The Staggers

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Throughout Israel, Palestinians are being suffocated

Despite growing understanding of the struggles of Palestinian communities, we still need to move bey

By Ben White Published 05 August 2010 13:57

Shortly after I had arrived in Palestine last month, I visited the devastated community in the Jordan Valley where the Israeli army had, just days earlier, demolished around 70 "illegal" structures. The same week, I visited Dahmash, an "unrecognised" village between Ramla and Lod, inside Israel, where Palestinian citizens face pending demolition orders. Finally, a few days later, I woke up to the news that the "unrecognised" Palestinian Bedouin village of al-Araqib, in the Negev, had been destroyed in a raid involving 1,300 armed police (and cheering volunteers).

Whether under military rule in the West Bank, or as citizens in Israel, Palestinian communities' ability to grow naturally is compromised by laws, "zoning" plans and permit systems designed to enforce a regime of separation and inequality. In 2008, a UN report detailed how 94 per cent of Palestinian building permit applications are denied in "Area C" of the West Bank, an area that covers 60 per cent of the territory.

"Area C" is also where major Israeli colonisation efforts have been focused. The Israeli human rights NGO B'Tselem estimates the total area controlled by settlements at over 40 per cent of the West Bank.

Inside pre-1967 Israeli borders, the state's approach to the Palestinian minority blows apart the myth of Israel as "the only democracy in the Middle East". As one recent study has shown, a quarter of Palestinian towns and villages inside Israel lack a building "master plan" and are thus ineligible for permits. In addition, while roughly a thousand new Jewish communities have been established since 1948, not a single Arab town has been created -- even as the minority population has multiplied by seven.

In Dahmash, ironically described as "Israel's best-kept secret", residents struggle to survive on land that has been designated "agricultural", while next door the zoning status was changed to facilitate a housing development aimed at Jewish Israelis.

As an "unrecognised" village, Dahmash is denied basic services and threatened with home demolitions. Activists on the ground see links with the struggles in East Jerusalem -- in other words, "internal colonialism is not yet history in Israel". As Arafat Ismayil, head of the Dahmash village committee, said to me, "We're in the heart of Israel, but we're not here."

In the Negev, long-standing policies of "Judaisation" -- similar to what has happened in Galilee -- shape the demolitions seen recently (a point made by the Israeli professor Neve Gordon). What Human Rights Watch called Israel's "discriminatory policies" occur in a context where Jewish National Fund forests, and maintaining a "Jewish majority", are prioritised over and above the rights and dignity of Palestinian Bedouin citizens.

On the same day as the destruction of al-Araqib, it was reported that the Israeli government plans to help army officers move to the Negev, part of moves to "strengthen" the area.

Naturally, the legal context differs. In the West Bank, restricting the Palestinians to certain areas and freeing up land for colonisation is effected using the military's prerogative to deny permits in "Area C", as well as the cover of "military necessity" and cherry-picking laws from Ottoman times and the British Mandate. Inside Israel's pre-1967 borders, the tools are land confiscation laws and manipulating planning procedures.

Yet the core dynamic is the same. The bulldozers in Silwan, al-Walaja and al-Araqib are advancing the same goals.

There is significance in drawing the connections between the struggles of Palestinian communities, whether they are in the heart of the West Bank or Galilee. In the west, and especially the UK and Europe, there is a growing understanding of, and solidarity with, the struggles centred on the likes of the siege of Gaza, the evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and the illegal Separation Wall. While this is welcome, there is a risk of missing the bigger picture -- and excluding Palestinians in Israel and the refugees altogether. It is about moving beyond the framework of "the occupation", and reintegrating the "Question of Palestine", with a fight for rights, justice and equality at the centre.

Who has done the most to fail to distinguish between pre-1967 Israel and the settlements? Who has "erased" the Green Line? The answer is the Israeli state, which for decades has pursued policies of colonisation, control and segregation in all of the territory under its control.

When the government sets its (discriminatory) plan for "National Priority Areas", West Bank settlements and Galilee are included alike. It means the adviser to the prime minister on settlements under Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert affirming his "commitment to bolstering the Jewish population" of the Golan, Galilee, Negev and West Bank, as "settlement is settlement". It is why the current minister for the development of the Negev and Galilee, Silvan Shalom, can talk of the need to "settle all parts of Israel, including the Negev and Galilee and Judaea and Samaria".

From the West Bank to the Negev, differences in geography and legal regime can conceal the disturbing reality: that events have a great deal in common, both practically and strategically.

