25% of Israeli Illegal Settlements is on Palestinian-owned Land
At least 25 percent of the structures built by Israelis in the West Bank’s Area C (full Israeli control) were built on private Palestinian-owned land, a report said on Tuesday.
According to a comprehensive internal report by the Israeli Civil Administration, a government body entrusted with administering all nonmilitary issues in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, only 0.5 percent of the illegal structures were constructed on land registered to Jewish owners.
The data, published for the first time, also indicate that Israel is practicing a discriminatory policy: It is more lenient on illegal construction by Jews than by Palestinians.
Although the Jewish population in the area is four times bigger than the Palestinian population, the Israeli authorities have demolished triple the number of Palestinian structures compared to Jewish structures.
The report, compiled late last year, determines that approximately one-third (900 structures) of illegal buildings in the Palestinian territories were constructed within existing settlements.
The Israeli settlement of Ofra, northeast West Bank city of Ramallah, for example, has 179 illegal buildings out of 600 homes. Most of these illegal structures were built on privately-owned Palestinian lands registered to West Bank residents.
The Civil Administration has located 2,764 illegal structures, of which more than 650 were built on private-owned Palestinian lands. Another 900 were built on territory whose legal status has not yet been determined.
Some 1,200 were built on land owned by the state. Only 15 were built on land registered to Jewish owners.
The Civil Administration is responsible for locating illegal construction, issuing demolition orders and carrying them out. It has 270,000 settlers under its jurisdiction in the area C, as well as 70,000 Palestinians.
The data reveal that from 1997 to 2006, the Civil Administration located twice as many illegal Palestinian structures – approximately 6,000 – as Jewish ones. Of these, approximately 2,000 buildings were demolished – 1,500 by the administration, and the rest by the Palestinians themselves at the administration’s orders.
The number of Jewish structures demolished by the administration totaled 150, with another 500 demolished by the settlers themselves.
Dror Etkes, who coordinates the Peace Now movement’s Settlement Watch project, reacted to the data by accusing the government of “criminally employing its agencies in order to minimize the number of Palestinians residing in Area C and push the Palestinian population into enclaves so as to allow Israel to maintain its control over most of the West Bank.”
The Civil Administration’s spokesman, Zidki Maman, responded that “the number of structures that have been demolished reflect the number of structures that have been located.”
The Civil Administration was formed in 1981 “to manage the local population’s civil affairs for its welfare.” It was set up to free the army from attending to the needs of Palestinian residents of the territories, though its actions are subject to the approval of the Israel Occupation Forces.
Essentially, it is supposed to play the role of the Interior Ministry in the territories, and among other tasks, it is responsible for issuing entry permits into Israel.
However, civil rights activists have long argued that the civil administration was more concerned with promoting the Israeli government’s interests than with the welfare of the population under its jurisdiction.
Join the Conversation
where did you find this information? it seems kind of biased; who’s land are the other 75% of settlements on?
I agree that those settlers that build on other people’s privately owned land must leave.
But I disagree with the premise that settlements are illegal per se. If the settlers buy the land or otherwise acquire it legally, who says these settlements are illegal?
That’s why they’re referred to as illegal. They’re not acquired legally. For details, I am re-posting this which I have used in another comment:
From an EU Report on Israel’s illegal actions within and around East Jerusalem.
Highlights -
Haaretz:
Planning council approves illegal West Bank building plan
From Rense:
From MERIP - Israeli Settlements Illegal and Getting Worse
From yet another Israeli source, Kibush:
Tulkarem choked by Israel’s illegal chemical fumes; Shop flattening scheduled by illegal expansion
From Global Research:
From AFP:
UN Report Slams Israeli Wall as Illegal Annexation of Palestinian Land
From The Hindu:
From The Australian:
Many domestic and most international sources refer to these settlements as illegal, and rightly so.
Not so sure if that turf is really Palestinian any more. History tells us that Israel acquired land in 1948 from a UN Mandate, purchases from Arab owners and the spoils of winning against an Arab coalition to destroy the Nakbah.
Israel again got turf (fair and square in the 6 Day war) in the WB, Gaza and Golan Heights with Her desperate pre emptive strike against another Arab coalition bent on driving the ZE into the sea.
Compare a map of Deutschland in 1914 to one of today. Try and make the case for returning turf that has been German since Roman times and the world will laughingly lecture you about the wages states incur when they repeatedly attack their neighbors and repeatedly lose. Just like the WB and Gaza.
We’re not talking about 1948. We’re talking about illegal expansion years and years later.
Hi Esra’a. Thanks for making my point. Expansion on turf won by defeating wars of aggression is not illegal. In other words, anything Israel does with land in Gaza or the WB is not illegal. Israel acquired the turf fair and square by defeating more than one war of aggression.
Example? Never hear of Danzig anymore do we? Nope – it’s called G’Dansk now and its no longer German – but Polish.
That doesn’t make any sense in my opinion. Defeating what wars? You’re telling me this illegal expansion is a result of a few suicide bombers here and there? What kind of justification is that? When there is war – you don’t go to someone else’s land, steal their homes, and call it a day. In this day and age, this is rightly considered brutal and inhumane.
These are homes of innocent people being demolished and replaced. These are lands that were agreed upon by the Israeli government which to this day breaks its own rules wherever it sees fit. And this is further proof of the fact that Israel does not bother with international law or the concerns of the EU, the UN, and the entire international community who rightly refer to this as not only illegal, but an act of violence. The more Israel expands illegally, the more oppression the Palestinians face, and this is unjust. Many Israelis condemn it, and I hope to see more people do that at least for the sake of human rights.
