israeli settlements destroying hope for palestinian state

7/29/2019 Israeli settlements destroying hope for Palestinian state

1/24

1


2/24


3/24

3

Executive Summary

Settlement activity in the West Bank undermines e-orts to negotiate a peace between Israel and thePalestinian Authority. In act, the United Nations andother third parties around the world have consistently

condemned Israeli settlement construction in the oc-cupied Palestinian territories, labeling it as a sign oIsraels lack o commitment to a two-state solution.

First, ongoing settlement expansion usurps land des-ignated or Palestinian sovereignty in the Oslo Ac-cords and accepted as rightully Palestinian by the UNand other international bodies.

Second, settlements are ar more than residentialenclaves; they are virtual military barracks, ortiedcastles that separate Palestinians rom their schools,places o business and extended communities. Theythreaten the saety o Palestinians who venture near,consume the lions share o the regions water, and

prevent normal movement o both people and goods.The result is ethnic segregation and discrimination.


4/24

4

Over the past 10 years, settlement construction andexpansion has accelerated. It is apparent that no mat-ter what party or action they represent, Israeli au-

thorities are using settlements to prevent the orma-tion o a Palestinian state.

This Euro-Mid report shows, through recorded testi-monies and statistics, that settlement activity dou-bled during 2012 to date. The Middle East Quartet(the United States, European Union, Russia and the

UN) both separately and together must take ac-tion to hold Israel to account or violating internation-al law. They must use their substantial economic andother leverage to orce a halt in settlement construc-tion and expansion, the return o conscated lands totheir previous owners and the compensation o ami-lies whose homes were illegally demolished.

Aected communities must be assisted through sus-tainable development and reconstruction, and thusallowed to once again nurture an independent Pales-tinian economy.


5/24

5

East Jerusalem Under Siege

Surrounding Jerusalem with the Separation Wall sev-ered the connection o many neighborhoods -- suchas Al-Ramm, Kar Aqab, Ras Khamis, Shuaat andSemiramis -- with the Holy City. The majority o the

residents holds Jerusalem IDs, but now nd them-selves living outside the borders, orced to wait atcheckpoints to even attempt to enter the city theyonce called home.

Meanwhile, expansion o settlements inside East Je-rusalem continues -- a gross violation o internationallaw and UN resolutions stipulating that invading coun-tries must withdraw rom occupied territories.

Settlement expansion in numbers

Maale Adumimsettlement: InMarch2012, Israeli

authorities unveiled a plan to build seven towers,each 25 stories tall. When complete, 750 housing

units will sprawl across an area o about 32 du-nums.

JebelAbuGneem:TheResearch&Documentation

UnitoftheJerusalemCenterforSocial&Econom-ic Rights reports that the municipalitys commit-tee or planning and construction has approvedpermits or construction o 55 new units. When

complete, the Plan B portion o the settlementin southern Jerusalem will include 4,000 units, o


6/24

6

which 3,000 have been built so ar. NofZion(locatedonMukaberMountain):Amonth

later, in April 2012, Israeli authorities declared their

intention to expand this 100-unit settlement by212.

Gilo:Plansincludeanexpansionof2,242units.

SheikhJarrah:OnMay5,2012,EuroshaleemWeek-ly reported a plan or another 14 settler housingunits in a ve-oor building in this hotly contestedPalestinian neighborhood.

Silwan:ThepopularIsraelinewspaperHaaretzre-ported on May 29, 2012, that the municipality oJerusalem and the Israeli Ministry o Tourism arecollaborating to allocate NIS 4 million to constructa new settlement south o Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Meanwhile, Jewish settlers are beginning to expand

into previously all-Palestinian neighborhoods. On May2, 2012, the municipality o Jerusalem announced anew plan it calls Business Center and Special Stationor Deir Al-armen, in the ancient city o Jerusalem. Itwill include housing units, a hotel, a central shoppingmall and an underground parking lot or 600 cars cov-ering an area o 18,000 square meters. The plan alsocalls or an elaborate system o underground tunnelsthat will connect the parking lot with both the Mghar-ba and the Prophet David gates, as well as with Al-Aqsa mosque and its surroundings. At the same time,the municipality o occupied Jerusalem issued a deci-sion preventing the people o the Deir Alarmen neigh-borhood rom using the old, above-ground parkinglot, which is built on land belonging to the Palestinian

community. This decision outraged the residents, whotook to the streets in protest.


