Settlement freeze? It was barely a slowdown
What took place in the past few months is, in the best case scenario, not more than a negligible decrease in the number of housing units that were built in settlements.
By Dror Etkes
The official statistics supplied by the Central Bureau of Statistics describe the story behind the 10-month construction moratorium in the West Bank. The story can be called many things but "freeze" is certainly not one of them. What took place in the past few months is, in the best case scenario, not more than a negligible decrease in the number of housing units that were built in settlements.
The data that appeared in the bureau's tables clearly show that. At the end of 2009, the number of housing units that were actively being built on all the settlements together amounted to 2,955. Three months later, at the end of March 2010, the number stood at 2,517. We are therefore talking about a drop of a little more than 400 housing units - some 16 percent of Israeli construction in the West Bank over that period.
The sounds of lamentation and wailing coming from the settler functionaries, for whom moaning is a profession, shouldn't surprise anyone. After all, they did not cease to whine even when Ehud Barak, "the leader of the peace camp," built 4,700 housing units for them in 2000, the only entire year he held the position of prime minister.
But the truth is that the settlers know better than anyone else that not only did construction in settlements continue over the last 10 months, and vigorously, but also that a relatively large part of the houses were built on settlements that lie east of the separation fence, such as Bracha, Itamar, Eli, Shilo, Maaleh Mikhmas, Maon, Carmel, Beit Haggai, Kiryat Arba, Mitzpeh Yeriho and others.
The real story behind the PR stunt known as the freeze took place in fact in the months prior to that, during which the settlers, with the assistance of the government, prepared well for the months of hibernation foisted upon them. In the half year that preceded the declaration of the freeze, which started at the end of November 2009, dozens of new building sites sprang up, especially in isolated and more extreme settlements east of the fence.
This piece of information is also well documented in the bureau's numbers. In the first half of 2009, they started to build 669 housing units in the settlements, and then, as the months wore on, the pace of construction increased. Thus in the second half of 2009, no fewer than 1,204 housing units were built - an increase of some 90 percent in construction starts as compared with the first half of the year.
That is a summary of the "Israbluff" behind the freeze. All that was left for the politicians to do in the past few months was - wearing expressions of sorrow - to invite television crews every few months to film how the administration's inspectors were destroying some miserable hut built in contravention of the freeze order.
If we add to these statistics the fact that the government announced in advance that it planned to approve, in any circumstances and with no connection to the "freeze," the construction of 600 housing units in various settlements, and the chaos and anarchy that exists in some settlements and outposts, making it possible for every person to build where and when he feels like it, we shall get quite a good picture of what really happened to the settlements in the past few months.
For their part, the Palestinians did not really ask for a total freeze on construction. They demanded, and justifiably so, to once and for all get recognition of the principle that negotiations on the future of the settlements not take place while they are continuing to be built up. Accordingly, the Palestinians agreed to turn a blind eye to the construction so long as the official freeze policy of the Israeli government continued.
Those who know the reality in the West Bank should not be surprised at what is written here. However it seems that it is possible nevertheless to take comfort from one thing - Benjamin Netanyahu will probably not win the Nobel Peace Prize but he is certainly likely to win the Nobel Prize for Physics, or at least Chemistry, in the name of the Israeli government, which discovered that - contrary to what scientists had thought until now - water is not the only substance that expands instead of contracting when it freezes.
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Since the building process takes over a year to build a house about 50% of the houses being built in September 2009 would still be in process by March 2010. The proper statistic, housing starts, show a radically different story than the 'big lie' Etkes is promoting. Only 5 housing starts were recorded by the CBS for the first half of 2010. That is properly called a cessation of building. We are used to lies by these people, but not every big lie need go unchallenged.
CBS counts the construction starts by the number of construction permits issued by the authorities and does not conduct surveys on the ground. In the settlements there is a widespread phenomenon of building without permits and, furthermore, the data conveyed by the local authorities is sometimes not accurate. According to CBS definitions, "the building data does not include erecting caravans, mobile homes... outposts in Judea and Samaria, buildings for which no report of building permits was given to the CBS, or illegal building for housing that was not registered in an Interior Ministry report." Furthermore, "the building data for the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria whose population is up to 10,000 residents is presented as a summary because of the low level of the quality of the data in some of the settlements." Which is to say, because of the large amount of building without permits in the territories, of building mobile homes and underreporting by some of the settlements, the CBS data for the settlements is only partial. The freeze order forbids issuing new building permits and CBS data indicate that indeed no new permits were issued. But in fact Peace Now has documented dozens of buildings whose construction began after the freeze order.
The statistic is actually this --- ALL ISRAELI civilian housing is ILLEGAL in "territories occupied", territories illegally 'acquired' by war and territories illegally annexed. This amounts to some 33% of the territories Israel claims as it's own, but has never legally annexed. I.e., 50% of the Palestinians rightful territories.
