Illegal settlements

[immigrant002]

I just watched a piece on itv and sky news how Palestinians are abandoning their houses in the west bank as they face severe intimidation by settlers and army forces

The reporter says the settlements are illegal they are universally accepted as illegal so my question is why is nobody doing anything ??
What is the purpose of international law and the UN ? Is it just Israel that gets away with is ?

I just don't see what the point of saying something is illegal but continuing to build more and more settlements for people from
US kicking Palestinians out of their homes ? Why are they getting away with this ?

Yes @bearofepic . It’s really shocking behaviour.
Supposedly a shining beacon of democracy, this Israel.

I’ve actually not read one post that defends the settlements in the west back (admittedly I may have missed one) but I have read loads that dismiss them as the mad settlers or the few settlers.

There are 600,000 settlers living in the West Bank. They aren’t a few mad people taking over land.

but yes, Israel seems to break international law without consequence and although western governments consider the settlements illegal, they continue to support Israel.

Every time you read these kinds of responses they always suggest you need to sort out all the issues in developing countries first and put Israel last on the list for intervention for its illegal actions… but then the west should also hold Israel up like some ideal for the whole global south to emulate as it is a democracy (which they support unequivocally militarily and politically). Surely if Israel wants to aspire for the bottom of the barrel in terms of its actions and values it shouldn’t enjoy the benefits of being an ally of the west.

The give people "incentives" to move to Israel to get more and more land . I remember the interview with that settler from
Brooklyn it was so infuriating .
Just came on a plane lived his whole
Life in US and had the right to evict an entire family that lived there for 4 generations . Its appalling

It's disgusting behaviour. It really breaks my heart. I didn't realise that random settlers had assault weapons nowadays but apparently they do 😔

The videos of Big Men harassing women in their kitchens while little children are crying beside them, and clearing out entire communities are just horrendous. Not to mention kidnapping the men, beating them torturing them and in several cases trying to rape them so that they can steal their lands and their homes.

Israel doesn't recognise international law or abide by it (everyone is biased against poor eternal victim Israel apparently).

They are a rogue state. The US, UK and EU backing them is absolutely outrageous and sickening.

Israel is 100% breaking international law by allowing the settlerments to keep expanding. But no country can force them to change the policy. The US has made clear it shouldn't be happening but Netanyahu doesn't care and has just carried on regardless.

Oh I’m not disagreeing with you at all. My whole point was that the numbers are substantial and cannot be excused by “a few mad settlers” .

Can anyone clarify the illegality of these settlements?

I have read conflicting reports that disputed land was purchased by Jews before WW2 but no one actually was living there as they were abroad so the Palestinians are in effect squatters who may have lived there for generations but do not own the land?

Legal cases have apparently gone on for decades?

No, that’s absolute rubbish. This was never “empty land”, it wasn’t being squatted on by the Palestinians, it has been owned and occupied by its native Palestinian inhabitants for many centuries, with proper legal title to land and legal documents to back it up.

I have read in the past of a number of legal cases where Israeli pro-settler courts debate the admissibility of legal land title documents presented to them by Palestinians, but I don’t think anyone really thinks that’s a genuine legal dispute. Just more bully boy tactics while the thugs go in and make life unliveable for Palestinian farmers.

Incorrect.

Until 1948 every scrap of land settled by Jewish people was unoccupied land legitimately bought from its landlords. Between 1948 and 1967 land settled by Israelis was either bought or unoccupied. It is only since 1967 that Israelis have settled land by occupation of land where their right to occupy that land is not recognised in international law.

I am not denying that the Israeli West Bank settlements lack legitimacy. Just do not pretend that the existence of Israel lacks legitimacy.

I saw that report too OP - on YouTube. I abhore anti-Semitism, and have been very even-handed since October 7th. Hamas are evil. But the way innocent Palestinians are treated by illegal settlers is absolutely appalling. I know many Jews, including more liberal Israelis from Tel Aviv and elsewhere agree. It's not about Jews vs Arabs. It's about human beings.

SpringViolet · Yesterday 23:08

I have read conflicting reports that disputed land was purchased by Jews before WW2

Approximately 6% of the original land was purchased legitimately by Jewish immigrants. This is now conflated by propagandists as "Jewish people bought and paid for the lot "

but no one actually was living there as they were abroad

Some of the land was owned by absentee landlords and this has also been propagandised into, "A land with no people for a people with no land." It's entirely untrue.

so the Palestinians are in effect squatters who may have lived there for generations but do not own the land?

Some owned the land, or had title to rent, from the time of the Ottomans and then the British Mandate. After 1947, when Israel first seized a swathe of territory, they refused to recognise legal titles, allowing non Jewish people possession rights, whilst granting them to Jewish people.

If Jewish settlers wanted a piece of land, they were given ostensibly legal title to the land and we're able to evict the original occupiers.

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable”

I’m not condoning the Hamas attacks but Israel really need to reflect on the reasons behind it. But of course they don’t, just go on a murdering rampage in retaliation. When actually they’re the original aggressor.

I haven't seen a single poster who supports the illegal settlements in the West Bank tbh. They're obviously completely wrong and the sooner a two-state solution happens, the sooner it can be dealt with properly. The refusal to come to a peace agreement creates the ideal conditions for this type of abuse. It shouldn't be tolerated though, and I suppose it's a positive that there is at least some international attention on this issue.

@ProvincialLady1 I think the sad thing is people may not support the illegal settlements but they refuse to take them into account or even mention them in terms of some of the causes of the conflict (beyond the recent Hamas attacks).

And no I absolutely do not support Hamas (before anyone accuses me of this) and do not think their recent acts were in any way justified, but to pretend that there's no prior bad behaviour from Israeli govt as part of the getting to the present overall situation is patently ridiculous. And this is just one part of the overall picture - human rights etc aside.

Exactly it reminds me the interview with Mohamed el kurd he and his sister went viral a couple of years ago
As soon as the bbc interviewed him the first question was do you condemn the violent riots that started because of your family . He just answered "do you condemn the violent disposition of me and my family " she just stared him in silence .
Its time we stop just accepting the facts presented to us and dig a little deeper .

And to the people that say "settlers are a few extremist " the Netanyahu government literary distributed weapons to them creating what he called civilian militants
They are right wing extremist and in my view as bad as hamas !

This is an interview with a Palestine peace activist in the West Bank. He has recently been detained and tortured and is not allowed to return to his home.

Right, and I agree that's really unhelpful. I think it's also unhelpful to ignore the reality of constant terror attacks and the threat of attacks as a factor in Israel's heavy-handed approach. So the whole situation will probably continue as it is until there is a proper peace agreement.

@ProvincialLady1

in case you missed it, ‘And no I absolutely do not support Hamas (before anyone accuses me of this) and do not think their recent acts were in any way justified,’ was what i said above.

"God gave us permission to build here".

A good watch to highlight how international law means nothing to Israel, neither does the life of a Palestinian.

The Allies created the Jewish state at the end of WWII as part of reparations for the horrific massacre of millions of Jews. They did not consider the future wars it would cause, displaced Palestinians who were not at fault for the Jewish situation. There was never going to be a way back from Hitler’s war.

Yes Vincent Fean, former British Consul General to Jerusalem said that the Balfour Declaration has been paying the price regretably ever since.

No one dare challenge Israel for fear of being called anti semitic.