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 11 Number 2 March-April 2001 ARIEL SHARON MOVES TO CENTER STAGE Ariel Sharon is a pragmatic expan- majority within his own Labor party viable Palestinian entity and to serve the sionist who views Israeli settlement in supports Sharon’s view. tactical security function of dispersing the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusa- Sharon is one of the three or four the Israel Defense Forces throughout lem, and the Golan Heights as both an Israelis who have had the most influ- the entire region. ideological imperative and a security ence on the creation and expansion of The Oslo process accommodated asset. As the recently elected prime Israeli settlements in the occupied terri- these settlements as well as the larger minister of Israel, Sharon faces the chal- tories since 1967. “Were there not outposts—Ma’ale Adumim, the Etzion lenge of integrating these objectives into Jewish settlements today on the Golan bloc, Ariel—historically favored by an overall policy toward Yasser Arafat’s Heights in Judea and Samaria,” Sharon much of Israel’s ruling establishment. Palestinian Authority and the three mil- noted in 1995, “Israel would long ago The map created by the Oslo II accord lion Palestinians under Israeli occupa- have returned across the Green Line. in September 1995 and last modified in tion who oppose Israel’s colonization The Jewish settlements are the only fac- March 2000 is almost a mirror image of policies. tor that has prevented the agreement of Sharon’s cantonization plan, which Sharon rejects absolutely the premise this [Rabin] government to withdraw envisaged the creation of noncontiguous underlying the diplomatic efforts of the and [has] created difficulties for it in the Palestinian cantons in the West Bank Barak government—beginning with the negotiations.” and Gaza Strip surrounded by Israeli activation of the Stockholm channel in Each of these outposts represents a settlements and roads. In contrast, the spring 2000 and ending in January 2001 symbol of Sharon’s effort to mold poli- map of the Palestinian state proposed by at Taba—that it is possible and prefer- tics, demography, and geography Barak at Taba (see pages 4 and 5) able to make the territorial sacrifices according to Zionist preferences, and he acknowledges that about 100 of these required to “end the conflict” with the is not prepared to surrender them easily. outposts fail to pass both the demo- Palestinians. The aftermath of former From Sharon’s perspective, former U.S. graphic and territorial preconditions for prime minister Ehud Barak’s resounding president Bill Clinton’s acknowledgment annexation by Israel. electoral defeat has revealed that a that the demographic transformation At this early stage in his tenure, and created by settlements is the basis for as distasteful as the notion is to Israeli Israel’s territorial claims in the occupied policymakers today, Sharon has chosen Also in this issue: territories, including East Jerusalem, not to alter the assessment upon which Short Takes 3 can be viewed as a victory and a contin- Israel’s participation in the Oslo process Barak’s Taba Map 5 uing challenge for Israeli expansionists. is based—that is, that Arafat and the Settlement Time Line 6, 7 Sharon’s leadership has been espe- security apparatus he heads remain part- cially important in the creation of what ners in the effort to secure Israel’s settle- ——— ◆ ——— former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin ment and security interests in the West Visit our homepage: derisively termed “political settle- Bank and Gaza Strip. http : / / www.fmep.org ments”—those sparsely populated out- Partners must be accommodated if posts that dot the central highlands they are to remain partners. As a minis- To subscribe to the e-mail version of running in a north-south line between ter in the government of Benjamin the Settlement Report: Jenin and Jerusalem. These settlements, Netanyahu, Sharon, in discussions with [email protected]; which Rabin numbered at around 60, both Palestinian and U.S. officials, leave “Subject” blank. were conceived by Sharon to explicitly Write: subscribe settlements-L. forestall the creation of a territorially SHARON, continued on page 7 TO OUR READERS FOUNDATION FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s If Yasser Arafat is to crack down on Merle Thorpe, Jr. vision of Israeli-Palestinian relations, dis- Palestinian violence, there must be major Founder cussed in this issue, is a recipe for more reciprocal steps by Israel. Responsibility for (1917–1994) conflict, not peace. Sharon would reverse the violence lies not just with Palestinian the clock and ignore Ehud Barak’s Camp militants who foolishly believe they can Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. David proposals, Bill Clinton’s more gener- defeat Israel, and with