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Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories

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Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories REPORT ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENT IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES A Bimonthly Publication of the Foundation for Middle East Peace Volume 23 Number 5 September-October 2013 ENDING OCCUPATION—THE BEST AND ONLY CONFIDENCE-BUILDING MEASURE By Geoffrey Aronson and PLO chairman, and with critical In recent years, some inter- support and credibility lent by former In a series of reports during the last national parties have tried to IMF official Salaam Fayyad as prime decade, international institutions led convince the world that solutions minister, the PA set about implement- by the World Bank and International ing the reform agenda demanded by the begin by removing a roadblock Monetary Fund (IMF) have highlighted international community. or allowing ketchup and may- the vital contribution of strong institu- “Palestine—Ending the Occupa- tions to state building in the Palestinian onnaise into Gaza. The Israeli tion, Establishing the State,” a two-year territories. government argues that giving plan for setting up the administrative This interest and extraordinary sup- Palestinians some work permits infrastructure of a Palestinian state, was port offered to the Palestinian Authority and allowing a few trucks into unveiled by Fayyad in August 2009. In (PA) has a broader political context. In Gaza are “confidence building April 2011, the IMF reported that that the era when the international com- measures.” But what Palestine the Palestinian Authority “is now able munity, led by the United States, was needs is ending the Israeli occu- to conduct the sound economic policies content with Yasser Arafat’s leadership pation, which is the only way for expected of a future well-functioning and focused on implementation of the Palestine to reach its full eco- Palestinian state, given its solid track re- “further redeployments” called for in the nomic potential. No “confidence cord in reforms and institution-building Oslo II agreement, international concern in the public finance and financial areas.” building measures” will end the was all but absent for the coherence, Strong, transparent, and well-run theft of Palestinian resources nor transparency, and governance of Pales- institutions are certainly desirable, but tinian institutions created as a conse- the catastrophic social conse- such institutions and practices, while quence of agreement between Israel and quences of the Israeli occupation vital to effective policy making and the Palestine Liberation Organization policies. execution, have never been a prerequisite (PLO). PLO negotiator Muhammed for sovereignty or statehood. The change in this policy was initially Shtayyeh, “The Real Cost of Sovereign and autonomous control the product of a political decision by the the Occupation,” Ha’aretz, of territory remain the time-tested sine administration of President George W. October 22, 2013 qua nons for national liberation, and it is Bush to “empower” Mahmoud Abbas in precisely at this critical point—the abil- the newly created position of PA prime ity to control their own territory—where minister at the expense of PA chairman Palestinians are at a woeful and deliber- Arafat, who had run afoul of the United have new leaders, new institutions and ate disadvantage. States and Israel in the wake of the new security arrangements with their More than three decades ago, long failed talks at Camp David in mid-2002 neighbors, the United States of America before the Oslo era, Israeli planners and the subsequent second intifada. will support the creation of a Palestinian and politicians mapped out a territorial In what has become known as the state whose borders and certain aspects division of the West Bank, including “vision speech,” Bush, two months after of its sovereignty will be provisional un- East Jerusalem, that reflected two related Israel’s Operation Defensive Shield had til resolved as part of a final settlement Israeli objectives: to establish the admin- resulted in the reoccupation of Area A in the Middle East.” istrative and political basis for Israel’s by the Israeli military in April 2002, de- Under the leadership of Abbas, as clared, “And when the Palestinian people Arafat’s successor as head of the PA OCCUPATION, continued on page 5 TO OUR READERS FOUNDATION FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE Leaders in Israel’s far-right coalition The protective cocoon of the United seem to believe in an alternate reality in States has bred a reckless overconfidence, Merle Thorpe, Jr. which Israel is immune from the lessons of especially among Israel’s right-wing leaders, Founder history and from international rules of state that the interests of Israel’s best friend and (1917–1994) behavior. ally can be opposed with impunity. Among For example, they believe that Israel recent examples are Prime Minister Benja- Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. can