Danny Richardson

"In addition to confiscating land claimed to be vacant, and demolishing Palestinian homes built without permits that are almost impossible to secure, Israel has for many years used the excavation and reclamation of Jewish historical sites as a reason for the removal of Arab dwellings within East Jerusalem."

Israel is planning a major land-grab in East Jerusalem worth tens of billions of dollars.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has informed the Supreme Court that the state plans to apply the law on abandoned properties in East Jerusalem. This will mean that Israel can “legally” take over thousands of acres and buildings that are the property of Palestinians, some of whom fled to what the state claims were “enemy states” during the Israeli “War of Independence” and others who have property in East Jerusalem but reside in the Occupied Territories.

The issue was brought before the Supreme Court after four cases were tried in the Jerusalem District Court, which ruled in favour of the owners in two cases and against in two. A special legal panel later ordered the Attorney General to tell the District Court whether it intended to apply a 1950 law to properties in East Jerusalem.

The total worth of the property belonging to the four applicants that was seized in Abu Ghneim mountain is estimated at $10 billion—equivalent to the Israeli defence budget for a year.

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Danny Richardson

Again, some of the bricks etc that Israeli settlers throw onto Palestinian
passers-by. Amongst this stuff that could kill or maim, they also throw
excretia and urine.

The civil rights organisation B’Tselem states that more than half a million Israeli settlers are living on land situated within the West Bank. A report finds there are an estimated 300,000 people living in 121 official settlements, plus 100,000 in smaller unofficial “outposts”. The remainder in the 12 Jerusalem neighbourhoods annexed to the Jerusalem Municipality.

This represents a total control of 42.8 percent of West Bank land, equalling 2,399,824 dunam, (1 dunam = 1000 square meters) Outposts are settlements built without government approval, but with the support of various government ministries, the army, and the Civil Administration. The annexed Jerusalem neighbourhoods are part of a scheme meant to separate Jerusalem from the West Bank.

By Hook and by Crook: Israeli Settlement Policy in the West Bank, is an update to the B’Tselem 2002 report, Land Grab: Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West Bank. It was compiled using official state documents, cross-checked data from the Civil Administration, the settlements jurisdictional area and aerial photos taken in 2009.

In spite of the obstacles placed in its way, the report sets out in detail the historical expansion of settlements, official and unofficial, into the West Bank. It documents the methods used by successive Israeli governments since 1967 to illegally take control of land in the West Bank, the majority of which was known to be owned privately by Palestinians who were prevented from claiming back their land. It argues that this land grab is “an instrumental, cynical, and even criminal approach to international law, local legislation, Israeli military orders and Israeli law”.

The construction of settlements is a state run operation. From the misappropriation of the land, turning a blind eye to the lack of building regulations, the building of roads, power and water treatment plants and security fences, through to enticing Israeli citizens to populate the settlements, various offices of state ensure the construction goes ahead unimpeded. By classifying settlements as National Priority "A", the future settlers are given enormous non means-tested enticements to relocate. Cash incentives allow settlers to purchase quality inexpensive apartments that become linked to an automatic subsidised mortgage. Wide ranging benefits in education and community benefits are also on offer. Teachers receive higher salaries. Unemployment is lower than in Israel proper.

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