According to the CIA Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html.
The West Bank is not Israeli territory, so why does Israel continue to build settlements their and knock down Palestinian homes.
I hate it when ignorant people come on here and think that all palestinians are rocket firing terrorists.
The little so called "palestinian land" is controlled by Israel, They control what goes in and out.
When will the world ever open their eyes and condemn Israel for what they are doing?
Though many legal sources claim that Jewish settlements in the West Bank are illegal, the fact remains that the right of Jewish settlement in those lands was guaranteed by the Mandate for Palestine of the League of Nations. This territory was never part of any other sovereign state and its final legal status is subject to negotiations that must be concluded between the competing parties. Until such time as there is a peace accord which gives one side or the other sovereignty in this territory, it is inaccurate to refer to this land as belonging to one side or another.
Twice before, Israel has shown a willingness to uproot Jewish communities for the sake of peace: in the Sinai (given back to Egypt in the 1979 Peace Treaty) and in Gaza (from which Israel withdrew unilaterally in 2005). The existence of settlements in these areas is no bar to a peace deal under which they might be withdrawn.
Very good question Micheal.
There is nothing called Judea and Samaria. those are the names of "prehistoric" areas that are now west bank. it is like saying andalusia in spain is arabic. it doesn't make any sense.
Israelis are occupying the land and annexing it to israel, just like they did to the golan heights, illegally. The palestinians are negotiating peacefully to create their own state, but to no avail with the israeli terrorists.
I heard news that palestinians will ask the UN to recognize a palestinian state within the 1967 borders, unilaterally. This will be extremely interesting as Israel will not be able anymore to claim that there is nothing called "palestine"... let's wait and see...
Why.....many reasons,but the most important thing that is Israel DOES NOT think that the Pals has not any Right what so ever in their lands,houses,lives and eventually their own country that they stolen,Israel was existed by the UN,but now Israel wont recognize A Palestine called by the UN,and the Israeli environment minister threatened to join the settlements lands to Israel in case the UN called for an Independence Palestine.
Such hypocrisy,they think rules go on everyone but Israel.
>Israel is truly wrong here, and treats palestinians like s**t.
First of all we need to ask ourselves ''WHO'' are the palestinians since there never existed a arab palestinian nation. Palestinian is a new term for arabs originating from many arab countries (egypt,syria,lebanon, jordan, iraq, gulf states, turks,bedouins etc). ''Palestinans'' have all the potential to live very comfortable and nice lives, just a single request: BE PEACEFUL and stick to the realitiy that the land has jewish roots hence jews are the original inhabitans.
Is this not the same as China's control of Tibet? And China's mass importation of ethnic Han into Tibet?
If the world accepts China's actions in regard to Tibet, then it accepts all similar examples.
To do anything else is to be the worst of all evils... to be a hypocrite.
Because Israel is too shy to tell the world the truth.
That the West Bank is part of the Land that God gave them as stated in the Bible.
Whoever says the West Bank doesn't belong to Jews is fighting against what God said in the Bible.
Because, the Pals there are finally being peaceful and follow the rules, and this is how Israel rewards them.
the Arabs lost the West Bank in 1967. When they attacked Israel and lost the West Bank. Get over it
Lol! Look at chinacat sunflower PRC answer XD
You are disfavoring Zionists with such talk, you must focus on Iran!
Israel is its own country so it can make its own choices.
"palestine" is no country I ever heard of...thus they don't get a say in anything.
Just what we would expect from god's-chosen hooked-nosed beasts.
Oh, Michael, silly you....it's because "god" GAVE that land to the Jews!
Heh, heh, okay, fun's over. I just wanted the Pro-Izzie-West-Bank-Occupiers to see how ridiculous they sound. If "god" gave the West Bank to the Jews, show me the land deed.
Equally ridiculous are those like Dandyl who state that "Jews have lived in those areas since ancient times." .....Aaaaaaand? We Native Americans once occupied the ENTIRITY of North America, and in the not-so-distant past, to boot. But the lands that NAs now call "theirs" are piecemeal reservations scattered here and there, often consisting of lands so crappy that the European "settlers" didn't even want them.
And the old adage about "land won in war" doesn't cut it, either. Otherwise, the Polish, French, and several other ethnicities would all be Germans at this time.
Just goes to show you that people will employ any old argument, no matter how moronic, to justify their own self-serving interests. But, Michael, you're incorrect in one single respect---the majority of the world DOES condemn Israel for what it's doing. When the majority of those financing Israel---the American people---start demanding respect for the Palestinians, only then will it cease. And the happy news is that Americans are awakening and seeing the truth about our so-called "ally" in the Middle East.
