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REPORT ON SETTLEMENT IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

A Bimonthly Publication of the Foundation for Middle East Peac e Volum e 21 N umber 3 May-June 2011

RUNNING IN PLACE: U.S. POLICY RUNS OUT OF STEAM

By Geoffrey Aronson Valley was mooted. prompted Netanyahu to clarify that “[M]ost people,” Netanyahu declar- his definition of settlement blocs was It is a measure of the stalemate now ed, “broad.” The -run Web site Arutz defining the Israeli-Palestinian peace 7 observed that the speech was are [also] united in regard to my process that the mere reassertion by US viewpoints on the issue that seems to be “less defensive and more confident on and Israeli leaders of long-held, if con - in dispute, the political process with the this [settlement] issue [than his Bar Ilan flicting, views is counted as news. In a . The citizens of are speech one year ago], raising the ante series of speeches in late May, President much more united than is commonly and announcing that Israel would insist and Prime Minister believed, and much more united than the on keeping the large settlement blocs in each sought to political parties that are supposed to rep - its possession.” make his case before an international resent them here in this house. There are Netanyahu reprised these themes in a audience whose frustration with U.S. consensuses regarding the basic issues: speech before a rapturous joint session leadership and Israeli rejectionism has First, about my demand that the of U.S. Congress on May 24, where he increased the prospect of support for Palestinians recognize the State of Israel acknowledged that not every settlement as the national homeland of the Jewish UN action on the creation of a Palestin- could be annexed to Israel. He noted people. ian state in September. Second, about my view, which is that, On the eve of a visit to Washington, shared by many here, that the agreement The status of the settlements will be Netanyahu, in a May 16 speech before between us must end the conflict and end decided only in negotiations. But we the Knesset, outlined his response to the demands from the State of Israel. must also be honest. So I am saying what Defense Minister Third, that the problem of the Pale - today something that should be said pub - evocatively termed the “diplomatic stinian refugees will be resolved outside licly by anyone serious about peace. In any peace agreement that ends the con - tsunami” due to crest in September. Just of Israel and not within its . flict, some settlements will end up as the Palestinians have agreed upon an Fourth, that a Palestinian state only be established under a peace treaty that beyond Israel's borders. The precise uneasy and untested reconciliation, delineation of those borders must be Netanyahu sought to unify Israeli ranks will not compromise the safety of Israel. I believe there is agreement on this, and I negotiated. We will be very generous on in anticipation of an upcoming visit to stress that this state must be demilita - the size of a future Palestinian state. But Washington, where officials awaited his rized, with practical security arrange - as President Obama said, the will views on the political process in the ments, including long term IDF presence be different than the one that existed on aftermath of Obama’s failed effort to along the . June 4, 1967. Israel will not return to the premise negotiations on a settlement Fifth, we agree that we must maintain indefensible lines of 1967. freeze. Each in his own way, and the settlement blocs. Many of us agree each for his own reasons, appears deter - that the settlement blocs must remain There is a consensus in Israel that, as mined to move in a direction that the inside the borders of the State of Israel. former chief Ephraim Halevy U.S. president opposes. Sixth, that remain the unit - explained, “[Israel’s] room for maneuver Netanyahu’s views are somewhere to ed and sovereign capital of the State of is narrowing and the Quartet’s ability to the right of Prime Minister Ehud Israel. affect peace talks is diminishing.” The These are the principles that guide my Barak at Camp David in July 2000— response of the right-wing, including path, our path. where the idea of annexing settlement government ministers from the , is blocks and establishing a military pres - After the speech, complaints by ence—without settlements—in the right-wing and settler organizations U.S. POLICY , continued on page 7 TO OUR READERS FOUNDATION FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE There is still time for the embedded for more than 40 years in occu - to rescue peace for Israel and and pation, settlements, and Jerusalem. To win Merle Thorpe, Jr. restore U.S. credibility in the region. Presi- support from the Israeli public, over time, Founder dent Obama did not meet this challenge the American policy would have to convey (1917–1994) during the recent visit of Israeli prime min - a tangible promise of peace, and, with stark ister Benjamin Netanyahu by offering, as clarity, that Israel’s current policies threaten Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. many had hoped, a comprehensive Ameri- not only its interests as a Jewish, democrat - President can peace initiative. ic state but also its vital interests with its Geoffrey Aronson The President edged the ball forward a best friend. Director, Research and bit in his May 19 speech, saying himself, as In the meantime, the U.S. could avoid Publica tions, Editor, Report on other U.S. officials have in the past, that further embarrassment and isolation by at in the Occupied talks on borders and land swaps should least abstaining on a proposed UN Security Territories start with the 1967 line, and that peace will Council resolution declaring Palestine a Nitzan Goldberger require “full” IDF withdrawals and credible member state. If, apart from Israel’s objec - Waseem Mardini security arrangements. But his proposal for tions, the U.S. believes that the symbolic Editorial Assistants postponing talks on refugees and Jerusalem and juridical impact of such UN action until borders and swaps are resolved— would be harmful to peace, or would chal - Tanya Malik Jerusalem is also a border issue—seems lenge the need for ultimate negotiations, Marc Mason Interns unreasonable. An integrated approach is Washington could deal with such problems needed. by negotiating on the text of the resolution. IN MEMORIAM Obama’s challenge is whether to risk If the U.S. remains unwilling to propose a Peter A. Gubser provoking a painful and unprecedented U.S. peace policy that could preempt the (1941–2010) confrontation with Netanyahu’s govern - UN agenda, engaging constructively in the DIRECTORS ment and the latter’s American right-wing UN process would better serve American Jewish and Christian allies, including con - interests than rejecting it with further ritual Landrum R. Bolling gressional Republicans, in an election year. statements on the exclusivity of direct Calvin H. Cobb, Jr. An American policy, to prevail, would have negotiations. James J. Cromwell to confront and reverse Israeli policies Stephen Hartwell Richard S.T. Marsh —————— ◆ —————— Richard W. Murphy Jean C. Newsom Gail Pressberg William B. Quandt Nicholas A. Veliotes

