What Israel Wants, Israel Gets

Joharah Baker, MIFTAH, 10.10.07. Israel is continuing its plan to expand the Jewish areas of Jerusalem while pushing out as many Palestinians as possible. Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land are deemed illegitimate by international law, partially because they are built on illegally expropriated Palestinian land. Still, Israel has succeeded in turning these settlements into a bargaining chip for final negotiations. The Ma’aleh Adumim settlement is the largest settlement bloc in the territories and one which Israel has made clear it will not relinquish in any final settlement. Now [wth the the confiscation of 1,100 dunams of land from east Jerusalem villages], not only has Ma’aleh Adumim been made a permanent dot on the map, there are plans to expand this already monstrous colony by 3,500 housing units and an industrial park.

It is no secret that Israel is not interested in dividing Jerusalem or allowing the Palestinians to claim any part of it as their future capital. However, east Jerusalem remains occupied territory and Israel’s unilateral annexation of it has yet to be officially recognized by the world community. In order for any agreement to be a win-win situation for Israel, over the years it has taken unilateral steps in the city – settlement expansion and constructing the wall around Jerusalem – to ensure that Jerusalem remains in its hands in any final settlement, even if some areas – unimportant to Israel – are returned to the Palestinians.

Hence, according to this logic, it is no coincidence that just days before US Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice arrives in the area and a mere month before the long-awaited Washington peace summit, Israel announced the confiscation of 1,100 dunams of land from east Jerusalem villages. The land was supposedly confiscated to construct a road connecting Jerusalem to Jericho for the Palestinians. However, the real intention of the confiscation is to grab more Palestinian land in Jerusalem to build even more houses in the already mammoth settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim. Lo and behold, more unilateral facts on the ground.

So, let us debunk some of Israel’s most common arguments. The 100-day plan to quell “Palestinian violence” has turned into years, the separation wall constructed for “security purposes” has become a de facto border and in Jerusalem, there are more unilateral and expansionist measures than in any other area of Palestine.

Perhaps when the parties involved in peace efforts begin to look at the conflict in this light, the demand for an end to the Israeli occupation over all occupied Palestinian territory will present itself as the only solution.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Programme at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mip@miftah.org.