Israeli Settlements and Demolition of Palestinian Homes

What's at Stake | Stories | Act Now | The Church's Voice | Background & Links | International Law

The Israeli army demolished the Ahmi family's home on the Mt. of Olives because they had no building permit, something that is very hard for Palestinians to get. Since 1967, 24,813 Palestinian homes have been demolished, according to the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions. See full report.

What's at Stake

The expansion of illegal settlements, the accompanying confiscation of Palestinian land and practice of demolishing Palestinian homes constitute an unrelenting cycle that deprives the Palestinian people of their shelter, property, land, freedom of movement and self-determination. Although the footprint of existing settlements is only 3% of the West Bank, the combination of Israeli infrastructure, room set aside for settlement growth, Israeli-only road systems, military zones and Israeli-dedicated nature reserves in the West Bank, causes almost 40% of the West Bank to be off limits to Palestinians.

If current plans are fulfilled, the northern West Bank will be cut off from the southern West Bank and Palestinians will be pushed into isolated enclaves with little freedom of movement and very limited water, arable land and access to decent livelihoods. This increasing fragmentation of the West Bank population, and the shrinking area available for its 2.5 million Palestinian residents, are major obstacles to the goal of two states living side by side in peace and security.

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Stories: The Human Face of the Conflict

This man has spent thousands of dollars fighting for his land for over 20 years. Israeli settlers have no problem getting building permits and are moving down the hill toward his land.		This woman lost her land to bulldozers making room for the separation barrier.		Locked in on three sides by an illegal Israeli settlement, this man was somehow able to fight to keep his house. He now has strict limitations of when he can come and go.

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The Church's Voice

The ELCA, in its Churchwide Strategy for Engagement in Israel and Palestine, calls for "A cessation of all settlement activities and withdrawal from settlements on Palestinian territory to the 1967 boundaries."

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), has challenged settlement activity in letters to the President, including an April 2010 letter which states, "New construction or settlement expansion in East Jerusalem and the West Bank undermines the mutual trust that is a necessary condition for successful negotiations."

The World Council of Churches (WCC) issued a September 2009 statement calling “upon the government of Israel to urgently implement an open-ended freeze in good-faith on all settlement construction and expansion as a first step towards the dismantlement of all settlements."

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Background

Israeli Settlements

This map of Qualquilia - one of the richest farm lands in the West Bank - shows the Green line (to the right of which should be Palestinian land) and the separation barrier in red. The map shows the barrier enclosing an illegal settlement called Alfe Menashe (in purple) and how much room for expansion the barrier has taken. The Palestinian villages of Habla and Qualquilia not only have no room to grow, but have only narrow entrances through the separation barriers which are often closed.

The footprint of existing settlements is only 3% of the West Bank, but the combination of Israeli infrastructure, room set aside for settlement growth, Israeli-only road systems, military zones and Israeli-dedicated nature reserves in the West Bank, result in almost 40% of the West Bank now being off limits to Palestinians (See the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in the West Bank, July 2007. ) This means that Palestinians have been locked into small enclaves (one source counts 227).  The separation barrier and this restrictive regime often require that Palestinians obtain hard-to-get permits in order to travel elsewhere, even in the West Bank. It also means a great hindrance to trade, as often goods must be offloaded and then loaded onto other vehicles at checkpoints and roadblocks. Though there has been some reduction of road closures (from about 650 to about 500), access to Jerusalem has become more restricted.

According to Peace Now in Israel and official Israeli statistics, at least 480,000 people live in settlements, Israeli communities built in territory – East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights - captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Between 1967 and 2009, Israel has constructed 120 settlements in the West Bank (not including Jerusalem) that are officially recognized as “communities” or "neighborhoods" under Israel law yet are considered illegal under international law. Another 100 or so unrecognized settlements known as outposts still exist despite a pledge by Israel to dismantle them. Settlements in the Sinai Peninsula were evacuated in 1982 as part of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. In 2005 Israel withdrew its approximately 9,000 settlers from Gaza.

In the Oslo Peace accords signed in 1993, Palestinians agreed to defer difficult issues in exchange for Israeli commitments to preserve the territorial integrity of the West Bank and Gaza. However, the accords included a broad range of protection for settlers and settlements, and, in fact, during the Oslo Peace Process (from 1993 to 2000) the number of settlers doubled from 114,900 to 203,000, excluding the settlements in Jerusalem. Settlement expansion and land confiscation have continued during all the peace processes despite calls for a freeze in the US-backed "roadmap" and the agreements at Annapolis. Israel pledged to remove all outposts, but so far all but a few remain.

In Oslo II in 1995, three zones were constituted with different security and administrative arrangements: Area A (now 17% of the West Bank and Gaza), which is under full Palestinian control; Area B (now about 24% of the West Bank), which is under Palestinian civil and Israeli security control; and Area C (59% of the West Bank) which is under full Israeli control. The goal was a gradual transition of all areas to Palestinian control, but as of now, none of this area has been transferred to Palestinians.  In fact, Palestinian construction is forbidden in about 70% of Area C, even though Palestinians own the land. According to Peace Now, 94% of building permits for Palestinians in Area C were denied. Area C holds 63% of the West Bank's agricultural land. Many of the settlement blocs in Area C are included in those that Israelis hope to make part of any future Israeli state. (For more information, see UN OCHA's report: Restricting Space: The Planning Regime Applied by Israel in Area C of the West Bank, Dec. 2009).