The Foundation, a non-profit I.R.C. 501(c)(3) organization, supports peace and security for and Palestinians through mutual recognition and a nego tiated division of historic Pales tine. It publishes the bi-monthly Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories . Copyright © 2011

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2 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement May-June 2011 WHEN MONTGOMERY COMES TO NABI SALEH

By Mark Perry movable protests that the IDF has found impossible to sup - press. . . . On March 24, the Israeli government arrested Bassem Abu Rahmah has become a symbol of the protests. While Tamimi, a 44-year-old resident of the small Palestinian village in prison, he smuggled letters to his supporters, including of Nabi Saleh, which is just west of . Tamimi was one—written this last February—that has become a kind of arrested for leading a group of his neighbors in protest march - “Letter from Birmingham Jail” of the movement. “Ofer is an es on the nearby settlement of that had “expropriat - Israeli military base inside the occupied territories that serves ed” the village’s spring—the symbolic center of Nabi Saleh’s as a prison and military court,” he wrote. “The prison is a col - life. . . . lection of tents enclosed by razor wire and an electrical fence, The arrest of Tamimi marked only the most recent escala - each unit containing four tents, 22 prisoners per tent. Now, in tion in Israel’s campaign to suffocate the Nabi Saleh move - winter, wind and rain comes through the cracks in the tent ment: in the two months prior to his arrest, Israeli officials and we don’t have sufficient blankets, clothes, and other basic detained more than 18 Nabi Saleh youths; over the last two necessities. Food is a critical issue here in Ofer, there’s not years, nearly 15 percent of Nabi Saleh’s population has spent enough. We survive by buying ingredients from the prison time in Israeli jails; half of those arrested have been under the canteen that we prepare for our tent. We have one small age of 18 and the youngest of them was 11. But what is plate, and this is also our only source of warmth.” extraordinary about the Nabi Saleh campaign is its effective - One month after penning this letter, Abu Rahmah was ness. The protestors are trained in non-violent tactics. “Our released, but it’s only a matter of time before he’s arrested strategic choice of a popular struggle—as a means to fight the again—and shut inside one of the half-dozen Israeli taking over our lands, prisons and administrative facilities lives, and future—is a declaration that dot the West . Israeli that we do not harm human lives,” tactics, the mass arrests, and the Tamimi has said. “The very essence “Our strategic choice of a popular use of live fire have been con - of our activity opposes killing.” struggle—as a means to fight the occu - demned by a long list of human Tamimi’s arrest has not stopped pation taking over our lands, lives, and rights organizations. But not by the movement. On the morning of future—is a declaration that we do not the United States. . . . April 8, about 80 villagers marched harm human lives. The very essence of Unfunded and unnoticed, from Nabi Saleh’s main street our activity opposes killing.” , his cousin Naji, towards the settlement. As they Abdallah Abu Rahmah, and a Bassem Tamimi, crossed into some nearby fields, handful of others have organized resident of Nabi Saleh they were attacked by IDF soldiers and trained battalions of young with teargas, rubber bullets, and men and women in the art of non- stun grenades. The villagers fled, violent resistance. Bassem Tamimi’s but then reorganized themselves, defiantly linking arms in arrest has not stopped the protests. They are growing, and front of the soldiers. Again, the IDF responded harshly and, spreading. The movement is now in the hands of Bassem’s by that evening, had arrested six villagers. But these are small wife, Nariman, who vows to fight on. She has already spent incidents in a continuing battle. The protests go on day after time in an Israeli jail, but remains undeterred. “There is no day, week after week—and have over the course of the last knowing what the future holds,” she says from her home in four years. Nabi Saleh, “but our path is clear and so is our goal. We know Nabi Saleh does not stand alone. The non-violent protests well that it is possible to achieve it, and we will continue to actually began eight years ago in small communities near fight for it. To a great extent, the question of our victory is Israel’s security wall, then took root in the villages of Mas’ha also one that should be directed to the American people and and ; the protests have now spread to towns and vil - their government—are you on the side of justice and victory, lages across the , encompassing mass rural move - or on the side of continued oppression?” . . . ments from in the south to in the north. The This article first appeared unabridged on protests have involved dozens to hundreds, and on rare occa - the Foreign Policy blog on April 26, 2011, sions, thousands of villagers. But pride of place for this wide - http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/04/26/ spread non-violent resistance movement belongs to Bil’in, a when_montgomery_comes_to_nabi_saleh village that (like Nabi Saleh) has seen much of its land taken over by a settlement. The leader of the Bil’in protests is Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the head of Bil’in’s Popular Commit- tee Against the Wall. Like Tamimi, Abu Rahmah has trained his young activists in the principles of non-violence, sparking