7/24

7

Likewise, on June 23, 2012, the newspaper Israel Todayreported that the municipality o Jerusalem is plan-ning to allow settlers to establish a Jewish neighbor-

hoodcalled KidmatZion inthe nearbyPalestiniantown o Abu Dis, while attempting to appease localresidents by building thousands o new apartmentsfor Palestinians.AccordingtoUNGeneralAssembly

Resolution 194, passed in 1948, Abu Dis is consideredthe most eastern part o the greater Jerusalem area.Since the signing o the Interim Agreement on the

WestBank andtheGazaStrip (also known as Oslo2) in 1995, Abu Dis has been part o Area B, which isunder the civil jurisdiction o the Palestinian NationalAuthority, but subject to Israeli security control. Mosto the Palestinian Authoritys ofces responsible orJerusalem aairs are located in the town, and the P.A.has built a parliament building there. Until the latest

pronouncement, U.S. pressure had stymied Israeli at-tempts to establish the settlement in Abu Dis.

In a recent meeting o the Anniversary o UnitingJerusalem, the Israeli government endorsed a sug-gestion to build settlement neighborhoods speci-cally or security orces, and to exempt investors romproperty taxes.

It is important to remember, however, that Palestin-ians are not the only ones oppressed by Israeli rule.The Armenian community in Jerusalem (which cov-ers one-sixth o the area o the Old City) is one o theoldest outside o Armenia, and has been charged withadministering many o the Christian holy sites, such as

the place where Jesus was born and the tomb o theVirgin Mary. Despite this rich, inter-aith heritage, their


8/24

8

rights are oten violated by Israel and their numbersare decreasing as they ee to other lands.

The future: More of the same

Press sources have disclosed new plans by the munic-ipality o Jerusalem to build 50,000 more settlementunits in East Jerusalem.

These reports list new Palestinian communities to be

included inthe settlement expansion, such asGivatHamtous (6,299 units over three stages) and Qalandiaairport (the Israeli Airport Authority is demandingthat the land occupied by the Palestinian airport beannexed). Qalandia Airport is considered the primaryairport that will serve a uture Palestinian state, sinceit is located between the major cities o Ramallah and

Jerusalem.

Despite intense international pressure, the plan alsoreportedly includes E1, a 12-square-kilometer territoryby Maale Admumim on which Israel wants to build3,500 new housing units or settlers. This is an areao strategic importance or Palestinians, as it links the

southern West Bank with the north.


9/24

9

West Bank Fragmentation

By the end o 2012, Israeli authorities will connect thesettlements ofMaale Adumim, Reiho and Gosh At-sion with the city o Jerusalem.

ThelandsseizedintheprocessreachtheDeadSea,

which means the central area o the West Bank willbe almost entirely separated rom communities inthe south and north. For example, Palestinians cur-

rently use Passage No. 60 to travel rom the city oRamallah to other communities in the south, such asBethlehem and Hebron. However, to accommodate itssettlement-connection project, Israeli authorities willclose this roadway to Palestinian cars.

As an alternative or Palestinians, Israeli authorities

are currently digging a new tunnel that passes nearthe village o Anata in East Jerusalem and connectstothetownofAlAzeria.Thus,theonlywayforPal-estinians to travel between central and southern WestBank will be an underground tunnel controlled by Is-raeli occupation orces.

Meanwhile, 90% o the Jordan Valley and northernDead Sea --whichthe Israeli organization BTselemcalls the largest land reserves or development pur-poses or the Palestinians in the West Bank is nowcontrolled by Israel through regional councils that en-compass 37 settlements and outposts. The volume owater these settlers use is more than triple the con-sumption o all Palestinians in the West Bank.


10/24

10

Apartheid Wall

According to the Israeli government, the Separation

Wall is a necessity or security, by segregating IsraelicitizensandterritoriescompletelyfromPalestiniansin

the West Bank.

However, the de acto situation shows that this ismerely a imsy pretext Israel adopted to usurp moreland and water wells, while also preventing ree move-

ment o Palestinians even within the West Bank. Ac-cording to the United Nations Ofce or the Coordina-tion o Humanitarian Aairs (OCHA), only 20% o thewallisactuallybuiltontheGreenLine(alsocalledthe

1949 Armistice Line).

As a result, the International Court o Justice ruled in

2004 that the construction o the wall, and its associ-ated rgime, are contrary to international law. Like-

wise, UN Security Council Resolution 1544 (also passed

in 2004) reiterated the obligation o Israel, the occu-

pying power, to abide scrupulously by its legal obli-

gationsandresponsibilitiesundertheFourthGeneva

Convention, and called on Israel to address its security

needs within the boundaries o international law.

