- “My first name, Benjamin, dates back a thousand years earlier to Benjamin – Binyamin – the son of Jacob, who was also known as Israel. Jacob and his 12 sons roamed these same hills of Judea and Samaria 4,000 years ago, and there's been a continuous Jewish presence in the land ever since”.
- “Often hear them accuse Israel of Judaizing Jerusalem. That's like accusing America of Americanizing Washington, or the British of Anglicizing London. You know why we're called 'Jews'? Because we come from Judea”
- “Israel is so tiny. It's, you know, a little less than the length of Manhattan, without the West Bank, without Judea and Samaria”. Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli Premier
Actually its very simple and clear sentences from an Israeli Prime Minister, but unfortunately, it don’t look like when these words uttered by Benjamin Netanyahu, the pioneer of the Zionist enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory cultivated with his deep-rooted colonial and ideological beliefs.
Throughout the years of the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian lands, Israel moves steadily with its colonial and expansionist plans in all parts of the West Bank with the aim of keeping the occupied territory within its hand for political, geographical ideological and religious purposes.
By harnessing all of the state resources and fortunes, Israel went too far, and still, with its settlement project motivated by its colonial and expansionist desires in which enormous areas from the Palestinian lands swallowed to build 199 illegal settlement and 232 outposts.
The debate of the Israeli colonial plan in the Palestinian Territory goes beyond a land struggle between two dispute parties, where the existence of the Israeli settlement in the West Bank and the occupied eastern part of the city of Jerusalem, constitutes a substantial threat to peace efforts with its legal and geographical consequences. In fact, 45 years passed since Israel occupied the Palestinian lands, and it seems that a mysterious purposes underlying behind the last occupation in recent history.
Analytical Overview of the Israeli Public Opinion
Before the latest Israeli elections that took place in January 22, 2013, a poll conducted by the S Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, approached two Israeli research companies, the Dahaf Institute and Smith Consulting, requesting that they survey Israeli opinions regarding a future peace agreement with the Palestinians. Each poll was conducted independently.
The poll results published in December 2012 were it shows that two third (67%) from the Israelis support peace with the Palestinians based on 1967 borders with land swaps and a demilitarized Palestine. Out of the 67%, 57 percent of Likud supporters backing such a deal and 53 percent of those likely to vote for Bennett’s Jewish Home Party also favoring the two-state solution!!
According to the same poll, the Israelis accept Jerusalem’s Old City administered jointly by the United States, Israel, and the Palestinians, with Israel maintaining control of the “Western Wall”.
Later on and on April 22, 2013 and about three months after Netanyahu tookoffice with his governmental coalition, the Israeli newspapers published the results by the Israeli Geocartography Institute shows that 80% of the Israeli public support the extension of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank “Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria”, where the poll was to be presented at a conference at what is so-called Ariel University in the illegal settlement of Ariel in Nablus Governorate in the Northern parts of the West Bank.
According to the aforementioned poll over one third of the public thinks that sovereignty should be extended to the entire area of West Bank, while almost 25% believe that the sovereignty should be limited to the so-called settlement blocs, where only 20% of the public said that the sovereignty should only be extended as part of a peace deal with the Arabs.
If we link between the two polls, the first one was before the general elections in Israel where the Israeli nation expressed their desire to peace and to end the conflict, while in the second poll which was after the elections the surveyed Israelis show a extreme right shift with sweeping and overwhelming desire toward extending the Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank “Biblical heartland of Judea & Samaria”!!.
Actually and after Netanyahu formed his right-wing government coalition (Likud- Yisrael Beitenu- Hataurah- Yeash ‘Ateid – the Jewish Home) parties, he moved forward with the same scope of ideology supported by the right wing parties and settlers’ leaders, where he spared no effort to move forward with his expansionist plans by building and expanding the illegal settlements, reminding his citizens with his famous “NOS”[1], ((no withdrawal from the Jordan Valley, no division of the eternal unified capital of Israel (Jerusalem), No settlement freeze, no peace on the 1967 borders…..)).
