A MAGICIAN'S TRICK: SWAPPING GAZA FOR WEST BANK LAND

Sharon … has a rigid outlook, which he has not changed for decades. He resembles an IDF bulldozer in Jenin, destroying walls on his way and demolishing houses on top of their inhabitants. His aim in life is to destroy the Palestinian entity and imprison the Palestinians in isolated enclaves, until the time is ripe for their expulsion from the country altogether. Nowadays he hides his unwavering attachment to this plan behind the mask of a benevolent, moderate grandfather, who has settled down and wants nothing more than to crown his career by making peace. - Uri Avnery 30-11-02

Talking about "an end to violence" - while continuing to strangle the Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem with walls and turning them into fenced enclaves. Talking about "two states" - and continuing to section the West Bank with fences. Disengaging from the suffering and the misery that Israel will leave behind in the Gaza Strip, a fenced enclave - and continuing to create new enclaves in the West Bank, through fences, roads, check-points and settlements. … Talking about evacuation of settlements while constructing new ones. … The disengagement and the Fence are two components of one strategy - of separation and ruling, annexation and confiscation. - Ta'ayush (Arab Jewish Partnership), "Talking Peace while the Bulldozers Work", 25-2-05

Sharon coupled the decisions on the Gaza withdrawal and construction of the fence in order to make good on his promise that Israel would strengthen its hold on the settlement blocs - Gush Etzion, Ariel and Ma'aleh Adumim - concurrently with the anticipated evacuation of the Gaza Strip. … East Jerusalem would become a disconnected enclave encompassed on all sides by Jewish neighborhoods. Under such conditions, it would have a hard time serving as the capital of the Palestinian state - .Ha'aretz "Israel's new frontier" 25-2-05

The recent decisions of the Israeli cabinet to formalize the path of the Wall being built by Israel through the West Bank, to make permanent 120 previously "illegal" settlement outposts, and to build 6,000 new homes in the existing settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim. We oppose the Wall and we oppose the use of the forthcoming withdrawal as a cover to further annex territory already promised to the Palestinians under past agreements. - Tikkun

Sharon's dream is coming true under everyone's eyes - and hardly anyone seems to notice. While the world holds its breath to see if Israel will actually remove the Jewish settlements from Gaza, few, outside Israel, seem to see that Israel is grabbing West Bank land. While the Bush-Sharon chorus sing "Road Map, Road Map" to gullible ears (and cynical ones), the bases of the Road Map solution are being dismantled, probably for good. What sort of "viable Palestinian state" can be constructed on a reduced and dissected territory - entirely surrounded by Israel, for good measure?

When he announced his intention to disengage from the Gaza Strip, Sharon, whose pursuit of a greater Israel has never flagged, declared that the government would "act to strengthen Israel's control in those parts of the land of Israel that will be an inalienable part of the state in any future agreement." He confirmed that Israel intends to keep 'Jewish population blocs' inside the West Bank. Last Spring, the Bush administration endorsed Israel's intention to do just that. In return for Sharon's relocating 4000 to 7500 settlers from Gaza, Bush agreed to wink at the legalizing of up to 400,000 settlers in the West Bank - and, implicitly, to the eventual annexation by Israel of a large chunk - possibly 50% - of West Bank territory.

In parallel, Israel has expropriated large tracts of land owned by West Bank Palestinians who were separated from their property by the construction of the Wall. The land was transferred to the "Custodian of Absentee Property" in application of a long-dormant law allowing Israel to seize property belonging to Palestinians who were driven out during the 1948 war. As much as half of the property in east Jerusalem belongs to Palestinians living just beyond the new Israeli-demarcated city boundaries. Such seizures, besides violating the Road Map agreement, are quite illegal under the Geneva conventions concerning occupied territories.

Mahmoud Abbas' election shows that Palestinians are committed to non-violence and democratic reform. But what does democracy mean when there is no freedom of movement, babies die at checkpoints, people cannot work their fields, when getting to and home from a workplace can take half a day, when armed settlers watch villagers from the hills and subject them to arbitrary harassment, hoping to induce them to pack up and leave?

How long can patience last without hope?

Abbas, like Arafat, is committed to Israel's full withdrawal to the 1967 borders, the establishment of a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem and the recognition of the right of return of Palestinian refugees. Although most Israelis may still be willing to make some concession on these points in the interest of peace, Israeli leadership seems further than ever from conceding any of them. We may, therefore, expect to see the opinion makers, Israeli and American, turn on Abbas on the pretext of the next act of violence, or without such a pretext. We will be told that the Palestinians are incapable of presenting a responsible negotiator and that Israel's only choice is to take matters into its own hands - as it is doing anyway. Confiscations, annexations, redrawing the border and continuous pressure on Palestinians tantamount to incitement to exile. Who will stop them?

Not Bush, certainly. Not Europe nor France nor any other world power, so it would seem. And not mainstream public opinion, so mesmerized is it by the magician's tricks. So it's up to us to help build a broad-based movement and snap the world out of its colonialist trance.

International pressure, including boycotts, helped break apartheid in South Africa. Israel too, is sensitive to economic pressure and world public opinion. For a start, we can demand that the European Union immediately suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement until Israel stops violating its human rights clause. There are also international movements for divestment (withdrawal of investments in Israeli firms), for a boycott of products from settlements in the Occupied Territories, and an academic boycott. Together, we can make the crucial difference.

Here are some websites to help you keep in touch and keep informed.

In France,
Association France-Palestine Solidarité
Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine (with list of campaigns)
General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS)

In Israel and Palestine,
The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH)
Foundation for Middle East Peace (maps, charts, statistics)
Electronic Intifada
Stop the Wall campaign
Sharon's "Gaza Disengagement Plan"

In the US,
If Americans Knew
Foundation for Middle East Peace
Jewish Voice for Peace

Some statistics:
The U.S. gives $15,139,178 per day to the Israeli government and military and $568,744 per day to Palestinian NGO's.

60+ new Jewish-only settlements have been built on confiscated Palestinian land between March 2001 and July 11, 2003. There have been 0 cases of Palestinians confiscating Israeli land and building settlements.

Americans Against the War - France
March 12, 2005