The West Bank has been an occupied territory of Israel since 1967. Most of the development occurs in already developed cities that are adding houses, paving roads, etc. It's definitely wrong to assume all Palestinians are terrorists. But the fact that an entire sect of their government is terrorist doesn't help much. Israel gave Gaza back, in full, to Palestine, and all that's happened is that the de facto government is diverting its infrastructure money to pay for bombs and guns. The problem is corruption, severe corruption, in Hamas. If Hamas can be stopped, perhaps then the Palestinians can continue living in peace without being ruled by a terrorist government, establish a solid infrastructure, and reach full statehood.
The land belongs to Palestinian people and not Israel.
* "Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and an obstacle to peace and to economic and social development [... and] have been established in breach of international law."
International Court of Justice Ruling, July 9, 2004
No country in the world recognizes that annexation nor the legitimacy of any Israeli construction outside of its 1948 borders including the apartheid wall.
Myth: Israel took the land in "defensive" wars and now it belongs to Jews,
Conquest gives military jurisdiction over land. It does not give ownership of the land. The government does not own the land. The last country to claim that was Nazi Germany. Governments do not gain ownership by conquest. In fact Nazi Germany claimed it was regaining ownership of the land. If they had said redeeming the land would it have been permitted?
Israel's settlement policy was declared a hanging offense at Nuremberg.
Israel abjured the acquisition of land by conquest when it joined the UN and subjected itself to war crime charges thereby.
Israel is occupying Palestinian lands, and they are responsible for providing decent life and good treatment to the Palestinian people even if they are not Jews, until the establishment of Palestinian state!
Israel is a country built on occupied land, they took the land in war by Force and they continue to ruthlessly abuse this land And it's people the Palestinians who stuck around and continue to live under the occupation, Israel also denies the rights of millions of Palestinian Refugees who were driven out of their homes from Palestine during the Wars and these Refugees still live in camps scattered in many surrounding countries of their home land.
When you see these Refugees going home,and when you don't see Soldiers with automatic machine guns checking ID's of civilians in the occupied territories, and when you don't see the Israeli government demolishing homes of Palestinians because they built these homes without a "License to Build" knowing that they charge these Palestinians Huge amounts of dollars per permit which usually takes many years to be issued that is if it ever issued! where an Israeli never has to worry about such issues but is pampered and built and given homes built by the government with international disagreement! , and when you see Islamic Holly buildings that have been Standing for more than 1400 years stop being threatened and attacked and claimed that it must be destroyed to build a Jewish Holly building which allegedly stood in the same spot more than 2000 years ago...
Only then will there be true peace in the region and a settlement of two states living side by side,giving compromises to each other to exist and prosper for future generations of this blood shed region.
Israel is building on its own land. What you call "West Bank" is Judea. To say that the Jews have no right to build what they want in Judea is the same as to say that French have no right to build what they want in France and have to seek the permissiion and approval of Arabs who live there, Germans have to ask the Turks the permission to build somewhat they consider necessary in Germany, and Brits must ask the permission of the Pakistanis.
Very simple.
because name of the land is JUDEA, not Arabea.
Open any map before 1948 and you will not see any 'WEST BANK"...
To answer you, Israel does not control the West bank.Secondly,Jews have lived in Judea and Samaria â€" the West Bank â€" since ancient times. The only time Jews have been prohibited from living in the territories in recent decades was during Jordan's rule from 1948 to 1967. This prohibition was contrary to the Mandate for Palestine adopted by the League of Nations, which provided for the establishment of a Jewish state, and specifically encouraged “close settlement by Jews on the land.â€
Numerous legal authorities dispute the charge that settlements are “illegal.†Stephen Schwebel, formerly President of the International Court of Justice, notes that a country acting in self-defense may seize and occupy territory when necessary to protect itself. Schwebel also observes that a state may require, as a condition for its withdrawal, security measures designed to ensure its citizens are not menaced again from that territory.
According to Eugene Rostow, a former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs in the Johnson Administration, Resolution 242 gives Israel a legal right to be in the West Bank. The resolution. Rostow noted, "allows Israel to administer the territories" it won in 1967 "until 'a just and lasting peace in the Middle East' is achieved," Rostow wrote
Also settlements have never been an obstacle to peace.
* From 1949-67, when Jews were forbidden to live on the West Bank, the Arabs refused to make peace with Israel.
* From 1967-77, the Labor Party established only a few strategic settlements in the territories, yet the Arabs were unwilling to negotiate peace with Israel.
* In 1977, months after a Likud government committed to greater settlement activity took power, Egyptian President Sadat went to Jerusalem and later signed a peace treaty with Israel. Incidentally, Israeli settlements existed in the Sinai and those were removed as part of the agreement with Egypt.
