By Dugard's count, there are 149 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and despite promises to freeze their growth, the settler population increased by 63% since 1993 to its present (year end) size of 460,000. In addition, by late last year, new construction was under way in 88 settlements, and their average growth is 4.5% compared to 1.5% inside Israel. An additional 105 "outposts" are also in place - informal structures that precede new settlement activity that are unauthorized but still funded by government ministries. In the so-called "road map," Israel indicated it would dismantle all outposts but never did, and at year end more than 38% of the West Bank consisted of settlements, outposts, military areas, nature reserves off limits to Palestinians, and connecting roads for Jews only.
In addition, under Article 49, paragraph 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, settlements are illegal. The International Court of Justice's (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on the construction of the separation wall affirmed it. Dugard refers to "Israel's contempt for international law," and its actions confirm it. In December, shortly after the Annapolis meeting, Tel Aviv announced plans for 307 new apartments in the Har Homa settlement, but there's more as well - an extensive new "E1" project with 3500 apartments, 10 hotels and an industrial park for 14,500 settlers near Maale Adumin. To complete it, Israel expropriated Palestinian land in Abu Dis, Sawareh, Nabi Moussa and al-Khan al-Ahmar for an alternate Palestinian road to Jericho that frees the area for "E1."
The road is devious. It's part of a larger scheme to replace territorial contiguity with "transportational contiguity" that will work like this - two alternate road and tunnel networks will be constructed, one connecting Palestinian cantons, the other for Jews only, and expropriated Palestinian land will be used for the project.
C. Checkpoints, roadblocks and permits that obstruct free movement
Dugard calls their existence "disastrous....for both personal life and the (Palestinian) economy." In the West Bank, he cites 561 "obstacles to (free) movement." They comprise over 80 manned checkpoints and much more:
-- 476 unmanned locked gates;
-- earth mounds;
-- concrete blocks;
-- ditches; and
-- thousands of temporary checkpoints, called flying checkpoints, for limited periods that are sometimes only hours. In November 2007, there were 429 of them in the West Bank.
Palestinian travel is also restricted or prohibited with permits (like South Africa's "pass laws") required for transit between the West Bank and East Jerusalem. These restrictions violate Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the ICJ held that Israel is bound by this law in the OPT. Israel, however, cites "security" for having them, but Dugard states this "is difficult to accept." A more likely reason is they "serve the convenience of settlers, to facilitate (their) travel and to impress upon the Palestinian people the power and presence of the occupier."
Checkpoints humiliate Palestinians on their own land. They deepen hostility, and "do more to create insecurity than to achieve security." Further, Yedioth Ahronoth (Israel's largest circulation newspaper) reports that one-fourth or more of all IDF soldiers say they witnessed abuse against Palestinian civilians at checkpoints.
D. The wall
Dugard bluntly states that: "The wall that Israel is....building....is clearly illegal." The ICJ affirmed it and ruled that Israel is obligated to discontinue construction and dismantle sections already built. Israel ignores the ruling but "abandoned its claim that the wall is (for) security." It now concedes that one of its main purposes is to "include settlements within Israel."
Its planned length is 721 kilometers. Ten percent or more of it is on confiscated Palestinian land. Through late last year, 59% was completed, 200 kilometers were built after the ICJ ruling, and when construction is finished around "60,000 West Bank Palestinians (in) 42 villages and towns will reside in the closed zone between the wall and the Green Line" separating Israel from Palestine. Moreover, its route may be altered to include up to 13% of Palestinian land, including "many of the West Bank's valuable water resources and its richest agricultural lands."
I am a 72 year old, retired, progressive small businessman concerned about all the major national and world issues, committed to speak out and write about them.
It is the Palestinians that have no right to exist. It is time for Israel to stop being a Jewish state. It is time for massive emmigration to the U.S. Too many people. Not enough water.
by
John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1103 comments)
on Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 5:32:10 PM
