Israel appropriates massive tract of West Bank land, intent to build a new settlement
22 replies, posted
There is a possibility that the article could be pay-walled for some so I have copied the entire article.
[quote]The appropriation of just under 4,000 dunams (988 acres) of West Bank land between the Etzion settlement bloc and Jerusalem was announced on Sunday by the Israel Defense Forces' Civil Administration.
The appropriation was decided on by the cabinet last week as a response to the kidnapping and killing of three Jewish teens by Hamas militants in the area in June, according to the administration's announcement.
Anti-settlement group Peace Now said it was the largest land appropriation in 30 years.
The intention of appropriating the land is to create territorial continuity between the Green Line and settlements of Beitar Illit, Kfar Etzion, and Gvaot.
The appropriated land belongs to five Palestinian villages in the Bethlehem area: Jaba, Surif, Wadi Fukin, Husan and Nahalin.
Most of the land does not fall under any local authority at this stage. Following the announcement, settlement bodies are now able to submit plans for the development of the land.
The announcement is the latest of a series of plans designed to attach the Etzion settlement bloc to Jerusalem and its environs. Some 984 dunams in the area were declared state land last April.
Construction of a major settlement at the location, known as Gvaot, has been mooted by Israel since 2000. Last year, the government invited bids for the building of 1,000 housing units at the site and 523 are currently under construction. Ten families currently live on the site, which is adjacent to a Jewish seminary
David Perl, head of the Gush Etzion local council, said that the "declaration of some 4,000 dunams as state land paves the way for the establishment of Gvaot, a new city in Gush Etzion. I want to congratulate the prime minister and the government of Israel on their promotion of the initiative and the defense minister and head of the civil administration on getting the decision approved.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on Israel to cancel the appropriation. "This decision will lead to more instability. This will only inflame the situation after the war in Gaza," Abu Rudeineh said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broke off peace talks with Abbas in April after the Palestinian leader reached a reconciliation deal with Hamas, the Islamist movement that dominates the Gaza Strip.
In a series of remarks after an open-ended cease-fire halted a seven-week-old Gaza war with Hamas last Tuesday, Netanyahu repeated his position that Abbas would have to sever his alliance with Hamas for a peace process with Israel to resume.
Israel has said construction at Gevaot would not constitute the establishment of a new settlement because the site is officially designated a neighborhood of an existing one, Alon Shvut, several miles down the road.[/quote]
[url]http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.613319[/url]
"The appropriation was decided on by the cabinet last week as a response to the kidnapping and killing of three Jewish teens by Hamas militants in the area in June"
That really seems like grasping at straws to justify conquest.
Well, so much for the latest cease-fire...
How can there ever be any sort of peace when Israel punishes massive swathes of unrelated people for every single thing that happens to any of their citizens?
Israel is only cementing Hamas' existence with actions like this.
You can't claim the moral high-ground if you're deliberately trying to provoke the group you've recently made a ceasefire agreement with.
I'd rather build my house beneath an active volcano. Like, what are they expecting is going to happen?
[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;45858349]I'd rather build my house beneath an active volcano. Like, what are they expecting is going to happen?[/QUOTE]
Settlements are heavily subsidized. The tactic is to amass as many people as possible in the settlements, so when the international community demands (for real this time) for Israel to evacuate the settlements, their pro-settlement parties can claim ethnic cleansing because you are literally "uprooting a people" (who have mostly voluntarily chosen to settle in internationally recognized Palestinian land).
They are basically trying to get to the point of no-return for settlements. When we get to that "point" - watch the right-wing Israeli reaction, all confused and surprised.
I like how Israel forces Palestinians to defend themselves so they can claim that they aren't the ones to break the cease fire.
I wonder if the person who comes up with this also ties women to train tracks
It's quite clear since the beginning that Israel is going to take all the area sooner or later. Palestinian knew this, and fought to prevent this, but unfortunately the world is still wishy-washily hoping for reconciliation between the two.
But I digress. I guess when you're backed up by a superpower, you don't need to to 'make peace'.
That'll stop kidnappings and murder of Israeli boys, putting more Israeli boys closer to the kidnappers, if only they had thought of this sooner!
Seriously I got it when they took the land as a buffer zone between Hama's rockets and tellavive but building houses on what you originally called a DMZ is a quick way to have trouble and more rockets
I looked for articles regarding the matter in other Israeli news websites (I was sure there wasn't going to be anything, only in Haaretz) and I've actually came upon this article: [url]http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/9/2781362[/url]
Which says that Netanyahu actually cancelled this plan "in fear of international backlash".
