretz) soldier guarding a settlement near Khan

4 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement January-February 2003 SETTLEMENT TIME LINE

September 1 Ha’aretz reports that Peace Israel destroys 200 dunums of cultivated involved in an attack carried out in 2001 in Now is offering to help settlers move out of land in Rafat, northwest of Jerusalem. the West Bank. The demolition leaves at the territories. In a letter sent to hundreds of Village council members report Israeli set- least 25 people without refuge. settlers, the group cites a survey indicating tlers uprooting olive trees and carrying them September 22 Israel destroys hundreds of that “many Israelis living in the territories to locations within Israel. (Hear Palestine) dunums of agricultural land in the area of are interested in returning to live in Israel, September 13 The American company the Netzer Hazani settlement in the Gaza within the boundaries of the Green Line.” Ditkshin wins the tender for construction Strip. (Hear Palestine) September 2 The ELAD foundation, of the separation fence around greater After five months of quiet, gunshots are which promotes Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. fired from Beit Jala toward the Jerusalem Jerusalem, takes over the home of a Jerusalem mayor Olmert says that the settlement suburb of Gilo. No injuries or Palestinian in the neighborhood of Jabal annexation of Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem damages are reported. (Ha’aretz) Mukhabar as part of its plan for a 600-unit is “only a matter of time.” (Kol Ha’ir) Jewish neighborhood. ELAD claims that it September 23 In Hebron, the IDF imposes legally purchased the house six years ago. September 14 Ha’aretz reports that the a curfew on Palestinians during Sukkot cele- (Ha’aretz) Shin Bet opposes allowing Jews access to brations staged by settlers. (Ha’aretz) Joseph’s Tomb, in Nablus. The IDF had Construction began for permanent dwellings September 24 The IDF destroys the home allowed 75 settlers to enter the site. at the settlement at Tel Rumena in Hebron. of the man who allegedly carried out the Seven units will be constructed in phase one September 17 Ha’aretz reports that a wall attack at Atzmona in which five students at the site, which now comprises 60 settlers 8 to 10 meters high will be constructed were killed. (Mideast Mirror) around the site of Rachel’s Tomb and that residing in caravans. An Israeli is killed and his children wounded the site will be unofficially annexed to the September 6 The United Nations Relief in Hebron when a Palestinian opens fire on Jerusalem municipality. and Works Agency reports that from a group of Israeli tourists. (Mideast Mirror) The IDF demolishes more than 34 residen- October 2000 to the end of June 2002, 516 September 25 Israel destroys agricultural tial units under construction in Ein Sinya, in shelters housing 721 families in the Gaza land near Za’tara village, Bethlehem, to build northern Ramallah. (Hear Palestine) Strip had been destroyed or damaged a bypass road. (Hear Palestine) beyond repair by Israeli military action. Hear Palestine reports an IDF order placing In Hebron, settlers announce plans to take parts of al-Ras village between the old September 9 Israeli settlers attack residents over abandoned houses in the casbah said to Green Line and the seam-line wall. of Sinjil village, north of Ramallah, and pre- have been previously owned by Jews. They vent them from harvesting crops. (Hear In a Hebron schoolyard, eight Palestinian plan to house dozens of families in them. Palestine) children are injured when a bomb left by National Infrastructure Minister Effi Eitam In Tulkarem, Israel destroys cultivated land settlers explodes. Israeli authorities detonate has endorsed the plan. (Ma’ariv) two other bombs. (PHRMG) covering an area two kilometers long and Israeli settlers and lawmakers mark the sixty meters wide in preparation for building The IDF permits “settlers and members of transformation of the Rehalim outpost into the seam-line fence. (Hear Palestine) the right-wing” to pray at Joseph’s Tomb, in an official settlement. The Defense Ministry September 11 Ha’aretz reports Israeli secu- Nablus, for the first time in the two years claims that the outpost’s designation as an rity cabinet approval of Prime Minister Ariel since the IDF withdrew under fire from the educational institute four years prior per- Sharon’s recommendation, supported by site in October 2000. (Yediot Aharonot) mitts construction there. Knesset member Benny Elon rejects the idea of dismantling Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert, to include September 18 One man is killed and outposts, saying, “We will fight for every Rachel’s Tomb, situated on the outskirts of another injured by gunfire near the West outpost that they want to take down. We Bethlehem, within the Jerusalem “seam line.” Bank settlement of Mevo Dotan, in the will not compromise or concede on any Jenin region. The IDF orders the confiscation of 8,000 outpost. We can talk about dismantling dunums of agricultural land from Ya’bid and A resident of Ma’ale Adumim is found mur- refugee camps and transferring Arabs, but surrounding villages near Jenin. (Hear dered outside the West Bank village of al- the Jews are here to stay.” (Jerusalem Post Palestine) Azariya. and AP) Palestinians fire two mortar shells at Israeli September 19 Israeli settlers attack and September 28 Israeli authorities close the settlements in the Gaza Strip. No injuries or wound residents of Beni Na’im and Ya’bid, District Coordination Office near Beit damages are reported. which are under a curfew. (Hear Palestine) Hanun, expelling staff and expropriating weapons and computers, effectively canceling A tender is published in Ha’aretz for 43 The Palestinian Red Crescent reports that administrative relations with Palestinian “build your own” plots in Elkana. more than 73 Palestinians have been killed Authority officials. since the beginning of August. September 12 A resident of the Einav set- tlement is wounded by gunfire while travel- In Abu Dis, in Jerusalem, the IDF demol- ing to Avnei Hafetz. (Kol Yisrael) ishes the homes of two youths allegedly

