ISRAEL AGAINST PEACE
10 10 2011
Israel takes a new step almost every day to render a solution in the Middle East impossible. Although Israeli authorities may go on record saying they want dialogue and negotiation, they do everything necessary to make both dialogue and negotiating impossible.
A very dangerous process is afoot in East Jerusalem. This process is destroying all possibility of a solution between Israel and Palestine. More openly Israel is sabotaging the grounds for negotiations in the region and is poisoning the political atmosphere.
Israel which ignores the reactions of the international community and refuses to abide by the law has decided to construct 1,100 new residences in East Jerusalem. As of the present, 190,000 Israeli citizens are resident in the area.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed disappointment over this choice. She said that the decision would not contribute to a restart to the peace negotiations with Palestine. Palestine demands that Israel give up its settlement policy in order to resume peace talks. Palestine is justified in this. For Israel to keep building new settlements against the law, agreements and promises in lands it holds under occupation means that any potential negotiations are completely insincere.
One should of course at this point remember that the Obama administration used its veto to prevent the UN Security Council from condemning Israel’s construction of new settlements. However, this policy of Israel is a serious tactical mistake. For if Palestine were to become a member of the UN, Israel would have to account for its settlements on occupied land at the International Court of Justice. Everyone who traverses international agreements and tramples international law eventually comes to having to defend it at the court.
Since 1967, the beginning of the occupation, Israel has established around 200 new settlements for more than 300,000 settlers. 2,598 new residences were built between September 2010 and July 2011 alone. The total number of illegal Israeli settlers is estimated to be around 500,000.
The settlement dimension of Israel’s occupation policy involves demolishment as well as construction. According to UN data, Israel has demolished at least 387 structures in the lands it has occupied. It is stated that at least 140 of these were residences. Thus Israel has exiled 755 Palestinians from their own lands. Among the structures developed by Israel are 12 water wells and 20 cisterns. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have inadequate access to water due to this inhumane attitude. In the West Bank alone, the Israeli army maintains 522 checkpoints.
The international community cannot take any steps to solve this problem. Israel enjoys the comfort of this purposeful negligence. For Palestinians, life which is already difficult is becoming even more so. The policies of Benjamin Netanyahu only encourages those who are on the side of violence and are against peace.