ISRAEL’S COLONIAL SETTLEMENT POLICY

Barrier to a
just peace: Israel’s colonial
settlement policy
I
n 2005, Israel received much media attention when it
removed settlers from the Gaza Strip. However, far less International law and rulings include:
attention was given to its dramatic increasing of settlers
On Israel as an occupying power:
in the West Bank. Far from the Gaza ‘disengagement’ marking
• 1967 - UN Security Council resolution 242: called for Israel to withdraw
a change in Israel’s settlement policy, Israel has continued
completely from territories it had occupied.
its expansion, colonisation and annexation of Palestinian
• 2004 - UN Security Council and the General Assembly statement:
land. These colonies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, “…The status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including
described by Israel as ‘settlements’, are illegal under East Jerusalem, remains one of military occupation.”
international law. • 2004 - International Court of Justice ruling: “the territories occupied by
Israel have for over 37 years been subject to its territorial jurisdiction as the
Israel’s expansionist policy occupying power.”ii
The state of Israel was created in 1948 on 78 per cent of mandate
On the settlements:
Palestine. The remaining 22 per cent was seized by Israel in 1967,
• The Hague Regulations: prohibit an occupying power from undertaking
and has remained under Israeli occupation until the present day. permanent changes in the occupied area, unless these are due to military
In recent years, Israeli governments have claimed that the need in the narrow sense of the term, or unless they are undertaken for the
status of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip is benefit of the local population.
• 1979 - UN Security Council resolution 446: “Determines that the policy
and practices of Israel in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and
ISRAEL’S WALL AND SETTLEMENTS (COLONIES) other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity and
FEBRUARY 2007 constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and
Wall completed (February 2007) lasting peace in the Middle East.”iii
Wall under construction
(February 2007) • 1980 - UN Security Council resolution 465: “Determines that all
Jenin
Walltrajectory
approved by
Israel's cabinet
Rehan
measures taken by Israel to change the physical character, demographic
(April 30, 2006)
1967 Pre-occupation border/
“Green Line”*
Mevo
Dotan composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and other
Settlement bloc areas “east” of Wall
Tubas
Mehola
Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, or any part
Tulkarm
Jordan Valley areas under Israeli
settlement control
Avne
Hefez thereof, have no legal validity and that Israel’s policy and practices of
Israeli urban / rural settlement
Elon settling parts of its population and new immigrants in those territories
Kedumim Moreh

constitute a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative

* Length of 1967 Pre-occupation border ~ 320 km Qalqilya Nablus
Total Wall length ~ 662.8 km
Hamra
Yizhar Itamar
A.Menashe
Elkana to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and also constitute
Massua
a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting
Ariel
JORDAN

Ma'ale
Salfit Eli Efrayim
Palestinian Land Restricted
by Israeli Settlements and the Wall
Bet Arieh
Shilo
peace in the Middle East.” The resolution called for Israel to “dismantle
West Bank area
the existing settlements and in particular to cease, on an urgent basis,
west of the Wall* 9.0 % Nili

Settlement-controlled
Talmon
Bet
El
Ofra the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab
8.0 %
areas east of the Wall Modi'in
Illit Ramallah territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem.”iv
Jordan Valley
settlement control 28.5% Jericho

Areas remaining
54.5 % Latrun
Valley
G.Ze'ev
G.Binyamin
• 2004 - International Court of Justice: unanimously ruled that the
for Palestinian
Ma'ale
Adumim settlements were illegal: ‘since 1977, Israel has conducted a policy
Jerusalem
Walaja and developed practices involving the establishment of settlements in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, contrary to the terms of Article 49,
Wadi Fukin H.Gilo
Betar
Bethlehem
West Bank Population Jaba’ Etzion
Directly Affected by the Wall
paragraph 6, of the Fourth Geneva Convention which provides: “The
Tekoa
Efrat
DEAD SEA

Palestinians seperated
from arable land
12.4%
K.Zur
Asfar
Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian
Palestinians isolated west 10.2%
of the Wall
Adora
Hebron
Kiryat
Arba
population into the territory it occupies.” The Security Council has taken
the view that such policy and practices “have no legal validity” and
Otniel constitute a “flagrant violation” of the Convention. The Court concludes
* Figure includes the Israeli-occupied areas of East Jerusalem,
the Latrun Valley and the settlement areas of Ariel and
Adumim.
that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including
10 Km
Tene
East Jerusalem) have been established in breach of international law.’ v

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 ISRAEL’S COLONIAL SETTLEMENT POLICY

