Washington reaction still awaited after Israel issues new building permits in Palestinian West Bank
Marian Houk
September 08, 2009
It is clear that it will take experts, and expertise as well as counter-expertise,and satellite photos and analysis, to understand what is really going on in the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
This is very like a classic shell game.
It is a very serious a game of political brinksmanship in an overall jockeying for advantage if — IF — Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations are restarted.
Haaretz reported today that "At the West Bank city of Ariel´s adventure park, whose construction Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved, nothing special was going on yesterday. Children were trying out the climbing wall and the mayor was walking around, proud as a groom on his wedding day. The facility was actually only approved yesterday, but has been in existence for a year and a half before receiving construction permits. In fact, a demolition order was issued against it. Haaretz checked and discovered that these permits, are no more than another layer of permits on top of those already given, but that had not gone through for various reasons. In some places work was already underway. Haaretz has also learned that all construction permits were given on condition that the buildings go up within two months, or the permit will be rescinded … The total number of new building starts approved yesterday in West Bank Jewish settlements is 455, mainly in the settlement blocs: 149 units in Har Gilo and 12 units in Alon Shvut – both in the Etzion Bloc, 84 units in Modi´in Ilit, 76 units in the Agan Ha´ayalot neighborhood of Givat Ze´ev, 89 units in Ma´aleh Adumim and 25 units in the nearby settlement of Kedar. The construction of 20 new units was approved for Maskiot in the Jordan Valley, the only settlement not in one of the large settlement blocs. Barak also approved public projects, like the adventure park in Ariel and a new school in Har Adar … ´After the new building permits, we are continuing toward a freeze on construction in settlements in the West Bank for a few months´, a senior official said yesterday in Jerusalem. The official also said that American envoy George Mitchell and the U.S. administration have been informed of the approvals for the new construction, and that ´it was not done behind their backs´. According to the official, this is the first time since the establishment of the Netanyahu government that construction has been unfrozen. The source added that over the past six months only a few permits have been given, and even the present ones are to complete ongoing projects and to approve tenders discussed in the past". This report can be read in full here.
Yesterday, Amos Harel wrote in Haaretz that "To a great extent it can be argued that it is there, deep in the territories, where the real story lies. That is where the dispute is substantive, and there are efforts to establish new facts on the ground, one dunam at a time. Over the past decade, the settlers have been using the outposts to gradually expand the territory under their control, due to the state´s lack of control and minimal enforcement. It is hard to believe that this will change, just because President Barack Obama wants it to. The various governments have never seriously sought to enforce the law with regard to the outposts. Looking at this effort over time, we find that the steps, from 1999 (Havat Ma´on) to 2006 (Amona), have been limited, and all the while the gradual annexation continued. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows his control over the land of outposts is flimsy. He is not the one who will decide how many caravans will be placed on hill 725, or how many Palestinian orchards will be uprooted near Yitzhar. A senior defense official told Haaretz: ´Israeli law was never applied in these areas. Let us presume that the Civil Administration identifies more building violations at an outpost. What will they do? They will stick another warrant on the caravan wall, asking them to get out. They will not even bother ripping it down, and they will just go on with their business´. If this has been the attitude of the outpost residents, it can be expected only to get worse when the freeze goes into effect. If the settlers believe they have lost this round, they have no reason to play by the rules. As for the settlement blocks, the situation is different: the projects are large and involve huge investments and major contractors. They cannot build without state permission; without, they risk serious losses". This article is posted here.
While much of the construction in what are established "settlements" or, now something relatively new, "settlement blocs", in the West Bank is apparently now private, it is the Israeli Government which continues to provide the infrastructure — the water and electricity and telephone lines, and the well-kept road network. Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem with its Old City sacred sites, in June 1967. It has effectively annexed East Jerusalem and other strategic surrounding areas which it now calls the "Greater Jerusalem" area, but it has never annexed the West Bank, though it maintains a stringent military occupation there.
Within hours of Monday's announcement on Monday of Defense Minister Ehud Barak´s formal approval of some 455 housing and apartment building permits, Ma´an News Agency reported that "Israeli settlers uprooted 50 olive trees near the Palestinian village of Al-Maghayir, north of the city of Ramallah on Monday afternoon, according to Israeli radio. Israel´s military believes the attack was a preemptive response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu´s decision to reduce construction in West Bank settlements. Netanyahu is expected to announce some curbs on settlement expansion later this week. On Monday, his government approved the construction of 500 new homes in the settlements, which are illegal under international lawLast Thursday 150 olive trees were found uprooted in the same village, which lies near the unauthorized settler outpost of Nofe Yarden". The Ma'an news agency report can be viewed here.
