REPORT ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENT IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES A Bimonthly Publication of the Foundation for Middle East Peace Volume 22 Number 1 January-February 2012 THE SETTLERS AND THE ARMY ARE ONE By Geoffrey Aronson settlements in the West Bank heartland. protect settlements and their residents Palestinian police are not permitted to and to promote their welfare—missions The Palestinian Authority (PA) has exercise authority over Israeli citizens, that preclude the effective protection of not ended the occupation, but it has re- including those who enter areas of the Palestinians and their property despite corded one significant accomplishment. West Bank under their nominal con- being mandated by international law. As one Israeli commentator explained, trol. Palestinians, in the words of one The mission of protecting settlements “Today it seems that the biggest threat former al-Aqsa member, “are on their and settlers allows the IDF to be seen to the quiet in the territories comes not own,” when they or their property are by Israelis (if not by Palestinians and the from the Palestinians, but from irrespon- the target of settlers’ “price tag” attacks international community) as something sible provocations of the zealous, insane or “pogroms” (like the one in Hebron other than a foreign army of occupation. margins of the Israeli right wing.” in December 2008) or the defacing of a The idea that the IDF, let alone Pal- Palestinians have long been at the mosque in Salfit in January 2012. estinians, needs protection from settlers, mercy of the twin instruments of occu- For protection against settlers, PA of- turns this well-honed system on its head. pation—settlers and the Israel Defense ficials advise Palestinians to rely on their In mid-December, 100 young Israelis Forces (IDF). The former have acted own limited and inferior resources—and protesting the impending court-ordered with impunity in what they view as the IDF. One top Palestinian security evacuation of the settlement outpost of a century-old battle against Palestin- official explained that his forces are Ramat Gilad traveled from a prestigious ians for control of Palestine’s land and handing out the telephone number of religious academy in Jerusalem to as- resources. the local IDF commander in response sault a military base in the West Bank. “We’ve been reporting for years about to requests by villagers for protection A crowd of 50 entered the camp, threw the settlers’ misdeeds, week after week,” against marauding settlers. rocks, burned tires and otherwise van- wrote Ha’aretz’s Gideon Levy recently. Depending upon the IDF to protect dalized military vehicles before retreat- “We’ve recounted how they have threat- Palestinians from the depredations of ing. There were no arrests. ened Palestinians, hit their children on settlers is like asking the wolf to assure their way to school, thrown garbage at the safety of Little Red Riding Hood. The IDF vs Settlers their mothers, turned dogs on elderly Safeguarding Palestinians is simply not “The IDF, which defends its people, Palestinians, abducted shepherds, stolen part of its operational DNA. The IDF’s found itself defending itself against [its livestock, embittered their lives day and formal, primary mission in the West people],” observed the IDF chief of night, hill and vale, invading and taking Bank is to protect Jews from Arabs, not staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz. “This is an over.” Arabs from Jews. Assaults upon Arabs unimaginable absurdity. It is an unrea- Palestinians are only too well aware and their property by settlers are not sonable and dangerous reality.” that they cannot depend upon their own viewed by the IDF as its responsibil- Confrontations of various kinds politicians or security forces to protect ity. Rather, they are the province of the between the army and those settlers it is them against what many understand- Israeli police, whose capabilities, even if pledged to protect have been a trade- ably view as the most dangerous and they chose to effectively exercise them mark of the settlement drive almost existential threat to their well-being. in such matters—and as a rule they do from its inception. There were more During the second intifada, the al-Aqsa not—are widely derided. than 200 incidents between settlers and Martyrs’ Brigades were formed in part to The settlements and the IDF, on the address the absence of such protection, other hand, are locked in a symbiotic particularly in small villages abutting embrace. The army is duty bound to SETTLERS, continued on page 6 TO OUR READERS FOUNDATION FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE Israel’s right-wing government, em- an elastic concept. But annexation of major boldened by America’s retreat from peace- settlement constellations would absolutely Merle Thorpe, Jr. making, has further clarified its hard-line prevent a viable, contiguous