Israel has seized 42% of West Bank

[Mark Pavlick]

>
>The Guardian (UK)
>Wednesday May 15, 2002
>
>Israel has seized 42% of West Bank, report says
>
>Brian Whitaker in Jerusalem
>
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,715564,00.html
>
>Israel has secretly grabbed 42% of Palestinian land in the West Bank for
>illegal settlement activity, according to a new report.
>
>Although built-up Jewish settlements cover only 1.7% of the West Bank, the
>Israeli authorities have used a variety of ruses since they occupied the
>territory in 1967 to assign vast amounts of extra land to the settlers.
>
>Full details of the seizures have been made public for the first time by the
>Israeli human rights organisation, B'Tselem. In theory the documentary
>evidence has always been open for public inspection but B'Tselem fought a
>year-long legal battle to get it released.
>
>"Even then, some of the information was not in a complete form," Yehezkel
>Lein, who compiled the report, said.
>
>B'Tselem found that municipal boundaries allocated to the settlements extend
>far beyond the built-up areas and account for 6.8% of the West Bank. Land
>assigned to settlers' regional councils adds a further 35.1%.
>
>"The establishment of settlements on the West Bank violates international
>humanitarian law," the report says.
>
>It adds that the settlements - which house 380,000 Jews - also lead to
>infringements of Palestinians' human rights, for example by restricting
>their freedom of movement and property rights. The main device used by
>Israel to seize Palestinian land has been to declare it "state land" under a
>19th-century Ottoman law, the report says.
>
>"In many cases, Palestinian residents were unaware that their land was
>registered in the name of the state, and by the time they discovered this
>fact, it was too late to appeal."
>
>Other methods include seizure for "military needs", declaration of land as
>"abandoned assets", and the expropriation of land for "public needs".
>
>B'Tselem says these seizure mechanisms have generally been supported by the
>Israeli high court, which has given them "a mask of legality", but it argues
>that they are all unlawful because settlement activity is prohibited under
>international law.
>
>As a result of the settlements, Israel is operating a regime with two
>separate legal systems in the West Bank, based on racial discrimination, the
>report says.
>
>Settlers are not only more privileged than their Palestinian neighbours but
>receive more government benefits than ordinary Israelis. In 2000, it says,
>settlement regional councils received grants averaging 165% more than their
>counterparts in Israel.
>
>Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002

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