May-June 2011 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 3 SETTLEMENT TIME LINE

January 2 Ma’ariv reports on the Jerusalem is of little importance since it is ’s decision to change the origi - When the Olso accords were clear that the only available land is in that nal route of the first international Jerusalem drafted, we made a very big mistake. area.” () marathon following indications from Adidas Settlements are not just the con - January 21 Ha’aretz reports that the Israeli that it would withdraw its sponsorship if the struction of houses—this is a really Housing Ministry has sold 120 apartments race passed through Jerusalem neighbor - big enterprise. Our leadership in 20 buildings in the settlement of Elon hoods beyond the Green Line. thought that the territory would Moreh without a tender and with the January 7 Knesset member (MK) Nahman gradually be a state, but on the approval of Finance Minister , Shai of cancels a proposed meeting ground, we were not in control of for an average price of $78,000 for each unit. our land. This was to the benefit of of Kadima MKs and local settler council January 24 Israeli infrastructure minister chairs with Palestinian Authority (PA) presi - Israel. At that time, it was believed Uzi Landau announces sanctions against dent because of Abbas’s that Israel would be pushed to stop Israeli firms that agree to boycott settlement refusal to meet with settler leaders. (Israel expanding settlements, and we products pursuant to their contracts con - Radio) merely said [in the agreement] “no cerning developing . Landau says, January 9 Ma’ariv reports that bulldozers unilateral steps.” But in practice, “The Ministry of National Infrastructure are in place to demolish the Shepherd Hotel Israel controlled everything. At that under my leadership will not tolerate dis - in the neighborhood of East time, we could have succeeded in a crimination between different groups of citi - Jerusalem. One hundred twenty housing campaign to dismantle the illegal zens that is contrary to the basic values of units are to be constructed at the site. settlements, but now it is much the State of Israel.” A spokesperson for more complicated. We missed a very Ytong, one of the companies reported to Ha’aretz reports on a boycott by 155 Israeli have a contract for work in Rawabi, says the big opportunity. professors against the College in the firm “refuses to participate in any boycott of West Bank. Issa Samandar, Bitterlemons , Israeli [products].” (Arutz 7) April 18, 2011 January 10 Two Israeli companies, Teldor January 27 from shoot and and Ytong, sign contracts to assist in con - kill a 19-year-old Palestinian near the village struction of the new Palestinian of against money laundering. (Arutz 7) of Burin, in the northern West Bank. Rawabi in the West Bank. Companies The victim’s brother says a group of four set - involved in developing Rawabi have agreed January 12 Young stone-throwing settlers tlers opened fire on them from a nearby hill - to contract language prohibiting the use of and Palestinians clash at the top while the two were tending to farmland. settlement products or services. Knesset outpost, near the Shilo settlement. Several (Ma’an News) Economics Committee chairman Carmel people sustain minor injuries. (Ynet) January 28 Settlers from Kiryat open Shama says, “Those who think it will pay . . . January 14 Ha’aretz reports on a Jerusalem fire at a group of young Palestinians, severely to overtly do business against the State of municipality decision to remove scaffolding wounding a 17-year-old, who was later pro - Israel should realize how much this won’t from an area in the Muslim Quarter of the nounced brain dead. Khirbet Safa residents pay. . . . There are a lot of government near the . The say about 150 settlers descended on their vil - [agencies], I assume, that buy from Ytong organization Cohanim had been lob - lage to instigate violence; the settlers claim and Teldor. We won’t fine them. We’ll sim - bying for years to have the scaffolding that the Palestinians had thrown stones. ply stop working with them.” () removed so that Jewish worshippers could secretary-general Yariv Oppen - The Jerusalem municipality rejects a pray in closer proximity to what had been heimer calls on the police “to collect most of (EU) proposal to send the holiest spot in the ancient temple. The the weapons held by settlers and act with an inspectors to prevent home demolitions and Jerusalem Waqf, which has authority over iron fist against any trigger-happy citizen forcible evictions and arrests of Palestinian the Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif, who kills Palestinians for no reason.” (Ynet) opposed the move. residents. (Israel Radio) January 31 Possible U.S. presidential can - Israeli attorney general Yehuda Weinstein January 11 Settlers successfully argue that didate , MKs, , and informs Jerusalem mayor Nir Barakat that Palestinian businessman Bashar al-Masri be Jerusalem members attend the his unwillingness to abide by a court order to prevented from purchasing Digal, the bank - cornerstone-laying ceremony for the con - remove settlers illegally occupying an Arab rupt real estate development company struction of 24 housing units in home in could be interpreted as a responsible for the new set - on the . Huckabee says, “As criminal act. ( Ha’aretz ) tlement of Nof Tzion. The settlers were con - an American, it is inconceivable that there is cerned that Masri would sell the remaining January 17 The Jerusalem municipality’s even a question about whether a Jew may or apartments to rather than . Masri Planning and Construction Committee may not live in various parts of Jerusalem.” rejected this claim. An attorney representing approves the construction of 92 housing (Arutz 7) the settlers had demanded that Digal’s credi - units in East and 32 units in Pisgat February 1 The Israeli civil administration tor, , refuse to accept Masri’s Ze’ev. Elisha Peleg of Likud comments, announces its intention to seize some 600 offer because it would allegedly violate a law “The fact that the construction is beyond the dunams of land southwest of .

