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Settlers as shock troops of Zionism

Among the many reasons for the start of the second Palestinian intifada in September 2000, the massive expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza must count as the most important.

The 1993 Oslo Accords signed by the PLO and Israel were meant to reconcile Palestinian aspirations for self-determination and statehood and the existence of Israel. In fact, an aggressive policy of settlement expansion and consolidation took place over the following seven years. More Arab land was taken over and more Palestinian homes were bulldozed, more exclusively Jewish roads were built through Palestinian areas and more natural resources, such as water, were seized for the exclusive use of settlers.

In addition the existence of more and more settlers led to more and more restrictions being placed on the movement of Palestinians in adjacent areas. Incidents of provocative and violent actions by Jewish settlers towards their Arab “neighbours” increased throughout this period.

At the same time the areas placed under the full or partial control of the new Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank and Gaza strip were small, isolated and cut off from Jerusalem, a political and cultural centre for Palestinians.

When Yasser Arafat and Yitzak Rabin shook hands on the White House lawn in September 1993 there were about 115,000 Jewish settlers in West Bank and Gaza. By the time of the second intifada seven years later there were more than 200,000 of them. Reports suggest another 1,500 families (17,000 people) have been added to this total during 2001, more than the 400 settler families that have moved back to Israel under the impact of the intifada.

The 145 settlements and their adjoining territory now cover large parts of the West Bank. Currently 59 per cent of the West Bank is officially under Israeli civil and security control. Another 23 per cent of it is under Palestinian civil control, but Israeli security control. The remainder of the territory is governed by the Palestinian National Authority

Gaza, one of the most densely populated tracts of land in the world, is home to 1,178,000 Palestinians, 33 per cent of whom live in United Nations-funded refugee camps.

Gaza is also home to 6,900 Jewish settlers. Yet the Israeli-controlled areas and settlements take up about 40 per cent of Gaza’s land. Israel controls all external borders, crossing points and major roads in Gaza.

This has all happened despite the “peace process", despite the fact that UN resolutions call for the withdrawal of Israel from areas occupied in 1967 and that settlements are against international law and formally opposed by virtually all other governments, including the US administration and the European Union.

Most recently, a US-backed fact finding committee led by former US Senator George Mitchell set up to consider the causes of the intifada recommended in May 2001 that the Israeli government freeze all settlement activity, including the natural growth of existing settlements because of their provocative character and oppressive results.

The massive and accelerated expansion of the settlements is no accident but rather was deliberately left out of reach of the Oslo process by Israel. When he presented the Oslo 2 accords before the Knesset on October 5, 1995, the then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin stated, “I wish to remind you, we made a commitment, meaning we reached an agreement, we made a commitment to the Knesset not to uproot any settlement in the framework of the Interim Agreement, nor to freeze construction and natural growth.”

Although the PNA insists that under the agreement Israel was not to facilitate the building of any more Jewish settlements in the occupied territories in fact their fate was left to “final status” negotiations to be conducted at a later stage. The fact that Arafat agreed to this is just one of the many fatal flaws in the Oslo agreement.

The two major Zionist parties are agreed in practice on settlement expansion because Jewish immigration is at the heart of the Zionist state. Ever since it was established by force of arms in 1947-48 Israel has only been able to sustain its colonial project by drawing in a constant supply of Jews from around the world; hence the right of all Jews to become citizens of Israel (while all Palestinians expelled from their land to make room for them have no such right).

But Israel itself offers only limited opportunities to satisfy the aspirations of the immigrants. In order to prevent the break-up of the Zionist bloc into fractious classes and warring ethnic groups, the state promotes settlements as a way of forestalling civil discontent. Jewish settlers are given privileges at the expense of the Palestinians.

Under the Labour government of Peres and Rabin up to 1996 there was a 43 per cent increase. When Likud were in office between 1996 and 1998 the process continued. Prime Minister Netanyahu lifted curbs on expansion of Jewish settlements, saying that it was meeting their needs for natural growth. This gave rise to a burst of illegal settlements over the next two years as settlers established over 42 unofficial settlements, less than ten of which were subsequently dismantled.

Netanyahu made over $200 million available to make it more financially attractive for Israelis to move to the settlements. Settlers pay less income tax, and business people receive grants equal to at least 20 percent of their investments.

Netanyahu also accelerated the legalised theft of Arab homes and land in East Jerusalem and the expansion of settlements there as a way of creating facts on the ground and thereby undermining the “final status” discussions on the future of Jerusalem.

Although both Labour and Likud have promoted settlement expansion Likud is more openly in favour of them, since its electoral base lies, in part, among the many thousands of recent immigrants from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union who are induced to move into the Occupied Territories due to the lack of available work inside Israel itself.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a staunch supporter of the settlers for decades, has said Jewish settlements will expand to accommodate “natural population growth".

More than 6,000 houses have government approval or are already under construction in the West Bank and Gaza, according the Central Bureau of Statistics. However, US and Israeli human rights investigators have found that there are more than 3,000 empty housing units already in the settlements, more than enough for “natural growth” for years ahead.

Since Sharon came to office, 15 informal outposts have sprung up near established settlements. Many of these are made up of religious zealots (many from the USA) who see themselves as front line Zionist warriors “claiming back” biblical land that they believe was “stolen” from Jews thousands of years ago and who will not be happy until all Palestinians on “their” land are pushed out.

It is no surprise then that settlers and settlements have come to be seen as legitimate targets for many Palestinians during the intifada. While officially Fatah, and the PLO more generally, does not target settlers, but rather Israeli Defence Forces, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have seen them as the front line Zionist occupation forces; indeed, many of the settlers are armed to the teeth and have killed a dozen Palestinians on surrounding Arab farms during the intifada.

Hamas has ambushed settlers on the roads to and from work and school. Twenty of the 85 Israelis killed in the uprising were settlers. In recent months the Islamic guerrillas have been able to launch raids on settlements themselves, even penetrating their security fences and killing some settlers. More recently Fatah has co-operated in attacks on the settlers.

Marwan Barghouti leader of Fatah’s Tanzim in the West Bank has said, “We have succeeded in making the lives of the settlers very difficult. Their settlements have become military bunkers rather than homes. Our message is simple: the Israeli people will not feel secure for as long as they continue to occupy our territory."

Revolutionary socialists believe there is an urgent need for armed defence of the Palestinians against the Jewish settlers. Suicide bomb attacks on civilians inside Israel are reactionary and counter-productive, not least because they set back the necessary attempt to promote a militant, democratic and socialist opposition to Zionism within the Jewish working class itself.

There can be no justification for attacks on innocent civilians in this way. However, the settlers can and do make themselves legitimate targets because of the role they play in the Occupied Territories.

But an offensive campaign of action by small guerrilla units as the key way to defeat Zionist occupation forces is self-defeating. The military might of Israel and the general lack of self-defence organisations within the Palestinian towns and villages means that such actions inevitably prompt massive attacks on the Palestinian population.

Already a small majority inside Israel favour a freeze on settlement expansion as a price for peace; a smaller number want to see them reduced or removed entirely. International campaigns exist to try to boycott the goods produced in Jewish settlements and sold abroad as “Israeli goods". Many human rights activists regularly protest against land evictions and settlement construction.

A mass united movement involving Palestinian unions, community and human rights groups, that embraces strikes, demonstrations, land occupations and an international boycott should be built to force the dismantling of settlements.

Without a reversal of Israel’s settlement policy Palestinian self-determination cannot become a reality and further intifadas are guaranteed.

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