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Settlements Are Not a Serious Obstacle to Peace

[The Australian] Greg Sheridan - Obama says Jewish settlements in the West Bank must stop. Therhttp://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/19/a-prospect-for-peace/e is no exception for "natural growth" or anything else. Does "no natural growth" mean that if one mother in a settlement has a baby, then another person in the same settlement has to move out? Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Obama's speech with his own declaration: "We have no intention of building new settlements or expropriating additional land for existing settlements." That strikes me as reasonable. The settlements grew after the 1967 war, a war Israel fought with Arab armies bent on its destruction. As a result of the war, Israel reunified Jerusalem and formally annexed some of the city's neighborhoods. It also set up settlements in strategic locations in the West Bank. In every serious Israeli-Palestinian negotiation, the Palestinians have accepted that the main settlement blocs right next to the 1967 border will be retained by Israel in any final settlement. This means that places such as Maale Adumim and Gush Etzion will always be part of Israel. From Israel's point of view it is inconceivable that they could be prevented from normal development within their existing boundaries. In reality, this is a tiny issue and not remotely a serious obstacle to peace. The Palestinians have several times been offered a state in land equivalent to all of the West Bank and Gaza and a capital in eastern Jerusalem and refused it. A few hundred Israeli housing units are not the key to the future of the Muslim world.
2009-06-23 06:00:00
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