4 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement May-June 2011 SETTLEMENT TIME LINE

The notice, published in , structures in the West Bank and East Jerusa - asserts that “agricultural land will be used for [S]ettlements are not only sym - lem. The total represents a 60 percent in - an educational institution according to arti - bolic. They are facts on the ground. crease over demolitions in 2009. cle 20/24 of construction law number 79 of And as settlers have gained, they March 2 The Jerusalem Municipality the year 1966.” Residents have 60 days to have grown greedy and de mand ed approves the construction of 14 apartments contest the seizure in Israeli courts. Resident more power. . . . in a former police compound in the Ras al- Mahmoud Awwad says his family owns 400 People are frustrated. More and Amud neighborhood of East Jerusalem. dunams of the land and that their certificates more farmers are being hit. The (Ha’aretz ) to it were registered under Ottoman, British impact of the wall on them is entire - March 3 Settlers expand an outpost north mandate, and Jordanian administrations. ly clear. One farmer lost his land; he (Ma’an News) of the Eli and Shilo settlements following an says that even his dignity is being announcement by the Israeli government February 4 Israel Radio reports on a pro - targeted. . . . that outposts built on private, Palestinian- posal by right-wing organizations to expand We see that nobody can change owned land would be dismantled. The Jerusalem’s municipal borders to Beit She - this but us. We have to do this announcement also states that outposts mesh in the west, the in the east, ourselves. determined to be on “state land” would be the Etzion settlement bloc in the south, and Issa Samandar, Bitterlemons , legalized. (Ma’an News) in the north. They reject any division of Jerusalem. The plan was mapped by April 18, 2011 March 7 Security forces dismantle four Gertner Architects and initiated by Austral - structures at the Givat Menachem outpost, ian businessman Kevin Bermeister. next to the settlement. (Israel Radio) in the south Hebron hills. The small com - February 8 Israeli police issue an arrest munity, composed of five tents, was home to Following criticism over the use of plastic warrant for for his refusal to 50 people. Israeli forces also uprooted olive bullets against settlers protesting the dis - submit to police questioning. He is suspect - trees and filled its well and cistern with mantling of , a police inquiry ed of giving his blessing to Torat Hamelech , earth. The had moved to the site found that the officers’ use of non-lethal which justifies the killing of non-Jews. following settler harassment at a location projectiles was “proportionate, restrained and (Israel Radio) about a kilometer away. (Ma’an News) professional.” The officers were confronted by settlers throwing stones and glass bottles. February 10 Accompanied by the Israel February 25 Settlers from Yitzhar vandal - () Defense Forces (IDF), three Israeli ministers ize property belonging to Palestinian resi - from Likud and the National Home parties dents of Burin, south of Nablus. (Ma’an The Knesset passes, by a large majority, a bill visit Joseph’s Tomb as part of the site’s inau - News) outlawing boycotts against the state of Israel. guration after it was rebuilt by the IDF and The legislation pertains to anyone or any Regional Council. It is the first More than 1,000 Palestinians protest in party that sponsors or encourages boycotting such visit since the IDF evacuated the site in Hebron to mark the seventeenth anniversary individuals, factories, companies or organiza - 2000. (Israel Radio) of the shooting deaths of 29 Palestinians at tions in Israel or in settlements. The law also the by Baruch prevents any Israeli company participating in February 11 Ze’man Yerushalaim reports Goldstein, a settler. Minor clashes break out such a boycott from bidding on government on plans for the construction of an auditori - between protestors and Israeli security tenders. ( Israel HaYom ) um and 320 housing units in the East forces. (Ynet) Jerusalem settlement of Ramot. March 8 Five Palestinians are injured in February 28 arrest clashes between residents of the village of February 15 The Israeli Ministry of eight settlers from the Havat Maon outpost Kursa, settlers from Shilo, and IDF soldiers. Education announces plans for a program after clashes between residents and civil (Israel HaYom ) beginning in 2012 that will allow Israeli stu - administration officials inspecting the site. Settlers at the Havat Gilad outpost rebuild dents to visit the Tomb of the Patriarchs in (Army Radio) Hebron. ( Ha’aretz ) dismantled structures and erect additional March 1 Hundreds of settlers throw stones ones on land belonging to residents of the Ha’aretz reports on plans by the IDF to at Palestinian vehicles and attempt to block village of Jit. According to Jit residents, the remove the Hawara checkpoint, between traffic following an Israeli government effort civil administration was informed about the Ramallah and Nablus, allowing unrestricted to dismantle structures at the Havat Gilad settlers’ activities but nothing had been done. traffic between the two for the first outpost. The incidents are part of the “price Settlers at the Givat Menachem outpost time in a decade. tag” policy adopted by some settlers, who were also reported to have rebuilt demolish - February 20 Settlers from an outpost in respond to IDF actions against them with ed structures. (Ynet) vigilante action against Palestinians and their the northern West Bank uproot 270 olive March 9 Ha’aretz reports on efforts by the property in the West Bank. (Ma’an News, trees belonging to Palestinians from the vil - Company for the Reconstruction and Ma’ariv ) lages of Duma and . (Ma’an News) Develop ment of the Jewish Quarter to expel February 21 Israeli crews dismantle the reports that in 2010, village of Amniyr, north of Susiya, Israel demolished 430 non-Jewish residential TIME LINE , continued on page 6