succeed in its project of conquest and min Netanyahu’s confrontational lobbying President settlement of the post-1967 Palestinian against President Barack Obama’s nuclear territories and defeat the Palestinians’ quest diplomacy with Iran, contemptuous warn- Geoffrey Aronson for a state of their own. But this project is ings by Netanyahu’s senior ministers that Director, Research and so out of step with modern values of equal- the peace talks being pushed by Secretary Publica tions, Editor, Report on ity, democracy, and human rights that it is of State John Kerry are going nowhere and Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories doomed to fail. that there will be no Palestinian state. But the belief that Israel is excep- Ultimately, alliances are based on mutual Philip Sweigart tional and can make its own rules is not interests, not phony slogans about their Editorial Assistant entirely delusional. Israel’s policies have bedrock permanence. Obama and Kerry Jesse Thomas been influenced by the extraordinary and should convey to Israel’s leaders and the Intern unconditional support it has received from Israeli public that Israel is acting like an the United States, which many Israelis now adversary, not an ally, regarding Wash- IN MEMORIAM take for granted. For decades, the United ington’s top priorities in the Middle East, James Cromwell States has protected Israel from inter- Palestine and Iran, and that this is bad for Stephen Hartwell national law and criticism at the United the relationship. The Israeli public will Nations concerning its occupation and listen carefully. DIRECTORS settlement policies, even these initiatives Landrum R. Bolling reflect U.S. policy. Calvin H. Cobb, Jr. Edison Dick Joseph Englehardt —————— u —————— Arthur H. Hughes Richard S.T. Marsh Richard W. Murphy Jean C. Newsom Gail Pressberg William B. Quandt Nicholas A. Veliotes Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. The Foundation for Middle East Peace has prepared a presentation of maps illustrat- ing the evolution of the conflict from the UN Partition Plan in 1947, and depicting the growth of Israel’s occupation and settlement project from the 1967 War to the present. To download the presentation visit: http://www.fmep.org/resources/ publications-1/map-progres- sion-1948-1967. Copyright © 2013 2 v Report on Israeli Settlement September-October 2013 Israeli Settlements on the West Bank Patterns of Growth, 2013 Dense Hinnanit Palestinian Population Rehan Shaked Jenin Thinly - Populated M.Dotan Area Hermesh Separation Barrier Zone Mehola W e s t Tulkarm Tubas Rotem Avne B a n k Maskiyot Hefez Israeli Settlements Enav Hemdat Sh.Shomron Bekaot Less than 1,500 inhabitants Salit Roi Nablus E.Moreh 1,500 - 4,000 inhabitants Kedumim Zufim 4,000 - 8,000 inhabitants Brakha Hamra Qalkilya K.Shomron Itamar Mekhora Alfe Emanuel Yizhar 8,000 - 18,000 inhabitants Menashe Argaman Yakir Oranit Sh.Tiqva Q.Netafim K.Tappuah > 35,000 inhabitants Revava Gittit Settlements in Ariel Migdalim Masua Brukhim M.Efrayim East Jerusalem Eli Yafit A.Zahav Salfit Peduel J M.Levona Shilo o Pezael r B.Arye d Settlement Growth compared to a Halamish Tomer n National Average (N.A.) in Israel Gilgal R Ateret i 2000 - 2012 v N.Hagdud e Naale K.Hashahar r Nahliel Ofra Niran Negative Nili Bet El Yitav (Population Loss) Modiin Talmon Dolev Below N.A. Illit Rimmonim Ramallah Psagot Menora Noomi Above N.A. K.Yaacov B.Horon G.Zeev M.Mikmas Jericho Considerably G.Binyamin Above N.A. M.Horon Almon V.Yeriho Double to Haradar M.Yeriho Triple N.A. K.Adumim Almog B.Haarava M.Adumim Jerusalem Kedar Kalya I S R A E L Residential Construction H.Gilo Starts 2013 Betar Bethlehem Avnat Housing Stock Increase Efrata Tekoa Elazar 1 - 10% (Average: 4%) K.Etzion Nokdim 10 - 40% (Average: 20%) K.Zur M.Amos Telem Asfar DEAD M.Shalem Adora K.Arba SEA Hebron Pne Negohot Hever Haggai Otniel Karmel Maon Eshkolot Sussiya Tene Sansana 10 Km M.Yehuda © Jan de Jong September-October 2013 Report on Israeli Settlement v 3 SETTLEMENT TIME LINE June 19 Ha’aretz reports that the Netan- July 1 A military appeals committee issues number of stone-throwing and firebombing yahu government’s security cabinet has clas- a ruling that could let Hebron settlers buy a incidents in the West Bank in recent months. sified groups of settlers carrying out price tag contested building opposite the Tomb of the (Ma’ariv) attacks as “illegal associations,” in an attempt Patriarchs. (Ha’aretz) July 13 Settlers destroy 70 olive trees be- to strengthen law enforcement agencies’ July 2 The Israeli government approves longing to the village of Burin, near Nablus. capabilities in the West Bank. the construction of 900 housing units in the (PMG-NAD) June 20 Ha’aretz reports an agreement East Jerusalem settlement of Har Homa. July 14 Israel issues eviction orders for four between Defense Minister Ya’alon and set- (PMG-NAD) homes in the Nablus village of Aqraba for tlers to legalize the Havat Gilad outpost in July 3 Settlers install a barbed-wire fence being built without permits.
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