The conduct of various Israeli governments over the past decades shows a clear pattern of violation of previous agreements, with promises of no new settlements prominently made at International 'Peace' conferences with the Palestinians and then weirdly ignored (why even bother to make such promises in the first place). These settlements are also a violation of International law established through resolutions banning the building of territories on land seized during war (with the obvious purpose being the assimilation of such territory over a period of decades or generations by establishing 'facts on the ground'.) One can, for example, consider the expulsion of the Native North American populations, accompanied, then as now in the case of Israel, with constant blantant violations of treaties and agreements previously made, thus establishing, through 'facts on the ground' a new national entity which in time is unquestionable. Seen in this light, Israel's policy of making North American Indian style 'treaties' and 'agreements' with the Palestinians, which are constantly broken (and indeed were always intended to be broken, or so it would seem, even as they were made) can be understood in historical perspective, to be simply a replay of the old 'make a treaty with the natives, break the treaty, move out out the natives, establish settlements, make another 'treaty' with the natives, break the treaty, move out the natives to ever shrinking reservations, establish more settlements...' We have seen it all before, and in the case of Israel's colonial ambitions we don't have to travel back in time to see history replayed live before eyes. It is happening right now, and, if a person wants to be really cynical, we might even assume that Israel is deliberately using the model of the creation of the United States as the modus operandi in the creation of 'Greater Israel' in the occupied territories.
After the Oslo accords the pattern continued unabated, leaving Palestinians justifiably convinced that they were participating in the old model of colonial expansion just described above.
At the moment the following links to these pdf files are broken, but I post the links in the case that the website is fixed in the days to come.
Peace Nows documentation of the unprecedented expansion of the number of tenders for housing in the occupied territories issued under Barak regime - PDF
Documentation of the budget proposals for the occupied territories, 2001 PDF
Documentation of the implementation of the settler military outpost policy PDF
The creation of the state of Israel was, at its inception, founded on the conquest of land already occupied for ages past (this was not, as in the case of the movement of settlers into the Americas, the occupation of 'empty virgin land' but rather involved the expulsion of existing nations through military violence and force, and the substitution of a new nationality in its place.) Now in the case of Israel, this repetition of what happened to the American Indians, complete with the wholesale slaughter (and the following reservation policy, accompanied by constant 'making of treaties' and breaking of same treaties) all this has been dressed up by religious propagandists as being 'the wonderful fulfillment of the plans of Almighty God' being worked out for the benefit of 'God's chosen people'. The plans of God in this case, one must accept, this being 'a divine miracle' after all, involve the use of the kind of force and violations of human rights, seizing of property, and everything else that was involved in the creation of this new state.
The following thumbnail links to a full sized map posted on the Palestine Remembered site, which documents the wholesale destruction of Palestinian communities and towns during the 'divine miracle' of the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. All the red dots on the map represent Palestinian cities that destroyed and depopulated, leaving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee as refugees of war, and it is the descendants of these refugees who are now living in the camps in the Gaza and the West Bank (and enduring this 'American Indian policy' just described above, to add insult to injury one must think.)
URL to uprooted Palestinians and destroyed villages in 1948 (which the site calls the list of all 'ethnically cleansed Palestinians'
The site also documents the result of the 1948 'ethnic cleansing' of the Palestinians through photos of what remains of the rubble of the destroyed villages indicated on the map above.
List of destroyed palestinian villages, with links to photos
The following thumbnail links to a full sized map (1.3 megabytes) on the Peace Now site...
New Settlements since the Sharon government came to power, February 2001
The foundation for Middle East Peace comments on the roots of this expansionist policy. "Civilian Israel settlement throughout the territories was essential to the realization of this goal,explained Moshe Dayan, who remains the most important architect of Israeli policy, "not because [settlements]can ensure security better than the army, but because without them we cannot keep the army in thoseterritories. Without them the IDF would be a foreign army ruling a foreign population," rather than an armydefending the "right" of its citizens to live in their homeland in peace and security ... A total end to Palestinian violence that Sharon demands is improbable without prompt relieffrom Israel's tough policies of collective punishment, including closures, economic sanctions and demolitions, whichprovoke and exacerbate violence ... Israel, on its part, has reliedexclusively on often lethal and provocative military responses and on draconian collective punishment andrepression. No less important, Sharon's current vision of a peace deal projected in the map on page 3 offers nohope for Palestinians."
Sharon Barak proposed map of expanded Israeli settlements and shrinking Palestinian reservations - the posposed Palestinian reservations are denoted by the dark grey color...
While much is said about Palestinian violence in the media, and while Israel's gunship attacks are covered, little is said about in the media about settler violence. For example, they give the following timeline of Palestinian and settler violence for one month of the current intifada, and it is unlikely that most people have ever heard of most of these incidents. The following incidents of settler violence are culled from the complete list just to make the point of how little people hear about the settler violence that is constantly taking place behind the scenes and goes a long way toward putting the overall violence in the region into perspective (such conflict does not take place in a vacuum).
