Unsettling questions

The question of Jewish settlements remains a difficult one. Obama will have a hard time changing minds, writes Juno McEnroe in Jerusalem

An Israeli man fixes a tent while a woman walks by in the illegal outpost of Yesuv Hadaat near the settlement of Shilo in the West Bank. Israeli police, who plan to tear down the outpost, razed a similar tiny Jewish settlement outpost in the West Bank on May 21. Picture: Getty Images

ON a set of stony hills in the West Bank, a small cluster of newly built bungalows sit distinctly away from the fields of Palestinian olive trees.

The village of 50 settler families, called Derech Haavot, is one of more than 100 Israeli outposts, a frontier of mainly illegal Jewish congregations inhabiting Palestinian lands.

Israeli civilian authorities are reported to have issued over 65 demolition orders against Derech Haavot. To date, not one has been followed through.

Israeli outposts form a link to the bigger more established Jewish settlements, built further inside the West Bank.

Crucially, the issue of settlements has now moved centre stage in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, following calls by US President Barack Obama for a freeze on their construction.

Hardline Jews though seem hell-bent on retaining their land, believing it is their god-given right to creep further and further into Palestinian parts.

The frontline settlement outposts stretching deep into Palestinian territory are sometimes only made up of electricity wires, water pipes and a few industrial containers, but nonetheless mark a territorial claim for the settlers.

One Israeli non-governmental organisation, Peace Now, estimates there could be up to 500,000 settlers living on disputed lands in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Observers say Palestinian families face a daily threat of their homes being bulldozed.

Obama’s recent demand for a freeze on the construction of Jewish settlements forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to confront the thorny issue several times while visiting Europe last week.

The prime minister will have a tough time persuading Israelis to uproot and leave the settlements.

EU diplomatic sources say sometimes those behind the settlements are awarded plum jobs either in the Israeli administration or army.

Peace Now says as many as a third of Jewish settlers are fundamental nationalists who strongly believe it is their religious right to set up home on the lands.

The settlements themselves are often clusters of apartments and houses with neat gardens, high fences, security cameras and well-paved roads. Beside them – often just feet away – lie dilapidated Palestinian areas where crumbling housing blocks, rubbish and unfinished paths mark a whole different territory.

In a small settler area in the neighbourhood of Silwan, outside old Jerusalem, Palestinians have been under pressure since 2001 to leave. While Israelis can build multi-storey homes, Palestinians in many cases cannot obtain planning permission. Furthermore, while many Arab homes in the neighbourhood may be illegal without planning, Palestinians still must pay municipal taxes which in many cases then fund security and infrastructure for Israeli areas.

Locals say in some parts of Silwan’s neighbourhood, 60% of Palestinian homes face the threat of demolition.

Locals claim Israelis are using the excuse of archaeological searches for remains belonging to King David as reasons to build on their land.

Palestinian father-of-two Gawad Siyam, 39, leaves his home every day for work but only after he knows his wife and children are safe.

“I get my brother or someone else to stay in the house in case something happens. I will not let the bulldozers destroy the house without destroying me.

“We are the ones paying for bodyguards for the settlers. We have nothing against King David, as he was a prophet for us. It’s about abusing his name and building houses on our history.”

Siyam and his Palestinian neighbours were forced to seek help from the courts in stopping Jewish developers building a car park on a piece of land.

The small yard houses a few horses, goats and chickens. Directly next door, a grey Israeli security tent is surrounded on all sides by barbed war and security cameras. A blue and white Israeli flag stands high above the security lot, motionless in the midday humidity. Dispute over the small patch of land continues.

Right-wing Jewish representatives make it clearly known they disagree with any suggestion to freeze settlement construction. In the Jewish settlement of Efrat, in the West Bank, New-York born Rabbi Shlomo Riskin says it is a myth that Israelis have swooped onto Palestinian land, stealing their territory.

“We have always been willing to share the land. You have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see the settlements are not the issue, the issue is our presence.”

Asked whether Obama’s suggestion that a freeze on settlements was necessary as part of the peace process, the hawkish preacher added: “I think he’s dead wrong. The Arab world were killing us before there were any settlements.”

Hardline Israelis say the West Bank wall, or separation barrier – under construction since 2002 – is an additional protection to their settlements, stopping suicide bombers.

When completed, the wall and fence will stretch nearly 800km. It costs between €12 million and €15m a kilometre to build, money Palestinians argue could be better used in education or health facilities.

According to Ir Amim, another Israeli NGO in Jerusalem, as many as 270,000 Palestinians are being cut off from their communities by the wall.

“It’s limiting their access to trade, to sell their crops and unemployment is shooting up in their areas when they can’t get into the cities,” explained its associate director Sarah Kremer.

A crucial meeting scheduled this week in Washington between Israeli defence minister Ehud Barack and US envoy to the region George Mitchell may finally shed some light on what chances there are of actually freezing settlements.

For the moment though, any significant stop in construction or softening of barriers with the Palestinians looks unlikely.

As one observer noted here, the worst enemy of the Palestinians is the fear of the Israelis.