On two occasions, the Israeli government was instruct-

ed by the Supreme Court o Israel to alter the route o

the barrier to ensure that negative impacts on Pales-

tinianswouldbeminimizedandproportional.However,

the court continued to allow the wall construction to

go orward, in violation o international law.


11/24

11

The wall, o which about 64% o the planned route isnow complete, is constructed o cement slabs 4,5 or9 meters high in areas heavily populated by Palestin-

ians. In other, less residential areas, the wall is actu-ally an electronic ence surrounded by spiral barbedwire, a trench 4 meters deep and 4 meters wide, anasphalt road 12 meters wide or Israeli patrols, and asandy road 4 meters wide and equipped with cam-eras, lights and control towers or detecting inltra-tors. The depth o the wall and its surrounding ma-

trix o control ranges rom 23 to 300 meters. When itis complete, it will be 703 kilometers in length.

As a result, the wall isolates 120 Palestinian neighbor-hoods with a combined population o approximately92,000 residents. In addition, more than 100 Israelisettlements built on West Bank land have been incor-

porated within the Israeli side o the wall.

According to the Palestinian governments NationalInormation Center, the construction o the wall hasrequired the demolition o about 100,000 olive andlemon trees, the devastation o 72 acres (291.3 du-nums) o greenhouses and 23 miles o irrigation pipe-lines, and the diversion o 55% o the groundwater toIsraeli-only use. The wall also has taken a heavy toll onagriculture-related jobs, and nearly 100,000 head olivestock are prevented rom reaching their custom-ary pastures, which now are located to on the wrongside o the wall. Land conscated or the wall includes62 dunums taken rom the campus o Al Quds Univer-sity and thousands o dunums once part o residential

villagesthatnowareclosedmilitaryzones.


12/24

12

In terms o the human actors, 13,500 Palestinianshave been separated rom amily members and/ortheir homes and land, according to the central cen-

sus center. Another 92,000 Palestinians are held cap-tive, their homes stranded between the wall and theGreenLine.

Other Palestinians have lost their homes altogether. InTulkarem province alone, 80 houses were demolishedto make way or the wall, and 2,770 houses were at

least partially destroyed in Qalqiliya.

Another human cost is the difculty in accessing nec-essary services due to the impediment posed by thewall. For example, Palestinian villagers have great di-culty reaching the hospitals in Tulkarem, Qalqilyahand East Jerusalem. Students and teachers also oten

cannot make it to school on time, or sometimes atall. According to the Palestinian Ministry o Educationand Higher Education, 130,000 students attending300 schools have been adversely aected.

Jobs are drying up as well. A total o 750 entrepre-neurial businesses -- 470 in Tulkarem alone are iso-lated rom their customer base, and 27 other eco-nomic establishments have been destroyed to makewayforthewall.Theresult:alossofapproximately

US$130 million.


13/24

13

Plans for a Unilateral Pullout

In an attempt that can only be understood as a moveto prevent the creation o a contiguous Palestinianstate with East Jerusalem as its capital, Israeli Minis-ter o Deense Ehud Barak has revived a plan rstproposed by ormer Prime Minister Ehud Olmert -- tounilaterally disengage rom the West Bank.

This would result in a Palestinian state that would,

in actuality, be a patchwork o cantons, disconnect-ed rom Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley, which Is-rael would retain (along with other strategic areasdeemed necessary or military purposes, such as WestBankhillsthatoverlookBenGurionAirport).

Theplanalsousesannexationtolegitimizebigsettle -

ment masses, where about 90% o settlers live in-cludingGoshAtsioninHebron,Arielinthenorthern

West Bank and Maale Adumim in East Jerusalem.Meanwhile, the Separation Wall would be institution-alized,makingevenmorepermanenttheconscation

o land upon which it was built estimated at 10% othe entire West Bank.

Reign of Netanyahu

There are currently 144 ormal settlements in the WestBank, 16 o which are located in Jerusalem, and morethan 100 smaller outposts. The number o settlershas reached an estimated 650,000 -- with 300,000

living in East Jerusalem alone.


14/24

14

Illegal settlement expansion has increased since Ban-jamin Natanyahu took ofce in 2009. In 2011, hous-ing units in West Bank settlements increased by 20%

over the previous year. During the rst hal o 2012,the trend continued. In February 2012, or example,Israeliauthoritiesauthorized695morehousingunits

in the West Banks illegal settlements. In July, Israeliauthorities started building another 851.


