As we had to meet the tour leaders at 8.30 on Friday morning we went to Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon. This took us about two and half hours but once we had sorted out the various hotels and hostels we were all staying at we went for a very nice meal. The major downside to Jerusalem is that we are used to the prices in Nablus so everything sounds obscenely expensive. It is about three times as much but for a place with such a focus on tourism it's really not that bad. Usually I can take or leave alcohol but I can honestly say the beer I had in the restaurant was without doubt the best I have ever tasted.
We stayed at a youth hostel around the corner from Damascus Gate and just had to pay for our beds for the night. This was fine but ten people in one small room and the heat meant we got little sleep. As did the fact that the noise outside became deafening from by about 6am. Despite this we still thought we were going to be late (and were) but so was the bus.
Originally the tours were conducted in the cty of Hebron by soldiers that have served there. Due to the increase in violence in the area and in particular that aimed at the tours they are now conducted in the South Hebron hills. From the last time I was in the West Bank I had been left with the impression that settlements were filled with people that couldn't afford housing in Israel proper and so were at the mercy of their governments evil machinations. I now know that this clearly isn't the case. In reality the settlers are often the most radical Zionists who often think they are above the government. They believe that all of the area of 'Israel' (including the West Bank and Gaza)should be theirs.
I read the other day that there are roughly half a million people living as settlers within the West Bank. I knew that this would make a two state solution to the problem difficult but I didn't comprehend to what extent. The setttlements themselves coupled with a variety of other underhand tricks allow Israel to continually annex more and more land. Thought the settlements are illegal under international law it hasn't stopped them continuing to be built. The settlements are what the Israeli government approve but there are also outposts which are settlements that have been constructed illegally under Israeli law. Of course the government does nothing to remove these either.
During the second intifada (uprising of Palestinians starting in September 2000) the Israeli's created 'security buffer zones' around the settlements. This allowed them to steal even more land as they declared that any Palestinians entering the zones would be immediately arrested. So land that previously belonged to a Palestinian farmer becomes part of the settlement. That there might be wells in the zone or a road that needs to be used is an irrelevance.
Each settlement also has a security officer who is financed from the defence ministry. Though as an occupying force the IDF are obliged to ensure the safety of the Palestinians... In reality the settlers are able to attack the Palestinian land owners with impunity. They poison wells, they attack old people, they destroy homes and when the IDF come to investigate they say they can proceed no further as they don't know who committed the crime. Despite the fact that they have patrols who regulary monitor the security buffer zones...
Other useful tricks include making people have permits for their homes (based on centuries old laws)and destroying them if they don't have them, stopping people gaining access to their own land cultivating it themselves and thereby 'legally' allowing it to change hands. Perhaps one of the worst was when they constructed a 41km long half a metre high concrete fence. At first I didn't understand this but I'm not a farmer or land owner. Even a low wall like this prevents tractors from working the land, stops sheep being moved from one grazing area to another, etc.
The annoying thing is I could go on and on. Until today I didn't realize the significance of land grab and what it meant, especially how it clouds the peace process so much (I'm aware that that is a somewhat ridiculous term). Israel continues to give permission for more settlements to be built. As far as I am concerned that means they do not want peace, they never will, they never have and they are systematically eradicating the Palestinians.
Yesterday settlers attacked a group of British diplomats in an armoured car. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7547373.stm
We didn't witness any violence but I really do feel for the farmers we met. They live in an Area C area (Area C- Israeli controlled security/civil admin, B- joint, A Palestinian Authority) so they are under the auspices of the IDF who don't care and because of this the PA don't care either. These people don't have any political clout so why should anyone care about them or their children?
At the end of the tour the guide said that he thinks that nothing will be done and that eventually they will lose their land and need to work in the nearest town (exactly what Israel has been trying to achieve). This was very disheartening as was his comment that it's likely that 30, 40 years or more will be needed before anything changes.
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