May-June 2011 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 5 SETTLEMENT TIME LINE

TIME LINE , continued from page 6 March 15 Settlers from install cara - Nowadays, the villagers can’t vans on land belonging to residents of a Christian man from his residence because accept what the settlers are doing to erect a new outpost in memory of he is not Jewish. to them. They [the settlers] are the Fogel family. (Ma’an News) always entering the village, some - March 10 An Israeli court issues a decision March 16 IDF troops block access to agri - allowing settlers to occupy part of an East times attacking people, burning cultural fields belonging to residents of Beit Jerusalem home belonging to Palestinians. houses or cutting down trees—as Dajan, near Nablus, as bulldozers uproot The ruling comes after an 11-year court bat - if there is no Israeli military in the dozens of olive trees. A Beit Dajan council tle between the Hamdella family, which area. member observes that there is “not even an claims ownership of the home, and settle - The people are organizing to Israeli settlement in the area.” (Ma’an News) ment financier Irving Moskowitz. The defend themselves. But the prob - Hamdellas have lived in the dwelling since March 17 Dozens of settlers uproot some lem is that they are now in spots— 1952, but an earlier court decision had 100 olive trees belonging to Palestinians four forced them to evacuate two structures built one spot in Bethlehem, one spot kilometers south of Itamar. (Ma’an News) in Maasara, one spot in Bilin. in 1989 as well as a room in the main house Settlers beat a Palestinian man working on a Slowly, everybody is getting to built at that time. The settlers are set to construction project in the West Bank settle - move into the evacuated structures and room know each other. And I think this ment of Shilo. ( Ha’aretz ) on March 14. (Ma’an News) will lead to popular struggle. March 18 Settlers beat a Palestinian man March 12 Assailants invade the home of Issa Samandar, Bitterlemons , April 18, 2011 with sticks near the Yitzhar settlement. the Fogel family in the Itamar settlement (Ma’an News) and kill a three-month-old baby, two chil - dren aged three and eleven, and their par - March 19 Settlers stop a Palestinian driv - vans and permanent structures in ents. Settlers raid the Palestinian villages of ing near Yitzhar, drag him from his vehicle, in . (Walla.co.il) Burin and in response. The IDF and beat him, seriously injuring his head and seals military checkpoints in the northern Ma’ariv reports that the IDF is reinforcing chest. (Ma’an News) West Bank and restores checkpoints that its presence along major transportation March 21 Settlers from the Havat Maon had been evacuated in recent months, routes in the West Bank to prevent distur - outpost stab a Palestinian resident of Khirbet including at Hawara, Taneib, and al-Badhan. bances that could lead to violent escalations. al-Tuba in the south Hebron hills. (Israel Soldiers place Awarta, the Palestinian locale The action is said to be in response to the Radio) closest to Itamar, under curfew and detain Itamar murders and the price tag violence 20 Palestinians living there. They also arrest over outpost demolitions. Two Palestinians from Beit Omar are shot Thai workers employed in Itamar (Ma’an after they allegedly threw stones at a passing March 14 As part of the PA campaign News) settler car. Another resident of Beit Omar against using settlement-based products, the says the two men were attending a funeral Settlers in Hebron throw stones at a patrol - Hebron consumer protection department of when a settler arrived at the cemetery and ling PA civil defense forces vehicle, injuring the Ministry of National Economy seizes 2.5 began shooting. (Ynet) the driver. (Ma’an News) tons of raw plastics manufactured in the set - tlements. (Ma’an News) March 22 Dozens of settlers enter unfin - Dozens of settlers throw rocks at Palestinian ished apartments in Modi’in Illit upon hear - homes and storefronts in Beit Omar and The Israeli security firm Hashmira, owned ing rumors that Neot Hapisga, the company Hawara, near Nablus, damaging private by the Danish company G4S, announces building them, was going bankrupt as a property. (Walla.co.il) that it will stop providing equipment for result of the settlement freeze. ( Yediot Israeli security installations in the West A group of 200 settlers wielding knives, Aharonot ) Bank. The shift followed public pressure in stones, and guns attack and injure several Denmark after the release of a report from March 23 Yediot Aharonot reports that Palestinian motorists on the road from the Coalition of Women for Peace, which Robert Pactor, an owner of a company build - Hebron to Jerusalem. Hebron residents also monitors Israeli companies that operate in ing in the Modi’in Illit settlement, intends report that settlers set cars on fire in the Tel the occupied territories. Hashmira is the sec - to sue the government for $143 million as Rumeida neighborhood. (Walla.co.il) ond largest security company in Israel. ( The compensation for damage to his business as March 13 Prime Minister Benjamin Marker ) a result of the settlement construction freeze. Netanyahu and the Ministerial Committee The IDF orders residents of Awarta aged 15 Ma’ariv reports on the successful campaign for Settlements, including Ehud Barak, to 40 to come to a schoolyard for question - by the Palestine Society at the and MK , approve ing in the Fogel murders. Dozens of masked School of Economics against the Israeli plans for about 400 new housing units in settlers throw stones and glass bottles at water company Eden Springs. The contract West Bank settlements in response to the houses in Awarta. (Ma’an News) the company had with the university will not killings in Itamar. Two hundred of the be renewed following protests against its homes will be built in Modi’in Ilit, 100 in Settlers throw stones at residents of Burin operations on the . Ariel, 40 in Ma’ale Adumim, and 50 cara - and set a house on fire. (Ma’an News)

