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E-1: The end of a viable Palestinian state
Jeff Halper, The Electronic Intifada, 31 March 2005
E-1 development and environs in 1998 (Map: Jan de Jong)
--
The fatal flaw in most analyses of the Israel-Palestine conflict is the assumption that if the Palestinians can just get a state of their own, then all will be fine. A state on all the Occupied Territories (UN Resolution 242), on most of the Occupied Territories (Oslo and the Road Map to the Geneva Initiative), on even half the Occupied Territories (Sharon's notion) - it doesn't matter. Once there's a Palestinian state the conflict is over and we can all move on to the next item on the agenda.
Wrong. A Palestinian state can just as easily be a prison as a legitimate state that addresses the national aspirations of its people. The crucial issue is viability. Israel is a small country, but it is three times larger than the Palestinian areas. The entire Occupied Areas - the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza - make up only 22% of Israel/Palestine. That means that even if all of the territories Israel conquered in 1967 were relinquished, it would still comprise a full 78% of the country.
Would the Palestinian areas constitute a viable state? Barely. Just the size of the American state of Delaware (but with three times the population before refugees return), it would at least have a coherent territory, borders with Israel, Jordan, Syria and Egypt, a capital in Jerusalem, a port on the Mediterranean, an airport in Gaza, a viable economy (based on Holy Land tourism, agriculture and hi-tech) and access to the water of the Jordan River.
An accepted member of the international community enjoying trade with its neighbors - and enjoying as well the support of a far-flung, highly educated and affluent diaspora - a small Palestinian state would have a shot at viability.
This is what Israel seeks to prevent. Ever since becoming the head of the Ministerial Committee on Settlements in the Begin government back in 1977, Ariel Sharon has been completely up-front about his intention of securing the entire Land of Israel for the Jewish people. “Security” has nothing to do with Israel's expansionist policies.
Successive Israeli governments did not establish 200 settlements because of security. Nor did they build a massive infrastructure of Israeli-only highways that link the settlement blocs irreversibly into Israel for security reasons. Nor can the route of the Separation Barrier, nor the policy of expropriating Palestinian land and systematically demolishing Palestinian homes be explained by “security.” They all derive from one central goal: to claim the entire country for Israel. Period.
Still, Israel cannot “digest” the 3.6 million Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories. Giving them citizenship would nullify Israel as a Jewish state; not giving them citizenship yet keeping them forever under occupation would constitute outright apartheid.
What to do? The answer is clear: establish a tiny Palestinian state of, say, five or six cantons (Sharon's term) on 40-70% of the Occupied Territories, completely surrounded and controlled by Israel. Such a Palestinian state would cover only 10-15% of the entire country and would have no meaningful sovereignty and viability: no coherent territory, no freedom of movement, no control of borders, no capital in Jerusalem, no economic viability, no control of water, no control of airspace or communications, no military - not even the right as a sovereign state to enter into alliances without Israeli permission.
And since the Palestinians will never agree to this, Israel must “create facts on the ground” that prejudice negotiations even before they begin. Last week's announcement that Israel is constructing 3500 housing units in E-1, a corridor connecting Jerusalem to the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim, seals the fate of the Palestinian state.
As a key element of an Israeli “Greater Jerusalem,” the E-1 plan removes any viability from a Palestinian state. It cuts the West Bank in half, allowing Israel to control Palestinian movement from one part of their country to another, while isolating East Jerusalem from the rest of Palestinian territory. Since 40% of the Palestinian economy revolves around Jerusalem and its tourist-based economy, the E-1 plan effectively cuts the economic heart out of any Palestinian state, rendering it nothing more than a set of non-viable Indian reservations.
Read More (with more pictures):
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3728.shtml
--
The fatal flaw in most analyses of the Israel-Palestine conflict is the assumption that if the Palestinians can just get a state of their own, then all will be fine. A state on all the Occupied Territories (UN Resolution 242), on most of the Occupied Territories (Oslo and the Road Map to the Geneva Initiative), on even half the Occupied Territories (Sharon's notion) - it doesn't matter. Once there's a Palestinian state the conflict is over and we can all move on to the next item on the agenda.