January-February 2003 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 5 SHORT TAKES

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, since talking about removing settlements, because that would be the beginning of the al-Aqsa intifada, 51,711 dunums of illegal. Palestinian land, much of it agricultural, has been bulldozed Settlement leader Rabbi Yoel Bin-Nun, in the Gaza Strip, inflicting losses of over $175 million. Ma’ariv, October 18, 2002 al-Ayyam, October 21, 2002 ————————————— ————————————— To die today for the war in the territories is a superfluous Thirty-eight people have been killed in 13 separate infil- death, in my opinion. It’s better to die in a traffic accident trations into West Bank and Gaza settlements over the past than to die to protect the settlers on the hilltops and the other two years. In nine of these incidents, the infiltrators breached places in the territories. If I were to get an order to do reserve a fence surrounding the settlement, usually a “stupid fence” duty like Tamir got, I would refuse to obey orders. What’s the (i.e., one without an electronic warning system). At the same difference between dying for the Beaufort [castle, scene of a time, several infiltration attacks were thwarted in unfenced battle in 1982] and dying for Ariel. Both of them are unnec- settlements, thanks to patrols conducted in the area and essary and pointless deaths. From the Beaufort to Ariel we strategically situated observation posts. haven’t made any progress. As a state we are just retreating. The fence, it seems, is not a foolproof guarantee of securi- Sharon was running things then, and he’s running them now ty. In settlements lacking a “sterile space” between the fence too. That’s what is tragic about the whole situation. Then and the closest homes, where IDF soldiers or settlement secu- there were 7,000 Jewish settlers in the territories and now rity officers did not have sufficient time from the moment the there are 170,000 settlers. We’ve gone backwards. gunman crossed the fence to the moment he attacked his vic- Tal Raz, mourning the death of Tamir Masad, tims, the fences have proven worthless. a reserve officer killed at Ariel in a struggle On the other hand, the effectiveness of fences has been with a Palestinian suicide bomber, proven time and again in recent months, primarily in the Ha’aretz, November 1, 2002 Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip. Electronic fences there have averted attacks and exposed the infiltration of ————————————— dozens of gunmen before they were able to kill or hurt “Yanun is being made an example of,” said Musli Hardil, a Israelis. In these cases, settlement security officers or 35-year-old bus driver from Aqrabeh. “We are being shown well-trained IDF troops managed to shoot at the gunmen the future. No one knows who will be next, and that is the very soon after the moment of infiltration. The significant point.” factor in preventing casualties in these incidents was the “ster- “The settlers want to frighten us all away. Then the land ile space” around the fence, empty of any vegetation, homes or will be theirs.” other hiding places, which gave security forces the few extra al-Ahram Weekly, November 22–29, 2002 precious moments needed to halt the infiltrators. Ha’aretz, October 31, 2002 —————————————