‘disputed’. But this view flies in the face of international opinion and
‘Israel has stolen thousands of dunams of land from the
law (see box). In fact, no state recognises Israel’s right to continue
Palestinians, on which it established dozens of settlements in
to hold these Occupied Territories. Even Israel’s own Supreme Court, which hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians now live. Israel
in 2002, recognised that the West Bank and Gaza are “subject to a forbids Palestinians to enter and use these lands, and uses the
belligerent occupation by the State of Israel.” settlements to justify numerous violations of Palestinian rights,
The rights of a people living under occupation are guaranteed such as the right to housing, to gain a living, and freedom of
under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (to which Israel movement. The sharp changes Israel made to the map of the West
Bank makes a viable Palestinian state impossible as part of the
is a signatory), which states “the occupying power shall not deport
right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.’
or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it
B’tselem, Israeli human rights organisation.vii
occupies.” To do so is a war crime, indictable under the International
Criminal Court. Yet since 1967, successive Israeli governments, both as follows:
Likud and Labour, have pursued a policy of building and expanding “Perhaps three-quarters of the Jews in the West Bank and Gaza
colonies (or ‘settlements’) in the Occupied Territories. Land is could be considered economic settlers. Many of them moved to the
grabbed, driving out the Palestinian population, and huge numbers West Bank for benefits unattainable inside the pre-1967 borders of
of soldiers and resources are employed to guard the newly-created, Israel: space, tax breaks, and mountain air…
antagonistic colonies. “The remainder of the settlers, fifty thousand or so, came to the
The settlements policy constitutes an attempt to alter the final territories for reasons of faith...
status of the land on which they stand. By implanting thousands of “The more unremitting settlers are the Jews living in Hebron,
Israelis deep in occupied land, Israel hopes to expand its borders by in Kiryat Arba, and in a chain of settlements in the mountains near
annexing these settlement areas. Nablus, the main Arab city in the northern West Bank. The zealots
UN Security Council resolutions have ruled Israel’s settlements include those who build ‘illegal’ frontier outposts, which are not
to be illegal and an obstruction to a peaceful resolution to the approved by the Israeli Cabinet, although they are protected by the
conflict in the Middle East. Yet at the beginning of 2006 there Army...
were over 200 settlements, with a population of 240,000 in the Hard-core settlers and their supporters make up perhaps two
West Bank and 190,000 in East Jerusalem (see box). Excluding per cent of the Israeli populace, but they nevertheless have driven
Jerusalem, no-man’s land, and the Dead Sea waters, 42 per cent of Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories for much of the past thirty
the West Bank is now under the jurisdiction of settlements, either as years.” vi
built-up areas or future land reserves for settlement extension.i The settlements, their infrastructure, and the military presence
needed to secure them all have a hugely negative impact on the
The settlers and their impact lives of nearby Palestinians.
Jeffrey Goldberg, writing for The New Yorker described the settlers They are built on expropriated land. Israel can declare an area
for ‘state land’, or for security purposes. For Palestinians, challenging
this process through the courts is a frustrating and frequently futile
process. Also, buildings that have been left empty by refugees can
Growth of the settlements be taken. In all, there are 38 statutes in force enabling Israel to
1978: US President Carter criticises Israel, asking why 9,000 Israelis are expropriate land.
now living in the Occupied Territories in 13 colonies. Settlements are strategically located to control access to
1980: Israel seizes 1,000 acres in East Jerusalem to build a Jewish-only resources. They cover 80 per cent of renewable water sources in
quarter. Two-thirds of the land had been owned by Arabs, who are the West Bank. Each Israeli settler is allocated 1450 cubic meters
evicted.
of water per year; Palestinians are allowed just 83 cubic meters per
1982: Settlers total 21,000 year. viii
1994: Settlers total around 200,000. Israel continues to expand its
settlement programme while it engages in the Oslo peace process, Apartheid Roads
but over the next ten years the number of settlers doubles. In addition, major ‘by-pass roads’ have been constructed to connect
2000: Settlers total around 383,000. the settlements to each other, and back to Israel. Palestinians are
2005: 8,500 settlers withdrawn from Gaza; 15,000 new settlers in the not allowed to use these roads or cross them. For every 100km of
West Bank during the same period. by-pass road, Israel confiscates around 2,500 acres of Palestinian
2006: Settlers total 436,000 in over 200 colonies.
land, destroying whatever homes or farms happen to be in their way.
The roads often separate farmers from their lands and markets,
2006: Newly elected Kadima party declares its intention to incorporate
damaging the economic life of the territories. John Dugard, UN
the settlements into Israel
Special Rapporteur, described the situation as ‘a system of road