December 8, 2000 : Settlers from Kiryat Arba block roads and begin firing at Palestinian homes and cars. Demand is made to have all Palestinians barred from driving on the roads of the West Bank. Armed settlers take over a home in Hebron's Baqa' area (Givat Harsina). Settlers shoot and wound a Palestinianboy in an attempt to take over his house in the village.A European Union statement draws a connection between Palestinian violence and Israel's settlement policy.
December 9 : A 13-year-old Palestinian boy dies from a gunshot wound inflicted by Israeli settlers in Hebron. According toPalestinian sources, settlers from Kiryat Arba and Hebron had raided and vandalized Palestinian homes in responseto the shooting of two settlers the preceding day. The settlers contend they were attacked while attempting tooccupy a Palestinian home that they believe was illegally built.Settlers hold violent demonstrations in Hebron, protesting the deaths of two settlers on December 8.
December 10 : settlers shooting at homes and a school with live ammunition in Sila.The IDF announces new measures designed to curb shooting attacks on West Bank roads: private Palestinian carswith male-only passengers will not be allowed to travel; army activity will increase at night; Areas A are to beplaced under closure and Palestinian villages cut off from cities.
December 11 : settlers shooting at homes in Burqa, which has been under curfew for four days.Settlers from Mitzpeh Jericho and Neve Tzuf block roads to passage by Palestinian cars.Settlers from Moshav Patza'el burn tires and obstruct traffic on the Jordan Valley highway.
December 12 : Settlers set fire to a furniture storage building and a tile sawmill in Salfit. Settlers also destroy several commercialshops and factories.
December 13 : Settlers block Palestinian traffic at dozens of intersections, including those near Ateret, Beit El, Kiryat Arba, NeveTzuf, Ofra, and Talmon. Neither the police nor the army intervenes.
December 17 : Two settlers from Neve Tzuf are arrested in connection with the death of a Palestinian whose body was foundnear Abud. The settlers claim they were attacked with stones and shot in self-defense.A settler from Kiryat Arba is charged with aggravated assault in connection with the wounding of a Palestinian.The settler claims he shot after being attacked with stones.
December 18 : Settlers open fire on and attempt to break into the Hawara High School in Nablus, wounding two students. Thesettlers surround the school before the IDF arrives and stops them.According to Ha'aretz, settlers fire on two Palestinians near Nablus, seriously wounding one.
December 20 : Housing and Construction Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer reports that 1,400 settlement housing units have beenstarted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since January 2000.
December 21 : Settlers from Yitzhar attack Hawara and destroy more than 100 olive trees near the settlement junction. Settlersfire at Palestinian cars traveling in Salfit.Ma'ariv publishes tenders for 496 housing units in Ma'ale Adumim and 212 units in Alfei Menashe.
December 22 : A Palestinian farmer is shot while working in his field near the Netzarim settlement.Hear Palestine reports seven Palestinians injured while attempting to stop a bulldozer working on land to beannexed to the Kfar Darom settlement.
December 23 : IDF forces based in Elon Moreh fire at Azmout and Salem villages causing severe damage.More than 200 settlers from Betar, near Bethlehem, throw stones at Palestinian cars near the entrance ofNahaleen village.
December 24 : Settlers block Palestinian traffic on the Jordan Valley highway at two intersections. One settler calls the action "away of releasing steam" because "the media acts as if the Jordan Valley has practically been given away already."
In addition, reporting on events taking place during the same time frame, the B'Tselem Human Rights group reported that "settler violence towards Palestinian residents of the territories had increased since the intifada erupted. It says six Arabs were killed by settlers between September and March. The organisation adds that in that period, settlers had also stoned Palestinian cars, damaged property and set fire to a mosque. The report also highlights a sharp increase in attacks on settlers by Palestinians."
Gush Shalom reproduces a map of proposed Palestinian reservations similar to the one above, and is currently calling for an international peace keeping observer force in Israel. In their current issue they off the following analysis of the recent step up in the number of assassinations and gun ship attacks by Israel in the occupied territories, under the heading 'good cop - bad cop" : "The bad cop, Sharon, shouts: "Hold me! I am crazy! I'll go berserk!" It's easy for him to convince the audience, because they remember his previous movies ("Blood and tears in Kibia" or "Is Gaza burning?" not to mention the blockbuster "Darkness in Sabra and Shatilla".) ... Casting could not do better. Sharon threatens the world. If let loose, he will invade the Palestinian territories, kill Arafat, drive masses of Palestinians across the Jordan river ... Peres, the good cop, is holding Sharon , preventing him from going berserk. He travels between the capitals of the world, imploring presidents and prime ministers: Please, help me to restrain that terrible person! I can't do it if you don't let him enlarge the settlements and break the existing agreements ... "
The Campaign to Impeach George W. Bush
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