Introduction[1]
Settlement building is a systematic practice and central feature of Israeli policy in the occupied West Bank. Through this multi-purpose colonialist practice, Israel seeks to expand beyond the boundaries gained by the Jewish state during the 1948 Nakba. To achieve this, the State of Israel seeks to seize and annex the greatest amount of land with the least amount of inhabitants.
Today, the number of official settlements in the West Bank is 144,[2] including sixteen in Jerusalem. In addition to this, more than 100 "unauthorized settler outposts" are scattered around the occupied West Bank, as well as in the heart of Arab quarters and neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem. By mid-2012, 550,000 Israeli settlers inhabited these settlements and settler outposts, with over 200,000 settlers in Jerusalem alone (Jerusalem was unilaterally annexed by the State of Israel in 1967).[3]
Since Benjamin Netanyahu's election as prime minister in March 2009, however, the coalition government effectively became a "‘settlers' government" par excellence, particularly since the inclusion of far right political parties. This is reflected in the unprecedented speed of settlement building. Today, the Palestinian people are, in effect, singled out and isolated, and their property is threatened with systematic confiscation. In expanding its settlers' activities in the occupied territories, Israel capitalized on the international community's preoccupation with the "Arab Spring" and its ramifications, as well as the Palestinian leadership's inability to come up with any unified decisions or a strategy of resistance.
To view the PDF, click on the image below
-------------------------------------------------
[1] This analysis was written prior to the Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's dismissal of Cairo's top two generals and his quashing of a military order that had curbed the new leader's powers.
[2] For more on "settler outposts" in the West Bank and the role of the Israeli government in encouraging their development, as well as their establishment on privately-owned Palestinian lands, refer to the [Talia] Sasson Report (Jerusalem:2005).
[3] Figures indicating the number of settlements and Israeli settlers inhabiting them are taken from various sources, including the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (www.cbs.gov.il/shnaton62/st02_13.pdf); the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/PressRelease/settlmt2011a.pdf); Peace Now (online) (www.peacenow.org.il/node/297); and the Ir Amim website (www.ir-amim.org.il/?categoryID=464).
