Israel Has Been Stealing Land From Palestinians

Israeli settlements throughout the West Bank have been controversial for many years. At times previous US presidents have urged restraint in building settlements.
How could the Israeli's find land on which to build in an area occupied by Arabs for hundreds of years? The Israeli have always stated the land was abandoned. However, there have been rumors for years that Israelis have driven the owners from the land and then seized it as abandoned.
Now however, an Israeli peace group called Peace Now has obtained documentation of the secret practice of seizing land that had not been abandoned, long covered up by the Israeli government.
May the truth come to roost on the Likudniks. May the American public condemn seizing Palestinian land and demand razing of settlements on Palestinian property.
washingtonpost.com

An Israeli advocacy group has found that 39 percent of the land used by Jewish settlements in the West Bank is private Palestinian property, which the organization contends is a violation of international and Israeli law guaranteeing property rights in the occupied territories.

Here is a summary of the Reports" href="http://www.peacenow.org.il/site/en/peace.asp?pi=61&fld=191&docid=2024">Peace Now Settlement Report. The full report is here.

The majority of settlements have been constructed either entirely or partially on private Palestinian land

• For the first time Peace Now is able to prove, that despite the State and settler’s claims, the majority of the settlements in the West Bank have been constructed on private Palestinian land and not on State land.


• 130 settlements were constructed either entirely or partially on private Palestinian land


• Around 60 thousand dunams of the land used by the settlements is actually private Palestinian land


• Private Palestinian land accounts for 40% of land used for settlements


• Construction of settlements of private Palestinian land is illegal according to the Supreme Court ruling, (Elon More precedent of 1979), and thus cannot be authorized. The result is that not only were the outposts constructed in an illegal manner, but also a large number of the veteran settlements were established on private Palestinian land and are thus illegal.


• The data presented here has been hidden by the State for many years, for fear that the revelation of these facts could damage it’s international relations. Only recently did Peace Now manage to obtain this material.


• Conclusion: For many years the state of Israel has been seizing thousands of dunams of private Palestinian land in order to construct settlements. The claim by the State and settlers that the settlements have been constructed on state land is misleading and false. The vast majority of settlement construction was done against the law of the land and the Supreme Court ruling and therefore unauthorized.

On a moral note this report paints a picture of the Israeli state acting in “daylight robbery” of Palestinian land and handing it over to Israeli settlers. The State has been taking advantage of the weakened status of the Palestinians in order to steal their land.