Seeing these developments from a more holistic perspective has important implications for how we understand the conflict in Palestine/Israel, as well as consequences for the nature of our response.

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Tags: Palestine Israel

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15 comments

Fri, 2010-08-06 14:45 — praha7 (not verified)

If Israel finally annexes the whole of the west bank which seems to be the logical end of its current policy.
What will it then do with the Palestinians?
I imagine they would like to carry out ethnic cleansing by expelling them to surrounding countries.
However will these countries play ball?I doubt it.
The final outcome could be very interesting.

Thu, 2010-08-12 06:02 — Tdoss (not verified)

The West Bank is occupied land according to any definition one would care to put forward for it, including the UN's. It is assuredly not part of the Land of Israel. "The Land of Israel" is only without boundaries and potentially encompassing all of earth (or the universe) for those who find that definition quite self-serving, primarily Israeli Jews.

Thu, 2010-08-12 07:04 — bodek_tzitziyot

"...The West Bank is ... assuredly not part of the Land of Israel..."

The West Bank and East Jerusalem are the heartland of the historic homeland of the Jewish people, which all Jews know as Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel. Jews have lived there for over three thousand years.

"..."The Land of Israel" is only without boundaries..."

The boundaries of the Land of Israel are well-defined geographically and historically. They encompass the territory west of the Jordan river to the Mediterranean, and range from the Negev in the south to the Dan river in the north.

Thu, 2010-08-12 07:20 — bodek_tzitziyot

"...I think the comparisons with apartheid in South Africa are accurate .."

Apartheid is a system of laws that allocate different rights to different peoples on the basis of "race", in particular civil rights and rights of residence. Israel has no such laws against its large Arab population. But the leader of the Palestinian authority has stated that he will not allow any Jews to remain as residents in the Palestinian state.

I await with bated breath the outpourings of protest from the left/liberals of the West at this plan for anti-Jewish apartheid.

Tue, 2010-08-10 15:03 — David Bennett (not verified)

Thanks Ben this is an important article in showing the clear and orchestrated plan to seperate a people from their land. As Neve Gordon one of the few brave Israeli journalists writes, that is the overall aim of the occupation.
I think the comparisons with apartheid in South Africa are accurate and I would support the many calls for a global boycott and divestment in Israel.
It may take a generation but I do not think the rest of the world will tolerate the ongoing suppression of the palestinians.In South Africa the Apartheid regime became entrenched in a similar way to what is happening to Israeli society. It is about demonizing the arabs and spreading fear as the black population was in South Africa.

Tue, 2010-08-17 22:19 — felix (not verified)

THE KORAN SUPPORTS THE JEWS BEING IN ISRAEL.

The Koran describes Israel as the land of the Jews.

“We settled the Children of Israel in a beautiful dwelling place, and provided for them sustenance of the best,” (10:93)

“O my people(the Jews)! Enter the holy land which God hath assigned unto you,” (Sürah 5:21)

“Dwell securely in the land of promise,” (17:104).

Trans. A.Y.Ali

Islamic Professor Abdul Hadi Palazzi,

“A good Muslim must be a Zionist. A comparative analysis of Koranic and Torah sources reveals an agreement on the point that the link existing between Children of Israel and Land of Canaan depends directly on Allah's will, toward which we are asked to submit.

Allah constituted the offspring of Jacob . . . as heirs of the Promised Land.

Who would of thought it,his words not mine and I am no supporter of Zionism so it was a bit of a shock.
As any one knows I am no great supporter of Islam either but there it is, in the Koran!

What a surprise,maybe Palestinians and Muslims should look at it again.

It could be a basis for sharing rather than this fratricidal hatred that seems to have no end.
If they are all children of Abraham as they claim they should set an example to us poor heathens.

By making it a true Holy Land.
I hope that is what their God would want.

Tue, 2010-08-17 11:31 — pl (not verified)

so, Tdoss? What about that the Palestinian authority will not allow any Jews to remain in their future state? (see C. Glick's article in today's Jpost). Does that fit your sense of fairness and fair play? Where are your values now?

