ILLEGAL ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS

“The first settlement, Kfar Etzion, was constructed just 6 months after the start of the occupation in 1967. Since then, 235 settlements have been built in the West Bank.

As recently as November 2009, Israel approved the expansion of the Gilo settlement in the densely crowded Occupied East Jerusalem.

The Israeli military is obliged under international law to protect land ownership in the Occupied Territories; despite this, settlement construction grew by 60% in 2008.
 

Israel’s illegal settlements are one of the main obstructions to peace between the Israelis and the
Palestinians. They infringe on the basic rights of millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and have created a series of no go areas and ‘Jewish settler only’ roads which carve up the area.
Israel has misled the international community on numerous occasions by claiming to halt settlement expansion.

In reality, the expansions continue unabated despite international criticism and condemnation, with hundreds of new housing units being announced year after year.
Settler Population.

The number of settlers in the West Bank has grown from a few hundred in the early seventies to 32,600 in 1984, 114,900 in 1993 (the year of the Oslo Accords) and 282,500 in 2008. When settlers in Arab East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights are
included, the number increases to almost 500,000.

Israelis living in illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem make up 1 in 6 of the total population in the area. Israel’s separation wall is incorporating 414,000 settlers into the Israeli side of the wall, effectively annexing the areas in which they live. Once complete, this will uproot Palestinian communities living near the route of the wall and deprive them of vital resources.

Many have already had their farmlands confiscated leaving them with no means of livelihood.
 

Population growth for Israelis living in settlements is 3 times higher than within the borders of Israel, with an annual growth of 5.5% among settlers. Settlers have been encouraged to move to the Occupied Territories with government subsidies including mortgage grants and tax incentives.

The positioning of settlements often restricts Palestinian freedom of movement. This is notably the case in the city of Al-Khalil (Hebron) where 86 Jewish families live amongst 120,000 Palestinians. Restrictions on Palestinians in the area include curfews and checkpoints. The extensive network of roads connecting settlements means 40% of land in the West Bank is dominated by settlers, further limiting Palestinian movement.

Settler Violence against Palestinians Despite living in recognised Palestinian territory, settlers who commit crimes fall under the jurisdiction of Israeli law. In a policy reminiscent of South African Apartheid, two different legal systems apply to Palestinians and Israelis living in the West Bank, and Israeli perpetrators of crimes against Palestinians are tried under Israeli law. Palestinians report that Israelis involved in violence against them are often treated leniently.

A UN report released in November 2009 warned of the threat to Palestinians posed by settlers. The report states that on average 13 Palestinians a month are injured in settler attacks and blames Israel for its “inadequate level of law enforcement” and adds “The current lack of accountability undermines efforts to reduce the phenomenon of settler violence in the long run and infringes on the rights of the victims to justice”.

The most infamous settler attack was the massacre of 52 Palestinians at the Mosque of Ibrahim in Al-Khalil in 1993, by an Israeli settler. The perpetrators grave is considered a place of pilgrimage for some extremist settlers. Between 2000 and 2004 settlers were responsible for the deaths of 34 Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. 112 Palestinians were injured in settler attacks in the first 12 months of 2008.

Settlers have also been responsible for blocking roadways to prevent Palestinians moving freely, arson against Palestinian property, uprooting crops and trees and harassing Palestinians going about their daily lives.

Settlements in the International Context Israeli settlements are clearly illegal in international law and are opposed by the overwhelming majority of the international community. The International Committee of the Red Cross, The International Court of Justice and the United Nations all consider settlement activity to be in violation of the Geneva Convention. UN resolutions 446, 452, 465, 471 and 476 all condemn settlements as illegal. Even within the Israeli establishment there has been acknowledgement of the illegality of settlements.

International human rights groups, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also class these settlements as illegal. Amnesty International condemned Israel for its restrictions on Palestinian access to water, and in a report stated that while Palestinians in the West Bank live on as little as 20 litres of water, settlers are enjoying ‘swimming pools and lush gardens’.

Settlements and the Peace Process
The issue of settlements remains one of the biggest obstacles to the Peace Process. The Palestinian Authority agreed to exclude talks on settlements from the Oslo Accords in 1993 with a view to resolving the issue in Final Status talks. However, Israel’s persistent and flagrant expansion of settlements has become the single biggest cause in the failure to reach an agreement. Settlements have isolated East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and divided the Occupied Territories in a manner that makes operating a state impossible.

The Israeli insistence on continued settlement expansion and the American failure to apply meaningful pressure on them to stop such activity has meant that there is no hope for
Palestinians to negotiate. Most recently this led to the announcement by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he would not stand in upcoming elections, effectively giving up on talks.
In order for a viable peace process to begin, Israel must withdraw all of its illegal settlers from the Occupied West Bank and withdraw to the internationally recognised Green Line border of 1967.