The Haaretz article is from yesterday, the Walla article is from today, so I guess it's more updated and relevant.
Here's the article after google translate:
[url]https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=iw&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.walla.co.il%2F%3Fw%3D%2F9%2F2781362&edit-text=[/url]
[QUOTE=BurnEmDown;45861115]I looked for articles regarding the matter in other Israeli news websites (I was sure there wasn't going to be anything, only in Haaretz) and I've actually came upon this article: [url]http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/9/2781362[/url]
Which says that Netanyahu actually cancelled this plan "in fear of international backlash".
The Haaretz article is from yesterday, the Walla article is from today, so I guess it's more updated and relevant.
Here's the article after google translate:
[url]https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=iw&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.walla.co.il%2F%3Fw%3D%2F9%2F2781362&edit-text=[/url][/QUOTE]
Unfortunately that's not the same issue. The OP refers to an appropriation of a large chunk of land in the West Bank to build a new town on, while your article refers to another plan of permitting the construction of 2500 homes in existing West bank settlements.
The first has already been officially declared and then condemned by the U.S. ([URL="http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/2689/2781259"]here[/URL]'s the relevant article in the same site) while the latter has been suspended, probably to avoid pissing off the U.S. even further.
And while one ass cheek of the government is doing all that, the other is declaring [URL="http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/2686/2781158"]it's all about reaching the two state solution[/URL].
Unbelievable.
[QUOTE=ScumBunny;45861443]Unfortunately that's not the same issue. The OP refers to an appropriation of a large chunk of land in the West Bank to build a new town on, while your article refers to another plan of permitting the construction of 2500 homes in existing West bank settlements.
The first has already been officially declared and then condemned by the U.S. ([URL="http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/2689/2781259"]here[/URL]'s the relevant article in the same site) while the latter has been suspended, probably to avoid pissing off the U.S. even further.
And while one ass cheek of the government is doing all that, the other is declaring [URL="http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/2686/2781158"]it's all about reaching the two state solution[/URL].
Unbelievable.[/QUOTE]
Actually, both of these articles talk about the same thing, just look at the specific area, Gush Etzion.
The link you provided is from 6:09 AM this morning, mine is from 12:13 PM, just 6 hours later, they both talk about Gush Etzion, building new settlements, international backlash (specifically, the US), only that mine is more updated, with Netanyahu's decision to cancel the plan.
And Lapid is an idiot who thinks that he can actually influence the right-wing government to act in a better way, so far he has done nothing in the 2 years he has been in office besides pissing everyone off.
I still think you're wrong, as Israel has now been condemned by the UN for the land appropriation.
Another source:
[URL="http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/01/world/meast/mideast-israel-west-bank/"]http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/01/world/meast/mideast-israel-west-bank/[/URL]
[QUOTE=BurnEmDown;45861115]I looked for articles regarding the matter in other Israeli news websites (I was sure there wasn't going to be anything, only in Haaretz) and I've actually came upon this article: [url]http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/9/2781362[/url]
Which says that Netanyahu actually cancelled this plan "in fear of international backlash".
The Haaretz article is from yesterday, the Walla article is from today, so I guess it's more updated and relevant.
Here's the article after google translate:
[url]https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=iw&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.walla.co.il%2F%3Fw%3D%2F9%2F2781362&edit-text=[/url][/QUOTE]
Cancellation of 2500 settlement units in Jerusalem, the appropriation of Palestinian property in the West Bank has not been stopped.
[quote]Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled plans to build 2,500 settlement units in Jerusalem due to international pressure, according to local media reports. - See more at: [url]http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-cancels-settlement-plans-due-international-pressure-1015162706#sthash.FvykSmXY.dpuf[/url][/quote]
[url]http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-cancels-settlement-plans-due-international-pressure-1015162706[/url]
[QUOTE=Lamar;45869431]Cancellation of 2500 settlement units in Jerusalem, the appropriation of Palestinian property in the West Bank has not been stopped. [/QUOTE]
I don't know where have you read that 2500 settlement units were to be built in Jerusalem, because in no article yet have I seen that Jerusalem was mentioned in the plan, only areas very close to Jerusalem (Gush Etzion), so international articles may have just "cut short" and wrote Jerusalem or "the Jerusalem area" so that people will more easily understand where it was located.