15/24

15

Expropriation of antiquities and natural

resources

The continuing settlement activity is aggravated byscouting teams belonging to the Ministry o Tourismand Antiquities or example, in the settlement oShilo in southern Nablus. The goal is to convert thesite into a tourist spot or settlers.

Elsewhere, Israeli authorities declare land of limits by

designating it a nature reserve; a case in point is theNablusregionsJerzeemMountain.Theareaisrichinan-

cient Islamic antiquities reaching back to Ayyubid and

Mamluk period, yet Palestinians do not have access.

Herodian Mountain, in southern Bethlehem, is one othe areas that was captured by Israel and converted

into a playground or settlers and oreign tourists.A military checkpoint was set up by the Israeli armynext to the archaeological site, and the region wassurrounded by a ence to prevent Palestinians romentering.


16/24

16

A chronology of theft

A detailed examination o records or August and

September o 2012 documented the ollowing cons-cations:

Aug.5:300dunumsinAl-KhadervillageofBeth-lehem District were seized for expansion of the

roadblock servicing the Nevi Daniel settlement. Aug. 23: 7 dunums owned by three Palestinians

(Abdul Sami, Saber Sidr and Abdul Sami Osaily)were conscated or new settlement roads.

Sept.13:1,475dunumsinthevillagesofAwarta,Bu-rin,Ijnisinia,AnNaqura,ZawataandBeitIbanear

NabluswereseizedbytheIsraelimilitarywithout

any stated reason. That same day, a group o set-tlersseized2dunumsownedbyYousefGhoneim

in the Al-Khader village o Bethlehem or settle-ment and tourism.

Sept. 18: Israeli authoritiesordered the consca-tion o land owned by Palestinians Nader Rugbi,Amin Bakri and Mohammed Salaymeh near the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in the Old City o Hebron. Theyalso gave notice to Abdullah Atta to clear his 9 du-nums within 45 days, on the grounds that the landis a natural extension o the nearby settlement oDaniel Nevi.

Sept.19:60dunumscultivatedbySabriManasrah

and Joma Assa in the Wad Fokeen village o Beth-lehem were declared state lands and annexed byIsrael.

Sept.20:14dunumsplantedwithtreesintheKha-

laylah neighborhood o Al-Jeib village, adjacent to


17/24

17

the Ajaon Hnah settlement northwest o Jerusa-lem, were conscated or use by the Israeli mili-tary. The land was reportedly owned by the Pal-

estinian amilies Shaker and Dar el-Sheikh. On thesame day, Israeli authorities notied Palestinian AliSalahitwouldseize6dunumsintheKhodrvillage

o Bethlehem District. No reason was given. Sept. 26: About 200 dunums were cleared by a

bandofsettlersintheYanunvillageofNablusDis-trict, taking advantage o the act that the land is

the subject o a court dispute.

Whilelandisbeingseized,homesaredemolished.UN

statistics show that 64 Palestinian homes have beendemolished to date in 2012; in 2011, the rate was 23houses per month. The number o Palestinians orcedto leave their homes has risen rom 52 in 2011 to 103 in

2012. In one specic tragedy, Israel issued demolitionorders to the residents o 13 Palestinian villages in theHebron District, displacing 1,650 people.

Israels demolition policy particularly aects the ter-ritories dubbed Area C, which constitute 60% o theWest Bank and are subject to Israeli management andsecurity control. The Israeli army has already declared18% of Area C territory a closed military zone

equivalent in size to the entire area undermanage-ment and control o the Palestinian security orces

The residents o Palestinian villages in the southern West

Bank have been ghting or 10 years in the Israeli Su-

preme Court to protect their homes rom demolition. The

court order that prevented their homes rom being de-


18/24

18

stroyed ended in 2012 and the residents now await their

ate. Meanwhile, they are without power or water.

A chronology of destruction

Euro-Mid collected these details on demolitions dur-ingthemonthsofAugustandSeptember2012:

Aug. 1: Israeli bulldozers destroyed a house and

a restaurant belonging to a Palestinian in the Al-

makhrour neighborhood o Beit Jala city nearBethlehem. He was told his land had been declaredaclosedmilitaryzone.

Mid-August: A school in Shibli (the Negev) was

razedonthepretextofaredrillbytheIsraeli

military. On that date, Israeli bulldozers also de-molished three wells in the city o Jenin in the

northern West Bank.Aug.27:Israelibulldozersdestroyedahouse,awell

and three residential barracks owned by the AbuSharkhfamilyinKhirbitEl-Teiran,southofZahiyria

town in the Hebron District. A day later, the Israeliarmy demolished a shop owned by Ismail Jaber inthe Al-Ram area o the Jerusalem District.

