Who are the settlers?

Tonight I want to take a closer look at Israeli settlers. There are currently 479, 500 Israelis living in settlements in in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

But first a map from B'Tselem. The dark blue areas are settlements (homes, schools, synagogues, medical clinics etc...). The light blue areas are the municipal boundaries. The dark brown areas are Palestinian towns and villages. The light brown areas are administered by the Palestinian authority. The even lighter brown areas are under Israeli security control and Palestinian civilian control. And the white areas are controlled by Israel.

Settlements

Israelis choose to live in settlements for economic, religious and ideological reasons, all strongly encouraged by political parties and the government (through both financial incentives, infrastructure and other support). Peace Now defines ideological settlers as those who live in settlements to settle Eretz Israel and prevent implementation of a two-state solution. A second category choose to live in settlements for their low housing prices and relatively high quality of life. The third category are ultra-Orthodox Jews who live in settlements built especially for them, for example, Modi’in Illit and Beitar Illit, but who are not ideologically motivated.

There are no official statistics, but Peace Now estimates that 40 percent are ideological settlers and 60 percent are there for economic reasons, both the ultra-Orthodox and secular Israelis.

All this is good and bad news. The good news is that the majority of settlers are not there for ideological reasons, which means that if the time comes to establish an independent Palestinian state, it will be relatively easy to move these people back into Israel (so long as the government provides financial incentives).

The bad news is that these figures show just how extensively the settlement enterprise is driven by government policy and support (and not by a bunch of whacky Jewish cowboys). The majority of Israelis move to settlements because it is financially more attractive for low-income families.

So it makes me wonder: why does the government provide such strong support for settlements? Why are they supported by both the left and right? And what does this mean for the prospects of an independent Palestinian state?

17 days to go...

The "S" word

I do not know about you guys, but I am often confused about the whole settlement thing. On the one hand, both the left and the right in Israel support and encourage settlement construction when they are in power. On the other hand, the whole world says Israeli settlements are illegal and an impediment to peace. So what is going on here? On what basis are settlements legal or illegal?

This is what I found out. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the historical context for allowing Jewish settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip comes from the Mandate of Palestine adopted by the League of Nations in 1922, which provided for Jewish immigration and settlement on the land, including State lands, but without prejudice to the local population.

The Ministry also examined international laws that Israel has signed regarding the issue of settlements. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the forcible transfer of segments of the population of a state to the territory of another state which it has occupied. The provision was drafted immediately after World War II, and was intended to protect the local population from displacement by the occupying power. The rest of the world says that the provision on population transfer in the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. They consider all settlement construction illegal.

The Ministry, however, argues that the provision does not apply to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, because it does not prohibit the voluntary return of individuals to towns or villages from where there ancestors have been ousted; and because the provision does not prohibit movement to land which was not formerly a sovereign state. The Ministry claims that Israeli settlements have been established only after exhaustive investigations, under the supervision of the Supreme Court of Israel, to ensure that no settlements are established on private Arab land. The Ministry emphasises that the movement of individuals is voluntary and not intended to displace Arab inhabitants, nor do they do so in practice.

From 1967 to the end of 2007, Israel established 121 settlements in the West Bank. 12 other settlements are located in East Jerusalem. There are an additional 100 unrecognized settlements, referred to in the media as “outposts.” The 16 settlements built in the Gaza Strip and three settlements in the northern West Bank were evacuated in 2005 during the disengagement plan. By the end of 2008, the number of settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem stood at 479,500. Israel provides strong economic incentives to encourage Israelis to move to settlements.

In 2006, Peace Now, an Israeli peace movement, got access to information from the Civil Administration, the governmental body that administers the construction of settlements, about settlement activity. Leaving international law to one side for a moment, Peace Now found that Israel is even violating its own policies and laws with regard to settlements.

The report found that nearly 40 percent of settlements are built on private Palestinian land. In some settlements the percentage was higher, with 86.4 percent of Ma'ale Adumim being built on private Palestinian land. Only 1.3 percent of settlement land was actually purchased by Israelis. The rest of the settlements have been built on so-called "State land" and a smaller percentage on "survey land." Much of this land had people living on it beforehand, using the land for their homes, to graze sheep, or for agricultural purposes. But most of these people did not have formal title to the land.