Your link says "2500 housing units in Jerusalem" in the title, but after further reading it says: "The housing units had been announced after the 12 June abduction of three Israeli settler teens, who were later found dead near Hebron. 1,500 units were to be built in south Jerusalem and a further 1,000 in West Bank settlements."
So this is a really weird way of putting it, and it doesn't say anything about housing units that weren't cancelled.
Anyway, all the articles and links in this thread speak about the very same plan: 4,000 acres of land which the government wants to take from the Palestinians, in Gush Etzion, and expand the settlement of Gvaot into them, however, as far as I can tell from the links here and from looking at Israeli news websites, the plan was indeed cancelled.
I don't know why the CNN article isn't updated, because both the Walla and the middleeasteye articles are.
[QUOTE=BurnEmDown;45869757]I don't know where have you read that 2500 settlement units were to be built in Jerusalem, because in no article yet have I seen that Jerusalem was mentioned in the plan, only areas very close to Jerusalem (Gush Etzion), so international articles may have just "cut short" and wrote Jerusalem or "the Jerusalem area" so that people will more easily understand where it was located.
Your link says "2500 housing units in Jerusalem" in the title, but after further reading it says: "The housing units had been announced after the 12 June abduction of three Israeli settler teens, who were later found dead near Hebron. 1,500 units were to be built in south Jerusalem and a further 1,000 in West Bank settlements."
So this is a really weird way of putting it, and it doesn't say anything about housing units that weren't cancelled.
Anyway, all the articles and links in this thread speak about the very same plan: 4,000 acres of land which the government wants to take from the Palestinians, in Gush Etzion, and expand the settlement of Gvaot into them, however, as far as I can tell from the links here and from looking at Israeli news websites, the plan was indeed cancelled.
I don't know why the CNN article isn't updated, because both the Walla and the middleeasteye articles are.[/QUOTE]
Walla and MEE is not referring to the 988 acre one, but instead the settlement plans announced following the Israeli teen abduction. Walla is a credible source, but you appear to be misreading it.
[URL="http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/9/2781664"]Here[/URL]'s another Walla article from this morning (sorry again, non-Hebrew readers) about Yair Lapid condemning the government's decision regarding the appropriation without getting approval from the cabinet.
He says "It's a decision that has not been presented to the cabinet, and at this time is simply causing damage to Israel". Note the use of "causing" (גורם) as opposed to "caused" which he would have used if it had indeed been cancelled.
This, along with the ongoing international condemnation should be proof enough that the appropriation is still in effect.
As if killing over 2000 Palestinians and demolishing half of Gaza wasnt punishment enough, seriously what the fuck
[QUOTE=Harry3;45870090]As if killing over 2000 Palestinians and demolishing half of Gaza wasnt punishment enough, seriously what the fuck[/QUOTE]
All Israel wants is more Palestinians to suffer, so they turn to terrorism.
This, in turn, gives Israel a reason to claim more land in the name of "safety and peace"
This is an old, yet effective tactic to get public support against a minority.
[QUOTE=Miskav;45870955]All Israel wants is more Palestinians to suffer, so they turn to terrorism.
This, in turn, gives Israel a reason to claim more land in the name of "safety and peace"
This is an old, yet effective tactic to get public support against a minority.[/QUOTE]
Actually, most Israelis want no part of the occupied territories, and even most political leaders have accepted the two state solution as the only viable solution to the conflict.
Unfortunately, there's a strong pro-settler element in the current government that keeps doing provocative crap like this whenever the rest of the government isn't looking to sabotage any chance of whatever's left of the peace process making any progress.
In this case, for example, there's an article I posted above about Lapid, Israel's minister of finance and head of one of Israel's largest political parties (currently the largest AFAIK) publicly objecting to the land appropriation and to the fact it wasn't presented to or approved by the cabinet.
There's a good chance Netanyahu will cancel this move soon due to all the international pressure, assuming it wan't initiated by him as some kind of bribe to the settlers in the government in exchange for a concession they gave him on something else.
Well, I hope, anyway.
As an aside, Palestinians aren't a minority, as they are not Israeli citizens. As far as Israel is concerned they are an enemy nation.
Unless you mean Israeli Palestinians, who while a minority [U]are[/U] Israeli citizens with equal rights and all.
I wouldn't call 4 square miles "massive"
The West Bank is 2,180 square miles.
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