Settlements In East Jerusalem

In Jerusalem, days after the 1967 Israeli war, Israel immediately annexed 70 dunums (1/4 of an acre) of Palestinian land within Jerusalem and in villages nearby. This move has never been recognized by any nation and there are numerous UN and other international resolutions demanding that Israel withdraw from the territory it annexed. Then, as stipulated in the Land Ordinance Acquisition Public Purposes of 1943, the Israeli Finance Minister was authorized to issue expropriation orders for private land if there was a "public purpose." This public purpose ultimately included the building of Israeli settlements and infrastructure.

Since the annexation in 1967, Israel has expropriated 24,000 dunums on which 12 Israeli settlements were initially built - with others to come later - that are now home to about 200,000. After the annexation, the Israeli government put in many zoning and other restrictions on Palestinian home buildings, such as zoning areas as "green" and therefore unbuildable or reserving land for "public use," which means Israeli infrastructure. Only 13% of the land is able to be built upon by Palestinians, and this land is already crowded and dense, which in itself will make it difficult to get building permits.

According to B'tselem and other human rights groups, 66% of today's Jerusalem is territory that was confiscated from West Bank territory and old Jordanian municipality property.

Though areas zoned green were forbidden to be built upon, it happens that those areas are confiscated and then zoned for building for Israeli settlements.  Abu Ghnaim, for example, near Bethlehem, was zoned green but then confiscated from Palestinian families and rezoned to become the new Har Homa settlement the late 90s. Building there has continued throughout the settlement freezes.

Click image for larger picture

Since 1967, Israel has followed a clear strategy to increase the percentage of Jewish population and decrease the Palestinian population in Jerusalem. It was articulated in the Master Plan 2000, announced in 2004, that lists as a goal a 70% Jewish majority in the city of Jerusalem, which in 1980 Israel announced as “the eternal and undivided capital of Israel.”

The continuing settlement expansion of Jerusalem is a part of this strategy, as shown in the map at left. The Green Line is the closest thing that international law considers to be a defacto border between Israel and Palestine, and it is marked on this map. Everything outside of that is Palestinian territory by international law, but all the yellow boxes point to newer or expanding settlements on Palestinian land. Note the black line, which is the separation barrier, and how it follows the settlements.

The separation barrier has taken another 10% of Palestinian land in the West Bank by putting it on the Israeli side of the barrier.  85% of the barrier is on Palestinian land.

In November of 2009 the Israeli government agreed to a partial freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem. However, due to exceptions, the units already underway that were exempted from the freeze and some settlers just ignoring the freeze, building continued in many places throughout the West Bank. New permits were even issued for controversial sites in and around East Jerusalem.

The continuation of the Fall 2010 peace talks fell apart when the settlement freeze ended and Israel not only refused to renew it but allowed at least 600 new building starts immediately and announced more to come.

Other Issues Related to Settlements

Water

In addition to the land taken up by settlements, water allocation is a main issue, with Palestinians experiencing shortages while settlers' water needs are met. According to PASSIA, settlers use 20 times more water per capita than neighboring Palestinian communities, who survive on 20 liters of water per capita per day - the minimum amount recommended by the World Health Organization for emergency situations. In 1967 and against international law, Israel took control of all water resources and have not allowed the Palestinians to dig a single well to use the waters of its own western aquifer since 1995.

Violence

Ongoing violence is also heightening, especially in East Jerusalem, between settlers and Palestinians. According to Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organization, 90% of the complaints by Palestinians against Israeli settlers are closed without any action or conviction. The increasing presence of private security companies - paid for by Israeli government funds - is also upping the ante in tense spots like Silwan and Hebron.

	A Palestinian home demolition in Beit Hanina with an Israeli settlement in the background.

Home Demolitions and Building Permits

According to the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, 24,813 Palestinian homes have been demolished since 1967, mostly as a result of not having building permits. However, it is very difficult to obtain these permits with all the zoning restrictions, and, even if granted, are very expensive.

In addition, without a Town Planning Scheme (TPS) by the Jerusalem Municipality, growth and building in a community is not allowed, and the Jerusalem municipality has done few Palestinian TPS's.

The demolition of homes is against international law.

For More Information

• Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD): East Jerusalem Demolitions  Details about Palestinian home demolition policies in East Jerusalem.
• B'Tselem: Expropriation and Settlements The history and impact of settlements within the Occupied Territories.
• Peace Now Settlements   Peace Now is an Israeli peace organization that tracks settlement activity.  View an interactive map of settlements.
• The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs  The Government of Israel's view of settlements.

Print Resources

• Settlements and the Wall:  Preempting the Two State Solution  PASSIA bulletin with a good summary, history and law regarding settlements and the barrier. 
• No Place Like Home An ICAHD booklet that details policies and practices surrounding home demolitions in East Jerusalem.
• By Hook or By Crook, A B'Tselem looks at the policy of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
• The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, is a publication of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs that looks at the humanitarian impact of settlements on Palestinians in the West Bank. 

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