President Obama, following his meeting with President Mubarak, said yesterday: "There has been movement in the right direction" referring to the reports in the Israeli media that the government of Israel agreed to freeze construction in the settlements and not to issue new construction-tenders until the end of 2009. On one hand, we should be happy, because such a freeze proves that even an extreme right wing government cannot ignore the White House and run wild and build in the territories without limits. But on the other hand, the tenders which the government is freezing, are only a small part of the construction in the territories. On the ground there are several projects under construction in the settlements.
So let us try and understand:
What does "freezing new tenders" mean?
About 40 percent of the construction in the settlements in the last few years was initiated by the government; the rest was done privately. Currently, 40 percent percent of the public construction is carried out through tenders. When the government initiates a large construction project it sells it by tender, or bidding, in which it offers the building rights to the highest bidder. The rest of the construction is done without bidding. The last tender for new construction in the settlements and East Jerusalem was nine months ago, in November 2008. Ultimately, even if the government freezes all new tenders, it only applies to part of 40 percent of the construction. The rest is not stopped.
What is the situation on the ground now?
According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of March 2009 (before the Netanyahu government took office) there were 3,073 housing units under construction in the settlements, not including construction in East Jerusalem. Even if some of those buildings have been completed by now, this still means that a couple of thousands of housing units are under construction at this moment. The government has not frozen this construction.
It is very hard to know if there is a freeze on other new projects. In many cases the settlers can rely on old permits they were given. There are about 45,000 housing units in the settlements that can theoretically be built on the basis of old building plans that were approved in the past (practically, some of them are not relevant for execution and sometimes additional permits are needed besides approval of the building plan).
It looks as if the government has for the meantime chosen a passive freeze, namely, merely avoiding initiating new projects. But in order to really prevent construction in the settlements an active freeze is needed, which is a stop of construction that has already begun and a halt on projects that were approved in the past but have not been carried out yet.
So, should we be optimistic?
As someone who lives in Israel and sees her future here in Israel I have no choice but to be optimistic and always look for the opportunity even when it seems dim. But even pessimists are allowed to be at least a little encouraged. President Obama is trying to bring the sides to start negotiations on a permanent status agreement, in order to finally put an end to the conflict and arrive at a two state solution. In order to begin the process, both sides need to show willingness and seriousness. On the Israeli side this means to stop building in the settlements (because ultimately as part of the two-state solution we will have to evacuate them).
The Netanyahu government has a paradox:
On one hand it is the most right wing government Israel has had in many years. The cabinet ministers compete with each other on who will say something more extreme. On the day after the report on the freeze of tenders was published, three cabinet ministers visited the site of the settlement of Homesh, near Nablus, which was evacuated by Israel in the Disengagement, and declared that the settlement should be rebuilt. It is hard to believe that anybody in the Israeli mainstream is really interested in rebuilding the evacuated settlement. The extreme statements were meant only to attract attention.
On the other hand, it has been four months since the government was established and not a single new tender has been published, nor do we know of the approval of any new plans (except one). Netanyahu knows that none of the right-wing ministers in his government have any alternatives. If they decide to quit the coalition he will bring Kadima into his government and all those ministers will remain without influence. Therefore, despite the extreme statements, Netanyahu is definitely vulnerable to pressure and his coalition is pretty stable.
Therefore, even though there is not a real freeze yet, I am cautiously optimistic.
Hagit Ofran is the director of "Settlement Watch"- a Peace Now Project Monitoring Settlement Expansion in the West Bank.
Israeli settlement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Obama: halt to new Israeli settlements is in America's security ...
U.S. Weighs Tactics on Israeli Settlement - NYTimes.com
Israeli settlements: Government quietly stopped issuing building ...
Israel PM angered over call to defy US on settlers
Republican Huckabee supports Israeli settlements
Israel told to prove it has clear resolve for peace
Israeli Settlements Quietly Halted: No New Housing Permits Granted
After meeting Mubarak, Obama sees progress on settlements issue
The settlements are either in the business of ruining innocent peoples lives due to their expansion, or ending conflict and and the inspiration for a great deal of middle eastern terrorist recruiting and funding by being shut down and abandoned forever.
It has been the same game for decades; Pay lip service to the idea of ending the settlements while expanding them at every opportunity. In fact, there has never been a year that the settlements did not expand significantly. Not during ANY of the peace talks, and, surprisingly, not even when 8000 settlers pulled out of the Gaza, in that the total expansion of the settlements in the West bank and East Jerusalem far outstripped the net loss of 8000 settlers.
