REPORT ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENT IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES A Bimonthly Publication of the Foundation for Middle East Peace Volume 13 Number 2 March-April 2003 BARBED WIRE, STONE, AND ASPHALT FORGE A NEW WEST BANK Israel has just elected Ariel Sharon tion, contiguous to existing development itself built in part on al-Azariya’s patri- for a second term, an expression of pub- and in new outposts along adjoining mony. lic support not bestowed on an Israeli mountain ridges, and extensive site This road features a tunnel under prime minister since Menachem Begin. preparation for future development. Mt. Scopus, not unlike the Tunnel Road International efforts to fill the diplo- Revolutionary changes in patterns of that links the East Jerusalem settlement matic vacuum created by the destruction transportation and access are also in the of Gilo with the Etzion bloc of settle- of the Oslo process continue to proceed works. There are new roads for Israeli ments to the south. For a time, Palestin- in fits and starts, without much confi- settlers, aimed at facilitating safe travel ian snipers had all but closed this route dence of success. While most interna- to Israel and encouraging economic to settlers—since the outbreak of the tional attention is focused on these two development. In contrast, the dynamic intifada they are the only Israelis who features of the political and diplomatic for Palestinians is just the opposite—an travel the West Bank—but today the landscape of the conflict, the best ever-increasing network of barricades, route is lined with concrete barriers. barometer of relations between Israelis obstacles, patrol roads, and prohibitions The road is meant to serve residents and Palestinians is, and remains, the that isolate them from settlements, each of the settlement of Betar Ilit, home to state of affairs on the contested lands other, and from places of work, compro- almost 20,000 members of the ultra- themselves. mising their ability to lead normal lives orthodox Haredi community. After A recent visit to the region south of and impoverishing an entire national transiting the tunnels, the road contin- Jerusalem highlights two prominent community. ues past the Palestinian village of al- aspects of this continuing and unequal These elements of everyday life are at Khadar. The road linking the village to battle for control of the land. In virtual- once contradictory and complementary. this main thoroughfare has been block- ly every Israeli settlement, colonization They illustrate the contrast between the aded. As a consequence, villagers walk efforts are proceeding apace. These unequal fortunes of settlers and their to a nearby lot where buses await. Such measures include new housing construc- Palestinian neighbors while sustaining blockades, which have grown more the overall impression of an Israeli poli- extensive and impermeable over the cy that by design and execution aims at months of rebellion mean that Palestin- Also in this issue: consolidating Israel’s ability to secure a ian vehicles, with their distinctive green permanent hold over these lands. and white license plates, have all but Etzion Bloc Map 3 The Palestinian village of al-Azariya disappeared from the principle West Settlement Time Line 4–7 offers no better metaphor for this Bank roadways. New Security Perimeters 8 extraordinary state of affairs. The village The road to Betar Ilit continues past ——— N ——— is defined by the road that passes the Palestinian village of Husan. Ten through it from Jerusalem to Jericho. meters from the road a wire fence at Visit our website, www.fmep.org, for back issues of the Settlement Report, Today, the road is impassable. Israel has least five meters tall—to keep settlers maps, and current analyses and constructed a concrete wall across the safe from stones—surrounds the village’s commentary on the Israeli-Palestinian road at the eastern perimeter of southern perimeter. High intensity conflict. Jerusalem’s municipal boundary, split- lights shine directly into homes. ting the village in two. Betar Ilit serves an expanding com- The first in a series of Arabic and Hardly five kilometers distant, a new munity of Orthodox Jews. Affordable Hebrew translations of the Settlement Report can be viewed at www.fmep.org. road has opened to connect Jerusalem with the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, WEST BANK, continued on page 3 TO OUR READERS FOUNDATION FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE Jeff Aronson’s account in this issue of witnessed the massive scale and velocity of settlement expansion south of Jerusalem the settlements project, one reason, perhaps Merle Thorpe, Jr. and the accompanying map vividly illus- why Washington has never fully grasped Founder trate Ariel Sharon’s drive to cement Israel’s the danger of settlements and the urgent (1917–1994) domination of the occupied