The Realist

I’d like to just make a little note on Israeli settlements, which will be familiar to some readers and not to others.

I’ve started to notice a tendency in the media to use the term “Israeli settlement” to refer to two things: firstly, a conurbation and the land it is based upon, and secondly structures built on this land.  Hence the FT says ”Israel approves new settlements” when in fact it means new homes that will be built in an existing settlement.

Israel has not appropriated new land on which to build a Jewish settlement in the West Bank since the early 1980s.  There has hence been no “new settlement” in the West Bank during this time.  The sole exception is Maskiot, where construction began out of whole cloth recently.  However, Maskiot was legally incorporated as a settlement in the early 1980s and the land set aside – it has simply been fallow since.  Hence, it is still true that no new land has been appropriated for an Israeli settlement.

Hence, when you hear talk of “settlement expansion” or “new settlements”, the issue is population increase and new buildings on existing land.  No new Palestinian land is being taken and the population increase is a fairly phlegmatic 5%.  And when the settlements are finally abandoned, the Palestinians will take control of the buildings anyway.