————————————— In the latest Truman Institute-Palestine Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) survey, 53% of Palestinians sup- Our main goal should be a political program that does not port armed attacks against Israeli civilians inside Israel, and involve uprooting settlements or the expulsion of residents, about 90% support attacks against soldiers and settlers in the whether Jewish or Arab. Instead there would be Israeli West Bank and Gaza. Sixty-two percent of Israelis now sup- enclaves in the Palestinian area and Palestinian enclaves in the port the dismantlement of most settlements in the West Bank state of Israel. The [Israeli] Arabs of Umm al-Fahm, who and Gaza as part of a peace agreement with the Palestinians, define themselves as Palestinians at every opportunity, would compared with 52% in November 2001 and 38% right after have Palestinian citizenship instead of Israeli citizenship, and the Camp David summit and before the intifada started. Ariel’s residents would have Israeli citizenship. The only thing Until an agreement is reached, 64% of Israelis support a freeze that would be harmed would be the territorial, and that’s a on further settlement expansion in the West Bank and Gaza. relatively minor problem. That way the settlements would be Moreover, 70% of Israelis support tough governmental policy transformed from an obstacle to peace to a test of peace, against extreme Israeli elements in the West Bank and Gaza, because only under peaceful conditions can such mutual even if this can result in a confrontation with settlers. enclaves be maintained. ...Our duty is to start a broad public Americans for Peace Now, December 2, 2002 relations campaign that will say the settlers have civil rights no less than the Palestinians, and therefore it is time to stop —————————————

6 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement January-February 2003 EXPANSION, continued from page 1 in the economic rehabilitation of Palestinians pauperized as a consequence of their presence For the settlement in Hebron, since its inception in Hebron is not the exception but rather a metaphor for the April 1968, the watchword has been to remake Hebron, a poisonous relationship between Palestinians and Israelis in the community of 100,000 Palestinians, into a Jewish city and to occupied territories. It signifies the depth to which relations make life in the city so unbearable for Palestinians that they can descend when settlers abandon all pretense about their leave. This intention is known to anyone who has spent time objective and Palestinian forebearance turns into resignation, among its 400 settlers. Certainly Israel’s political and security despair and violence. establishment is under no illusion that Hebron’s settlers Recently Michael Ben Yair penned a bitter indictment in have a more benign objective. Both are complicit in the Ha’aretz: “The Six-Day War was forced on us; but the war’s incremental destruction of Hebron as a living and viable seventh day, which began on June 12, 1967, continues to this Palestinian city. day and is the product of our choice. We enthusiastically One hundred Palestinian businessmen and shopkeepers chose to become a colonialist society, ignoring international with the misfortune to conduct their livelihood near the treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to Avraham Avenu settlement in Hebron were forced to close the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding justifi- their doors in mid-2002 “in order to create a buffer zone cations for all this.” between the Hebron settlers and the Palestinian population,” Yair’s observations ring true in Hebron no less than in reported Ha’aretz, after the brutal Shilo, near Nablus, in Bet El out- killing of an infant whose parents side Ramallah and in live in the settlement. Two hundred Gaza. The scores of settlements Current prime minister Ariel Palestinian families have been Israel has established in the last impoverished by the transforma- Sharon, knows at first hand the endur- thirty-five years do not simply tion of two commercial markets ing Palestinian opposition to Israel’s complicate Palestinian life. The into closed military zones—“closed expansion. Sharon, far more than his system of Israeli rule established in to the Palestinian proprietors but contemporaries, understands the cen- the wake of the destruction of the not to the settlers who break into trality of settlement as an instrument to Palestinian Authority, in large part the stores, steal merchandise and to assure settlers’ ability to continue define the still-unfinished map of the vandalize equipment. There are 21 a “normal life,” poses an existential detailed complaints from store State of Israel. He has always known threat to it. owners, but only in a few cases that settlements are the spearhead of Yair was attorney general during have the investigations developed Israel’s effort to deny Palestinian sover- Yitzhak Rabin’s last government, a into indictments.” eignty and independence, and his party, like its predecessors and suc- “Army officers declare vast tracts efforts for more than one generation cessors, to the transgressions he ‘closed military zones,’” writes describes. The Oslo years did not have been dedicated to realizing this Israeli attorney Shlomo Leker, who bring an end to such measures—an represents the Hebron business- steadfast conviction. important reason, now recognized men. “The suffering of the civilian by many, for the popular Palestin- Palestinian population is usually ian disenchantment with diploma- explained by the need to “gain security” for the settlers who cy that erupted in September 2000. have chosen to set up outposts in Palestinian population cen- The November 15 death of a squad of Israeli soldiers sent ters in the West Bank. At this level of friction . . . there are to guard Hebron’s settlers has occasioned another round in gross violations of the directives of the Fourth Geneva this bitter, virulent history. The Sharon government is resur- Convention, which are supposed to protect the civilian recting the prime minister’s 1998 proposal to establish a resi- [Palestinian] population in an occupied territory. These viola- dential link along the 1.5 km route between Kiryat Arba and tions are defined as war crimes in international law.” Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs. Along the first 700 meters, Israel acknowledges that the security of Hebron’s settlers the IDF has already uprooted an olive orchard and demol- and the livelihoods of the tens of thousands of Palestinians ished three houses used by Palestinian gunmen. Along the residing around them are incompatible. remainder of the route, orders have been issued for the demo- “The security needs are still valid and outweigh the other lition of 15 Palestinian houses to enable the construction of a considerations in this issue,” writes attorney Udit Corinaldi- $1 million road, a project that has the support of Israel’s Sirkis from the State Prosecutor’s Office, adding “it is likely Ministry of Tourism. Awaiting approval is Sharon’s plan for that it will be possible to open the stores in the market if the 1,000 new dwelling units along the route. Jewish residents are evacuated from the wholesale market.” “The army will avenge and we will build,” said the spokes- But the record of Israeli settlements in Hebron does not man of the Jewish settlement in Hebron, encapsulating the leave any hope for the settlers’ departure from the market nor continuing story of Israeli rule in the occupied territories.