Without doubt, and like the rest of all communities in the world, the citizens usually affecting by their political leaders and elites, which is actually explain the shift in the Israeli public opinion toward rightwing, where if we returned back to the results of the poll conducted before the Israeli general elections, out of the the 67% who supporting two -state solution 57% of Likud party (rightwing) supporters backing such choice and 53% of those likely to vote for Bennett’s Jewish Home Party (ultra-nationalist) supporting the same choice, which means that the Israeli political leaders are affecting the mood of their citizens and they are doing that for their personal and political interests where they prefer to keep in authority and deceiving their supporters rather than guaranteeing secure and promising future for them and for their children by achieving durable and lasting peace with the Palestinians.
Edmond Levi Report……Eradication of Palestine
On January 2012, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed a committee headed by the former Israeli Supreme Court Judge Edmond Levi to investigate the legal status of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and also to examine whether the Israeli presence in the West Bank is to be considered an occupation or not.
The report which was handedto the Israeli cabinet on June 2012, states that Israel, and according to the committee’s interpretation to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, isn't an occupying force, and accordingly all of the Israeli settlements and outposts in the West Bank are legal. More than that, the report considered conclusions and recommendations to abolish all kinds of obstruction and complications that faces the building and expansion in the Israeli settlements in the West Bank with an unjustified facilitation in the procedures related to settlements building.
Judge Levi remarking on his report: “Our basic conclusion is that from the point of view of international law, the classical laws of “occupation” as set out in the relevant international conventions cannot be considered applicable to the unique and sui generis historic and legal circumstances of Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria spanning over decades”.
Also, Prime Minister Netanyahu praised the report: “In my opinion, this report is important because it deals with the legalization and the legitimization of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria on the basis of facts, a variety of facts and arguments that should be seriously considered”.
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On October 17, 2012, the Israeli daily newspaper “Haaretz” revealed that Netanyahu governmentto adopt parts of Levy report on legal status of West Bank outposts soon: “Government will vote only on 'practical portions,' circumvent portion on legal status of West Bank”. To read the original text of Levi report with its conclusions and recommendations see link below:
http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/D9D07DCF58E781C585257A3A005956A6
It is worth mentioning that adopting Levi report by the Israeli government means de facto annexing of the West Bank in which it would be the last nail in the coffin of peace process.
Judea & Samaria….Our Iron Dome
Another statement elucidates the ideology of the Israeli politicians concerning peace process cames from the new elected Knesset Member Ayelet Shaked – Jewish Home Party April, 2013 where she provided that:" On a response for US President Barack Obama statement during his visit to the West Bank that the settlement activity is counterproductive , the Israeli Knesset Member Ayelet Shaked states that: I am Israeli MK Shaked, and I will be neither shaken, nor stirred from proudly building Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, which are productive to peace and which enable the IDF to protect the Jews of Israel from a Holocaust 2.0 at the hands of yet another fascist Muslim genocidal terrorist state that wants to call itself Palestine………Judea and Samaria is our Iron Dome".
Al-Khader village- Bethlehem
The Myth of the 20th Century…….. Land for People for People without Land
If we want to understand the roots of the Israeli vision toward the Palestinians we must return back to some of the significant statements for historical leaders of the Hebrew State since its establishment in the year 1948:
"There is no such thing as a Palestinian people… It is not as if we came and threw them out and took their country. They didn't exist."
Golda Meir Israeli Premier (1969-1974).
"It's not a matter of maintaining the status quo. We have to create a dynamic state, orientated towards expansion." Also speaking about this U.N. resolution on "partition plan of 1947", taken well before its admission, Ben Gurion declares: " The State of Israel considers the U.N. resolution of 29 November 1947 to be null and void." Ben Gurion, Israeli PM (1948- 1954):
"Eretz Israel will be given back to the people of Israel. In its entirety and forever." Menachem Begin Israeli PM (1977-1983).
We can easily read through these words a systematic unruly aspiration toward capturing the land of the historic Palestine with intentional plans to emptying the lands from their legitimate residents to the interest of the be hoped “Jewish Kingdom of the Unified Israel” including the Kingdoms of Judea & Samaria, contrary to the biblical Kingdom of Samaria which was part of the Kingdom of Israel and Judea which was part of the Kingdom of Judea.
