An Israeli settler teaches his son how to use a semi-automatic weapon at a West Bank settlement

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, September 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – One of the fruits of the Palestinian intifada is that Israel is no longer considered a haven for Jewish settlers, despite the Israeli government’s attempts to lure them.

According to a report published by the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, while the settlement movement claims there has been a steady flow of new settlers into the territories, Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) figures released Sunday, September 29, indicate that nearly the same number of people are leaving, and most increases in the settlements come from natural growth.

According to the paper, the settlement movement’s policy nowadays is to prefer to increase its land holdings over increasing the population - hence the emphasis on establishing outposts, each populated by a few people, to prevent Palestinians occupying the land.

During 2000 and 2001, says the CBS data, 29,700 people moved into the settlements, but 20,000 moved out. The increase of some 24,400 people was mostly natural growth. At the end of June 2002 there were 218,862 Jews in the territories, compared to 203,067 at the end of December 2000, according to the Israeli Interior Ministry, reported Ha'aretz.

In 1999, the Jewish settler community grew by 11,700, a 6.8% increase, with 14,500 new residents moving in and 9,700 leaving. In 2000, the community grew up 14,400, with 16,500 new residents and 9,400 leaving. In 2001, the community grew by about 10,000, with 13,200 new residents and 10,600 leaving. Last year was the first in which more than 10,000 people left the settlements.

The overall growth rate of the Jewish population in the settlements was 5 percent in 2001, and although it was a 63% drop from the year before, it was still more than twice the national average growth rate of 2.2%, said the paper.

In the first eight months of 2002, the Israel Lands Authority approved 680 land deals in the settlements, compared to 11,311 throughout the entire country. In 2001, there were 1,950 such deals approved, then representing 14% of all the deals in the country. In 2000, 2,789 land deals in the settlements represented 12.5% of the land deals, said Ha'aretz.

The only data showing a rise in the settlements is the number of outposts. Since the Sharon government was established, 56 new outposts have been pitched in the territories, according to Peace Now and Civil Administration data, the paper said.

Each outposts has a handful of settlers, with the idea behind the outposts being capturing as much land as possible to prevent construction by the Palestinians. Early outposts, like Amana and Hersha, have already become small settlements, reported Ha'aretz.

As part of the policy to capture as much land as possible, the main focus of the settlement movement in recent years has been the construction of industrial zones, gas stations, landscaped parks, motels, and water towers, especially along roads.

Most of the outposts and other construction was coordinated with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and top officers in the Israeli army it added.

Earlier in September, hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that he would not dismantle any Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, even rogue ones saying Palestinians would see it as a sign of weakness, news agencies reported.

About 200 Jewish colonial settlements have been set up in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since Israel seized the territories in the 1967 Middle East war. All the settlements, according to U.N. resolutions are considered illegal. Some 60 so-called "rogue" outposts, often just a cluster of caravans, have popped up in recent years.

According to a report issued in June by Israeli peace group “Peace Now”, ever since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came into power in February 2001, Jewish settlers in the West Bank have built 44 new sites.

For more than thirty years, the creation of Jewish settlements has been a central component of Israel’s effort to consolidate control over the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Israeli settlement construction has served not only to facilitate territorial acquisition and to justify the continuing presence of Israeli armed forces on Palestinian lands, but also to limit the territorial contiguity of areas populated by Palestinians and thereby to preclude the establishment of a viable independent Palestinian state.

Israel's settlement policy and practices clearly contravene international law. Article 49, paragraph 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that “the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territories it occupies.”

Moreover, the confiscation of land for settlement construction is in violation of the rules contained in the 1907 Hague Regulations protecting public and private property in occupied territory.

Settlement activity is also fundamentally incompatible with the concept of a “just and lasting peace” called for in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242.

In Resolution 465, which was unanimously adopted, the Security Council made clear that “Israel’s policy and practices of settling parts of its population and new immigrants” in the occupied territories not only violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, but also constitute “a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”

The Security Council called upon Israel to “dismantle the existing settlements and in particular to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction of planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem.”

On July 14, Ha’aretz said that some of the illegal Israeli settlements built on the Gaza Strip have a population of two or three families.

“How many Israelis know that some of the Gaza Strip settlements have a population of two or three families? Probably not even the members of the Knesset and the majority of the army’s senior officer corps are aware of this fact,” reported Ha’aretz newspaper.

Invasion into Gaza Arafat HQ Destroyed… In Pictures Homeless in Minutes War on Iraq.. World Reaction Israel Decides to Relax Arafat Siege, Assassinates PFLP Leader  Massive Pro-Intifada Rallies in Palestinian Territories, Arab World Israel Admits Deif Survived Assassination Attempt  Jewish Extremist Jabs Young Palestinian Woman With Insulin Israel Kills Hamas Activist, Injures 2, Maintains Arafat Siege Egypt, Syria Oppose An Attack Against Iraq, Mubarak To Visit Libya Ankara Witnesses U.S., Iraq Diplomatic Struggle Sharon Belongs Behind Bars: Israeli Writer Israel to Help Market Indian Defense Products E.U., U.S. OK War Crimes Trial Deal, HRW Disagrees Riyadh Goes Public About Row With Doha Protestors Call for "Regime Change in Washington" Release of Muslim Swede Suspected of Alleged Hijack Bid Israeli Siege Forces 168 Palestinian Companies to Stop Exporting Iraqi Officials to Hide Babylon Antiques to Protect Them From Bombing Israeli Minister Welcomes Lifting Of Arafat’s Siege, Says Striking Iraq Is Priority No Case for War Against Iraq, Say Asians Two Years After Start of Intifada, As Many Israeli Settlers Leave As Arrive Foreigners Under Attack in Gulf Countries Protesters March Against U.S. Policies on Iraq Mahathir Slams West for Democratic “Hypocrisy” Yesterday's News Search Articles      News Archive : Day: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31     Month: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12   Year: 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999