* One year later, Israel froze settlement building for three months, hoping the gesture would entice other Arabs to join the Camp David peace process. But none would.
* In 1994, Jordan signed a peace agreement with Israel and settlements were not an issue. If anything, the number of Jews living in the territories was growing.
* Between June 1992 and June 1996, under Labor-led governments, the Jewish population in the territories grew by approximately 50 percent. This rapid growth did not prevent the Palestinians from signing the Oslo accords in September 1993 or the Oslo 2 agreement in September 1995.
* In 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered to dismantle dozens of settlement, but the Palestinians still would not agree to end the conflict.Many Israelis nevertheless have concerns about the expansion of settlements. Some consider them provocative, others worry that the settlers are particularly vulnerable, and have been targets of repeated Palestinian terrorist attacks. To defend them, large numbers of soldiers are deployed who would otherwise be training and preparing for a possible future conflict with an Arab army. Some Israelis also object to the amount of money that goes to communities beyond the Green Line, and special subsidies that have been provided to make housing there more affordable. Still others feel the settlers are providing a first line of defense and developing land that rightfully belongs to Israel.The disposition of settlements is a matter for the final status negotiations. The question of where the final border will be between Israel and a Palestinian entity will likely be influenced by the distribution of these Jewish towns. Israel wants to incorporate as many settlers as possible within its borders while the Palestinians want to expel all Jews from the territory they control.
If Israel withdraws toward the 1967 border unilaterally, or as part of a political settlement, many settlers will face one or more options: remain in the territories, expulsion from their homes, or voluntary resettlement in Israel. The impediment to peace is not the existence of those settlements, it is the Palestinians' unwillingness to accept a state next to Israel instead of one replacing Israel.
Yet you fail to address a basic question.
You fail to address precisely what is meant by "Palestinian land" your reference to the CIA Factbook notwithstanding.
So here are the two possibilities:
- It is public land (i.e. it belongs to a specific sovereign state)
- It is private land (i.e. it is private land owned by a specific person)
Now, since there was never a Palestinian state, it is obviously not the former.
As to the later, I welcome you to try to prove that the specific land in question is privately owned by someone.
Also, as is the case, you make the false accusation that Palestinian homes are destroyed and taken away to make room for Jewish homes when you say "Even if it means destroying land and homes that are not Theirs?" This, BTW, is false. All current construction that is going on does not displace a single Arab.
Basically, what is boils down to is this? Are members of a specific group (i.e. Jews) allowed to build homes in the West Bank and under what precise circumstances are they allowed to?
Just like you hate it when people think that ALL Palestinians are rocket firing terrorists I also hate it when people post questions like this AND NEVER bother to back up what they CLAIM.
And for the record, I have challenged many on this and other issues... guess how often I get a response? Not very often.
Update:
You wrote: "So what are the Palestinians supposed to do? "
What is ISRAEL supposed to do? Israel wants to have peace but there are some basic impediments such as the fact that terrorist groups are in change of the Palestinians (and that includes Fatah, BTW).
If Israel stopped building or if Israel displaced the tens of thousands of its own settlers by uprooting them like they did in Gaza, that will not bring a peaceful solution by one iota.
In short, the settlements issue is merely a distraction from the more serious pressing issues.
Wrong!!!!!
So, now we have that out of the way let me try and address some of your concerns.
The "West Bank" is not Israeli territory nor is is Palestinian. It is disputed territory which through negotiations needs to be distributed fairly to Palestinians and Israelis. It is a bonehead assumption to think that all of this land will become Palestine or Israel. The solution is a fair and equitable compromise involving land swaps and some removal of Israeli settlements.
Palestinians are absolutely not all rock throwing terrorists. There are however enough of them to make Israel take serious security precautions. Having said that in the last six months tens of roadblocks have been removed and the lives of Palestinians have been slowly getting better. This is an exciting trend that can only be reversed by Palestinian violence. Assuming there is none things are going well.
Remember my friend, the second intifada. The one where thousands of Israelis were blown apart in busses and restaurants came at the end of the Oslo peace accords. Israel was ready for final status agreements but the Palestinians resorted to extreme violence that put their cause back 20 years. Can you answer the question....Why???
K
@ All of you!
This is such an exchange of ignorance!
Most of you do not have a flaming clue what you are talking about.
To those who think Israel wants the entire West Bank. You are just WRONG!@! Israel has been trying to get rid of most of the WB since 1990. The Pals. Have been violent and killed many for nothing. But life in the WB is getting better. This is a fact!!!
I cannot stand the ignorance here !!! It is a real shame !
KK