6 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement May-June 2011 U.S. POLICY , continued from page 1 Most of the attention paid to Obama’s remarks at the Department of State and before the American Israel Public to raise the specter of unilateral of , most Affairs Committee (AIPAC) focused on his public support likely by extending and jurisdiction over the 59 per for explaining that the United States “believe[s] the borders of cent of the West Bank that comprises the area, along with all Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with the settlements. mutually agreed swaps,” the first such public declaration of his “If these two processes—the unity between Fateh and presidency. The president’s unequivocal dismissal of the PLO and the September declaration—become united, and a UN strategy, however, represents the more noteworthy policy Palestinian state is established unilaterally and in a joint announcement, and the most relevant to the diplomatic calen - Hamas-Fateh regime, that will force Israel to take measures to dar. administer Israeli over the C areas,” explained “What America and the international community can do,” transportation minister in a May 17 interview in declared the president in his May 19 speech at the Depart- . “At the same time, we will have to provide ment of State, “is to state frankly what everyone knows—a answers in the spheres of security and [Israeli presence], and lasting peace will involve two states for two peoples: Israel as strengthen the settlements.” a and the homeland for the Jewish people, and On the eve of Netanyahu’s departure for Washington, the the as the homeland for the Palestinian peo - government announced plans for the construction of 1,550 ple, each state enjoying self-determination, mutual recogni - new housing units in in southern Jerusalem and in tion, and peace.” He continued: Pisgat Ze’ev. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has signed docu - So while the core issues of the conflict must be negotiated, the ments approving construction of 294 new homes in the settle - basis of those negotiations is clear: a viable Palestine, a secure ment of Beitar Ilit west of Bethlehem. A new outpost, one of Israel. The United States believes that negotiations should result many, was established in the E-1 area east of Jerusalem, vio - in two states, with permanent Pale stinian borders with Israel, lating promises made to Washington. A long familiar game of Jordan, and , and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. cat and mouse between settlers and the IDF is underway at We believe the and Palestine should be based on the site. The IDF has removed settler tents. Settlers have the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and rec - vowed to rebuild. These actions, of a kind that one year ago ognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian sparked a major clash with Washington, passed without com - people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their ment. Washington’s silence regarding an issue that it had for - full potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state. . . . mally placed at the heart of its diplomatic strategy did not go These principles provide a foundation for negotiations. Palestinians should know the territorial outlines of their state; unnoticed in Israel, where the settlement movement is feeling Israelis should know that their basic security concerns will be stronger and more confident, in practical terms regarding set - met. I’m aware that these steps alone will not resolve the conflict, tlement expansion in existing settlements as well as in new because two wrenching and emotional issues will remain: the settlement “outposts” and politically in the wake of Netan- future of Jerusalem, and the fate of . But yahu’s “victory” in the battle over a settlement freeze. moving forward now on the basis of territory and security pro - In two speeches in May, Obama stepped warily into a vides a foundation to resolve those two issues in a way that is just diplomatic arena increasingly resistant to American ideas. The and fair, and that respects the rights and aspirations of both May 20, 2011 resignation of special envoy George Mitchell Israelis and Palestinians. highlighted the failure of Obama’s peacemaking efforts until Obama left no doubt that he opposes the two main pillars now. Washington’s veto in February of a UN Security Council of the current Palestinian strategy—reconciliation and the UN resolution decrying settlements highlighted its isolation from option, the latter of which he decisively rejected as a “symbolic its European and international allies in the Quartet, the inter - action[s]” that will not advance the cause of Palestinian state - national address for Israel-Palestinian diplomacy since the hood. Obama’s announcement of the principles upon which adoption of the road map in 2003. For example, Russian negotiations should be based marked not only a repudiation Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after meeting with Fateh and of his previous effort to anchor diplomacy to a settlement Hamas representatives in Moscow on May 23, praised the freeze but, more importantly, it also lacked any operational reconciliation agreement, a deal that Obama called an "enor - context. There was, for example, no call for a summit or inter - mous obstacle to peace” in the Middle East. A Hamas official national conference based upon the ideas he endorsed, no said Lavrov repeated Moscow's support for a Palestinian dec - suggestion as to how these ideas could be turned into an laration of statehood in the in September. effective diplomatic effort. “The administration’s hope,” Against this background of disappointment and unreal - reported Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer in Yediot ized aspirations, the growing credibility of the PLO’s inten - Aharanot on May 22, “is that if we make it through Septem- tion to turn away from Washington and to look to the ber in one piece, Abu Mazen will return to the negotiating United Nations for leadership in its demand for ending the occupation and creating a state poses the most immediate and pressing challenge to Washington. U.S. POLICY , continued on page 8

