CPTnet
December 9, 2002
HEBRON: “A Trip around Jerusalem Settlements”
by John Engle*
The November Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation
came to this country with an understanding that Israel
and Israelis, fearful for their existence, were
pursuing a policy of occupation that was both unjust
and a breeding ground for more violence. Our first
days here showed that many Israelis, secular and
religious, were not happy with Israeli government
policy, and those we met assured us that most Israelis
did not know the facts.
Our visit with Naama, from the Israeli Committee
Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), told us those facts
that most Israelis did not know. Naama used the image
of a prison: The Palestinian lands are a prison with
the Israeli settlements as watch towers and the roads
as walls. We saw those roads, which are for Israelis
only, cutting communities in half, eating up land and
making communication impossible. And we saw not only
massive settlements built since 1993, but large
hilltops labeled as settlements but not yet built
upon. Naama told us that Israelis can get permits to
build on 500% of their land (that is, a five-story
building) while Palestinians may only build on 25% of
their land–land that can be confiscated. The city has
demolition orders on up to 1,000 Arab residential
buildings.
Ultimately, Israel’s policy for the occupied
territories is to have small widespread populations,
unable to move between areas in an “independent”
Palestine in name only–in other words, the Bantustan
solution. The difference between Israel’s political
Right and moderates is that moderates want to provide
industry (owned by settlers) to create a livelihood
for Palestinian workers, thereby avoiding the kind of
economic unrest that plagued South Africa.
This analysis might have seemed like Leftist
propaganda except for the chilling fact that the plans
and maps are on file and available for anyone to see
(this is, after all, a democracy). But most citizens
do not look or care. They accept the government
security analysis as the reason for every governmental
act. Thus, the suicide bombers are in effect making
the Israeli government’s work easier. So it is true
that the government is trying to insure the safety of
Israel, but it is doing so with the known abrogation
of human rights–a cost that governments may accept,
but decent people everywhere–Israelis, Palestinians,
and Americans included–will reject.
* John Engle is a member of the November CPT
delegation to the West Bank.
