In documents released on Thursday to the High Court of Justice, the Israeli government has admitted what Palestinians have been saying for decades: that the Israeli government has taken over 99.3% of the West Bank, allocating most of the land to illegal Israeli Jewish only settlements. The Israeli designation of 1.3 million acres of Palestinian land in the West Bank as Israeli state land flies in the face of past Israeli claims that they are willing to negotiate in good faith with the Palestinians on the status of land in the West Bank. The documents were released as part of a lawsuit filed by Israeli human rights group Yesh Din that challenged the construction of the illegal settlement of Hayovel on stolen Palestinian land. The Israeli government argues that the settlement and the road leading to it are on uncultivated land, and have declared that such lands are subject to takeover by the Israeli government. After 1979, the Israeli government began widescale takeovers of Palestinian land using a law that passed in the Israeli Knesset authorizing the Israeli government to take over any Palestinian land that had not been cultivated in ten years. A study by Israeli researcher Dror Etkes found that the Israeli government has used land surveys that are meant to determine which land is cultivated and which is not as a political tool to take over nearly all of the land in the West Bank. His report stated that his findings prove the claims that Palestinian landowners have been consistently presenting over the past few decades: Under the aegis of the broad declaration of lands as state lands, which includes almost a million dunams, Israel has taken over extensive cultivated areas, which were stolen from their owners through administrative decisions over which public and legal oversight is minimal, because they were supposedly not cultivated. In the recent case of the outpost of Derech Haavot, the largest Israeli outpost colony in the West Bank, the Israeli High Court ruled that the takeover of private Palestinian land by the Israeli settlers was acceptable, leading the lawyers for Yesh Din (the Israeli human rights group representing the Palestinian landowners) to declare; Not only is the state reconciling itself to the breaking of the law, but it is also ultimately granting the usurped land to the lawbreakers. It is particularly outrageous that all the state authorities joined forces to accept the breaking of the law and are now attempting to provide an umbrella of state support, rather than combating organized ideological crime that violates human rights on a daily and hourly basis. http://imemc.org/article/65265
Israel's aim has always been Jerusalem and the West Bank. They will never give it up, hence, there will never be peace. Our job is to keep writing checks I guess.
One thing I learned on this thread, or otherwise want to find out if it's true or not, is about the settlements being only for Jews. In other words, if a Jew wanted to vacate and put his house up for sale, would a Palestinian be allowed to buy it in live in it?
Sure. In all honesty no Arab has tried I think but there are no legal restrictions. The opposite is of course not true, The Palestinian Authority's justice minister, Freih Abu Meddein, announced in early May 1997 that Palestinians who sell land to Jews will face the death penalty. As far as the topic of the OP and 0.7% are concerned - a picture is worth a thousand words:
I may be wrong but I think the lands in the west bank on which Israeli settlers live are only on lands shown to have been owned by Jews prior to the Arabs siezing said territory during the war of '48 and I think most fall under the community village legislation which allows all communities to choose whom they wish to live in them.
Thanks guys for both answers and courtesy. I'll follow this thread and see if anyone attempts to correct you, otherwise what you say makes a bit of sense.
The zionist ethnic cleansing program to achieve a totally Jewish state has left less than 10,000 Christians in the West bank
.7%? Thats too much for a terrorist group. Kick them out of the country period. If they don't leave throw them in prison.
I again ask, if this story has appeared anywhere else? If not, it's garbage and usual Israel bashing.
Ah yes, the predictable poor, tiny and besieged Israel appeal to the emotions. Doesn't work Borat, and the people who are daily being displaced, evicted and having their land stolen are far more important than some cartoon.
Nonsense; is the quantity of publication an indicator of the quality of the information provided? Of course it is not-but I guess it was that scary Arabic script which prompted your dismissal of it. Now, if it had been an Israeli publication we wouldn't have heard a peep out of you. - - - Updated - - - Kick them out of whose country? Their own?
maybe it's time to stop using the word settlements and change it to reservations and maybe Obama might be able to make the link one day
Nonsense? Then how come you guys get an automatic hardon every time someone link a story from JihadWatch? Tell you what - JihadWatch is much more reputable source than IMEMC; JihadWatch always give their source, unless it's an opinion. So, where's the source for the OP story? - - - Updated - - - pff... 10char
The Apologists will never admit to that. The reason is that it makes 1956, 1967, 1982 look so premeditated. The problem is that you are ABSOLUTELY correct. Please allow me to support your claim. Check out this reference and then look for Ben Gurion's "fantastic plan" which he proposed to the French and British at Sevres in October 1956, where they concocted a typical Israeli aggression against Egypt. http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ssfc0005/The Protocol of Sevres 1956 Anatomy of a War Plot.html That plan is the recuperation of Eretz Yisrael. It explains perfectly why Israel is willing to violate international law and subjugate the rights of the Palestinian people. "Fantastic" my butt.
During research for threads like this I was reading the history of Zionism and came across an article written by a prominent Zionist that asserted Israel needed to use the event of ANY military action, real, provoked or invented, as a pretext to grab and keep as much territory as possible. It was eerie...exactly what has happened. Wish I could find it again.
During research for threads like this I came across many articles written by a prominent Authors that asserted Obama is a foreigner born who knows where, and is illegal alien. Should we take them at their word?
Did you happen to come accross articles written by Palestinians and non-Palestinian Arabs/muslims vowing to continue their struggle until the drive the jews into the sea and wipe Israel off the map? Cause they mean it and even though it has not happened, it's not for the lack of trying.
A little better; and although I cannot read the story, I trust you copied and pasted correctly. Still, all of it is a hearsay - I notice, the civil administration (whatever it is) did not respond to numerous requests for comment. So, where does it leave us? An opinion peace in the Israeli opposition journal with no links to any reputable source? Laughable.