Israeli Settlements Explained

In the Occupied West Bank, half a million Israelis live in over a hundred settlements built on Palestinian land. The government of Israel says it has a right to build these settlements; the rest of the world disagrees. Find out why Israelis choose to live on occupied land, how they affect Palestinians, and why, despite international condemnation, the settlements continue to grow.

[OMyStuff]

It's such a shame to me that a People who suffered so much under the Nazis ends up doing all this to another People. There's no excuse to act like that, the bottom line is that Israel wants the territory all to itself and you know it. This is not unprecedented in human history, but coming from the Jews, it's surprising and most of all sadening.

[JanMelet]

It is such a sneeky strategy and so distructive for an peace agrement (I am so tired)

[BloodOfYeshuaMessiah]

*GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT* - In 1967 Israel occupied the West Bank which previous to 67 was controlled by Jordan.

There NEVER was a Palestine state before 67.  The West Bank - even then was disputed land between Israel and Jordan...NOT Israel and Palestine !

Now if Jordan claimed the land as theirs, then that would be an argument that could be debated - but to claim it as part of Palestine is historically and factually untrue !

[yoav]

This is not the most un-neuteral video out there. It chose to ignore the terrorist acts done by Palestininas from those areas (Yes people, stabbing people in the chest or the back is terrorism)

[yoelbitt]

bullshit, the area was never a palestinian!
the area was controlled by Jordan since 1948-1967 and Gaza was controlled by Egypt.
there was never a nation or state by the name Palestine. the orginal meaning of Palestine is an geograthical name for an area in the Lavant and it has never a specific bounderies.!

[snakeySnakeybakey]

actually. the settlements are perfectly legal under international law. the west bank is not occupied, and saying so would be politically incorrect.

[ilghazi]

freedom to the palestinian nation! resistance to colonial apartheid is not terrorism!

[bjrnsrensen]

You seem to conveniently leave out the fact that, under international law, Israel's eastern border is the Jordan River. The West Bank is west of the Jordan River, therefore, under Israeli jurisdiction based on the Appendix B of the Mandate for Palestine signed September 23, 1922 by the League of Nations in BINDING agreement. Transfer under the Geneva Convention implies the crossing of international lands, and under international law, Israel is not doing such thing, making your entire point moot.

[Shabab]

"The line separating West Bank and Israel, the so-called Green Line, is the line that between 1948 and 1967 signified the “cease fire, ” defined by the 1948 Armistice of Rhodes signed by Israel with Jordan and Egypt (for the control of Gaza). This armistice line cannot be considered a border, because it represents the position of enemy troops at the moment of the cease-fire. According to the IV Geneva Convention of 1949, “occupied” is a territory belonging or claimed by another sovereign state and occupied by a military action: since the West Bank does not belong and is not claimed by any sovereign State, a proper definition should be “contended territories, ” since the parties contend their sovereignty. The Palestinian administration has different zones of autonomy, internationally recognized by treaties signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The same transfer of power to the Palestinian Authority makes it difficult to talk about “occupied territories, ” in terms of art. 6 of the IV Geneva Convention and previous 1907 Hague Convention, which establish that a territory is to be considered occupied when it remains under the effective control of the occupying power. It is not the case of the West Bank, where 98% of the Palestinians live under the PNA controlled areas..."

 Daniela Santus 
Prof. of Cultural Geography, University of Torino

[MrsMonaco]

I support Israel to exist as a state but I don't think anybody can defend this horrible settlement issue. They must stop this!!!

[evaweinstein]

I am sorry but I have never heard of Palestine, could someone f**cking explain to me what it is and where it was? I can't find it please

[AlexLipkovich]

Palestine (incidentally historical name Judea) captured Turks and Arabs from Arab countries moved there. In 1940 and later, the Jews returned to Palestine from Europe and the Arab countries, and therefore the Arabs should go back to the Arab countries ..

[zainab]

Israel occupied west bank from whom?
4th Geneva concern itself to sovereign land.
Jordan has officially disclaimed the West Bank.
you can only name the territory as a Disputed Land.
who has the strongest claim to the land is the question for international law to consider.
This video is useless.

[tranceman]

I don't think that you understand international law. The West Bank was illegally occupied by Jordan when it invaded, not Israel. There is no international border but an armistice line.
The land was originally part of the Palestine Mandate when Trans Jordan was separated. Under International law the land is disputed. The UN resolution was only passed because the largest lobby group in the UN is the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation... countries which have appalling human rights violations.

[Titanstower]

Maybe I'm wrong about this, but aren't the settlements illegal even under Israeli law?

[avnerleon]

how was the life of the Palestinian under the Jordanian occupation?

[NyJazzGuit]

The San Remo resoution of 1920 and the British Mandate document gave Jews exclusive political rights in ALL of Palestine, and Arabs the other 99.99% of the Ottoman lands. Before that, not a single Arab state EVER existed (caliphate was not an Arab state - it was a militant islamic empire). Therefore the Jews have the same rights to their country as Arabs to theirs, and that includes Syria, Jordan, Iraq and all 22 Arab League countries who were conceived at the same time as Israel. The San Remo Resolution was ratified unanimously by the League of Nations and the US, and that was the LAST legally binding international law that applied to the land of Israel. The 1947 partition was rejected by Arabs, so it was not binding. The 1949 lines were cease-fire lines with no political meaning (currently referred to as 1967 lines). Jordan illegally seized land from Israel, and the annexation was never recognized. Israel took it back in 1967 - so under international law, Israel is not occupying any lands. At best, the land is under dispute. I am all for a two-state solution if the Palestinians want to build up Gaza and the West Bank and live in peace, but all they want is to rewrite history and gain the pity of the world. Hate and pity is not an economic plan for the future. Wake up and build your land instead of destroying it to gain pity, if you really believe in the two-state solution. Settlements have actually brought prosperity to the West Bank Palestinians. Under Jordanian rule they were the most backward civilization (highest illiteracy rate, no electricity, no roads) in the Arab world, and now they are the most advanced (and most SAFE!). No Palestinian in the West Bank would trade places with any of his Arab neighbors.

[renayitz]

There is no such thing, Palestinian land.  There are towns ruled by the Palestinian Authority that are inhabited by Arabs, where no Jews are allowed, and large red signs warn at their entrance that Israeli citizens are forbidden to enter, or risk death.

[MrDivyeshgopal]

I'm not going to say anything about the occupation, etc. Just be careful about this video. AJ+ creates these mini videos that leaves out some important issues concerning agreements under treaties, etc. The Israeli and Palestinian conflict is far more substantive than what this dumb video portrays.

[gort]

What about the one where the jews move onto someone else's house?