January-February 2003 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 7 U.S. Avoids Issue of Settlements’ “Natural Growth”

Mr. Boucher: There was not a Powell-Peres understanding negotiations, and in doing so, cripples chances for real peace on natural growth of settlements. Natural growth of settle- and prosperity. ments is an issue that has been around for a long time. It is an The U.S. has long opposed settlement activity and, consis- issue that has been discussed between Secretary Powell and tent with the report of the Mitchell Committee, settlement Foreign Minister Peres and other Israeli leaders—Prime activity must stop. Minister Sharon and others. So it is a subject that had been Question: Okay. You avoided the question of natural discussed—about what was meant by those who advocated growth. Could you be a little more precise about that? such things. Mr. Boucher: No, I cannot. It has been a subject that has Our position on settlements, I think, has been very consis- been discussed—but I think our position on settlements, as a tent, very clear. The secretary expressed it not too long ago. whole, is quite clear. He said settlement activity has severely undermined Palestin- Richard Boucher, U.S. Department of State, ian trust and hope, preempts and prejudges the outcome of Daily Press Briefing, November 25, 2002

The settlers are no longer outsiders or squatters as they once were. A great many became settlers for purely pragmatic reasons—cheaper housing in what they hoped would be more pleas- ant surroundings within easy commuting distance to Israel. For almost twenty-five years the settlers have been praised by every Israeli government as patriots, good citizens, good Zionists. At least in the West Bank, the settlement project long ago became a cornerstone of Zionist and Israeli national identity. By now there is a second generation of settlers who see no difference between themselves and other Israelis who live in Tel Aviv or Tiberias. Since the outbreak of the most recent intifada and the emergence of reckless suicide bombers, moreover, they are not merely defending an idea; as they see it, they are defending “home.” The vast settlement project after 1967, aside from being grossly unjust, has been self-defeating and politically ruinous. “We’ve fed the heart on fantasies, the heart’s grown brutal on the fare,” as William B. Yeats put it almost a century ago in a similar dead-end situation in Ireland. The set- tlement project has not provided more security but less. It may yet, I tremble at the thought, lead to results far more terrible than those we are now witnessing. Amos Elon, “Israelis and Palestinians: What Went Wrong?” New York Review of Books, December 19, 2002

Foundation for Middle East Peace 1761 N Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Telephone: 202-835-3650 Fax: 202-835-3651 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.fmep.org