You, the settlers and their supporters, have tried and not succeeded in fooling all of the people all of the time. You can't insist that the Green Line is no longer relevant and that there is no line anymore between your little fiefdom and the rest of Israel, whilst at the same time living behind a separation fence which ostensibly "protects" Israelis in Israel proper from terror attacks. What you are succeeding in doing is creating a Judah and Israel scenario which is corroding us all. You are prisoners of your own individual interpretations of Judaism and the Torah and of a false Zionist ideology. You may smirk at what you think are clever manipulations of our politicians and the squandering of our taxes, but you are not and will never be "totally inseperable from the state of Israel". Your very existence is a statement of separation. Its what happens to anyone who is locked up for long enough.
I recently moved to Israel which I thought was a soverign nation of 7.5 millions with borders defined by the United Nations and acts of war against it (like most other nations). Why we allow ourselves to be answerable to why we build homes within our borders is beyond me. No other nation on this planet is answerable in this way. For 62 years we have used logic to make arguments against hysterics. For 62 years the hysterics keep winning and in fact are well on the way of returning the world to making Jews the sole scapegoats of all that is wrong with the planet. Is this not the definition of insanity? Repeated behavior - Matches burn, so stop lighting them and looking for a different outcome each time. We need a little emotion, some endless hysterics to the media and perhaps some rocket casings bought to each press conference. If we are incapable of displaying extreme emotion about Israel to the world, then the world will continue to only believe the emotion of the Palestinians, as it did Hitler.
The critical part of William's tirade is "within our borders"(lines4,5). At which point did the UN declare the West Bank a part of Israel?
Not ongoing construction, and housing started went from thousands in a 10 month period to ZERO - not only "settlers" will confirm that, but the thousands of Plaestinians employed in building these homes prayed for the end of this freeze so they could once again feed their families..
... as for the Pals, how can they find work if you have stolen their olive groves and vineyards and farming lands and water sources...?!
Dror, are you funded by the Ford Foundation and some other unsavoury org that you freely accept money to speak against the country you call HOME? My question is so all Israel has to do for peace is remove the settlements, charlie? why then wasn't there peace before the settlements? in fact, the violence before the settlements was much, much worse. You speak from the Palestinian point of view and angle, Peace Now a Israeli group speaks in Arab point of view? the whole thought process is discounted and worth nothing as it is one sided clearly Pro Arab and Dror in case you dont know there never was a nation called Palestine so therefore "Palestinian lands" do not exist they are either former Jordanian or Egyptian from whom Israel conquered, somehow the thought of war between Israel Jordan and Egypt never existed in your mind so go argue with yourself
... the fact is that the settlers requisitioned the choice arable land of the Pals, together with their olive groves, water sources, and other natural amenities... highway robbery can never be condoned with tendentious accusations...
Dror, are you funded by the Ford Foundation and some other unsavoury org that you freely accept money to speak against the country you call HOME? My question is so all Israel has to do for peace is remove the settlements, charlie? why then wasn't there peace before the settlements? in fact, the violence before the settlements was much, much worse. You speak from the Palestinian point of view and angle, Peace Now a Israeli group speaks in Arab point of view? the whole thought process is discounted and worth nothing as it is one sided clearly Pro Arab and Dror in case you dont know there never was a nation called Palestine so therefore "Palestinian lands" do not exist they are either former Jordanian or Egyptian from whom Israel conquered, somehow the thought of war between Israel Jordan and Egypt never existed in your mind so go argue with yourself
Israel needs to understand that it's not in it's best interest to conduct it's actions and policies according to the demands of settlers. They are an obstacle to peace and an obstacle to a thriving successful Isaeli nation. As long as settlements exist, peace will not exist.
Thank you, Dror, for this informative article with its tongue-in-cheek conclusion. A smile always helps thaw the way to constructive discussion.
Shame on those who forbid Jews to build houses in their home land Eretz Yisroel or so called disputed lands, but regardless it has never been called Palestine and never will. Let us dispel the Palestinian myth and forge ahead and make peace with the Arabs that want to.
Your argument is invalid....
Not a single settlement, even a measly ,illegal, one, has been taken down. Before continuing the idle, useless conversation about freeze, we better discuss fundamentals- the unaltered Zionist master plan to settle the land of 'our fathers', and slowly squeeze the Palestinians out of the land of 'their fathers'. whatever has, and is taking place in the occupied territories fits well into the master plan. Were it not so, a peace agreement would have been reached long ago.
And of course, the Palestinian demand that he freeze construction to begin with, was the direct result of his earlier declarations that he would NOT. Which in essence means that the Palestinian demand is superficial at best - for appearances only - which then means that Abbas CANNOT be blamed if the talks end up breaking down because it's Bibi who is refusing to ostentatiously "freeze settlement construction" while it would essentially continue unchecked.