REPORT ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENT IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES A Bimonthly Publication of the Foundation for Middle East Peace Volume 22 Number 3 May-June 2012 THE RULE OF LAW VS THE RULE BY LAW By Geoffrey Aronson the village of Silwad and has been the tinian property, he said he could not. site of contentious settlement efforts Claiming Space Many years ago I visited the West since Amona’s dwellings were put in Bank settlement of Ofra, just east of place in 1997. After Israel’s High Court The example of Ofra has been Ramallah. Ofra, established in 1976 as of Justice ruled that the nine perma- repeated throughout the West Bank a “work camp” by Shimon Peres, then nent houses there had been illegally during what will soon be a half century minister of defense, is the jewel in the constructed on private Palestinian land, of settlement beyond Israel’s June 1967 crown of the Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Ehud Olmert’s government demolished border. According to some objective Faithful) settlement movement. the permanent dwellings in 2006, but measures, the settlement enterprise has Soon after taking office in 1977, the caravans and the settlers remained. been extraordinarily successful: Israel newly elected Likud prime minister Me- Khaled Mishal, the Hamas leader and has transferred in defiance of unanimous nachem Begin recognized the outpost native son of the village, once told me international sentiment more than half for what it was always meant to be—a that he used to do his physics homework a million of its citizens, almost 7 per new, permanent settlement. atop the then-pristine summit. cent of the state’s total population, to The entry of settlers into this region On another occasion, during the almost 300 distinct locations outside its proved to be the vanguard of a settle- second intifada, Harel invited me to a borders—a feat unmatched in recent ment blitzkrieg that opened up the Sabbath prayer service at an impromptu history. West Bank heartland to two generations site overlooking Road 60, a short walk The consensus view of the interna- of tens of thousands of settlers. Their through the newly fenced off lands tional community has long been that successes set the stage for Ariel Sharon’s belonging to the village of Ein Yabrud, this entire effort contravenes interna- 1996 exhortation to “grab the hilltops,” where Benjamin Kahane, son of Meir tional law. The large majority of Israelis in and around Ofra and throughout the Kahane, and his wife had been shot and think differently and during the last West Bank as a whole, inaugurating the killed in 2000 by Palestinian gunmen. decades have created for themselves an creation of about a hundred new settle- A military watchtower and a prayer tent Alice in Wonderland world that rejects ment “outposts.” had been erected at the site, a practical the international consensus and instead My host that day was Israel Harel, expression of the symbiotic relation- consecrates as “legal” the wholesale a founder of Ofra and key player in ship between settlers and the army. The theft of Palestinian land and the denial Gush Emunim. His son Etai is one of prime agricultural land was now off of internationally supported rights of the founders of Migron, the oldest and limits to villagers. Today, a new neigh- national self-determination. Israel’s rul- best-established outpost sparked into borhood of red-tiled houses, inhabited ing institutions—the Knesset and the existence by Sharon, sited on a hilltop a in defiance of a court order, has been courts—are the instruments for impart- few kilometers south of Ofra adjacent to constructed on it. ing a stamp of legality on an extraor- the new road built to connect the new Settlers like Harel, his son, and their dinary system that has all but emptied settlements established along the central supporters have always insisted that the essential protections afforded by the mountain spine of the West Bank. private Palestinian land has never been rule of law—equal treatment, a presump- Harel and I climbed the gently taken for settlement unless duly paid for. tion of innocence, the sanctity of private ascending route next to his house to a A long and sordid trail of forged bills property, and clear and transparent nearby hilltop where the settlement of of sale and powers of attorney suggests administration—to Palestinians living Amona sits, commanding a glorious otherwise. When I asked Harel if he view east into Jordan. The hilltop abuts could accept the theft of private Pales- LAW, continued on page 6 TO OUR READERS FOUNDATION FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE The Obama administration has, for the offend the Israeli government. most part, shown competence and pragma- It will not be easy, in any case, to restore Merle Thorpe, Jr. tism in dealing with the Arab Awakening American diplomatic leadership after a Founder and the Middle East, including Egypt, Iran, two-year retreat and to rebuild credibility (1917–1994) Libya, Iraq, and the conundrum of Syria. with Israelis, Palestinians, and regional But its current approach to the Israeli- states. The conflict today is more serious Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. Palestinian conflict has been driven by than ever. