Global Exchange : Palestine
Global Exchange : Palestine
Three million Palestinians have lived since 1967 under a humiliating and oppressive Israeli military occupation that deprives them of basic human rights, civil rights, and sovereignty in their lands—the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. International law (the 4th Geneva Convention) prohibits colonization and seizure of territories seized in war, and 46 United Nations resolutions have affirmed Israel's obligation to withdraw. Yet Israel has carried out a policy of annexation and colonization in these areas that includes substantial government financial assistance to settlers. The pace of settlement construction and the number of Israeli settlers have doubled since the beginning of the Oslo peace process early in the 1990s, contradicting Israel's claimed intentions to be seeking an end to the conflict. Recently, Israel has begun construction of what it calls a "separation wall" to keep militant Palestinians out of Israel—but the illegal settlements in the West Bank are being included behind this wall, suggesting that Israel views them as permanent Israeli territory, and cementing the annexation of the Palestinian land upon which the settlers now live.
Three million Palestinians have lived since 1967 under a humiliating and oppressive Israeli military occupation that deprives them of basic human rights, civil rights, and sovereignty in their lands—the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. International law (the 4th Geneva Convention) prohibits colonization and seizure of territories seized in war, and 46 United Nations resolutions have affirmed Israel's obligation to withdraw. Yet Israel has carried out a policy of annexation and colonization in these areas that includes substantial government financial assistance to settlers. The pace of settlement construction and the number of Israeli settlers have doubled since the beginning of the Oslo peace process early in the 1990s, contradicting Israel's claimed intentions to be seeking an end to the conflict. Recently, Israel has begun construction of what it calls a "separation wall" to keep militant Palestinians out of Israel—but the illegal settlements in the West Bank are being included behind this wall, suggesting that Israel views them as permanent Israeli territory, and cementing the annexation of the Palestinian land upon which the settlers now live.