May-June 2011 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 7 U.S. POLICY , continued from page 8 in 2008 and Washington in 2011 is that Rice won agreement to these principals after much debate with Israeli leaders as table even without a moratorium on settlement construction.” part of what turned out to be a serious diplomatic process in Efforts during Clinton and Bush administrations to reach which these elements featured prominently. In contrast, dur - a final status agreement followed the prescription Obama out - ing two years of discussions with Palestinian and Israeli lead - lined—both in terms of substance and in terms of sequencing ers, Obama administration officials did not reaffirm U.S. sup - the issues to be addressed. During the discussions that fol - port for the language regarding the 1967 border similar to lowed in the wake of the Annapolis summit of November that used by Rice until the president’s recent public remarks. 2007 in particular, Secretary of State noted The context today is also entirely different. As the president that all parties, including the United States and Israel, agreed himself noted, “[T]here is impatience with the peace process, that: or the absence of one.” Obama’s remarks on borders, settle - ■ The 1967 line was the baseline for determining the ments, and land swaps, as welcome as they might be, offered border between Israel and Palestine, and no hint as to how he plans to transform ideas into deeds. ■ The 1967 border would be modified by land swaps of an “We want to see negotiations,” explained Secretary of State undetermined percentage, somewhere between the Palestinian Hilary Clinton in a television interview on May 19, “but we’re proposal of 1.9 percent and the Israeli proposal of 8.5 percent not able to make those negotiations happen. But we know of West Bank territory. that without negotiations, there will be no end to the conflict, The critical difference between the Annapolis discussions no end to the claims, and no two-state solution.” ◆