Sept.5:IsraelibulldozersdestroyedahouseinBeirAl-Maksour, near the city o Sharam in Palestinianterritory now part o Israel. On the same day, Is-raeli authorities delivered demolition noticationsto the owners o 20 homes and stop-constructionorderstoanumberofothercitizensinTubas,the

northernJordanValley,AqabaandKirbitYazara.

Sept.11:Sixdemolitionnoticationswereissuedto

the Siam, Abu Hadwan, Beydoun, Hamdoun and


19/24

19

Abu Aram amilies in the Silwan neighborhood oJerusalem District, alleging their homes were builtwithout permits. One day later, the municipality

o Jerusalem orced Sami Abu Diab to tear downa building attached to his house in Silwan on thesame pretext.

Sept. 18:Three residents ofYatta inHerbonDis-trict were issued stop- construction notices orwells and houses in punishment or ailing to ob-tain building permits (which are typically not given

to Palestinians). In addition, the Siam and Qaraeinamilies received notices shortly beore their twohomes and a shop in Silwan were demolished.

Sept. 19: Israeli occupation authorities notied

Ahmed Aladrah, a resident of the town of Yatta

south o Hebron, that his house would be demol-ished. No reason was stated

Sept.23:NinedemolitionorderswereissuesbytheIsraeli authorities to amilies in villages and neigh-borhoods o Silwan, Al Abbasiya, Wadi Al Bashir,JisrAlSawahraandEinEl-Louzaagainonano

permit charge.

Hajeet Aran, who runs Peace Nows Settlement Watch,

characterizesthecontinuingsettlementconstruction

as an attempt by the government o Benjamin Netan-

yahu to impose a new reality on the ground ahead o

the next parliamentary elections on Jan. 22, 2013. Ear-

ly elections were called ollowing a series o domes-

tic disputes, including mass protests over high living

costs and a move to repeal a law allowing the religious

Haredi to indenitely deer national military service.

Settlement expansion will, it is believed, shore up sup-


20/24

20

port among Netanyahus supporters on the right.

On the other hand, the Muslim-Christian Commis-

sion charges that settlement expansion in Jerusalemcloses the door to any political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conict, likening it to iron chains cufngoccupied Jerusalem.

Complicity of the Israeli Judiciary

The Israeli judiciary enables the Israeli government; thereis no efective check and balance. With the permis-

sion o the judiciary, more than 42% o the West Bank

now has been transerred to the control o Israeli settle-

ments, allowing large-scale building on private Pales-

tinian land. It is estimated that 21% o the settlements

is built on property rightully owned by Palestinians. In

addition, most settlements are immediately adjacent toPalestinian towns, restricting civic development.

Even settlements dubbed outposts because they donot have ofcial approval rom the Israeli governmentare with a ew exceptions -- tolerated rather thanremovedasrequiredbylocallaw.Yet,thedocument

known as the Road Map to Middle East Peace (ad-opted by the Middle East Quartet in 2002), as well aspetitions submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court, callsor all outposts erected ater 2001 to be removed.

The IsraeliorganizationBTselemconcludes that the

nancial, legal and bureaucratic investments Israel has

poured into settlements has transormed them to civic

walled islands in the heart o a militarily ruled region.


21/24

21

Thus, the so-called Israeli democracy is actually basedon two separate judicial systems, with separationthrough racial discrimination t he basis or governance

in the Occupied Territories.


22/24

22

Conclusion and Recommendations

The reality o Israels gross, systematic violations othehumanrightsofPalestiniancitizensisclear.There

is currently no deterrent power compelling Israel torespect international law or, or that matter, agree-ments negotiated with the Palestinian Authority.

Euro-Mid Observer or Human Rights calls on the UN,countries o the Middle East Quartet and the Europe-an Union to take serious action to orce Israel to com-ply with its obligations under international law, begin-ning with a halt to all settlement expansion, ollowedby removal o the illegitimate settlements altogether,return o conscated lands and compensation o indi-

viduals whose homes have been demolished.

Finally, Euro-Mid calls on international bodies to sup-port reconstruction and sustainable developmentprojects inside Palestinian villages and towns thathave been suocated by settlement activity and con-struction o the Separation Wall.


23/24

23

Justice will not be served until thosewho are unaected are as outraged

as those who are.

Benjamin Franklin


24/24

24

israeli settlements destroying hope for palestinian state

Documents