West Bank settlements violate Israeli law
Hah. Finally BBC decided to cover this:
Settlements 'violate Israeli law'
More than a third of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank are built on privately owned Palestinian land, an Israeli campaign group has reported.
Peace Now says nearly 40% of the land the settlements sit on is, according to official data, "effectively stolen" from Palestinian landowners.
This, the group says, is a violation of Israel's own laws.
Very interesting, no?
Settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law, although Israel rejects this.
About 430,000 Jews live in these residential areas in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Leaked data
Peace Now called on the Israeli government to return the private land to its Palestinian owners.
Fat chance
In recent years the Israeli government has said repeatedly that it respects Palestinian property rights in the West Bank.
I don't know if I should use profanity or a smart-ass comment for that one..
An Israeli official has said the government is reviewing the report.
REPORT FINDINGS
130 settlements were constructed either entirely or partially on private Palestinian land
19,800 acres of the land used by the settlements, nearly 40% of the total, is private Palestinian land
86.4% of Maale Adumim is built on privately-owned landThe data on which the findings are based comes from a 2004 survey by the Civil Administration, which manages the civilian aspects of Israel's occupation of the West Bank.
The data was leaked to Peace Now via an official in the Civil Administration. The group says the government had refused to give this information to it.
The group says that the data it has received has been "hidden by the State for many years, for fear that the revelation of these facts could damage its international relations".
Damage its international relations, or damage its already dwindling image?
According to the report, 86.4% of the Maale Adumim settlement block, the largest in the West Bank, is built on private Palestinian land, and not on what the Israeli government refers to as "state land".
The settlement is home to 32,372 people and lies due east of Jerusalem.
'Violation' of Israeli law
"The claim by the State and settlers that the settlements have been constructed on state land is misleading and false," Peace Now says.
Bring me a claim that wasn't misleading, false or twisted in any way.
"The vast majority of settlement construction was done against the law of the land and the Supreme Court ruling and therefore unauthorised.
"[The data] indicates the direct violation of Israeli law carried out by the State itself, driven by the architects and leaders of the settlement movement."
In 1979 the Israeli High Court forbade the establishment of settlements on privately-owned Palestinian that has been seized by Israel for military purposes.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at its core a conflict over land and in the West Bank property rights, BBC Jerusalem correspondent Crispin Thorold says.
This is the area which Palestinians want to be the basis of a future independent state.
If confirmed the findings could have major implications for any future peace deal.
Some of the settlements that the Israeli government wants to be included within its final borders are built on land overwhelmingly owned by Palestinian individuals. Peace Now is an Israeli group that monitors Israel settlements in the West Bank.
The oldest peace movement in Israel, it advocates the setting up of a Palestinian state on land occupied by Israel in 1967.
Let's just hope they gain on momentum and support so that this madness can stop.
is that if 40% of the land is recognized as being taken illegally under israeli law - then the implication is that 60% of their theft is 'legal'
That's a scam of course - and THAT'S the only reason why the zionist pimps in the media are giving this story any coverage whatsoever.
ALL the land that israel occupies is illegitimate because israel itself, with zionism as its basis, is illegitimate - so I don't see any reason for differentiating between theft that is legal under their laws and theft that is illegal under their laws, when ALL their laws are null and void.
absolutely.. and we dont need some freaking report to tell us that..ALL of ISRAEL IS ILLEGAL.
qrswave,
This story was also featured on CBC's show As It Happens on Nov. 21st. The way it was presented here, is that the entire West Bank, according the the Palestinians, the United Nations and the International Court of Justice, belongs to the Palestinians. The 40% they are referring to is land that has been shown to have been conclusively stolen from private Palestinian landowners, whereas the remaining 60% was not in private ownership at the time, but was still stolen by Israel nevertheless. I had meant to forward this story to you last night when I heard it.
Audio Link (story is at beginning of segment)