Nadene Goldfoot
We're talking about a small area. Look at the size of Israel compared to California. 8,550sq miles of land. California is 163,696 sq. miles of land. The White House issued a statement yesterday saying that it was "deeply dismayed" at an Israeli Cabinet decision to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria). Israel has made the decision to expand settlements in Judea and Samaria. (What Washington calls "settlements" I call villages, town and cities. New York was once a settlement but it's a city today.) The West is not Woke to linguistics and their political use.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) said they are concerned about the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorizing new West Bank settlements over the weekend. File Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI | License Photo The United States opposes Israel's retroactive authorization of Jewish settler outposts in the occupied West Bank, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday, adding that he was "deeply troubled" by the move that came less than two weeks after he raised U.S. opposition to such moves on a trip to the region.
"We strongly oppose such unilateral measures, which exacerbate tensions and undermine the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution," Blinken said in a statement, reiterating his call for all parties to avoid actions that can further escalate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
Blinken said that Biden was not happy about this. U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Blinken had made his opposition to the legalization of settler outposts clear during the visit to Israel and the West Bank that concluded on Jan. 31, 2023.
Asked what the United States would do about the Israeli move to go ahead with authorizations, Price did not outline any actions.
Israel's move on Sunday to legalize nine settler outposts in and build new homes within established settlements came after months of simmering violence in the West Bank.
I can see Israel's reasoning, maybe because I hold dual citizenship, but Israel cannot let Palestinians rule the roost in this decision. They cannot destroy Israel by terrorizing. Israel must go ahead. They've postponed development too long. It's this government that Washington is exploding about because the religious are mighty adamant about living in their ancient land of Judea, and Samaria is just the outskirts of that. To the orthodox who believe in G-d, they were told to live there by G-d as it is written in the Good Book, the Torah (5 books of Moses), and that is that.
Netanyahu's government is for ALL Israelis, and he cannot refuse the Orthodox again as Labor has done. It's just like Biden's party, Democrats, will have to recognize Republican wishes as well in order to be the president of ALL the people.
Names of some towns are: Bik'at HaYarden, Gush Etzion, Har Hebron, Mateh Binyamin, Megilot Dead Sea, Shomron. The population of Gush Etzion in 2004 was, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, approximately 44,000 residents, which includes the 3,300 residents living in the other six settlements of the Gush Etzion regional council outside of the main bloc.
Look at Gush Etzion: The Etzion Bloc (“Gush Etzion” in Hebrew), which today consists of 18 communities and nearly 40,000 residents, is located between Jerusalem and Hebron. Because of its strategic location, the Bloc was heavily contested during Israel’s War of Independence in 1947 and 1948. Although the area was not granted to Israel under the 1947 partition plan, the commanders of the Haganah considered it an essential buffer against a southern attack on Jerusalem.
In early 1927, a small group of immigrants from Yemen, along with a few ultra-Orthodox residents of what was then Palestine, established a community south of Jerusalem named “Migdal Eder,” named after a site mentioned in the Torah in Genesis 35:21. The community failed to flourish due to constant economic problems and tensions with the nearby Arab villages. During the Arab riots of 1929, Migdal Eder was destroyed. The residents were spared by the villagers of the neighboring Palestinian community Beit Umar.
Washington is working with partners at the UN in New York on "next steps," Deputy State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel says. Israel is allowing construction of 1,000 homes for Palestinians.
The actual problem is that of pending a final status agreement. The divisions are valid, with Area A administered by the Palestinian Authority, Area C by Israel, and Area B under joint control.
The hold-up of a final status agreement is because the Palestinians have said their say and refuse to make a deal. The fact of the matter is that they intend to take all the land and still, since 1947, intend to drive the Jews out of the land. So they won't come to anymore meetings. Israel allowing 2,500 homes to be built. TEL AVIV, Israel — Emboldened by Donald Trump's presidency, Israel approved 2,500 settler homes in the West Bank on Tuesday, a sign the new U.S. chief executive will tolerate construction that the Obama administration and United Nations only recently condemned. Evidently they do not have a map in front of them showing the A,B, and C areas. The C areas which are 60% part of Israel according to the Oslo Accords and that's where the building will be taking place.
Israel has found that Palestinians have been sneaking into the C area and building for themselves. This shows that they are not following the rules, not Israel that is breaking them. Israel has the right to build in their ancient land of Judea and Samaria.