Given this evidence, the answer to the legal question seems clear. Houston, we have a problem. But the bigger question is why? Why is there such strong support from Israeli governments, left and right, for the settler movement? Why does Israel seem so ready to bend the rules on this issue?

I still have more searching to do.

23 days to go...

Tomb of the Patriarchs

Today I did a tour of Hebron with B'Tselem. The guide was an Israeli who served in the army in Hebron twenty years ago, for the Golani Brigade. We met the spokesperson of the Hebron Jewish community and a Palestinian who runs a non-violence centre. Once again, I was amazed by the individual stories and the path which led each person to this point.

But first, a few words about Hebron. Hebron is a Palestinian city located in the West Bank. It is also the burial site of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Leah (and possibly also Adam and Eve). You see, all this is Abraham's fault. When he arrived in the land of Canaan, he settled near Hebron, and when his wife Sarah died, he purchased a plot of land including a burial cave. This later became the tomb of the patriatchs, and has become one of the ugliest faces of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (if only Abraham knew what trouble he started!).

We stayed in the Israeli-controlled part of Hebron, which is 3 percent of the city, and where 25, 000 Palestinians and 600 Israelis live. 1, 000 Israeli soldiers are also stationed in Hebron.

The spokesperson of the Hebron Jewish community told us the story of the Jews in Hebron. The tomb of the patriarchs is the second most holy place for Jews, although it is also considered sacred for Muslims and Christians. Jewish presence in the city dates back to the 11th century. The Jewish and Muslim population of Hebron lived side-by-side in relative harmony for much of this time. Although, for seven hundred years, during the Ottoman rule, Jews were not allowed to prayer at the tomb.

And then, he said, came the massacre. In 1929, during the British rule, things turned sour. A mufti from Jerusalem began inciting violence against the Jews. On 23 and 24 August, Arabs from Hebron and surrounding villages massacred 67 Jews and wounded over 70. Many other Jews were saved by Arab families who hid them in their homes (19 families, according to our guide). After that, most Jews were relocated to Jerusalem, and the last remaining inhabitant left the city in 1947, just before Israel's independence.

The spokesperson for the Jewish community then turned to the more recent history. In 1968, a group of Jews requested permission to celebrate Pesach in Hebron. After the holiday they stayed and announced their intention to establish a Jewish settlement and received support from the government. They occupied synagogues, yeshivot, a hospital and homes which belonged to Jews prior to 1929. Today there are four settlements in Hebron city, with 600 Israelis, and one neighbouring settlement, Qiryat Arba, with 7, 000 Israelis.

The veteran soldier from B'Tselem told us that the settlement in Hebron is the only Israeli settlement in the heart of a Palestinian city. It is also the most fanatical and ideological of the settler movement. In fact, he said, the vast majority of settlers live in the West Bank because it is more affordable than in Israel, not for ideological reasons. There is ongoing violence and tension in the city, which is why B'Tselem has an active presence in the area, including a video project that acts as a deterrent to violence.

In 1994, an American-born Israeli, Baruch Goldstein, entered the tomb of the patriarchs during muslim prayers and opened fire, killing 29 Palestinians and injuring 150. This was a massive turning point, our guide told us. After this incident, the Israeli government implemented severe measures to separate the Israeli and Palestinian populations. The main Palestinian marketplace and shopping area, where the settlers also live, was closed and moved elsewhere. Palestinians who have their homes next to the settlers are not allowed to bring cars into the area nor receive visitors. They have grills on all their windows and balconies to prevent them throwing stones at the settlers and vice versa. The tomb of the patriarchs was split in two: one side for Muslims and one side for Jews.

It is like a ghost town. All the shops are bolted closed, buildings are in disrepair, and there are army checkpoints, barriers and barbed wire on every corner. All I kept thinking was, Abraham must be turning in his grave.

Our last stop was to visit a Palestinian man from Hebron who recently established a centre for non-violence in Hebron. He is furious with the Israeli government for allowing the situation in Hebron to get so bad, but he believes the only solution is non-violence. He rents a house in Hebron which houses non-violent projects. He is currently running workshops on how to use video-cameras, shoot films and edit documentaries; they run English and Hebrew classes for women, and it is a place where Palestinian children can come to play.

My initial thought of Hebron was, of course Jews have a right to be present here, it is where our forefathers and foremothers are buried, Jews have been here since the 11th century. But if I think that, then surely I must afford the same rights to the Palestinians, who's homes, or who's parents and grandparents homes, and who's holy sites are in Israel. But where does that leave us? Can the two peoples ever live together? And if not, is asserting our rights the best starting point for figuring out how to solve this mess?

