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Uriel Sinai / Getty Images, file
A donkey roams at a Bedouin camp in the E1 area at the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumimin in the West Bank.
TEL AVIV -- To the outsider, it looks like a poor piece of land to fight over: A sand and scrub hillside where, on a winter’s day, a chill wind whips over the boulders and blows through to the bone.
On one side stand the minarets of Arab East Jerusalem, hemmed in by Israel’s security wall. Ahead, across a valley, lies the Jewish settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim, a sprawling suburb of neat streets and anonymous housing blocks.
Between the two feels like a bleak no-man’s land despite the presence of many Bedouin families.
But that is deceptive: No patch of ground in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is more bitterly contested, or more important to White House hopes of restarting peace talks.
At the heart of the dispute is Israel’s policy of building homes for Jewish settlers building communities built on land that the Palestinians feel is vital to a future state.
“We are a force to be reckoned with,” said Yigal Dilmony, deputy general manager of the Yesha Council which represents 360,000 Jews who have settled in East Jerusalem and the West Bank (what they call Judea and Samaria). “The reality on this territory is that we can’t be ignored.”
Late last year, the Israeli government announced it would speed up the start of construction of around 3,500 homes for settlers, connecting Ma’aleh Adumim to Jerusalem in an area known as E1 on the planners’ maps.
The settlers’ progress appeared unstoppable. But in 2013, the political landscape at home and abroad shifted.
Shifting balance
In December, in a rare public show of unity, every member of the United Nations Security Council except the United States condemned the expansion plans. In January, U.N, human rights investigators said Israel must stop settlement expansion and remove all Jewish settlers from the occupied West Bank, saying that its practices could be subject to prosecution as possible war crimes.
Ariel Schalit / AP, file
A Palestinian man works at a new housing development in the Jewish West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim.
President Barack Obama’s impending visit to Israel and the West Bank in March will only highlight the issue of the legality of settlements.
And within Israel, January’s elections saw the balance of politics shift, if not decisively then certainly significantly, toward the center and away from reflexively supporting the settlements.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still struggling to knit these disparate strands into a governing alliance, but it is likely he will need to bring together his traditional right-wing supporters and the new more moderate voices.
And few issues divide the Israeli establishment more than that of settlements.
Here’s the outgoing Deputy Prime Minister, Dan Meridor, speaking on Israeli radio on Feb. 7:
"There is a discrepancy between our claim that we are willing to accept a two-state solution and the fact that we don't limit the construction in the settlements to the settlement blocs.”
Meridor is a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party who failed to win re-election. But his voice has always tended toward the pragmatic.
"I'm not saying we should stop construction in Jerusalem and in the settlement blocs, but we must not build beyond them, because by doing so we promote a very dangerous situation to Zionism, of one state from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, which endangers us more than anything else," he said.
Israeli media cite anonymous sources in Netanyahu’s office to say he’s not planning another freeze on settlements. On Monday he reiterated his support for two state-solution, albeit unenthusiastically.
The battle over settlements centers around mutually exclusive visions of Israel’s future – a two-state solution versus an Israel decisively laying claim to land captured in the 1967 war with Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
Clouds gathering
For Palestinians, settlements and an eventual Palestinian state cannot be seen as separate issues. E1, the plot of land near East Jerusalem, is a vital corridor without which their territory would be severed, north from south.
Abir Sultan / EPA, file
A Bedouin shepherd puts a newborn lamb in a bag on his donkey in the E1 area between Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The construction of the thousands of homes would render impractical if not impossible the foundation of a meaningful state of their own.
“My family has been here for 80 years,” said an Arab farmer tending his sheep and chickens on the disputed parcel of land known as E1.
“This is our land but they’ve told us we’ll have to go,” said the farmer, who preferred his name not be used. “I don’t know what will happen to us.”
So upon this seemingly barren corridor rests America’s chances of reviving a peace process that has been comatose for two years.
Leaders of the settler movement see clouds gathering as Obama’s visit draws closer. But they remain defiant.
"We understand that Obama as a second term president is much more dangerous to the settlements than the first term Obama and we need to keep our eyes wide open,’’ Dilmony said.
"When he comes here he should meet us, the settlers, and see the situation for himself,” Dilmony said.
On only point is Dilmony likely to be in agreement with the US administration.
“Peace can only come from the people who live here,’’ he said.
Related:
Israel faces European backlash over decision to expand settlements
US slams Israel's decision to expand settlements
UN panel's report: Israel must withdraw all settlers from West Bank
Leave a Comment:
pac bel : you need to repent before u stand b 4 TGOI .
annoyed: There is no palestine. you idiot
swej-kcuf : your the mental disease
rather b a @!$%#ed hebrew than a dead nazi.
Uhhh, jon boy typed 'dead nazi' Uhhh, Ahhh, Ohhh my godness!
What a maroon!
@ john boy - האמת כואבת
swej. All your comments r odorous. Pull your head out of your ass.
The Israel people have been the most persecuted people the world has ever seen since the beginning of time as we know it.
I am not Jewish but I would be proud to fight and die for the Jewish people like may dad did during the last World War yes even the holocaust. The United States has been blessed for so many years because of our nation has stood up for God's chosen people . . . I only hope for many of your sake that Obama defends Israels right to live in their God given land.
