REPORT ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENT IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES A Bimonthly Publication of the Foundation for Middle East Peace Volume 11 Number 4 July-August 2001 SETTLEMENT FREEZE OR ‘NATURAL GROWTH’ IN NEW CLOTHES By Geoffrey Aronson Arab-Israeli diplomacy. The peace ini- Is this a freeze. I don’t know whether Demands for a freeze in the expan- tiative promoted earlier this year by the [Bush] accepts this or not, but he knows sion of Israeli civilian settlements locat- Egyptian and Jordanian governments that this will happen.” At that time ed in territories occupied by Israel in and the report of a presidentially there were 250,000 Israelis living over June 1967 are now at the center stage of appointed commission headed by for- the 1967 Green Line. mer senator George Mitchell and At a June 27, 2001 meeting with endorsed by all parties have placed a President George W. Bush, Ariel NEWS settlement freeze at the heart of their Sharon refused to entertain the idea of recommendations for stabilizing deteri- the complete freeze at the heart of the The June ceasefire agreement orating relations between Israel and the Mitchell plan, offering instead to sponsored by the United States Palestinians. restrict expansion to existing settlement has failed to end almost daily vio- The effort to win Israel’s endorse- areas. Asked for Bush’s reaction, Sharon lent confrontations, including ment for a freeze in the growth of replied, “I don’t think that he loved it, more frequent vigilante actions by Israel’s outposts in the West Bank, but this is the Israeli position.” settlers. Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem has an Today, after 34 years of Israeli occu- According to MK Mossi Raz, impeccable diplomatic pedigree. Every pation, more than 400,000 Israelis have 1,500 families—about 6,000 peo- president since Jimmy Carter has been settled in more than 200 purposely ple—have moved to settlements endeavored, with varying degrees of built towns, suburbs, and villages in East since January. Since the outbreak commitment, to cajole, convince, or Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the West of the al-Aqsa intifada in Sep- threaten Israeli leaders to undertake a Bank, on lands that at least three mil- tember 2000, 300 to 400 families fundamental change in one of the cen- lion Palestinians consider to be their have left settlements for Israel. tral components of Israel’s security and patrimony. Palestinians who have wit- domestic policy. nessed the doubling of Israel’s popula- Also in this issue: These efforts have uniformly failed. tion in their midst during almost a At Camp David in 1979, Jimmy decade most observers have described as Sharon’s Palestinian State 3 Carter thought that he had won an peace might be forgiven for questioning Settlement Statistics 8 Israeli commitment to a five year freeze. not only Israeli intentions, but those of But Menachem Begin was only pre- their own leadership as well. ——— N ——— pared to stop for three months. And he Israel’s effort to literally transform To subscribe to the e-mail version of forgot to tell Carter that the “thicken- the landscape has been undertaken in the Settlement Report: ing” of existing settlements, whose pop- the service of ideology and military [email protected]; ulation then numbered 50,000, would strategy, a winning combination that has leave “Subject” blank. continue unabated. demonstrated its vitality and staying Write: subscribe settlements-L. George Bush and Yitzhak Rabin power in times of war and peace. agreed in 1992 to another freeze, Settlements are the most emotive Visit our website, www.fmep.org, for excepting the “natural growth” of settle- expression of the century-old Zionist back issues of the Settlement Report, ments. Rabin defended himself against revolution in Palestine, the most practi- maps, and current analyses and commentary on the Israeli-Palestinian right-wing attacks for his concession, cal illustration of both the power and conflict. noting with some exasperation, “The construction of 11,000 units continues. SETTLEMENT, continued on page 7 TO OUR READERS FOUNDATION FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE The current U.S. diplomatic effort to Understanding that Palestinian violence implement the Mitchell Report’s call for a is in large part a rebellion by a subject pop- Merle Thorpe, Jr. cease-fire and “confidence building” is get- ulation suffering from onerous Israeli poli- Founder ting nowhere. A total end to Palestinian cies and deep despair, and not, as the new (1917–1994) violence that Sharon demands is improba- mythology claims, a weapon Arafat has ble without prompt relief from Israel’s chosen to destroy peace, does not mean Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. tough policies of collective punishment, violence is to be excused or rewarded. It President including closures, economic sanctions and must be condemned absolutely, as ruinous Geoffrey Aronson demolitions, which provoke and exacerbate for all sides. However, accountability lies, Editor violence. (A genuine settlement freeze is not just with Arafat’s inadequate