Wrong. A Palestinian state can just as easily be a prison as a legitimate state that addresses the national aspirations of its people. The crucial issue is viability. Israel is a small country, but it is three times larger than the Palestinian areas. The entire Occupied Areas - the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza - make up only 22% of Israel/Palestine. That means that even if all of the territories Israel conquered in 1967 were relinquished, it would still comprise a full 78% of the country.
Would the Palestinian areas constitute a viable state? Barely. Just the size of the American state of Delaware (but with three times the population before refugees return), it would at least have a coherent territory, borders with Israel, Jordan, Syria and Egypt, a capital in Jerusalem, a port on the Mediterranean, an airport in Gaza, a viable economy (based on Holy Land tourism, agriculture and hi-tech) and access to the water of the Jordan River.
An accepted member of the international community enjoying trade with its neighbors - and enjoying as well the support of a far-flung, highly educated and affluent diaspora - a small Palestinian state would have a shot at viability.
This is what Israel seeks to prevent. Ever since becoming the head of the Ministerial Committee on Settlements in the Begin government back in 1977, Ariel Sharon has been completely up-front about his intention of securing the entire Land of Israel for the Jewish people. “Security” has nothing to do with Israel's expansionist policies.
Successive Israeli governments did not establish 200 settlements because of security. Nor did they build a massive infrastructure of Israeli-only highways that link the settlement blocs irreversibly into Israel for security reasons. Nor can the route of the Separation Barrier, nor the policy of expropriating Palestinian land and systematically demolishing Palestinian homes be explained by “security.” They all derive from one central goal: to claim the entire country for Israel. Period.
Still, Israel cannot “digest” the 3.6 million Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories. Giving them citizenship would nullify Israel as a Jewish state; not giving them citizenship yet keeping them forever under occupation would constitute outright apartheid.
What to do? The answer is clear: establish a tiny Palestinian state of, say, five or six cantons (Sharon's term) on 40-70% of the Occupied Territories, completely surrounded and controlled by Israel. Such a Palestinian state would cover only 10-15% of the entire country and would have no meaningful sovereignty and viability: no coherent territory, no freedom of movement, no control of borders, no capital in Jerusalem, no economic viability, no control of water, no control of airspace or communications, no military - not even the right as a sovereign state to enter into alliances without Israeli permission.
And since the Palestinians will never agree to this, Israel must “create facts on the ground” that prejudice negotiations even before they begin. Last week's announcement that Israel is constructing 3500 housing units in E-1, a corridor connecting Jerusalem to the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim, seals the fate of the Palestinian state.
As a key element of an Israeli “Greater Jerusalem,” the E-1 plan removes any viability from a Palestinian state. It cuts the West Bank in half, allowing Israel to control Palestinian movement from one part of their country to another, while isolating East Jerusalem from the rest of Palestinian territory. Since 40% of the Palestinian economy revolves around Jerusalem and its tourist-based economy, the E-1 plan effectively cuts the economic heart out of any Palestinian state, rendering it nothing more than a set of non-viable Indian reservations.
Read More (with more pictures):
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3728.shtml
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RAMALLAH, West Bank: Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei yesterday urged Washington to pin Israel down to its commitments not to expand settlements as he met with the United States’ top diplomat for east Jerusalem.
“The American administration cannot remain silent about the actions of the Israelis who are seeking to impose a new reality on the ground,” Qurei said after a meeting at his offices in Ramallah with Consul General David Pearce.
“It must take a clear position over the three settlements which Israel wants to annex,” he added.
Qurei was referring to the settlements of Maale Adumim, Gush Etzion and Ariel which his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon has pledged will remain an integral part of Israel. The Bush administration is in theory opposed to any settlement growth as a violation of the US-backed roadmap plan which commits Israel to a complete freeze to all settlement activity.
But in recent days the US position has been somewhat muddied by a flurry of statements in reaction to Israel’s announced intention to build up Maale Adumim, the largest of all the settlements.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that expansion plans were “at odds” with American policy but then told the Washington Post the administration has had “discussions about steps towards a settlement freeze” but “we’ve never reached closure on that. It’s complicated.”
Qurei said it was “not enough to talk about a viable Palestinian state.” “We want the Americans to tell us how such a state would be viable if Jerusalem and the settlements are annexed,” he said.
Qurei and the Palestinians were furious with Bush last year when he told Sharon that it was unrealistic to expect Israel to give up all parts of the occupied territories.