The recent policy of some settlers to punish Palestinians for any cut-backs in support for the settlements is called the "price tag".
Dani Dayan, Chairman of the Yesha Council, an organization of settlers now living in the West Bank [which they call "Judea and Samaria", a stylistic choice which, it is worth noting, is now also adopted by the spokespersons' unit of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)] told internationall journalists who are members of the Foreign Press Association in Israel (FPA) yesterday that "The ´price tag´ is something done after evacuations. On moral and political grounds, it´s both immoral and counterproductive to see Palestinian property damaged just because we have a dispute with the Government of Israel. I would even say it´s outrageous and despicable".
But what is Yesha doing to stop this retaliation? What is the Israeli Government -- and particularly its Ministry of Defense -- doing?
And would any of this have been prevented if Palestinians had agreed to suggestions to delineation of provisional borders for a future Palestinian state (Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged, towards the end of 2008, that a decision about the borders would clarify precisely what settlement activity was illegal. But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has long said he does not want any provisional anything…)
Meanwhile, the Israeli organization Peace Now yesterday sent out an email advisory in contradiction to the Haaretz report, saying that "Today Bibi and Barak have submitted totally NEW tenders (that were planned in the past, but never got to the publishing stage) for approx 500 housing units, which means this a legal decision according to Israeli law, but has political repercussions. The units in question are not only in settlements blocs, but in some areas that are isolated and blatantly far from the green line. The most questionable sites are Maskiyot, Kedar and Ariel.
In effect this means that there is NO settlement freeze for the following reasons:
1) The Israeli govt is authorizing NEW tenders for construction of 500 units
2) They are in the process of completing (not freezing) approx 2500 units already being constructed
3) They are not evacuating illegal outposts
4) Take over of buildings and construction continues in East Jerusalem
So what about the freeze? It would seem that any freeze to be negotiated with the Americans would be on plans/tenders not yet submitted — seemingly agreeing to allow Israel to complete construction of units already passed the planning and tender stage".
Meanwhile, reaction from Washington is still awaited.
This is very like a classic shell game.
It is a very serious a game of political brinksmanship in an overall jockeying for advantage if — IF — Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations are restarted.
Haaretz reported today that "At the West Bank city of Ariel´s adventure park, whose construction Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved, nothing special was going on yesterday. Children were trying out the climbing wall and the mayor was walking around, proud as a groom on his wedding day. The facility was actually only approved yesterday, but has been in existence for a year and a half before receiving construction permits. In fact, a demolition order was issued against it. Haaretz checked and discovered that these permits, are no more than another layer of permits on top of those already given, but that had not gone through for various reasons. In some places work was already underway. Haaretz has also learned that all construction permits were given on condition that the buildings go up within two months, or the permit will be rescinded … The total number of new building starts approved yesterday in West Bank Jewish settlements is 455, mainly in the settlement blocs: 149 units in Har Gilo and 12 units in Alon Shvut – both in the Etzion Bloc, 84 units in Modi´in Ilit, 76 units in the Agan Ha´ayalot neighborhood of Givat Ze´ev, 89 units in Ma´aleh Adumim and 25 units in the nearby settlement of Kedar. The construction of 20 new units was approved for Maskiot in the Jordan Valley, the only settlement not in one of the large settlement blocs. Barak also approved public projects, like the adventure park in Ariel and a new school in Har Adar … ´After the new building permits, we are continuing toward a freeze on construction in settlements in the West Bank for a few months´, a senior official said yesterday in Jerusalem. The official also said that American envoy George Mitchell and the U.S. administration have been informed of the approvals for the new construction, and that ´it was not done behind their backs´. According to the official, this is the first time since the establishment of the Netanyahu government that construction has been unfrozen. The source added that over the past six months only a few permits have been given, and even the present ones are to complete ongoing projects and to approve tenders discussed in the past". This report can be read in full here.
