Israeli Map Says West Bank Posts Sit on Arab Land

[Tom Joad]

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Comment: This just another piece of evidence, but what has been obvious for many people since the beginning of the illegal settlements. Israel is stealing Palestinian land. This may be very big news in the weeks ahead, considering the source. Peace Now is a very mainstream and moderate peace organization in Israel.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/world/middleeast/21land.html?hp&ex=1164171600&en=2e03da87b76e6581&ei=5094&partner=homepage

JERUSALEM, Nov. 20 — An Israeli advocacy group, using maps and figures leaked from inside the government, says that 39 percent of the land held by Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is privately owned by Palestinians.

About 86 percent of Maale Adumim, an Israeli settlement, sits on privately held Palestinian property, according to government data.

Israel has long asserted that it fully respects Palestinian private property in the West Bank and only takes land there legally or, for security reasons, temporarily.
If big sections of those settlements are indeed privately held Palestinian land, that is bound to create embarrassment for Israel and further complicate the already distant prospect of a negotiated peace. The data indicate that 40 percent of the land that Israel plans to keep in any future deal with the Palestinians is private.

The new claims regarding Palestinian property are said to come from the 2004 database of the Civil Administration, which controls the civilian aspects of Israel’s presence in the West Bank. Peace Now, an Israeli group that advocates Palestinian self-determination in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, plans to publish the information on Tuesday. An advance copy was made available to The New York Times.
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Parting Comment: We must take steps to make sure these illegal settlements are abandoned, and the whole colonial project of settlements (all of them) is finally laid to rest in the dustbin of history. They must all be dismantled. If our governments refuse to take action, we must take action ourselves, through divestment campaigns. The US refused to take action against its ally (and Israel's) apartheid South Africa, and only relented when there was a wave of action from the campuses, churches, and union halls. Time to do it again.

Peace, Not Apartheid.

Time to do it again.

[Tom Joad]

1. This was a large headline in the online version of the NY Times,

one of those rare times when such reporting about the cause of the violence in Israel/Palestine is highlighted, rather than merely stories about violence itself.

[Scurrilous]

2. Study: 40% of settlements built on Palestinian land

<snip>

"A new survey conducted by left-wing group Peace Now claims that approximately 40 percent of settlements, including long-standing communities, are built on private Palestinian land and not on State-owned lands.

In a press conference held in Jerusalem on Tuesday, the group presented a report asserting that out of a total area of 157,000 dunams used by West Bank settlements and industrial zones, 61,000 dunams (approx. 38 percent) are privately owned by Palestinians."

<snip>

"The heads of Peace Now said at the press conference that the report serves as a grave accusation against the entire settlement movement.

According to them, the data shows that settlers are plagued not only with the larceny by stealing collective assets of the Palestinian people, they also disinherit Palestinian residents of their privately-owned property."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/790748.html



A map of the Ma'ale Adumim settlement released Tuesday by Peace Now. The red area shows lands appropriated from Palestinians.

[Englander]

3. Larger map, from the NYT article;

[lumpy]

4. Land grabbing with approval and protection

from the Israeli government.

[breakaleg]

5. Reading Olmert's casual words regarding this stealing of land disgusts me.

Not only the fact that a "democracy" would steal it in the first place, but the fact they've decided they aren't giving it back and they will have to discuss the issue at some point. The nerve of these people!!