Of course the atheist and agnostics amount you will laugh and tell me I believe in fairy tales . . . but be reminded that one day we all will be judged and not one will be found innocent by his own works.
United Nations Resolution 181 giveth now they try to taketh in now trying to say Palestine's are a people.
The Jewish people base their claim to the land of Israel on at least four premises: 1) God promised the land to the patriarch Abraham; 2) the Jewish people settled and developed the land; 3) the international community granted political sovereignty in Palestine to the Jewish people and 4) the territory was captured in defensive wars.
The term "Palestine" is believed to be derived from the Philistines, an Aegean people who, in the 12th Century B.C., settled along the Mediterranean coastal plain of what is now Israel and the Gaza Strip. In the second century A.D., after crushing the last Jewish revolt, the Romans first applied the name Palaestina to Judea (the southern portion of what is now called the West Bank) in an attempt to minimize Jewish identification with the land of Israel. The Arabic word "Filastin" is derived from this Latin name.
Really in the 21st century you want to use biblical quotes to make a point, and make God wear a Gold Sportcoat and sound like he worked for Century 21?
As an agnostic raised as a Southern Baptist I believe Jesus as a man would have taken the side of those seeking peace whether they be Palestinian or Jewish.
Your dad did not fight for the Jewish people he fought for the Allies. World War II liberated the Jews just as the Civil War freed the slaves, but in neither case were these results the end game. The end game was national security.
At what point in time had Arabs cease to be 'Semites',please refer to Webster's definition in the dictionary.How is it one group can claim sole identity?
Dig!
Were was the original home land of the Muslim people? Spain,Persia or Israel? From all I can find there was no Muslim until 568 ad- 570ad. When Muhammad was born.
pac bel. you are dumber than a 5th grader. Wheref u learn to spell. Moron
why dose Obama think he has to go to Israel. spend more tax money unnecessarily. and what is going to happen because he dose . NOTHING. he should be spending his time on thinking about what he is going to do about the economy right here.
CORRECTION, That Land has always been called JUDEA & SAMARIA on both sides of the Jordan River!! The other slang word 'West' (west of what??) is only a few years old & LOVED by the BIAS MEDIA ...BTW it does not refer to any Historic Area!!!
I hope Obama don't molest that donkey in the picture by mistake, thinking it's mooshell.
palestine comes from Philistines who lived in Gaza. Muslim home is Arabia.
SWEJ- u still need 2 pull your head out of your ass b 4 u open your mouth.
So, you are a young punk. The phrase, " What A Maroon" was used in a well known cartoon called Bugs Bunny.
What a maroon! DUMB FVCK! I spelled FVCK wrong idiot.
I would like to see the Jews get their a** kicked.
They don't fight alone
sit on it,pac bell
Hee Hee, I not done yet... Jon boy wanna be IRV RUBIN
Well, if nothing else, reading the posts tonight has been educational. I've read a lot of hate; a lot of name calling, and a lot of interesting commentary. What I have not read is even one constructive suggestion that would even help us start to find peace. I've read about how we should nuke the whole middle east, or cut off aid to either the Israelis, or the Egyptians, or both. As is frequently the case on this board, a lot of you pick a side, and then blame all the problems on the other side. I've heard Jewish synagogues characterized as brothels, and I have even read a prophecy of Jewish world domination.
How can we expect the Palestinians and the Israelis to find peace, when we can't even have a civil, rational discussion of the issues facing them, in a chat room?
whatever u wish 4 Israel, TGOI will put back on u with xtra. Better keep your mouth shut.
I will give credit where it is due. The Muslim people have been the most powerful war machine in history. Spanning well over a thousand years of war and many countries have fallen to them.
What country can you name that fell to Islam? Mohammad was the biggest war monger of all, and this in the name of converting people to his religion.
Stuck on stupid....technically speaking Isreal has the power and genious....they sent 2 jets in to wipe-out Iran's almost done nuke plant during their holy hour and Iran's radar was turned off...boom boom.....and the pilots came home safely....80's drama....so ha ha ha....(idiots do the stupidist things)....this last time they put a glich in their systems network.....ha ha ha.....really....i guess idiots stick together!
They started in about 710ad and have continued from that point on. Tangier was the first, best I can tell but there are many recorded battles and it seems to conquer and control is their purpose. I guess you can't really place a time line on what they do because so many places are under attack today. One of their targets is even the USA. As their name even means submit, all must submit.
Bob. Good point.
But There will b no peace, that the world will see, Till He Returns. Bob Dylan song "The I Am Him"
from his alboum Slo train comming, or Saved. Forget which one.
Id rather b Groucho Marx Than Karl . You schmuck
Historically this is not Palestinian territory, never was, and never should be. For any other nation to try to dictate what Israel should or should not do and even condemn it, is foolish. Any nation that rises up against Israel should and will be crushed by God Himself. Mark these words.
Did anyone see who was building the homes, a Palestinian who gets a job from the jews to feed his family. What did Arafat ever do for them. He stole their money , gave them nothing to look forward to except war and his fat butt wives live in france with all the money he took from his people. They (palestinians) need to wake up and see who helps them to butter their bread. As far as Obummer he needs to stay out of things hasn't he messed up one country enough. Hope they keep him over there.