Yesterday, Amos Harel wrote in Haaretz that "To a great extent it can be argued that it is there, deep in the territories, where the real story lies. That is where the dispute is substantive, and there are efforts to establish new facts on the ground, one dunam at a time. Over the past decade, the settlers have been using the outposts to gradually expand the territory under their control, due to the state´s lack of control and minimal enforcement. It is hard to believe that this will change, just because President Barack Obama wants it to. The various governments have never seriously sought to enforce the law with regard to the outposts. Looking at this effort over time, we find that the steps, from 1999 (Havat Ma´on) to 2006 (Amona), have been limited, and all the while the gradual annexation continued. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows his control over the land of outposts is flimsy. He is not the one who will decide how many caravans will be placed on hill 725, or how many Palestinian orchards will be uprooted near Yitzhar. A senior defense official told Haaretz: ´Israeli law was never applied in these areas. Let us presume that the Civil Administration identifies more building violations at an outpost. What will they do? They will stick another warrant on the caravan wall, asking them to get out. They will not even bother ripping it down, and they will just go on with their business´. If this has been the attitude of the outpost residents, it can be expected only to get worse when the freeze goes into effect. If the settlers believe they have lost this round, they have no reason to play by the rules. As for the settlement blocks, the situation is different: the projects are large and involve huge investments and major contractors. They cannot build without state permission; without, they risk serious losses". This article is posted here.
While much of the construction in what are established "settlements" or, now something relatively new, "settlement blocs", in the West Bank is apparently now private, it is the Israeli Government which continues to provide the infrastructure — the water and electricity and telephone lines, and the well-kept road network. Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem with its Old City sacred sites, in June 1967. It has effectively annexed East Jerusalem and other strategic surrounding areas which it now calls the "Greater Jerusalem" area, but it has never annexed the West Bank, though it maintains a stringent military occupation there.
Within hours of Monday's announcement on Monday of Defense Minister Ehud Barak´s formal approval of some 455 housing and apartment building permits, Ma´an News Agency reported that "Israeli settlers uprooted 50 olive trees near the Palestinian village of Al-Maghayir, north of the city of Ramallah on Monday afternoon, according to Israeli radio. Israel´s military believes the attack was a preemptive response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu´s decision to reduce construction in West Bank settlements. Netanyahu is expected to announce some curbs on settlement expansion later this week. On Monday, his government approved the construction of 500 new homes in the settlements, which are illegal under international lawLast Thursday 150 olive trees were found uprooted in the same village, which lies near the unauthorized settler outpost of Nofe Yarden". The Ma'an news agency report can be viewed here.
The recent policy of some settlers to punish Palestinians for any cut-backs in support for the settlements is called the "price tag".
Dani Dayan, Chairman of the Yesha Council, an organization of settlers now living in the West Bank [which they call "Judea and Samaria", a stylistic choice which, it is worth noting, is now also adopted by the spokespersons' unit of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)] told internationall journalists who are members of the Foreign Press Association in Israel (FPA) yesterday that "The ´price tag´ is something done after evacuations. On moral and political grounds, it´s both immoral and counterproductive to see Palestinian property damaged just because we have a dispute with the Government of Israel. I would even say it´s outrageous and despicable".
But what is Yesha doing to stop this retaliation? What is the Israeli Government -- and particularly its Ministry of Defense -- doing?
And would any of this have been prevented if Palestinians had agreed to suggestions to delineation of provisional borders for a future Palestinian state (Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged, towards the end of 2008, that a decision about the borders would clarify precisely what settlement activity was illegal. But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has long said he does not want any provisional anything…)
Meanwhile, the Israeli organization Peace Now yesterday sent out an email advisory in contradiction to the Haaretz report, saying that "Today Bibi and Barak have submitted totally NEW tenders (that were planned in the past, but never got to the publishing stage) for approx 500 housing units, which means this a legal decision according to Israeli law, but has political repercussions. The units in question are not only in settlements blocs, but in some areas that are isolated and blatantly far from the green line. The most questionable sites are Maskiyot, Kedar and Ariel.
In effect this means that there is NO settlement freeze for the following reasons:
1) The Israeli govt is authorizing NEW tenders for construction of 500 units
2) They are in the process of completing (not freezing) approx 2500 units already being constructed
3) They are not evacuating illegal outposts
4) Take over of buildings and construction continues in East Jerusalem
So what about the freeze? It would seem that any freeze to be negotiated with the Americans would be on plans/tenders not yet submitted — seemingly agreeing to allow Israel to complete construction of units already passed the planning and tender stage".
Meanwhile, reaction from Washington is still awaited.
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