8 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement May-June 2011 RESIDENTS CONFRONT ARMY: ed.] and this accounted for the relative quiet. The Arab family “YOU’VE PUT US IN A GHETTO” has a notorious reputation amongst those who deal with secur ity in the region. Now the IDF hierarchy is letting them By Aryeh Ben Hayim and Gil Ronen return to the places they abandoned. The Jewish community plans to thwart this. . . . The decision on April 4 by the Hevron Brigade command - The unabridged version of this article appeared on Arutz 7, a er Col. Guy Hazut to allow the family of the [Palestinian] settler-run Web site, on April 13, 2011 man who murdered Susya resident Yair Har-Sinai into the agricultural fields of Susya has the community up in arms. Susya is located on the southern edge of the Hevron Hills, ARABS TRY TO GRAB LAND between -Hevron and Arad. It is situated about NEAR one mile north of a separation fence checkpoint. The field in question is a mere 300 meters away from the By Elad Benari entrance to the community. The army has imposed a closure order around the entire area, allowing Jews to walk about The phenomenon of Arabs one-sidedly claiming Jewish freely only in Susya proper, thus threatening to turn it into a lands is nothing new, but it seems to have reached new ghetto. In a confrontation between Hazut and residents of heights in Efrat. Susya on (Saturday), the commander was accused of Wassel, a resident of Efrat, has been seeing this failing to relay to his superiors the security implication of the occur with his own eyes, step by step, during the last few days. decision. The murderers have become sufficiently emboldened Wassel described during an interview with ’s to threaten Susya residents with “another Itamar.” Hebrew website how he sees almost every morning Arabs Hazut was told that he was not in his position as a neutral arriving at the Efrat North Junction in an attempt to establish U.N. mediator, but as someone whose job is to defend Jews. facts on the ground and claim the land. The fact that there Hazut replied that it was the army’s job to prevent trespassing has never been Arab agriculture in the area and the fact that on a Palestinian’s land, thus accepting the Arab view that the an IDF post is situated close by does not bother them, he land is theirs by default, although they have no legal title to said. Wassel described how last Friday, he traveled from his the land and the Jews have held presumptive title for some home towards Jerusalem, and during the ride he noticed time. young Palestinian Authority farmers working the land. This Arutz Sheva talked with Rabbi Eliezer Altshuler, spokes- incident occurred after they were previously removed from the person and rabbi for Susya, and asked him to provide further area by the soldiers who are stationed nearby to prevent stones background on the story: “The murderer’s family had aban - and Molotov cocktails from being thrown by terrorists in doned the area after the murder [which occurred in 2001 – nearby villages at Jewish vehicles traveling along the road. . . . The soldiers said they would send someone to check it out, and one of them indeed went to check what was going on. When he saw the Arabs he pushed them away.” . . . [O]n Monday morning as he was on his way to work, Wassel noticed that about twenty meters from the IDF sta - tion, Arabs had fenced off the land so they can work it. He said that the Arabs must have arrived overnight without the soldiers having noticed them. . . . Arabs taking advantage of Shabbat to establish facts on the ground and claim land that is not theirs in southern is also a common occurrence. The unabridged version of this article appeared on Arutz 7, a settler-run Web site, on April 13, 2011

May-June 2011 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 9 IS WORRIED

. . . In closed talks that the president has been holding in . . . Peres believes that Netanyahu is capable. Despite his recent weeks, it turns out that he has changed some of his age, Peres has not lost his innocence. The decision that well-known positions. Yes, he still believes in peace, but no, he Netanyahu must make, according to Peres, is simple: declare doesn’t think that Israel is capable or should dismantle settle - support for a Palestinian state in the 1967 territory. Not in the ments in the framework of peace. Peres’s formula is now 1967 borders, the 1967 territory. The settlements will remain “peace with settlements.” in Israel’s hands, the Palestinians will receive compensation Ma’ariv reported this past year on the prime minister’s with areas that Israel will give them. This principle is recog - musings on the outline of an arrangement with the Palestin- nized, it isn’t new, but the fact that Peres accepts the non- ians. Among other things, it reported that Binyamin Netan- removal of settlements is nothing less than astounding. Has yahu does not want (and is not capable) of removing a single he reached the conclusion that Israeli sovereignty is now inca - settlement, that he talks about the concept of “enclaves,” that pable of undertaking a large-scale uprooting of settlements? Is he thinks that all the settlements should be left standing, even the situation on the ground in Judea and Samaria irreversible, in the format of a “balloon on a string.” This means, for in Peres’s opinion? It seems so. example, that Ariel would remain an Israeli city, but there And Jerusalem? Peres thinks that the solution must be would be no territorial connection with it. It would be an postponed to a later date. The Palestinians can be given Abu enclave with a single road leading to and from it, thus saving Dis and other neighborhoods; there is no reason to annex a lot of territory when making a land swap. The same for hundreds of thousands of Arabs to Israel. The Old City will Hebron and all the other places in contention. Now it turns be mooted for discussion later. In the end, says Peres, the Old out that Peres thinks similarly. Which proves—and this is City is all of two square kilometers, there are hundreds of holy only an opinion—that not only does Peres pressure and influ - places there to the three religions, each religion can be given ence Bibi, it could also be that Bibi pressures and influences control of its sites. . . . Peres. Reciprocity at the top. Ben Caspit, Ma’ariv , April 29, 2011

The United States believes that negotiations should result eign, non-militarized state. And the duration of this transition in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, period must be agreed, and the effectiveness of security Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with arrangements must be demonstrated. Palestine. We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should These principles provide a foundation for negotiations. be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that Pale stin ians should know the territorial outlines of their state; secure and recognized borders are established for both Israelis should know that their basic security concerns will be states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern met. I’m aware that these steps alone will not resolve the con - themselves, and reach their full potential, in a sovereign and flict, because two wrenching and emotional issues will remain: contiguous state. the future of Jerusalem, and the fate of Palestinian refu- As for security, every state has the right to self-defense, and gees. But moving forward now on the basis of territory and Israel must be able to defend itself—by itself—against any security provides a foundation to resolve those two issues in a threat. Provisions must also be robust enough to prevent a way that is just and fair, and that respects the rights and aspira - resurgence of terrorism, to stop the infiltration of weapons, tions of both Israelis and Palestinians. and to provide effective border security. The full and phased Remarks by President Barack Obama, withdrawal of Israeli military forces should be coordinated with May 19, 2011, Washington, DC the assumption of Palestin ian security responsibility in a sover -

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