What's the problem with "settlements"?

Submitted by Julius O'Malley (Australia), Dec 6, 2014 at 22:32

There are two huge problems with the trenchant criticism of Israel for building houses in the West Bank for Jewish people.

Firstly, why can't Jews be permitted to live in the West Bank? And why is this phenomenon regarded as an impediment to a two-state solution? Over a million Arabs live in Israel. The clear subtext is that everybody understands that if there ever was a Palestinian state founded in the West Bank, Jews would not survive in it for a day. Secondly, given that everybody understands that no Jewish presence would be permitted in a future Palestinian state, the settlements that Israel will have to abandon will simply become Palestinian capital assets. That is, quality urban infrastructure to be inherited.

The eastern coast of the Sinai peninsula is now a world-renown tourist destination, towns like Nuweiba, Dahab were, prior to 1967, tiny, isolated hamlets with no proper water supply, no electricity and no roads linking them up and to the outside world. The Israeli occupation changed all that and Egypt received a windfall.

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