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s en- President pre-election domestic politics, not Ameri- hanced coalition, the decline of Israeli peace can strategic interests. The result has been a politics, and the perception that the U.S. Geoffrey Aronson sharp reversal of active diplomatic leader- will always protect Israel against isolation Director, Research and ship over the past eighteen months and a and pariah status, discourage realistic Israeli Publica tions, Editor, Report on very cautious policy of avoiding tensions thinking about their country’s strategic situ- Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories with the Netanyahu government. ation. And steady expansion of settlements Perhaps Obama has exaggerated the in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Nitzan Goldberger power of the right-wing American Jew- division and demoralization among the Waseem Mardini ish and Christian lobbies, which support Palestinians, who have few viable options, Editorial Assistants or condone Israel’s destructive policies of make a reversal of the status quo, absent Samantha Shalowitz occupation and settlement, to defeat him in much stronger U.S. and international inter- James Andrew Lionberger November. Polls and historic data suggest vention, even less likely. Zeinab El Tobgui that presidential policies toward the Israeli- If President Obama wins a second Interns Palestinian conflict do not rank high in the return, he should study the successes of preferences of most American Jewish and Eisenhower, Carter, and George H.W. IN MEMORIAM Christian voters. Bush in applying American power and Stephen Hartwell It is widely assumed that if Obama is re- presidential leadership to create break- (1915–2011) elected, he will try to resume active Israel- throughs in Middle East peace making. DIRECTORS Palestine diplomacy. But U.S. electoral This is still possible. politics are continuous. Some advisors will Landrum R. Bolling still counsel against new policies that would Calvin H. Cobb, Jr. Arthur H. Hughes u —————— —————— 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 © 2012 2 v Report on Israeli Settlement May-June 2012 Settlement Expansion Planning Ramallah East Jerusalem - June 2012 K.Aqab GIV'AT ZE'EV 2 1 - GAI BEN HINNOM GEVA Bir BINYAMIN 2 - ATAROT Nabala Ram 3 - GIV'AT HAMATOS NEVE 4 - HAR HOMA Beit YA'ACOV Hanina Hizma 5 - KIDMAT ZION Biddu 6 - PISGAT ZE'EV 6 PISGAT ZE'EV Shuafat RAMOT Anata R.SHOLOMO FR.HILL Palestinian Locality Za'im Israeli Settlement Sh.Jarrah Tur MA'ALE ADUMIM Settlement Planning I S R A E L OLD Locations CITY Azarya Separation Barrier 1 Silwan 5 Trajectory Kidmat Abu Zion Dis Israeli Municipal Limit Nov Zion East Jerusalem Sawahra ARMON Green Line HANATZIV B.Safafa Roadlink GIV'AT 3 Sur HAMATOS Bahir 5 Km Walaja GILO HAR HOMA 4 Numan Bethlehem NEW SETTLEMENT AREAS IN GREATER JERUSALEM Atarot ians and is known for its relatively pristine views of Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel has long planned to construct a settlement at the Palestinians plan to contest the decision. moribund Jerusalem airport on the city’s northern perimeter as a way to link settlements north and west of the city with Givat Hamatos those to its east (see Settlement Report, March 2007). In Febru- Israeli authorities have released plans for 2,610 housing ary 2012, the Jerusalem municipality took the first concrete units and 1,110 hotel rooms in East Jerusalem in the area steps toward developing the airport, by transferring owner- known as Givat Hamatos abutting Road 60 near Gilo and ship of the land from the Israel Airports Authority to the city Har Homa. Construction could start later this year, creating of Jerusalem. This move still needs approval by the Interior the first new, fully fledged East Jerusalem settlement since the Ministry’s National Committee and the Transportation Min- establishment of Har Homa in 1997. istry. Once the area is classified as city land, the municipality On January 3, 2012, the Israeli Housing Ministry and Is- can begin to develop projects and start the approval process to rael Lands Administration published tenders for new housing build them.