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 ISRAEL’S COLONIAL SETTLEMENT POLICY

apartheid has been introduced which keeps the highways for the
exclusive use of settlers and relegates Palestinians to second-class Hebron
roads, obstructed by checkpoints and roadblocks’.ix Hebron is a West Bank

http://www.islamicaweb.com
The building of the settlements and their accompanying town of around 100,000.
infrastructure is mirrored by a reduction in land available for the In the early 1970s an
expansion of farms, villages and towns for Palestinians, who American Israeli, Rabbi
are forced into ever-shrinking and overcrowded enclaves. The Moshe Levinger, and
confiscation of agricultural land, closing of stone quarries and 70 other radical Israelis
destruction of houses has impoverished many Palestinians. The moved into a hotel there
whole process of establishing the colonies is a violent one, which and refused to leave. The
does not end once the settlement is built. The settlers themselves Israeli government supported this illegal act, protected them with
act largely with impunity in disrupting normal Palestinian life. the Israeli military, and armed the settlers.
Road blocks are set up, cars burned, windows smashed and crops
destroyed - settler violence intended to force Palestinians to leave, The Qiryat Arba settlement that they established now has a
so that the colonisers can take further control over their lands (see population of 400, and is arguably the most militant of all the
‘Hebron’ box). settlements. In 1994, Baruch Goldstein, a settler and Israeli Army
reserve officer, entered the Tomb of the Patriarchs mosque in
Hebron, with a submachine gun and opened fire on Muslims at
East Jerusalem and the Apartheid Wall prayer. He killed 29 people, and wounded hundreds more. The
In 2002, Israel began to build its eight metre high ‘security barrier’.
attack triggered a response in which a further 26 Palestinians were
Construction has not followed the Green Line between Israel
killed, along with 9 Israelis.
and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Instead, it reaches deep
into Palestinian lands annexing the settlements, and destroying The grave of Goldstein, located inside the Qiryat Arba settlement,
Palestinian farms, resources, and communities as it goes. In 2004, the has become a venerated site for the extremist settlers.
International Court of Justice declared the Wall illegal, and that Israel In Hebron, thousands of Israeli security forces patrol the main
must dismantle it, but Israel’s construction of the Wall has continued. thoroughfare, Al-Shuhada Street, where three of the four
Like the by-pass roads, the Wall cuts Palestinian farmers off settlements are situated. Palestinians suffer almost daily violence
from their land and markets, prevents workers from getting to their and property damage by the settlers. The security forces do not
employment and isolates families from one another. It is resulting in a protect them and almost never enforce the law against settlers.
huge number of checkpoints and the building of more by-pass roads. B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation, have recorded
When it is finished it will be 650km long, and will leave half of the beatings, hurling of stun grenades, and theft by the army against
West Bank isolated. Palestinians have termed it the ‘Apartheid Wall’. the population.x
A chain of huge settlements around Jerusalem is being expanded
rapidly. The Apartheid Wall is being built to surround Anata and Of all the West Bank towns, Hebron is hardest hit by curfews.
Shaufat refugee camps, Palestinian communities that will be totally Between June 2002 and July 2003 a full curfew was in force
isolated from the rest of East Jerusalem. South of Anata, Za’im is also for over 55 per cent of the time, massively damaging the town’s
being sealed off, trapping residents in a ghetto. The Mayor of Za’im, economy and preventing proper healthcare and education.
Mahmoud Subeh, has warned that residents who can are moving out
to avoid being trapped, leaving empty buildings behind. Jerusalem :
East Jerusalem, illegally occupied by Israel since 1967, has “Extremist Jewish settler groups, often with foreign funding, use
traditionally been the centre of political, religious, cultural and a variety of means to take over Palestinian properties and land. They
commercial life for the West Bank. In 1980, Israel passed the either prey on Palestinians suffering financial hardship or simply
Jerusalem Law, which declared the unity of Jerusalem as Israel’s occupy properties by force and rely on the occasional tardiness
capital, though it did not declare its borders. This measure was not and/or connivance of the Israeli courts. Such groups have told us
internationally recognised, but it is clear that Israel is attempting to that they also press the Israeli authorities to demolish Palestinian
annex the whole of Jerusalem. homes built without permits… Some of the Jewish settlements
In 2006 the newly elected Kadima party clearly declared lack building permits, but not one has been demolished – in marked
its intention to keep Jerusalem’s Old City and the Jewish contrast to the situation for Palestinians…
‘neighbourhoods’ in East Jerusalem, within the final borders of “The plan to expand the settlement of Ma’ale Adumin into the
Israel. This position, which goes against international law, is so-called “E1” area, east of Jerusalem, threatens to complete the
supported by all the major Israeli parties. encircling of the city by Jewish settlements, dividing the West Bank
A recent EU reportxi outlined the settlement process in East into two separate geographical areas. The proposed extension of the