territories. need to confront the issue. Sharon is exploiting the diplomatic vacuum Many hope that after the war in Iraq, Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict created by the U.S. will reengage more vigorously in President Washington’s retreat from this issue and its Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy. President Geoffrey Aronson preoccupation with Iraq to accelerate Bush supports a “viable, credible, Palestin- Director, Research and Publica- changes in the political geography of the ian state” and a secure Israel. But settle- tions, Editor, Report on Israeli West Bank. He is also moving aggressively ments absolutely block both goals. The Settlement in the Occupied Territories to isolate East Jerusalem from the West “Road Map”, which defines current U.S. Bank. The scale of the latter effort is star- policy, calls for a settlement freeze. But, like Mallika Good tling. It includes roads, trenches, walls, tun- the failed Oslo process, it lacks a clear des- Editorial Assistant nels and settlements designed to preclude a tination that defines a final status agree- Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem, a bot- ment with the essential elements for peace, ADVISERS tom line element for any peace deal. security, and a viable Palestinian state. Lucius D. Battle Over the years this Foundation and oth- These must include, not just an immediate Landrum R. Bolling ers have monitored settlement growth and halt to settlement growth, but evacuation of Peter Gubser warned of the threat to peace. U.S. diplo- most of the settlements. Jean C. Newsom mats and intelligence analysts have also provided accurate reports on settlements. Gail Pressberg But texts and maps, without on-the-ground Nicholas A. Veliotes observation, do not fully convey the stark TRUSTEES reality. Too few senior U.S. officials have Peter M. Castleman Chairman Lucius D. Battle Calvin H. Cobb, Jr. Settlement Localities and Population, 2001 James J. Cromwell Stephen Hartwell Number of Settlements Richard S.T. Marsh Settlement Type (West Bank and Gaza Strip) Population Richard W. Murphy William B. Quandt Rural 10 9,700 Sally S. Thorpe Rural Communal 69 41,700 Rural Kibbutzim 9 1,800 The Foundation, a non- profit I.R.C. 501(c)(3) Rural Moshavim 32 8,800 organization, supports peace Total Rural Population 120 62,000 and security for Israelis and Palestinians through mutual Urban 2,000–9,999 14 57,500 recognition and a negotiated Urban 10,000–19,999 4 63,000 division of historic Pales- tine. It publishes the bi- Urban 20,000–49,999 1 25,800 monthly Report on Israeli Total Urban Population 19 146,300 Settlement in the Occupied Territories. Grand Total 139 208,300 Copyright © 2003 Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract of Israel, 2002, Table 2.9. 2 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement March-April 2003 ETZION BLOC AND ENVIRONS - March 2003 Palestinian Locality Anata Israeli Settlement Za'im Jerusalem East Jerusalem Old City Azzariya Israeli Settlement Bloc MA'ALE ADUMIM Highways; Existing- Abu Projected Dis Traditional Roads- Israeli Roadblock or Walaja Checkpoint I S R A E L GILO HAR HOMA MEVO Husan BETAR Ubaydiya IS R AE L Nablus Bethlehem Al Khadr BETAR ne ILLIT West Li Shawawra n ee Nahhalin W e s t Bank Gr R amallah GEVA'OT B a n k NEVE Za'atara Jaba DANIEL Jerusalem BAT ROSH EFRATA AYIN ZURIM Bethlehem KEFAR TEKOA Hebron ETZION 0 5 Km Surif MIGDAL NOKDIM OZ 3 Miles Map : © Jan de Jong WEST BANK, continued from page 1 torial footprint of Betar Ilit to the west. On a hilltop to the southeast is Rosh Zurim, part of the housing in the recently incorporated Etzion bloc of settlements. To the There is such a thing as International Law. municipality has catapulted Betar northeast is the settlement of Neve Ilit to the top of the list of fastest There are rules and obligations which it Daniel, expanding across the hill- growing settlements. Panoramic imposes on an occupying power. Certain tops. The old road leading from views from the nearby Palestinian minimal obligations towards letting an occu- Nahalin past the settlement and to village of Nahalin bring Israel’s pied population enjoy a certain minimal stan- the main thoroughfare to Bethle- patented methods of settlement dard of living. There was a time when Israeli hem is now blocked by stones. expansion into view. The settlement There is no need for an Israeli rule was more or less within this framework. is growing along the hilltops and checkpoint. Further to the south lie down into the wadis that just sepa- Now it is totally broken. The only considera- the settlements of Bet Ayin and, to rate the settlement from Nahalin. tion, overriding everything else, is mainte- the southwest, Giva’ot. The latter is Nahalin is growing too, also in the nance of the settlements, which are inherently today a small outpost on a hilltop. If direction of the wadi, but the limit- a violation of International Law.