The 8,000 Jewish settlers living in the Gaza Strip are due to be uprooted this summer but the vast majority of the 245,000 settlers in the occupied territories are living in the West Bank.
“The American administration cannot remain silent about the actions of the Israelis who are seeking to impose a new reality on the ground,” Qurei said after a meeting at his offices in Ramallah with Consul General David Pearce.
“It must take a clear position over the three settlements which Israel wants to annex,” he added.
Qurei was referring to the settlements of Maale Adumim, Gush Etzion and Ariel which his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon has pledged will remain an integral part of Israel. The Bush administration is in theory opposed to any settlement growth as a violation of the US-backed roadmap plan which commits Israel to a complete freeze to all settlement activity.
But in recent days the US position has been somewhat muddied by a flurry of statements in reaction to Israel’s announced intention to build up Maale Adumim, the largest of all the settlements.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that expansion plans were “at odds” with American policy but then told the Washington Post the administration has had “discussions about steps towards a settlement freeze” but “we’ve never reached closure on that. It’s complicated.”
Qurei said it was “not enough to talk about a viable Palestinian state.” “We want the Americans to tell us how such a state would be viable if Jerusalem and the settlements are annexed,” he said.
Qurei and the Palestinians were furious with Bush last year when he told Sharon that it was unrealistic to expect Israel to give up all parts of the occupied territories.
The 8,000 Jewish settlers living in the Gaza Strip are due to be uprooted this summer but the vast majority of the 245,000 settlers in the occupied territories are living in the West Bank.
For more information:
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_n...
One of those tired old lies concerning what UNSCR 242 really means. Not surprising to see Jeff Halper parrot this claim. I heard him a few years ago on Israeli TV brushing off the terror attack on the Jerusalem cafe "Moment" as if it wasn't an act of terror. This man may even be worse than Uri Avneri.
Evidently he's unconcerned with his side meeting its commitments by not only forcing all Palestinian gunmen to disarm, but also by preventing the terror organizations from replenishing their arm stocks during their "ceasefire" currently in effect.
[World News] Ramallah, Apr 2 : Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is expected to carry out a major shake up in the security apparatus to clamp down on growing lawlessness, senior Palestinian sources said.
Abbas today held a closed door meeting with Prime Minister, Ahmed Qurei and interior minister, Nasser Yousef to discuss changes to stem growing anarchy, which assumed unprecedented proportions when gunmen from his own Fatah faction affiliated Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade attacked his Ramallah based headquarters.
A close associate of Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the Chairman is likely to announce "significant changes" in the coming days, without giving any details.
A senior Palestinian source said on conditions of anomynity that among those likely to get the boot is the West Bank security commander, Ismail Jaber.
The gunmen who carried out the rampage in the West Bank town earlier this week are said to have been closely connected to Jaber.
Abbas has fired the local security chief in Ramallah, Younis Al-Aas yesterday.
The Palestinian leader has tried to lure the faction members to join the security apparatus and join the mainstream but with the jobs not coming soon it has only led to "growing impatience", the sources said.
The PA Chairman hasn't been able to decide upon whether to go on a collision course with the militants, which can easily go out of his control given his shaky position or to continue with negotiations, which could easily lead to him being branded ineffective if lawlessness prolongs.
http://news.newkerala.com/world-news/?action=fullnews&id=93381
Abbas today held a closed door meeting with Prime Minister, Ahmed Qurei and interior minister, Nasser Yousef to discuss changes to stem growing anarchy, which assumed unprecedented proportions when gunmen from his own Fatah faction affiliated Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade attacked his Ramallah based headquarters.
A close associate of Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the Chairman is likely to announce "significant changes" in the coming days, without giving any details.
A senior Palestinian source said on conditions of anomynity that among those likely to get the boot is the West Bank security commander, Ismail Jaber.
The gunmen who carried out the rampage in the West Bank town earlier this week are said to have been closely connected to Jaber.
Abbas has fired the local security chief in Ramallah, Younis Al-Aas yesterday.
The Palestinian leader has tried to lure the faction members to join the security apparatus and join the mainstream but with the jobs not coming soon it has only led to "growing impatience", the sources said.