I started wishing again that the pragmatists had a louder voice in this conflict.

29 days to go...

Twists and turns (part four)

I have two more things I want to share with you about Jerusalem that I learnt last week. One, on the separation barrier, told to me by an Israeli woman, and the other, about settlements, told to me by an Israeli man who spends his life monitoring settlement activity in the West Bank.

First, the Separation Barrier. The Israeli woman carefully explained that the decision to build the barrier between Israelis and Palestinians came after a particularly deadly period of terrorist attacks. From 2000-2002, 330 people were killed and 6, 000 were injured in terrorist attacks across Israel. Jersusalem was particularly badly hit. The separation barrier was proposed as a security measure in response to the attacks.

But, she argued, the route of the separation barrier in East Jerusalem defies all security logic. Instead of separating Palestinians from Israelis, the barrier actually includes thousands of Palestinians on the Israeli side, and in some cases even goes through Palestinian villages, splitting them in two. Take a look again at the map. The red line is the route of the barrier, the brown dots are Palestinian villages, and the blue dots are Israeli villages. As you can see, there are lots of brown dots on the Israeli side of the barrier.

She showed me how the route of the separation barrier lies more or less on the municipal boundary (the yellow line) of East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in 1967. She took me to two villages, Abu Dis and Kafr Aqeb, which had been separated in two by a concrete wall. She spoke of families who have been split apart. 60, 000 Jerusalemites have found themselves on the "wrong" side of the wall. Her conclusion: the barrier is designed to change the demography of East Jerusalem and undermine the prospect of a viable Palestinian state.

Now to the settlements. First, I want to clarify, settlements are not a politically divisive issue in Israel. Both the left and right support settlement construction. In fact, as I learnt from the Israeli guy, more settlement projects were born when the left was in power. We went up to Mount Scopus to see the project of Ma'ale Adumim and the E1 zone (see the map above).

Ma'ale Adumim is the third largest settlement in the Palestinian territories. 35,000 Jewish Israelis live there and most of it was built on private Palestinian land. The Israeli government has plans to expand the municipal boundaries of Ma'ale Adumim and to build an extra 4, 000 housing units. The proposed municipal borders would effectively cut the northern part of the West Bank from the southern part because the only road that connects the two areas passes through zone E-1.

I asked whether the Palestinians could build an alternative road, but I was told that the area is mountainous and any alternative solution would be extremely difficult. Once again, I heard the same message, this project severely endangers the possibility for a viable Palestinian state.

I know that things can and do change: settlements can be evacuated and walls can come down. Just the other day, Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to freeze settlement construction in the West Bank (although, NOT in East Jerusalem). Nevertheless, the situation is pretty scary. Time could be running out for a two-state solution.

Are we prepared to abandon the idea of a Palestinian state? Are we aware of the consequences? What are we hoping will happen to the millions of Palestinians living in a divided West Bank?

32 days to go...

Underneath the rubble

Today I did another tour of East Jerusalem. This time to learn about the issue of house demolitions, with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). I found it hard: confronting and conflicting.

East Jerusalem is heavily disputed. Israel annexed the territory after the 1967 six-day war but it is not recognised internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of an independent Palestinian state.

In 1967, according to ICAHD, the population in the whole of Jerusalem was 72 percent Jewish and 28 percent Arab. Since then, the Israeli government has wanted to maintain that ratio. In order to do this, the Israeli authorities implemented planning and zoning laws to limit the growth of Arab communities in East Jerusalem.

In practice, this means a few things. First, encouraging Jews to rent or buy homes in East Jerusalem. ICAHD says that 90, 000 housing units have been built for Jewish Israelis since 1967, and around 180, 000 Jews live in East Jerusalem. Since Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem is not recognised, these people are considered as settlers.

Second, it means restricting the growth of Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem. However, the Arab population in East Jerusalem has grown in the past forty years, and people need extra housing. But, only a few permits are granted per year, so people have built new houses and made extensions without the permission of the Israeli planning and zoning authority.

According to ICAHD, about one third of the homes built in East Jerusalem do not have building permits. This means that they are illegal, and can be demolished at any time. I met a family today whose house was demolished last week.