Palestinian Founder approach to borders in the West Bank that state. (1917–1994) is designed to prevent a genuine two-state Israel’s plan would confirm today’s po- peace. litical geography in the West Bank, which Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. In talks in Amman in January, Israeli is already an archipelago of Palestinian President negotiators told the Palestinians explicitly population centers, virtually surrounded by for the first time that Israel expects to annex settlements and settler roads. Continuing Geoffrey Aronson existing “settlement blocks” when a border settlement growth, not just in the “blocks” Director, Research and is finally drawn. but in areas between them, is leaving only Publica tions, Editor, Report on This was no surprise, given the rapid truncated fragments for a Palestinian state. Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories growth of settlements throughout the West As this Report describes, the IDF is Bank in recent years in defiance of U.S. committed to defending Israel’s forty year- Nitzan Goldberger and international demands for a settlement old settlement project, and the IDF as well Waseem Mardini freeze. But it was a step away from the as Israeli politics and institutions are now Editorial Assistants ambiguity Israel had maintained by refus- hostage to the violent, lawless, religious- James Andrew Lionberger ing to define its territorial demands in the nationalist settler movement the state has Zeinab El Tobgui West Bank to the Palestinians, except for its created. Interns regular claims to all of East Jerusalem and a Washington’s calls during this U.S. elec- long-term presence in the Jordan Valley. tion season for continued bilateral negotia- DIRECTORS By rejecting the 1967 border with minor tions as the sole route to peace lack convic- land swaps as the basis for two states, and tion and credibility. They are excuses for Landrum R. Bolling by calling for annexation of existing settle- avoiding strong, sustained diplomacy that Calvin H. Cobb, Jr. ment blocks, Netanyahu’s negotiators have this crisis demands. Richard S.T. Marsh laid bare the pretense of his 2009 accep- Richard W. Murphy tance of a “Palestinian state.” The Israelis Jean C. Newsom offered no map in Amman, and “blocks” is Gail Pressberg William B. Quandt —————— u —————— Nicholas A. Veliotes Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. The Foundation, a non-profit I.R.C. 501(c)(3) organization, supports peace and security for Israelis 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 Occuipied Territories. Sign up to receive the Report by e-mail, to be notified of events in Wash ing ton, D.C., and more. Visit us at www.fmep.org. Copyright © 2012 2 v Report on Israeli Settlement January-February 2012 SETTLEMENT TIME LINE September 30 Three people are injured fronting Palestinian terrorism.” (Ha’aretz) October 27 The Israeli High Court of when settlers from Anatot, in the West Bank, Justice grants approval for the Israel Nature October 7 Israeli police arrest two Pales- clash with activists escorting a Palestinian and Parks Authority to continue to give tinians from Halhul in connection with the farmer to his agricultural land located within special standing to the right wing, settler- car crash that caused the death of Asher Hil- the settlement’s boundaries. (Ha’aretz) aligned Elad association in the City of David lel Palmer and his infant son on September National Park in Silwan, East Jerusalem. October 1 Yitzhar settlers torch farmland 23, 2011. (Ma’ariv) (Yediot Aharonot) in the Palestinian villages of Einabus and Ma’ariv reports plans by settler volunteer Huwwara, south of Nablus. (Ma’an News) November 1 Settlers find the tomb of Ela- paramedics to stop working following a zar the Priest, in Awarta village, vandalized October 2 Settlers uproot trees and set decision by Israel’s Magen David Adom to with Arabic graffiti. Yediot( Aharonot) fire to farmland in the Palestinian villages remove the Star of David from ambulances of Deir Nidham and Nabi Saleh, north of in the West Bank following a request by the Ha’aretz reports that Israeli defense minister Ramallah. (Ma’an News) International Red Cross. Ehud Barak has decided to demolish the Amona outpost. Settlers in Amona have October 3 Vandals torch a mosque in October 9 Dozens of settlers attack Pales- indicated their intention to purchase the land the Bedouin village of Tuba-Zangaria, in tinian farmers as they attempt to pick olives on which the outpost is built in an effort to northeastern Israel. They inscribe “price tag” from lands owned by the Awwad family in avoid its demolition. on the walls, as in similar attacks by settlers the village of Awarta. Two members of the in the West Bank. (Israel Radio) family were convicted for the murders of November 2 The Israeli state attorney the Fogel family in the Itamar settlement in general and director general of the Education YNet reports that the Shvut Rachel outpost March 2011.