‘The plan was aimed at deepening the occupation in the West Bank and perpetuating the domination over the Palestinians.’ (Lords of the Land, Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar, 2007, p.446)
Israeli politicians never miss a chance to play the Jewish colonist card when they are asked to parlay peace with the Palestinians.
When John Kerry replaced Hillary Clinton as US Secretary of State, he turned his attention immediately to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A noble feat by all means, but the Israelis have fine-tuned the colonist subterfuge card to such a degree that now renders any US diplomatic effort at making peace simply unrealistic.
After months of shuttle diplomacy in early 2013, John Kerry managed what was once again sold as a breakthrough when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington D.C. The usual suspects were there, including veteran Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, and Israeli Justice Minister, Tzipi Livni.
And the usual sequence of events panned out: After five years of no negotiations, a US diplomat convened the parties in D.C., the Israelis and Palestinians travelled across the world to smile and shake hands and then the Israeli Defence Ministry approved more than 800 new housing units in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinians declare that these Jewish colonies are illegal under international law and must be halted for peace talks to proceed; the Israelis retorted that peace should not be conditional and proceeded with colonies.
While Kerry was trying to bring the parties to the table, new housing units in the occupied West Bank in the first quarter of 2013 actually tripled to 865, compared to 313 during the same period in 2012. Arguably, if 313 new housing units in a three-month period is already too much, then 865 is a blatant sign that the Jewish colonisation of what remains of Palestine is part of Israel’s national expansionist policy.
According to the Los Angeles Times, “Israel, over the last month [July-August 2013], has announced or approved 3,200 units of Jewish housing on land it seized during the 1967 Middle East war” (August 22, 2013). All this after the Israeli Defence Ministry decided “to include a record 90 West Bank colonies on its ‘national priority’ list, making them eligible for generous government subsidies”, according to the Guardian (August 9, 2013).
The trend to expand and consolidate Israeli sovereignty is quite obvious now and painfully relentless for the Palestinians. The confusing part is that US administrations repeatedly send their best diplomats to restore trust between the parties, only to have the rug pulled out from beneath them by the Israelis — not to mention the complete absence of the democratically-elected Islamist group, Hamas.
Bill Clinton sent his special envoy Dennis Ross at the end of his second term and peace was almost reached at Camp David II (except for the three red lines Israel imposed on the Palestinians: No sovereignty, no borders, no right of return); George W. Bush sent weathered diplomat George Mitchell with years of experience negotiating the North Ireland conundrum — nothing transpired. And now Obama makes Martin Indyk, former US ambassador to Israel, the Special Envoy to the Middle East Peace Process.
While the Jewish colonies proceed unabated, Indyk flies out to occupied Jerusalem and sits on the sidelines as the Palestinians and Israelis go through the motions. What is the point of even making the trip if the parties do not believe in the process any longer, if the US is not willing to twist Israel’s arm enough to concede territory for peace? And why are the Jewish colonies allowed to continue despite previous demands from Washington to at least halt construction during talks?
All the Aquifers
In their book Lords of the Land, The War over Israel’s Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007, the Israeli authors, Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar, describe the development of the Jewish colonist movements, their stubborn expansion, the tensions and complicity with the Israeli army and their ultimate success in annexing more and more land for Israel.
But they do not mention the aquifers. “The main, consensual settlements [colonies]”, Zertal and Eldar claim, “are the heart of the problem, the aporia of the entire settlement [colony] project and in effect of the State of Israel since 1967.” There is no doubt, however, for the authors, that “the Jewish settlement [colonies] project is an impressive geopolitical achievement.” (p.xiv) But they do not mention why; they do not mention what is beneath the land.
They omit to mention the importance of water — the most contested natural resource in this arid part of the world. The main Jewish colonies in the occupied West Bank are placed strategically from north to south on the Palestinian aquifers. The biggest Jewish colony, Ariel, is on the largest Palestinian aquifer. The Israeli exploitation of Palestinian water is simply monstrous.
If anyone doubts Israel’s persistent policy to colonise and annex entire swathes of Palestinian territory, one only needs to look at the grid established by Israel’s national water company, Mekorot, linking Jewish colonies across the entire West Bank. And once an illegal outpost has access to water, more houses can be built — a town flourishes on a hilltop.
The Israeli exploitation of Palestinian water is so severe that it has created a system of complete dependence, particularly in the fully Israeli-administered part of the West Bank, Area C, also the largest portion of the West Bank, where Mekorot has the capacity to literally turn off the taps, not to mention grotesque over-pricing and re-routing of water pipes to Jewish colonies.
And then, when Palestinian farmers decide to brave it and try to cultivate a field, young punk Jewish colonists will descend and beat up the farmers or burn their orchards and olive trees. In Gaza, Palestinian farmers cultivating land too close to the Israeli border have been shot at and mortally wounded, mistaken supposedly for suicide bombers, considered a security risk for Israel…
But the West Bank is not Gaza. Far above the land, there is a Biblical decree that Judea and Samaria, the northern and southern parts of the West Bank, are integral parts of the Kingdom of Israel. There will be no end to the expansion of colonies, to the complicit military occupation, until that territory is consolidated and incorporated fully into the Israeli fortress.
Gaza, historically, was never part of biblical Israel: The Israelites never subdued the five city-states defended by the Philistines. The withdrawal and dismantling of the Gush Katif colonies in the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005 was not so much a concession by Israel as a way to consolidate biblical claims to Judea and Samaria.
Just as Israel will never return its colonies — Israel was founded on colonies after all — so the Palestinians will never accept the continual expropriation of their land. There will be no land swap; negotiations are completely pointless. Deemed illegal under international law, Jewish colonies will continue to proliferate with impunity and nobody is going to stop them now.
Stuart Reigeluth is founding editor of Revolve magazine.