It seems like we are living now in the era of “King of the Kings” or the “Shahenshah” – Benjamin Ben- Zion Netanyahu who is manipulating his nation, then the whole world with his daydreams returning to thousands of years ago while insisting on eliminating all chances – through his pre-conditions- for lasting and durable peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Significant Geopolitical Facts about the Colonial Enterprise in the oPt
Just to refresh our memory, Israel implements an apartheid system in the oPt through a Segregation Wall that stretches 774 km in the West Bank, isolating 733 square kilometers (13% from the total West Bank area). Moreover and according an Israeli military orders issued in September 2004, Israel created a buffer zone averaging 150-200 meters in width on the Palestinian side of the Western Segregation Wall where new Palestinian constructions are prohibited. As a result, an additional 254 Km² of the West Bank (4.4%) will become inaccessible to Palestinians.
A total 66 Palestinian localities (population 320,601) including 30 localities in Jerusalem (population 274,481) will be isolated from the West Bank by the Israeli Wall once the construction is completed.
We have 199 illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank- occupying an area of 194.7 km2 (3.4% from W.B area) with a population exceeds 600 thousand settler – 107 of which located in the Western Segregation Zone (the area located between the Segregation Wall path and the Armistice Line of 1949-Green Line) and 34 in the eastern part of the city of Jerusalem and 38 others in the eastern Segregation Zone.
The Israeli settlement’s master plan (area allocated for future settlement expansion including the original area of the settlements) is 486 km2 (8.5% from total W.B area).
Throughout the years of the Occupation Israel installed a bypass roads network (roads controlled by the Israeli army while most of these roads for settlers use only) with a total length of 810 km expropriating 120 km2 an additional 2.1% from the W.B settlement.
Will Netanyahu Withdraw from the Biblical Heartland of Judea & Samaria??
NO
Legal & International Status
No peace can be reached without compromises, and for the Israeli Premier he must taper his mind to find common points of convergence with the Palestinians instead of practicing his futile maneuvers to manipulate the International community for the aim of toppling all of peace efforts exerted mainly by the US Administration.
“Netanyahu & peace” an opposites that don’t attract, as well as his colonial plans, they don’t attract with International law rules and conventions:
Under the International law rules and the signed agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli, Israel is prohibited from confiscating and looting the private Palestinian lands or taking any steps leading to change the status on the ground which might result to undermine any chance for a future “just and lasting” peace process.
- The existence of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and their expansions are Illegal and contradicts with the international law rules, United Nations Security Council Resolutions such as 237 (1967), 271 (1969), 446 (1979), 452 (1979) ,465 (1980.
- Resolution 446 March 22, 1979 calls on Israel to rescind its previous measures and to desist from taking any action which would result in changing the legal status and geographical nature and materially affecting the demographic composition of the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem and, in particular, not to transfer parts of its own civilian population into the occupied Arab territories"
- Also the resolution 452 of the 1979 “calls upon the Government and people of Israel to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem.”
- Furthermore the Forth Geneva Convention also states in article 49 that “The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the territories it occupies.” and Article 174 of the same convention “prohibits the 'extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully
- Article XXXI, Oslo II, 1995 provides: Neither side shall take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. and wantonly.”
- Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of, December 10, 1948, Article 17 reads: 'No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.' Which means it bans Israel from destroying or confiscating the property of the Palestinians at any case.
- In May 2001, the head of the International Red Cross delegation to Israel and the Occupied Territories said that settlements are "equal in principle to war crimes". (Note: "The transfer, the installation of population of the occupying power into the occupied territories is considered as an illegal move and qualified as a 'grave breach.' It's a grave breach, formally speaking, but grave breaches are equal in principle to war crimes", Rene Kosirnik, head of the ICRC delegation to Israel and the OPT, press conference 17 May 2001).
[1] Transcript of Prime Minister Netanyahu's Address to U.S. Congress." Global & Mail. Editor, 24 May 2011. Web. 20 May 2013
Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