The PA Chairman hasn't been able to decide upon whether to go on a collision course with the militants, which can easily go out of his control given his shaky position or to continue with negotiations, which could easily lead to him being branded ineffective if lawlessness prolongs.
http://news.newkerala.com/world-news/?action=fullnews&id=93381
JERUSALEM Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has accepted the resignation of his security chief on the West Bank after firing the police commander in Ramallah, Palestinian officials said.
The moves Saturday came after gunmen with Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, which is tied to Abbas's Fatah faction, fired shots at his headquarters and rampaged through the streets in Ramallah on Wednesday, shooting up restaurants. The men were reacting to a demand that they either join the regular security forces or hand over their weapons.
In a security meeting on Saturday in Ramallah with Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and other officials, Abbas asked for and received the resignation of Ismail Jabr, the West Bank commander. On Friday, he fired the local Ramallah commander, Younis al-Aas, whose men had done nothing to confront the gunmen, the officials said.
Palestinian officials said that Abbas was considering several new commanders, including Mahmoud al-Natour, known as Abu Tayeb, who had for many years been the personal bodyguard of Yasser Arafat. In Beirut, Natour had led the Palestinian security force known as Force 17, Arafat's presidential guard and intelligence service. But it is not clear whether the Israeli government would allow him to return to the territories.
Abbas, after the gunmen's rampage, realized that he had to act more forcefully to control militants and ensure public order, and he has decided to make significant changes in other commanders, the officials said. To that end, they said, he recently signed a law passed by the Palestinian Parliament that would allow him to retire any military commander older than 60.
Israeli officials have said they believe that Abbas must act quickly to put his stamp on authority in the territories and restore public order or he and his faction, Fatah, will lose significant ground to the radical Islamic group Hamas in July parliamentary elections. Palestinian legislators appear to agree.
Rafiq Natshe, a legislator, said the gunmen had to be faced down.
"We're in the process of implementing law and order, and this is the real challenge of the Palestinian Authority," Natshe said. He added: "The people are watching. They are afraid. They need security as they need bread."
Israel and its occupation have "destroyed all our security forces, and this is the result," Natshe said. Israel reinvaded the West Bank in spring 2002 to stop a sharp increase in violence and suicide bombings in which it said the Palestinian security forces were involved.
Only now, with Abbas's election in January, is Israel making the effort to hand back security control over the main Palestinian cities and allowing Palestinian policemen to carry guns.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/03/news/abbas.html
The moves Saturday came after gunmen with Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, which is tied to Abbas's Fatah faction, fired shots at his headquarters and rampaged through the streets in Ramallah on Wednesday, shooting up restaurants. The men were reacting to a demand that they either join the regular security forces or hand over their weapons.
In a security meeting on Saturday in Ramallah with Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and other officials, Abbas asked for and received the resignation of Ismail Jabr, the West Bank commander. On Friday, he fired the local Ramallah commander, Younis al-Aas, whose men had done nothing to confront the gunmen, the officials said.
Palestinian officials said that Abbas was considering several new commanders, including Mahmoud al-Natour, known as Abu Tayeb, who had for many years been the personal bodyguard of Yasser Arafat. In Beirut, Natour had led the Palestinian security force known as Force 17, Arafat's presidential guard and intelligence service. But it is not clear whether the Israeli government would allow him to return to the territories.
Abbas, after the gunmen's rampage, realized that he had to act more forcefully to control militants and ensure public order, and he has decided to make significant changes in other commanders, the officials said. To that end, they said, he recently signed a law passed by the Palestinian Parliament that would allow him to retire any military commander older than 60.
Israeli officials have said they believe that Abbas must act quickly to put his stamp on authority in the territories and restore public order or he and his faction, Fatah, will lose significant ground to the radical Islamic group Hamas in July parliamentary elections. Palestinian legislators appear to agree.
Rafiq Natshe, a legislator, said the gunmen had to be faced down.
"We're in the process of implementing law and order, and this is the real challenge of the Palestinian Authority," Natshe said. He added: "The people are watching. They are afraid. They need security as they need bread."
Israel and its occupation have "destroyed all our security forces, and this is the result," Natshe said. Israel reinvaded the West Bank in spring 2002 to stop a sharp increase in violence and suicide bombings in which it said the Palestinian security forces were involved.
Only now, with Abbas's election in January, is Israel making the effort to hand back security control over the main Palestinian cities and allowing Palestinian policemen to carry guns.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/03/news/abbas.html
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