The Peace FAQ:

Settlements, Jewish Settlers

Before 1948 it was perfectly legal for Jews to live anywhere west of the Jordan River in what is now Israel, the "West Bank", and "Gaza". And Jews did live there until they were driven out by Islamic forces in 1948 and occupied by Jordan and Egypt. In 1967 the Jews recaptured the Islamic occupied areas west of the Jordan River. Those who are called "settlers" today are in fact Jews who returned to Jewish land that was occupied for just 19 years by Moslems.

Today 45% of those living in the area once called Palestine are Jewish. However, they rule only 20% of Palestine. In the 80% of Palestine ruled by Arabs, no Jews are allowed to live. However, in Israel's 20% of Palestine, Arabs are allowed to live and vote and Arabs are even members of Israel's parliment [called the Knesset].
The majority of Jews in Israel today know these facts and feel that it is unjust for the 45% of the population that has only 20% of the land to be pressured by the world into giving up more land. To 40,000,000 American Christians and to millions of Christians in other countries, this seems reasonable.

Neither the Declaration of Principles (DOP) of September 13, 1993 nor the Interim Agreement ("Oslo 2") of September 28, 1995 contains any provisions prohibiting or restricting the establishment or expansion of Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
When he presented the Oslo 2 accords before the Knesset on October 5, 1995, the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin stated, " I wish to remind you, we made a commitment, meaning we reached an agreement, we made a commitment to the Knesset not to uproot any settlement in the framework of the Interim Agreement, nor to freeze construction and natural growth."
Under Article XXXI(5) of Oslo 2, the issue of Jewish settlements is to be addressed in the final status negotiations. According to an internal Israel Foreign Ministry legal analysis prepared on March 18, 1996 by Joel Singer, the Foreign Ministry Legal Advisor under the Labor Government, Israel rejected Palestinian attempts to bar new Jewish settlements in the context of the Oslo process. According to Singer, "In the course of the negotiations on the DOP, the representatives of the PLO tried to obtain a clause prohibiting Israel from establishing new settlements. Israel rejected this demand." Thus, Yasser Arafat agreed to the Oslo Accords despite the fact that he failed to achieve a halt in settlement activity in the interim period.

Under the Rabin/Peres government, the Jewish population of the West Bank and Gaza grew by approximately 50%, from 96,158 in June 1992 to 145,000 in June 1996. This rapid growth occurred concurrently with the signing of the September 1993 Oslo Accords and the September 1995 Oslo 2 Accords and did not forestall progress in the peace process.
As the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said, "I am not ready for there to be a law in Israel to forbid building houses in existing settlements, or a kindergarten or a cultural center in a place where people live today." (AP, January 10, 1995) Former Prime Minister Shimon Peres also stated, "Building which is necessary for normal life, like schools, private apartments, we are not going to stop." (Jewish Telegraphic Agency, January 25, 1995)
As had happened with the transfer of the Sinai to Egypt as part of the Camp David accords, all Jewish communities existing on the Sinai were uprooted and their populations forcibly transfered out of the Sinai. They were not an obstacle to 'Peace', and neither are the Jewish communities living in Judaea, Samaria or Gaza. Any territories destined to be transfered to an Arab government as part of a negotiated peace agreement will be Jew-free in the end.
- The Society for Rational Peace

U.S. oilmen in the Middle East [for reasons of profit for themselves] pressure the U.S. government and Israel to give in to the Arabs. [It is now well documented that for the past 70 years State Department and other government leaders, CIA operatives, and even a president were oil industry people.] To encourage the support of the world to favor the Arabs and stand against Israel, Israel has been slandered. Since the beginning of talks with the PLO the majority in Israel who insist upon a just solution and who don't want to be robbed of their land again have been slandered. They are portrayed as wild-eyed radicals who harm the Arabs. Nothing could be further from the truth--a fact which more than 40,000,000 American Christians and untold millions around the world now know.)

RELATED SECTIONS:
The Occupied Territories, The West Bank, Zionism, Expansionism, Palestine, Israel, Jews, The Six-Day War, Arab East Jerusalem, Anti-Zionism, Camp David, Oslo
WWW RESOURCES:
BOOKS & PRINTED MATERIAL:
- The Claim of Dispossession: Jewish Land Settlement and the Arabs, 1878-1948, by Arieh L Avneri [VIEW BOOK HERE]
- Who stands accused?: Israel answers its critics, by Chaim Herzog [VIEW BOOK HERE]
- Jewish Continuous Presence in the Land of Israel and The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, by Harold J. Margolis [VIEW BOOK HERE]
- The complete idiot's guide to Middle East conflict, by Mitchell G. Bard [VIEW BOOK HERE]
- From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine, by Joan Peters [VIEW BOOK HERE]
- The Case for Israel, by Alan Dershowitz [VIEW BOOK HERE]
- Routledge Atlas of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, by Martin Gilbert [VIEW BOOK HERE]
- Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israel Conflict, Second Edition, by Mitchell Geoffrey Bard [VIEW BOOK HERE]

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