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 ISRAEL’S COLONIAL SETTLEMENT POLICY

barrier from East Jerusalem to form a bubble around the settlement created by aircraft flying fast and low.
of Maaleh Adumin would have the same effect. 2004 saw a near The settlements in Gaza were, as are all the settlements, illegal.
tripling of the number of Palestinian buildings demolished in East Their removal proved that the dismantling of such settlements is
Jerusalem. We expect a similar number of demolitions in 2005… possible.
Settlement activity and construction is ongoing… contrary to
Israel’s obligations under international law and the Roadmap.”
Remove ALL the settlements
The settlements are illegal under international law. Their existence
The Jordan Valley denies the Palestinians basic human rightsxii:
Israel is taking over the fertile Jordan Valley with its settlements, • The Right to Equality: Jewish settlers are citizens of Israel
including the newest one announced by Olmert in December 2006 and enjoy full civil rights, whilst Palestinians live under a
which will house fundamentalist settlers from Gaza. Much of the military occupation that denies them those rights.
agricultural produce in our shops is from this area, grown illegally • The Right to Self Determination: settlements, bypass roads,
on confisccated Palestinian land. and the Apartheid Wall confine Palestinians to ‘Bantustans’
and prevent the political, economic and social integration
But Israel removed the Gaza required for a viable Palestinian state.
settlements… • The Right to Freedom of Movement: the numerous
One million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip, one of the most checkpoints and roadblocks that Palestinians must endure
densely populated areas in the world. Much has been made of in the name of protecting settlers prevent Palestinians from
the removal of the settlements from Gaza in 2005. Although this moving around freely. This also violates other human rights
relieved some of the pressure on Palestinians living in Gaza, it needs such as adequate access to healthcare, education and
to be considered in context. employment.
Whilst 8,500 settlers were removed from Gaza, over 15,000 • The Right to an Adequate Standard of Living: the seizure of
new settlers were moved into the West Bank during the same farmland for settlements and the lack of access to sufficient
period. Similarly, whilst 19 square miles of land were given up in water supplies imperil the primary source of income for
Gaza, a further 23 square miles from the West Bank was lost. many families.
The current Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, has openly
stated that the disengagement from the Gaza Strip was a prelude to Further, the settlements constitute a major block in preventing a
the core plan, his ‘convergence proposal’, which would move tens of just peace in the Middle East, instead prolonging the conflict. John
thousands of settlers from enclaves scattered throughout the West Dugard, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian
Bank to settlement blocs located closer to the pre-1967 war Green Territories, summarised the impact of the settlements thus:
Line border. He described the disengagement from Gaza as a first, “Obviously the settlements should not be there in the
vital step toward that end (quoted in Ha’aretz, May 2004). first place… Much of Israeli security apparatus is designed
In any case, Israel has retained full control of Gaza’s borders, to ensure the protection of the settlers who are there
shoreline and airspace, controlling all border crossings. Between illegally anyway. And so it’s the protection of these illegal
24 September and 12 November 2005, Israel barred over 5,000 settlers that gives rise to this security situation in the West
Palestinians from crossing the border. Under international law, Bank and Gaza. So, if you are asking me what the remedy is,
Israel therefore continues to be the occupying power in the Gaza in the first place the settlers, or the settlements, should be
Strip. Israel has continued to demonstrate its military control over dismantled.” xiii
the region – by continuing to kill Palestinians inside the Gaza Strip
and terrorising the population using such methods as sonic booms i
B’Tselem, ‘Land Grab’ Draft Report, 2002.
ii
www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ipresscom/ipress2004/ipresscom2004-
2_summary_mwp_20040709.htm
Get Involved! iii
iv
www.palestine-un.org
ibid
v
www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ipresscom/ipress2004/ipresscom2004-
Join the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
2_summary_mwp_20040709.htm
vi
New Yorker, 31st May 2004.
 I enclose £ ..... to help the PSC in its work. vii
http://www.btselem.org/English/Settlements/
 I want to join the PSC (individual £24 / unwaged £12) viii
‘Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territories’, Palestine
Cheques payable to PSC. Monitor (www.palestinemonitor.org )
ix
Press release HR/CN/05/18, March 2005 (available on http://domino.
un.org)
Name.............................................................................................. x
www.btselem.org/english/Search/search.asp?txtSearch=hebron
Address .......................................................................................... xi
www.palestinecampaign.org/campaigns.asp?d=y&id=140 for the full
............................................... Postcode ........................................ report.
Tel .......................................... Email .............................................. xii
Press release HR/CN/05/18 March 2005 (available on http://domino.
Return to: PSC, BM Box PSA, London WC1N 3XX. un.org)
Or telephone: 020 7700 6192 and pay over the phone. xiii
www.un.org/webcast/worldchron/trans920.pdf
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