Skip to main content

en English

PS. Explain This: Israeli Settlement-Building

Videos Jan 9, 2018 PS editors

Since Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the Israel-Palestine conflict has entered a new and dangerous phase. PS Associate Editor Whitney Arana explains Israeli settlement-building in the West Bank.

Israel_website

PS_Digital_1333x1000_Intro-Offer1

Subscribe to PS Digital

Access every new PS commentary, our entire On Point suite of subscriber-exclusive content – including Longer Reads, Insider Interviews, Big Picture/Big Question, and Say More – and the full PS archive.

Featured

How to Govern the Bretton Woods Institutions Better

How to Govern the Bretton Woods Institutions Better

Apr 11, 2024 Brahima Coulibaly, et al.
How to Think About AI Policy

How to Think About AI Policy

Mar 11, 2024 Margrethe Vestager
The Threat Posed by Cambodia’s New Strongman

The Threat Posed by Cambodia’s New Strongman

Apr 10, 2024 Mu Sochua
Beating Back Populists at the Grassroots

Beating Back Populists at the Grassroots

Apr 11, 2024 Sławomir Sierakowski
Ending Congo’s Forever War

Ending Congo’s Forever War

Apr 10, 2024 Adekeye Adebajo

new comment has been posted. new comments have been posted.

0 Comments on this paragraph, 2 Comments on this article

ShimonChaim BenMichael Feb 20, 2018

This video fails to deliver on the headlined promise to explain Israeli settlement building. It is an unremarkable polemic which blames Israel - and Israel alone (why ignore Palestinian/Arab agency?) - for the situation. Worryingly, it asserts that Trump 'kowtows' to the Israeli government - an absurdity which nestles neatly among the conspiratorial groupthink shared by the far Left and the far Right. Oddly, it claims that the international community has seen the West Bank as 'Palestinian controlled territories' since UNSC resolution 242 - odd because the territories had NEVER been controlled by anyone claiming to 'Palestinian' until the PLO were allowed in by Israel. Since then, while both sides have benefited from generally good security cooperation, Palestinian autonomy has served only to undermine the hopes that most Israelis had with the Oslo agreement that peace was imminent. The video fails to explain why the presence of Israelis in the West Bank would preclude the creation of a Palestinian state there - unless it respects the view of the Palestinian Authority that any such state would have to be judenrein. There's a lot of interesting material on this website. This video, however, is pretty pedestrian.
A new reply to this comment has been posted.
ShimonChaim BenMichael Feb 20, 2018

#242 doesn't say that the West Bank/Gaza are 'Palestinian controlled territories occupied by Israel'. It couldn't have - because these territories were NEVER controlled by any authority claiming to be Palestinian. In modern times, the territories were ruled by the Ottoman Empire, then fell under the British Mandate, were then illegally annexed by Jordan and Egypt respectively, until captured by Israel in a defensive war against its Arab neighbours. Since Oslo, some of these territories have come under Palestinian control. The results have undermined hopes among most Israelis that this would be a stepping stone towards self-government and, in President Reagan's words, "the best chance for a durable, just and lasting peace".
How does the presence of Israeli citizens in these territories rule out the creation of a Palestinian state there? (Unless, of course, it's because the Palestinian Authority has repeatedly stated that any future state would have to be judenrein...)
Most troubling is the assertion that Trump is "kowtowing to Israel's right-wing government". This is a blatant absurdity. But what makes it troubling is how it nestles comfortably in the myth of Jewish/Israeli power and influence shared by both the far Right and the far Left.
Calls for annexation are limited to a small minority. Presenting that as a likely option which "presumably" would leave Palestinians subject to military rather than civil law is a distraction. (By the way, you don't pronounce the 'h' in apartheid.)
In short, this video fails to deliver on its headlined promise to explain Israeli settlement building, instead going down a well-trodden polemical path blaming Israel - and Israel alone (is it racism that prevents even a nod towards Palestinian/Arab agency?) - for everything that's wrong, or may go wrong if the scenarios in your imagination are realised. 3/10 Could do (a lot) better.
A new reply to this comment has been posted.

https://prosyn.org/d1kJsKH

New Comment

Pin comment to this paragraph

After posting your comment, you’ll have a ten-minute window to make any edits. Please note that we moderate comments to ensure the conversation remains topically relevant. We appreciate well-informed comments and welcome your criticism and insight. Please be civil and avoid name-calling and ad hominem remarks.

Email this piece to a friend

Your name

Your email

Friend's name

Friend's email

Message

Cancel Send

Please select an option

Cancel

Send

We hope you're enjoying our PS content

To have unlimited access to our content including in-depth commentaries, book reviews, exclusive interviews, PS OnPoint and PS The Big Picture, please subscribe

Log in/Register

Email required

Password required Remember me?

or

Sign in with

Your Institution