Israel has been occupying the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank, which includes East Jerusalem, since the June-war in 1967. According to international humanitarian law, it is illegal for an occupying power to transfer its civilian population to occupied territory.[i] The fact that the Israeli government has encouraged Israeli civilians to move to occupied territory, clearly violates international humanitarian law. Israeli civilians living in the occupied territories are referred to as settlers. The international community, including the UN Security Council, EU and International Court of Justice all agree that the settlements are illegal according to international law.[ii]
The number of settlers is increasing dramatically
Recently the number of settlers has increased dramatically. Nearly half a million Israeli settlers live on occupied territory today. Between 1987 and 2008 the number of settlers increased almost threefold, from about 169,000[iii] to 480,000.[iv] The annual growth in the number of settlers is about 5.5%,[v] whilst the Israeli population increases by approximately 1.7% annually.[vi] The Israeli settlers live in settlements, organized communities inhabited by Israeli civilians and established on occupied territory, after approval and direct or indirect support from the Israeli government.[vii] There are 149 settlements on the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.[viii] In addition to these settlements there are about a hundred so-called outposts.[ix] Outposts are settlements that are illegal according to Israeli law as well, since they lack approval or planning from the Israeli government.[x] According to the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, every Israeli government, since the occupation began in 1967, has contributed to strengthening, expanding and developing the settlements.[xi]
Settlers and the international community
The international community unanimously agrees that the Israeli settlements constitute a major obstacle to a peaceful solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The EU stated in February 2009 that the Israeli settlements form a huge impediment for peace in the Middle East, and that continued activity in the settlements would throw doubt on the seriousness of Israeli engagement in reaching a two-state solution.[xii] This opinion is shared by the UN Security Council, who in Resolution 465 in 1980 determined that the settlements constitute an obvious violation of international humanitarian law and an obstacle to achieving an inclusive, fair and sustainable peace in the Middle East.[xiii]
Ideology and economy
The Israeli settlers can be divided into two general categories: those who are ideologically motivated and those who are economically motivated.[xiv] The ideological settlers are convinced for religious or nationalistic reasons that the West Bank is a part of Israel and that it is their duty to inhabit the area.[xv] The ideologically motivated settlers were the pioneers of the settler movement and they mainly live far from the Israeli boarder.[xvi] Economic settlers[xvii] are primarily motivated by the economic advantages of living in the settlements.[xviii] Through the years the various Israeli governments have applied a number of economic incentives in order to encourage Israelis to become settlers.[xix] Beneficial loan agreements that turn 50% of the loans into grants, lower taxes and lower tenant fees are some of the many benefits the settlers have been able to enjoy.[xx] The local authorities in the settlements have also received additional economic support. During the 1990s the budget of the local authorities was 40% larger per capita in the settlements than in Israel proper.[xxi]
Separate legal systems
One of the reasons why international humanitarian law prohibits an occupying power to move its population to occupied territory is the risk that these people might attain a privileged position vis-à -vis the occupied population.[xxii] The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) claims that this has happened in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Israeli settler movement has created two separate systems of rights. Privileges that mainly benefit the Israeli citizens come at the expense of the over two million Palestinians living in the West Bank.[xxiii] There are two separate networks of roads on the West Bank, one for Israelis and one for Palestinians. Palestinians are hindered from using main roads that have been taken over by, or were originally constructed for, Israelis and are thus forced to use a second-rate network of roads.[xxiv] Israeli citizens and Jews[xxv] living in the settlements without holding Israeli citizenship are subject to Israeli law, whilst Palestinians are tried in military courts.[xxvi] According to OCHA, along with the privileges given to Israelis regarding the freedom of movement, this is the most obvious element of what they call “institutionalized discrimination”.[xxvii] A substantive part of the water used by Israel to cover their needs, including the water distributed to the settlements, should in fact be shared equally between Israelis and Palestinians according to international law.[xxviii] The Israeli water company Mekorot sells water to Palestinian cities and delivers almost 50% of all the water used by the Palestinians on the West Bank. During warm summer months, when water shortages can occur, Mekorot prioritizes the settlements at the expense of the Palestinian communities, some of which some are particularly affected by water restrictions. [xxix]
[i] Article 49 of the Geneva Convention states that ”The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”, the Red Cross, http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebART/380-600056?OpenDocument
[ii] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007, Annex 1, p. 127-131 available at http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/TheHumanitarianImpactOfIsraeliInfrastructureTheWestBank_full.pdf
[iii] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 p. 20,
[iv] B’Tselem, Land Expropriation and Settlements, 2008, available at http://www.btselem.org/English/Settlements/Statistics.asp
[v] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 p. 16
[vi] Haaretz, Settler population growing three times faster than rest of Israel, study says, 15/12 2008, http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/1046766.html
[vii] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 p. 13
[viii] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 p. 13
[ix] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 p. 34
[x] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 p. 34
[xi] B’Tselem, 2002, Land Grab – Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West Bank, p. 11
[xii] EU, 24/2 2009, Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the settlement activities of Israel, http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/cfsp/106251.pdf
[xiii] FN-resolution 465, 1980, available at http://daccessods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=S/RES/465%20(1980)&Lang=E&Area=RESOLUTION
[xiv] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 s. 32
[xv] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 p. 32, OCHA does not mention settlers motivated by nationalism in their categorization, but the Israeli peace organization Peace Now does. This is why Settlerwatch has decided to include this category in the concept “ideologically motivated settlers”. See Peace Now, Settlements in Focus – Quality of Life Settlers, 2007, available at http://www.peacenow.org.il/site/en/peace.asp?pi=62&docid=2175
[xvi] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 p. 32
[xvii] The Israeli peace organization Peace Now published a report about this category of settlers in January 2007, whom they call ”Quality of Life Settlers”, available at http://www.peacenow.org.il/site/en/peace.asp?pi=62&docid=2175
[xviii] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 p. 32
[xix]B’Tselem, 2002, Land Grab – Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West Bank, p. 73
[xx] B’Tselem, 2002, Land Grab – Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West Bank, p. 74-76
[xxi] B’Tselem, 2002, Land Grab – Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West Bank, p. 84
[xxii] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, 2008, Unprotected: Israeli settler violence against Palestinian civilians and their property, p. 3, available at http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_settler_vilonce_special_focus_2008_12_18.pdf
[xxiii] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, 2008, Unprotected: Israeli settler violence against Palestinian civilians and their property, p. 3
[xxiv] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 p. 62 and 68
[xxv] ”Jews” are here referred to as all the people are subject of the Israeli law ”Law of Return”, which states that all Jews, as well as anyone who has at least one Jewish grandparent, has the right to Israeli citizenship. This also includes people married to a person who has at least on Jewish grandparent, according to Swedish Israeli-Information. See Swedish Israeli-Information, Lagen om återvändande, 2006, available at http://si-info.org/index.php?id=119
[xxvi] B’Tselem, 2002, Land Grab – Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West Bank, p. 65-67
[xxvii] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, 2008, Unprotected: Israeli settler violence against Palestinian civilians and their property, p. 3
[xxviii] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 p. 114
[xxix] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in The West Bank, 2007 p. 114