The apartheid myth

[Little Tich]

3. B'Tselem: Land Grab: Israel's Settlement Policy in the West Bank, May 2002

Source: B'Tselem, May 2002

(Snip)
Conclusions

Israel has created in the Occupied Territories a regime of separation based on discrimination, applying two separate systems of law in the same area and basing the rights of individuals on their nationality. This regime is the only one of its kind in the world, and is reminiscent of distasteful regimes from the past, such as the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

Under this regime, Israel has stolen hundreds of thousands of dunam of land from the Palestinians. Israel has used this land to establish dozens of settlements in the West Bank and to populate them with hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens. Israel prohibits the Palestinians as a group from entering and using these lands, and uses the settlements to justify numerous violations of the Palestinians' human rights, such as the right to housing, to earn a livelihood, and the right to freedom of movement. The drastic change that Israel has made in the map of the West Bank prevents any real possibility for the establishment of an independent, viable Palestinian state as part of the Palestinians' right to self-determination.

The settlers, on the contrary, benefit from all the rights available to Israeli citizens living within the Green Line, and in some cases are even granted additional rights. The great effort that Israel has invested in the settlement enterprise - in financial, legal and bureaucratic terms - has turned the settlements into civilian enclaves in an area under military rule, with the settlers being given priority status. To perpetuate this situation, which is a priori illegal, Israel has continuously breached the rights of the Palestinians.

Particularly evident is Israel's manipulative use of legal tools in order to give the settlement enterprise an impression of legality. When Jordanian legislation served Israel's goals, Israel adhered to this legislation, arguing that international law obliges it to respect the legislation in effect prior to the occupation; in practice, this legislation was used in a cynical and biased manner. On the other hand, when this legislation interfered with Israel's plans, it was changed in a cavalier manner through military legislation and Israel established new rules to serve its interests. In so doing, Israel trampled on numerous restrictions and prohibitions established in the international conventions to which it is party, and which were intended to limit infringement of human rights and to protect populations under occupation.

The settlements are unlawful, and their presence leads to the violation of human rights. Accordingly, B'Tselem demands that the Israeli government act to vacate all the settlements. This process must take place while respecting the human rights of the settlers, including payment of compensation.

Vacating all the settlements is obviously a complex and protracted task. However, a number of interim steps can be taken to minimize the violation of human rights and international law. Among other steps, the Israeli government should:

Cease all new construction in the settlements, either to build new settlements or to expand existing settlements;

Freeze the planning and construction of new by-pass roads, and cease expropriation and seizure of land for this purpose;

Return to the Palestinian communities all the non-built-up areas within the municipal boundaries of the settlements and the local councils;

Abolish the special planning committees in the settlements, and hence the powers of the local authorities to prepare outline plans and issue building permits;

Cease the policy of providing incentives that encourage Israeli citizens to move to the settlements, and direct the resources to encourage settlers to relocate to areas within the borders of the State of Israel

(end snip)

Read more: http://www.btselem.org/publications/summaries/200205_land_grab

Note: my bolding.

I know the article is from 2002, but it's very useful in detailing the Apartheid analogy and how Israel uses all means possible to discriminate against the Palestinians and remove their civil rights. There are maps and an explanation how the planning system is used to completely stop Palestinian natural growth while encouraging Jewish settlements to spread. It's well worth a read, and I use it personally as a source document for my own argumentation.

BTW, I'm personally not a fan of Ben-Dror Yemeni. He's distorting the truth.