Just imagine the reaction in the US if we were faced with expanding foreign settlements on US soil, displacing US citizens, and simultaneously being brutalized for any attempt to fight back against it.
It would NEVER,NEVER, NEVER be tolerated, and we would fight against it with all means available.
"During the last years of sporadic anti-British violence, the IZL and Stern groups inaugurated a reign of terror in the Palestine Jewish community. Teachers were beaten up for speaking against them, adults were shot for not letting their children join them. By gangster methods, beatings, window-smashing, and wide-spread robberies, the terrorists intimadated the population and exacted a heavy tribute......
"This is the unmistakable stamp of a Fascist party for whom terrorism (against Jews, Arabs, and British alike), and misrepresentation are means, and a 'Leader State' is the goal."
From a letter to the New York Times, Dec. 4, 1948, from Albert Einstein and other prominent Jews.
Please notice that the terrorists that Dr. Einstein is referring to in this letter are Jews, not Arabs.
Earlier in his life, Dr. Einstein supported the idea of resettling European Jewry in Palestine. Later in his life, he protested what was happening in Palestine, and how militant extremist Jews had introduced the use of terrorism to the region.
It's easy to look backwards criticize and place blame - but what's your suggestion going forward?
"If I knew that it was possible to save all the children of Germany by transporting them to England, and only half by transferring them to the Land of Israel, I would choose the latter, for before us lies not only the numbers of these children but the historical reckoning of the people of Israel."
David Ben-Gurion
Everyone knows that Einstein wrote a letter to FDR, which caused FDR to approve the Manhattan project. Einstein's purpose in proposing this project was to ensure that the Nazi experiment in Europe was not successful in imposing its will on the entire planet. Not a bad day's work.
It is important to have an honest understanding of where we have been, and where we are now.
What alternative is there to the cycle of terrorism, exploitation, and hatred? Every person must answer that question for themself.
For some of us, the answer is to not take part in the Israeli State, on moral grounds. For others, the answer is to try to work toward justice and peace. For others, the answer is to work toward making Israel into what they perceive as its rightful place in the world, whatever that may be.
Some see the creation of Zion as the fulfillment of a dream, and some see it as closer to a nightmare. Some see Israel as a fait accompli, and the best they can do is try to go forward without repeating the mistakes of the past, which in this case requires changing current policies.
There was no peace, no desire for coexistence and Arab terror raged. All there was then in pre settlement Israel were the "three no's" thanks tothe Arab League meeting in Khartoum. NO NEGOTIATION, NO RECOGNITION, NO PEACE .... and all that BEFORE a single settlement was built.
All of this is a red herring ... and lets not ignore Hamas who rejects all of it.
What is Sderot?
Founded in 1951 on the ruins of the bulldozed Palestinian village of Najd.
There are over 500 such stories.
I do not hate Israel, but I am saddened that hundreds of years of good relations with the Arabs have been sacrificed for the principles of Zionism.
There are extremists in every culture, and today, in Israel, it is the extremists who are in control of policy.
Your suggestion that these statements reflect hatred is quite inaccureate.
Check out my post today:
"Five Reasons to Keep Your Eyes on the Middle East"
http://bit.ly/13Z8aD
Best,
Eileen
I read the J post... and it tells the story..... The man on the street in Tel Aviv thinks O is a Muslim and that he Hates J's.
People on the street in Tel Aviv are yelling for the diaspora to do something quick before they drown in an Arab majority.
Jane Smiley wrote a piece about being fed up with Obama...... she didn't say her reason... just that she'd given up on him and he was a loser...... READ .... HE ISN:T DOING ANYTHING FOR MY PEOPLE.... Smiley didn't name her constituency..... and there are only 2 groups who are angry at O.
Gays and J's.
In the past couple of month's I've probably seen a total of twenty Orthodox Jews in Tel Aviv.
Jerusalem, however, is quite a different story.
The international meth trade has been tracked to Israel... and so has the porn industry.
She doesn't want peace.
Colonial ambitions will only bring about the destruction of the "baby."
There must be a way to stop this conflict and create a solution that both states can live with.
Those who follow King David will die by the sword eventually. King Solomon would say, let's just destroy both groups of people unless they come to an equitable compromise. That would be too extreme, but the present course will destroy both peoples and bring about WW III.
Frankly, I'd rather see them go than me. Please don't blow up the entire world over this feud. Both sides are wrong in that event. Why keep playing Russian Roulette with the entire world?