My initial reaction, was "hey, come on, this guy's house was illegal. Do you really want me to feel sorry for him? If he does not go through the regular channels it's his fault. You cannot blame Israel for everything!" There is a big part of me that gets tired of hearing Israel be blamed for everything. Things are never so black and white.

But, it also got me wondering. How do you judge what is acceptable government policy when the people subject to the policy are not citizens and have no democratic voice in the decision-making? And, what message is the Israeli government sending by actively moving Jewish Israelis into a place which is the hope and aspirations for a future Palestinian state? And anyway, why does all this make me angry at the poor bastard who just lost his home and with it, his life savings?

39 days to go...

The power of film

Three years ago, one of the organisations I work with, B’Tselem, started using video cameras as a tool for their human rights work in the Palestinian territories. After years of hearing and witnessing acts of violence by Israeli soldiers and settlers against Palestinians, they decided it was time to get evidence on camera.

B’Tselem has distributed more than 150 cameras to Palestinian families living in places where tensions are high, for example, near Israeli settlements.

The footage is chilling. In one particularly serious incident, four masked settlers with clubs were filmed attacking three members of the Nawai’ah family, who were grazing their flock on private Palestinian land south of the Israeli settlement of Susiya, near Hebron.



As a result of the video, a criminal investigation was opened and a case was filed in the Israeli High Court. The case was subsequently closed on grounds that the offenders were unknown. Nevertheless, there are many other instances where footage has been used to open military and police investigations that may have not otherwise been possible. Today, the Israeli authorities regularly request copies of videos from B’Tselem to assist their investigations. The films have become an important step towards greater accountability of Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

The distribution of video cameras to Palestinians has also had an important impact on their lives. First and foremost, the presence of video cameras acts as an important deterrent to violence: people are less likely to commit crimes when cameras are around. Second, it has become an important non-violent tool for Palestinians. Third, it has played an important role in empowering women and children, who are the main beneficiaries of the project. And finally, it has harnessed creativity and interest in filmmaking.

I think this is a groundbreaking initiative. For the first time, we can see with our own eyes what is happening on the ground. Let’s face it, we have all become so distrustful about what people say and write about what is happening in the region. It seems almost impossible to separate the facts from the politics, and the politics from the emotions. With these films, we are given firsthand evidence. And if this helps to lessen the violence, well then all the better!

So what do you think? How do you react to this kind of raw footage?

52 days to go…

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Ariel's finger

Today I visited the region of Salfit deep inside the West Bank, had coffee with the governor and lunched in one of the town’s restaurants. You can see my slideshow with captions here. The food was identical to the food you eat in a typical Israeli restaurant. It was even served in the same way. We started with pita, humus, dips and salads, and once I had finished stuffing myself, they brought out the meat and hot chips. Oi vey!

The city of Salfit and its neighboring villages are an important microcosm into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: it is home to one of the largest Israeli settlements, Ariel, with over 16, 000 inhabitants. In addition, over a dozen smaller settlements neighbour Ariel, there is a large industrial complex, a university and several settlement outposts. In 2005, a total of 37, 000 Israelis was estimated to be living in the area. Over 60, 000 Palestinians live in the area.

Ariel is known amongst Palestinians as the capital of the Israeli settlement movement. For many Israelis it is seen as a strategic city between Israel and Jordan. According to Ariel’s official website, Ariel Sharon chose the site because of its location halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, to protect the coast of Israel.

Clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in the region has significantly reduced in the past few years due to increased security measures by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. However, the lives of Palestinians has worsened. The security measures put in place has created a system of separate roads for Israelis and Palestinians, road blockages for Palestinian roads that are near settlements, and endless rows of fences and barbed wire, sometimes cutting through Palestinian homes and olive groves. Israel also decided to include Ariel in the Security Barrier route, earning it the name “Ariel’s finger.”

I never realized how sophisticated and developed are the settlements. I suppose I was naïve. I had imagined a bunch of wild Jewish cowboys roaming around the West Bank in caravans. But this is not the case. The settlements are linked with highways, running water, electricity, public transport, sewage treatment facilities, and more. The government supports and encourages their expansion.

There is no doubt that this is the wrong path toward Palestinian nationhood. But as importantly, I wonder whether this is the best path for the Jewish people.

I am planning a tour with settlers to listen to their perspective. So expect more blogging on this issue.

57 days to go...