Arafat’s apparent President ous ideas, and the proposals put forth at paralysis, but also with Israel’s unprece- Taba in January. Sharon’s promise to limit dented harsh and lethal tactics. More fun- Geoffrey Aronson Editor the Palestinians to 41 percent of the West damentally, mutual violence is inherent in Bank, preserve all settlements, and yield the occupation relationship in which Israel Efrat Shvili nothing on Jerusalem preserves the volatile holds a monopoly on power and has used Jerusalem Correspondent status quo that underlies the collapse of the it, unilaterally and in violation of its own Jenna Beveridge peace process. The Bush administration has Oslo promise, to force its goals in the terri- Editorial Associate dismissed the Clinton proposals and would tories, foremost, by continuing to seize land prefer to let the parties slug it out alone. and build Blanca Madani Instead, it should reengage soon. settlements. Violence is, however, only a Webmaster Sharon’s statement that new peace talks symptom of the conflict. Preaching against ADVISERS require an end to the violence is a more it is useless without dealing with the serious proposal. The Oslo promises to causes, a challenge that now awaits Prime Lucius D. Battle foreswear force and negotiate in good faith Minister Sharon. Landrum R. Bolling were sound and must be resurrected by Murray J. Gart both parties. Violence breeds fear and Peter Gubser hatred and undermines the moderates on Jean C. Newsom both sides. Stopping it is a two-way street. Gail Pressberg —————— N —————— TRUSTEES Peter M. Castleman During his February visit to Israel, Secretary of State Colin Powell Chairman was told by prime minister-elect Ariel Sharon that Israel intended to Lucius D. Battle keep its settlements in the Jordan Valley as well as those located along Calvin H. Cobb, Jr. the mountain ridges east of the Green Line. James J. Cromwell Stephen Hartwell “We learned a lot from you Americans,” Sharon explained. “We saw Richard S.T. Marsh how you moved West using this method.” Richard W. Murphy Ha’aretz, February 26, 2001 William B. Quandt Sally S. Thorpe Ma’ariv: In the Army’s view, is terrible mistake. It would mean there room for the evacuation of that we are withdrawing as a con- The Foundation, a non- profit, I.R.C. 501(c)(3) isolated settlements as part of an sequence of violence. To my sor- organization, receives no agreement with the Palestinians? row this happened to us [in U.S. or foreign government Deputy Chief of Staff Moshe October 2000, when the IDF, funds. It supports peace and security for Israelis and Ya’alon: From the tactical securi- under fire, evacuated] Joseph’s Palestinians through mutual ty point of view, the evacuation Tomb, and we have seen how recognition and a negotiated of settlements today could pro- much this action raised division of historic Palestine. vide some advantage, but from a Palestinian spirits. strategic vantage, it would be a Ma’ariv, February 16, 2001 Copyright © 2001 2 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement March-April 2001 SHORT TAKES The intifada can have the potential to unsettle the stability Residents of Gush Etzion, following their successful efforts of the Zionist enemy and deter him by hitting at his soldiers yesterday, attempted to continue blocking the highway there and settlers. Consequently, it will achieve a similar result to to Arab traffic this morning. Police intervened, however, and what Hizballah achieved in South Lebanon, namely, the even arrested Women in Green leader Nadia Matar. She later unconditional Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and explained, “Chief of Staff Mofaz gave clear instructions that Gaza without us having to relinquish our claim on 80 percent two or more Arab men in private cars are not to drive on the of Palestine. Thus it is better to build a state in the Jabalya roads of YESHA, while Arab families and Arab taxis are refugee camp without conceding our right to Palestine, than allowed. So we were basically forcing the army and the police to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza while giving to do their job.” up on 80 percent of Palestine. This is the basic rule. We are Arutz Sheva News Service, February 13, 2001 not for giving up Palestine. ————————————— Why are we asked about killing heavily armed settlers occupying our land who have a free hand to do as they please Former president [Bill] Clinton offered his ideas to assist and take our lands by force—calling them civilians? The the parties in their efforts, and the former president himself truth is that there is not one civilian in the Zionist entity. made clear that the ideas would leave with him when they They are all soldiers carrying arms. He who finishes his mili- left office. tary service joins the reserves until the day he dies.
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