20071208

No Illegal Israeli Settlements?

There are no illegal Israeli Settlements?

(See here) a NY Times piece by Isabel Kershner reports this may not be the case.

At least in this case, private ownership by a Palestinian citizen can be proven.

Note the justification given for the continuing expansion given by one of the settlers, who is identified as being Yedidya Slonim, 16, who although still is at a tender age still offers evidence of Israeli settlers raising their children to incite violence. Yedidya gives justification for his actions as being:
“God gave this to us,” he said. “Now that we’re here, I don’t think we’re going to move.”

Now some settlement expansion is not as clear cut. Some expansion involves confiscation of communally shared tracts without clear ownership being able to be proven. However in almost every such case it ends up with the Israeli government taking over this public land and then providing private ownership to Israeli citizens due to "rights of conquest". According to the Geneva Conventions there is no "rights of conquest". At other times (you do not have to search long) such confiscation is also justified with "God gave this to us...".

I do not condone the terrorist for blowing up innocent civilians. However I ask you to put yourselves in the shoes of the Palestinians who suffer from such injustice. If YOU suffered from such injustice, what would YOU do? Personally, I might not react in exemplary fashion.

ALL construction in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) should be halted. We can not trust ourselves to be allowed to be drawn into the debate of what such construction "should be allowed" and that which is prohibited. Until the completion of negotiations on just where the final borders will be drawn, we can not trust ourselves. ZERO, ABSOLUTELY ZERO, continuing construction in the West Bank by Israel should be allowed in the occupied territories because "our side" has proven it can not be trusted when we attempt to thread the needle.

Can Israel be trusted to halt expansion if such a promise is made? Will the settlers yield to the authority of their elected government? Will the majority of Israelis expect their own military to hold the militant minority accountable if they flaunt the law?

The above expectations are what Israelis expect of the Palestinians. I think it is only reasonable that Israel meets that which they expect of their opponents.

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