efforts. Efrat Shvili also a must, though problematical, as point- Israel, on its part, has relied exclusively on Jerusalem Correspondent ed out in this issue. But easing other pres- often lethal and provocative military sures is even more urgent.) Greater dedica- responses and on draconian collective pun- Jenna Beveridge tion by Arafat is unlikely to stop all vio- ishment and repression. No less important, Editorial Associate lence, especially by angry youths and mili- Sharon’s current vision of a peace deal pro- Tobias Van Assche tants who live in Palestinian areas under jected in the map on page 3 offers no hope Intern/Statistician Israeli control. Moreover, Sharon’s demand for Palestinians. for a long “cooling off ” period after a Blanca Madani cease-fire and before confidence-building Webmaster measures begin is unrealistic. Unless confi- ADVISERS dence-building is linked more closely to an end to violence, the Mitchell plan will fail. Lucius D. Battle Landrum R. Bolling N —————— —————— Murray J. Gart Peter Gubser Jean C. Newsom Gail Pressberg TRUSTEES Peter M. Castleman Chairman Lucius D. Battle Calvin H. Cobb, Jr. James J. Cromwell Stephen Hartwell Richard S.T. Marsh Richard W. Murphy William B. Quandt Sally S. Thorpe The Foundation, a non- profit, I.R.C. 501(c)(3) organization, receives no U.S. or foreign government funds. It supports peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians through mutual recognition and a negotiated Source: Ha’aretz, May 18, 2001. division of historic Palestine. Copyright © 2001 2 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement July-August 2001 Palestinian Sovereign Areas According to the Barak / Sharon Proposals - 2001 Palestinian Autonomous Areas (Areas A and B) - July 2001 41% of the West Bank Israeli Sovereignty according to the Barak Proposal (Taba January 2001) REHAN 6% of the West Bank Jenin KADIM Palestinian Sovereign Areas according to the Barak-Proposal - 2001 GANIM (94% of the West Bank) ISRAEL MEVO Projection of Palestinian Sovereign DOTAN Areas envisioned by Sharon - 2001 (43% of the West Bank) SANUR Israeli Settlements / MEHOLA Selected Settlement built-up areas Tulkarm AVNE HEFEZ ENAV SHAVE BARAK PROPOSAL SHOMRON Israeli SAL'IT Sovereignty 6 % Nablus ELON 41 / KEDUMIM MOREH 65% Kalkilya ALFE MENASHE YIZHAR BRAKHA ITAMAR SHOMRON SETTLEMTS. r ORANIT e v ELKANA i West Bank ARIEL Palestinian R MA'ALE Sovereignty n 87 / 35% EFRAIM SHILO a 94 % BET d r ARYE o J SHARON PROPOSAL OFARIM Israeli HALAMISH Control 57% TALMON BET OFRA 7 / EL 0.4% MODIIN Ramallah ILLIT GIV'AT West Bank ZE'EV Palestinian Latrun Jericho Sovereignty 121 / 99.6% Salient (No Man's 43 % Land) MA'ALE City limits unilaterally ADUMIM expanded by Israel, June 28, 1967, Jerusalem West Bank Sovereignty Areas,including Number annexed by Knesset, July 30,1980 of Israeli Settlements and Percentage of Settlers, Abu KALIA excluding East Jerusalem Dis BETAR EREZ Bethlehem K.ETZION EFRAT Gaza TEKOA NEZARIM K.ARBA KATIF Hebron SETTLEMENTS Dead Khan Yunis Sea ISRAEL 0 20 KM Rafah ESHKOLOT SHIM'A 20 Miles Foundation for Middle East Peace Map : © Jan de Jong July-August 2001 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 3 THE MITCHELL REPORT The following text is excerpted from the Report of the Sharm el- between the two sides. There has in fact been a good deal Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee, headed by former senator of discussion on the question of settlements between the George J. Mitchell, issued on April 30, 2001. two sides in the various negotiations toward a permanent status agreement. [Israeli submission] INTRODUCTION Indeed, Israelis point out that at the Camp David summit Some Israelis appear not to comprehend the humiliation and during subsequent talks, the GOI offered to make signif- and frustration that Palestinians must endure every day as a icant concessions with respect to the settlements in the con- result of living with the continuing effects of occupation, sus- text of an overall agreement. tained by the presence of Israeli military forces and settle- Settlements: The GOI also has a responsibility to help ments in their midst, or the determination of the Palestinians rebuild confidence. A cessation of Palestinian-Israeli violence to achieve independence and genuine self-determination. will be particularly hard to sustain unless the GOI freezes all WHY DID IT HAPPEN? settlement construction activity. The GOI should also give careful consideration to whether settlements that are focal The Palestinian Perspective: Palestinians are genuinely points for substantial friction are valuable bargaining chips for angry at the continued growth of settlements and at their future negotiations or provocations likely to preclude the daily experiences of humiliation and disruption as a result of onset of productive talks. Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories. Palestinians see The issue is, of course, controversial. Many Israelis will settlers and settlements in their midst not only as violating regard our recommendation as a statement of the obvious and the spirit of the Oslo process, but also as application of force will support it.