Hi Esra’a. Essentially, history is not so kind to nations who repeatedly attack their neighbors and repeatedly lose. So, suicide bombers, k’ssam rocketry aside – all of Gaza, the WB and yes, even the Golan rightfully belong to Israel. She can do whatever she likes with the land. Why? Easy! The former sovereign nations who administered and ruled it lost it by starting wars of aggression.
And yes, when there is a war of aggression and the aggressors lose it – they always pay a high price in land. Like Germany did.
Granted, the press, academia, Arab leaders, foreign leaders and journalists have made much of ‘illegal Israeli occupation’. So what? You can also launch a ten year campaign to equate a Ford Explorer with a Land Rover or teach little kids that Kfed = Sir Paul McCartney.
To be totally honest about it, Palestinian rage, anger, justice and fairness should be directed at Egypt, Jordan and Syria for starting wars that they have lost. Notice since 1973 they don’t DARE to act out – lest Israeli tanks end up parked in downtown Cairo or Damascus. They have learned the hard way not to send their jets and armor against the naughty IDF. Palestinians, not the leaders – paid the price.
They have also learned how to misdirect Palestinian attention away from their abandonment of their people in Palestine and their failure to assimilate their Palestinian brothers and sisters into loyal productive members of their repective nations.
The EU and the UN are jokes – the EU couldn’t even take an 8 hour tank ride to Belgrade to put Milosevic out of biz and the UN is corrupt – like the oil for food scandel and her peacekeepers are worthless (like in Lebanon in 2000, the Siani in 1966 or Darfur today). The International Community is even worse.
Perhaps the only solution (because the ’3 NO’s', K’ssam rockets, suicide belts, intolerance and violence AIN’T working) is to pubicly, Officially Recognize Israel – the full treatment – make a big deal out of it – wield Palestinian prestige and influence with other Arab nations to do the same, exchange ambassadors etc. and sit down and negotiate with Israel and cut a deal. After all, Egypt and Jordan have and they and Israel havn’t bothered anyone since.
Granted, it may not seem fair for Israel to do what ever she likes – just as the nearly 4 million German refugees (many innocent of anything other than being German) from the Eastern Reich must have felt as they lost everything to Poland. Again, you can thank Egypt, Jordan and Syria for this sorry state of affairs.
Calling it illegal, oppressive and unjust only undermines the Palestinian cause from a historical view. Besides, Israel, Gaza, Golan and the WB ‘occupies’ less than 1% of Arab land and less than a tenth of a percent of Islamic land with a population of less than 10 million as say compared to nearly 350 million Arabs.
Morally, we completely disagree. How can you say that Israel has the “right” to do what it wants to do? If Palestine goes by this logic – you will raise hell. You only apply this to people or states whose intentions you agree with?
When Hezbollah attacked Israeli army tanks “in retaliation” (I say this sarcastically, knowing fully well that you use this to justify Israeli aggression too) does that mean they have the power to do what they want to do in Northern Israel? Does it mean they “won” this land if they showed military progress and gained the power to claim this land?
If Israel agrees to a statement that says they have the OBLIGATION to stay out of certain lands – but then goes against this very statement and expands into the land they said they wouldn’t interfere in, how is this not illegal when it’s their own law they are breaking? And does international law here, which also states that this is illegal, not apply then? Shall we forget these standards?
I bet you don’t want Israel to be taken over by any overpowering military .. but by your logic it will be completely legal! And thus, no one can protest it. People like you on the other side will claim that “history” proved its worth and helped the Palestinians regain their “stolen lands.” That’s your exact logic but in the mind of a Palestinian – so you simply can’t claim that it is in any way fair or ‘legal.’
Hi Esra’a. Forgive me, yet I feel I have stated as best I can the reasons that history upholds my posts.
Essentially, any nation that launches wars of aggression and loses them always pay with land. Nothing magic about it. I feel you are missing that important point. The wars from 1948 – 1973 were not started by Israel. Thus, by UN standards and jurisprudence – Israel was NOT the aggressor. Please note that the UN term ‘occupied’ land is only used to describe turf captured by an aggressor. ‘Disputed’ land in the name given to turf captured by defenders.
To answer your hypo – Hiz’B'Allah scenerio – yes. IF Israel launched a war of aggression sans HBA provocations – and were beaten back in a counterattack and HBA ended up with occupied turf in Northern Israel.
Israel’s obligations to Palestine are laughable and no one takes them seriously because how can you when Palestine will not recognize Israel?
That’s the point Palestine has missed all these years and it is costing them horribly in sympathy here in the Great Satan and most of the West.
If Palestine ( and I know it has) real issues with Israel then stop all the nonsense, recog Israel, exchange ambassadors and cut some deals. Again, the former misrulers of Palestine – Egypt and Jordan have done just that. What is so magical about Gaza or the WB that they cannot ?
Palestine shouldn’t put too much into what the UN has said or done regarding Palestine. After all, the UN has almost as many members who cannot bear to even say the name Israel as she does with members who have recognized Israel. Most of them have nothing in common with Israel – like a tolerant, egalitarian society with a free, uncensored press, transparent elections, treasuries open to public scrutiny etc. No surpise there.