Fri, 2010-08-06 20:56 — maxinemf

My fear is that extensive Jewish settlements on the West Bank have made it near impossible for a Palestian state to be established. Israel continues to expand settlements in the West Bank and with no international body there to thwarts these settlements, the future for Palestinians looks very bleak indeed. WIth no credible Israeli opposition within Israel I cannot envisage the time frame for when a Palestinian state will be set up. Obama has proved to be doubly disappointing and ineffective when dealing with Israel. Even the European Union for all its fine words on Palestine has allowed Israel to become a member of the EU in all but name. Favourable and extensive access to European markets has also kept the Zionist state afloat. Given such bleak circumstances one can perfectly understand why so many in Gaza are drawn towards Hamas who despite their failures have at least upheld the dignity of the Palestinians and have refused to bow to Israel. Indeed support for Hamas has grown since the Gaza massacre. America's unwillingness to impose a two state solution and the EU riddled with collective guilt about the holocaust means that the long suffering Palestinians will continue to pay the heavist price of all. Moreover it is the children who are paying thei highest price with their emotional and physical traumatisation. WHo will stand up for the children and give them hope

Mon, 2010-08-09 00:55 — Joanna (not verified)

"...a more holistic perspective..." is the only hope for the global catastrophe in progress. It seems to me that an international, interfaith focus on correcting the ecological, social, political and ideological errors in the symbolic "holy land" would supply an inspirational model of wholesome human development in the precarious future. Those in strategic positions to provide ethical, cooperative leadership at every level must take unprecedented steps toward protecting the earth and it's endangered inhabitants. The first step: Stop the misuse of information by predatory individuals and groups!

Sat, 2010-08-07 02:18 — bodek_tzitziyot

Israeli Arabs have a higher rate of home ownership than Israeli Jews. They also have a higher rate of land ownership. They, like everyone else in Israel, are obliged to abide by the law, and Israel has zoning laws and building regulations just like every other country.

The problem is not racism on the part of the Jews, but lawlessness and criminality on the part of some of the Arabs in the Negev and the Galilee. Squatting on state land, and illegal construction of homes on land that is not their property are commonplace among some of the Arabs, especially the Bedouin in the Negev. The population explosion that has seen Bedouin numbers increase from 20000 to more than 160000 in two generations has certainly exacerbated the situation. The situation in the areas under control of the Palestinians is much worse, and extortion, coerced selling and outright land theft are rampant. Christian minorities and those who do not belong to powerfully connected clans are the victims of extensive land theft by the PLO-connected rulers and their hangers-on.

The establishment of Jewish homes and villages on state-owned land in the West Bank is justified legally, morally and historically. Thousands of Jews lived in those areas from time immemorial until they were finally forced out completley in 1948. After 1967, these Jewish communities were reestablished, and new ones founded. The latest statements from Mahmoud Abbas, the PLO leader, that no Jews will be allowed to reside in his Palestinian state is a chilling reminder that not only are the PLO led by a Holocaust denier, but also by a self-confessed would-be practitioner of anti-Jewish apartheid.

Wed, 2010-08-11 18:16 — Des Demona (not verified)

''The establishment of Jewish homes and villages on state-owned land in the West Bank is justified legally, morally and historically.''

Not according to UN Resolution 242 matey. Not that Israel ever paid it the slightest attention.

Wed, 2010-09-01 01:02 — firefly1

What a great injustice is being carried out. Because of America's larger than Israel's Jewish population (6 million as oppose to 5 million), Israel is actively encouraged to demolish all traces of Arabic ancestry from the occupied territories and the rest of the world is powerless to intervene.

Mon, 2010-08-16 07:58 — stevenlind821

The state of Israel is a parasite surviving on the hardship of others,no not on the Palestinians but on the 20 million destitute Americans who have lost so many things including their dignity.

Sat, 2010-08-21 14:15 — Nuchman (not verified)

What a distortion of the truth.Had you probed a little deeper you would
have discerned Arabs in every part of the economy:doctors,judges,buisnesses etc.We are a model democracy and you are trying your best to undermine it.
Apparently you dislike Israel and Jews as is keeping in line with the policy of your magazine.Your article
only serves to incite hatred .

Thu, 2010-08-12 01:51 — bodek_tzitziyot

"...Not according to UN Resolution 242 matey. Not that Israel ever paid it the slightest attention.
..."

On 1 May 1968, the Israeli ambassador to the UN expressed Israel's position to the Security Council: "My government has indicated its acceptance of the Security Council resolution for the promotion of agreement on the establishment of a just and lasting peace. I am also authorized to reaffirm that we are willing to seek agreement with each Arab State on all matters included in that resolution."

Resolution 242 does not address where in the Land of Israel Jews may or may not live.