Al Jazeera complains: It is estimated that more than 300,000 Jewish-Israeli settlers also live in Area C, in clear violation of international law. Illegal Israeli settlements are still expanding at a rapid pace on almost every hilltop throughout the occupied West Bank. In Area C, the problem is particularly pronounced. Doha, Qatar - January 7, 2012: Al Jazeera Support Services building in Doha, Qatar, Middle East. Al Jazeera is an international 24-hour english-language news TV channel located in Doha, Qatar
It's the allocated Jewish area C, and what they're bummed out about it that they want all the land to be turned over to the Arabs, but there has never ever been a word spoken about peace and they just won't meet with the Israelis. So Israel has gone ahead and is using their own land. It was to be theirs in the first place anyway as it's the eastern part of their promised Jewish Homeland.
After waiting since 1967, after being attacked by ALL the neighboring Muslim states and winning the battle, Israel has waited long enough to be able to use the land they had won back through winning the battle. It's been 56 years, and the Palestinian Arabs still refuse to make peace and talk to our leaders. Enough! Palestinians never lose an opportunity to lose an opportunity, said Abba Eban in 1973l
Area C (Hebrew: שטח C; Arabic: منطقة ج) is an Oslo II administrative division of the West Bank, defined as "areas of the West Bank outside Areas A and B". Area C constitutes about 61 percent of the West Bank territory; the area was committed in 1995 under the Oslo II Accord to be "gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction" (with an option for land swaps under a final agreement), but such transfer did not happen.
Area C (excluding East Jerusalem), which along with Area B is under Israeli military control since June 1967, is home to roughly a 400,000 Israeli population, and approximately 300,000 Palestinians; who live in more than 500 residential areas located partially or fully in Area C. The Jewish population in Area C is administered by the Israeli Judea and Samaria Area administration, whereas the Palestinian population is directly administered by the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (and indirectly by the Palestinian National Authority in Ramallah). The Palestinian Authority is responsible for medical and educational services to Palestinians in Area C; however, infrastructure construction and supervision is done by Israel.
The Oslo II Accord divided the West Bank into three administrative divisions: the Areas A, B and C. The distinct areas were given a different status, according to the amount of self-government the local Palestinians would have over it through the Palestinian Authority (PA), until a final status accord would be established.
The Areas A and B were chosen in such a way as to just contain Palestinians, by drawing lines around Palestinian population centers at the time the Agreement was signed;
Area C was defined as "areas of the West Bank outside Areas A and B, which, except for the issues that will be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations, will be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction in accordance with this Agreement."
Area A comprises approximately 18% of the West Bank and Area B about 22%, together home to some 2.8 million Palestinians.
Area C was initially around 72–74% (first phase, 1995) of the West Bank. Under the 1998 Wye River Memorandum, Israel would further withdraw from some additional 13% from Area C to Area B, which officially reduced Area C to circa 61% of the West Bank. Israel, however, withdrew from only 2%, and during Operation Defensive Shield, it reoccupied all territory.
As of 2013, Area C formally comprised about 63% of the West Bank, including villages and towns, outposts and declared "state land". Including or excluding East Jerusalem, no-man's land and the Palestinian part of the Dead Sea also determines the percentage.
On meeting to discuss a deal, ""Any solution to the conflict in Palestine must be political ... and based on ending the occupation," Shtayyeh said at a Palestinian Cabinet meeting. "The current financial crisis is a result of a financial war waged against us and we will not succumb to blackmailing and extortion and will not trade our national rights for money."
President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy, Jason Greenblatt, said it was "difficult to understand why the Palestinian Authority would reject a workshop designed to discuss a vision with the potential to radically transform lives and put people on a path toward a brighter future."
"History will judge the Palestinian Authority harshly for passing up any opportunity that could give the Palestinians something so very different, and something so very positive, compared to what they have today," Greenblatt said.
My comment is that they have done this before. They've been offered the moon by Israel and they have refused it. Ever since the start of the second Palestinian intifada, a row has raged over who was responsible for the breakdown of the peace process. Now, for the first time, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak has weighed in, accusing Yasser Arafat of being a liar who talked peace while secretly plotting the destruction of Israel. Interview by Benny Morris
Resource:
israelAM,
https://www.anera.org/what-are-area-a-area-b-and-area-c-in-the-west-bank/
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-etzion-bloc-gush-etzion
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-deeply-troubled-by-israeli-settlement-move-after-blinken-visit-2023-02-13/
https://www.israelhayom.com/2023/02/17/us-dismayed-by-israels-decision-to-push-forward-with-settlement-building/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_C_(West_Bank)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/23/israel3
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2023/02/14/United-States-concerned-Israel-settlments/2561676343657/
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