Israeli Settlements: Recalling the Costs & Consequences
On March 9, the Israeli Interior Ministry announced that it would expand an East Jerusalem settlement by 1,600 housing units. The plan was made public while Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Israel on a goodwill trip aimed at assuring the Israeli public that the relationship between the United States and Israel was as strong as it had ever been. Pundits from around the world characterized the announcement as a "slap in the face" to the visiting Vice President, as Israeli settlement building contradicts longstanding U.S. policy. In the days immediately following the announcement, the White House expressed its dismay and demanded a reversal of the plan. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for the timing of the announcement but defiantly reaffirmed its content, pledging that Israel would not limit settlement construction in East Jerusalem. His defiant stance is consistent with Israeli government actions since 1967.
Israel has been building settlements on Palestinian land for decades. The continued construction of Israeli settlements is not an "inevitable" or "natural" phenomenon -- it is a deliberate project of the Israeli government. Israel's government provides settlers with financial incentives to relocate from Israel to the occupied Palestinian territories, ensuring exponential growth of the settler population each year. As a result, as of 2010, there are over 450,000 Israeli citizens living illegally in the Palestinian territories. Of these, nearly 200,000 live in occupied East Jerusalem, the city the Palestinians envision as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Israel's construction and expansion of settlements has long been denounced by the international community, including the United States, often on legal grounds, as the construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land directly violates international law. According to the Geneva Conventions, "The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies."
But the legal argument is not the only reason that the international community opposes settlements. According to Malcom Smart of Amnesty International, "Israel's policy on settlements is not only unlawful, it also impacts severely on the human rights of Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by the construction taking place [on] occupied Palestinian land." Perhaps the most obvious humanitarian issue associated with settlement building is the expropriation of Palestinian land and resources for Israeli settler use. In 2006, the Israeli organization, Peace Now, found that at least 32% of settlement land is privately owned by Palestinians who received no compensation for having lost their land and have no legal recourse against the takings. In addition, each settlement has an unofficial "buffer zone" into which Palestinians are not allowed to enter for alleged "security purposes." In many cases, buffer zones encompass land for grazing livestock, farm land and olive and fruit orchards, all of which are essential for the Palestinian economy and the survival of individual families. In order to meet the needs of its settlers, Israel has also taken control of West Bank water sources, leading to an enormous disparity in water distribution and, in some cases, cutting off entire Palestinian villages from the water grid.
A related result of Israel's settlement policy is a severe restriction of Palestinian movement. Settlements, "buffer zones" around the settlements, and Israeli-only bypass roads that connect settlements to one another are all off-limits to Palestinians. Checkpoints and roadblocks, which supposedly improve security for settlers, make travel on Palestinian roads slow and uncertain. In many areas, in order to avoid settler-only areas and bypass checkpoints that are often closed, Palestinians are forced to take long and circuitous routes to reach their destinations. According to the World Health Organization, between 2000 and 2006, close to 70 women were forced to give birth at checkpoints, having been unable to reach the nearest hospital.
The disparity between conditions for Israeli settlers and Palestinians is actually codified in Israeli law. Settlers are considered Israeli citizens and are thus subject to Israeli civil law. Palestinians are the residents of an occupied territory and are governed by the much stricter Israeli military law. Under military law, Palestinians can be detained without charge, and evidence against them can be withheld from them and their lawyers. According to the Israeli human rights group, Yesh Din, over 90% of investigations into acts of violence committed by settlers are closed without an indictment being filed. In contrast, when Israeli civilians are the target of acts of violence committed by Palestinians, the Israeli military actively pursues Palestinian suspects, leading to thousands of arrests and prosecutions of Palestinians through Israel’s military court system each year.
Palestinians also face tighter building restrictions and are often unable to obtain the permits necessary to build new homes or add rooms to their existing structures. As a result, Palestinians face the constant threat of seeing their homes demolished. Between 1967 and 2009, nearly 25,000 Palestinian homes were demolished by the Israeli military. In contrast, Israeli settler homes built without permits are almost always allowed to stand, and builders can easily obtain retroactive permits if they seek legal legitimacy.
The Obama Administration's response to Israel's announcement that it will expand an East Jerusalem settlement has been criticized by allies of the Israeli government for being too harsh. Members of Congress who, for too long, have proven their willingness to defend Israeli policies even when doing so is not in the interest of the United States, have distanced themselves from the President, urging him to address differences in Israeli and American policy "privately" and going so far as to characterize the entire issue of settlements as nothing more than a "zoning issue." But much more than zoning is at stake. The humanitarian, political and security implications of Israeli settlement expansion make it an issue that must be addressed candidly, publicly and decisively. The time has long since come. |
