S P E C I A L:

Struggle for Peace

Israel expanding settlements amid Palestinian anger

Israel expands settlement near Nahalin
VXtreme Video CNN's Walter Rodgers reports

In this story:

• Bulldozers near Arab village
• A 'naked land-grab'
• Desperate Palestinians build 'Greater Israel'
• Cheap housing, better lifestyle
• Related stories and sites

February 9, 1998
Web posted at: 7:57 p.m. EST (0057 GMT)

From Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers

BETAR ILLIT, West Bank (CNN) -- While the world's attention is focused on the looming crisis over Iraq, Palestinians say the Israeli government has seized the moment to annex Palestinian lands and expand Jewish settlements, often without compensation.

In one such case near the Arab village of Nahalin, armed Israeli soldiers guarded workmen using bulldozers and steam shovels to excavate foundations for buildings to be added to the Jewish settlement of Betar Illit.

"We will die on our land," said one Palestinian. "Where is the peace, now the bulldozer is working our land?"

About 15,000 Orthodox Jews live in Betar Illit now, but the settlement is projected to house 60,000. And to accommodate that many, it will almost certainly creep closer to the Palestinians' village.

One of the settlers is a woman from Los Angeles who says, "As a Jew, my roots really started here. This was land God gave to us. This is where Jews lived for thousands of years."

Palestinians, too, claim their roots are deep here. Shepherds have been grazing the land since Biblical times, but the Israelis have drawn lines on the hillsides beyond which the shepherds cannot go. Land that once supported 3,000 goats now sustains fewer than 500, Palestinians say.

"We are surrounded almost entirely by Jews now," says an old shepherd. "They have taken two-thirds of our land by trickery."

A 'naked land-grab'

Over the next two years, it is projected that there will be a 20 percent increase in settlements across many parts of the West Bank.

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the expansion of the settlements is the result of natural growth. But it offers low-income loans, subsidies and other inducements to encourage Jews to move into the Palestinian territories.

"You cannot expect people to live without growing," says Netanyahu aide David Bar-Illan. "If they live there and if (they) grow, they must build."

Arabs call it a "naked land-grab." None accept the Netanyahu government's claim to the land, and few believe the settlement building is all part of Israel's quest for greater security.

"Security, security," says one Palestinian. "Under new security, they can confiscate as much land as they want and ... you cannot fight in the Israeli courts. It's as simple as that."

Desperate Palestinians build 'Greater Israel'

Palestinian men desperate for work are often hired to help build what is sometimes called "Greater Israel."

"There is no alternative," says one named Ibrahim. "They have stolen all the land from Palestinians and we have to feed our families."

Jews have sunk deep roots into these settlements, backed by successive Israeli governments, the army and the Bible. Some settlers are driven by the "Greater Israel" ideology, while others say they have come to await the Messiah.

"We all of us are waiting for it," says one man.

Cheap housing, better lifestyle

But many Orthodox Jews came because the government made them an offer they couldn't refuse: cheap housing and a better lifestyle.

"It's much safer here," says a woman who came from the United States. "In America, you have to walk down the street and hold your child's hand. And I don't have to worry about my child being kidnapped."

Israeli soldiers closely watch Palestinian protesters

While the expanding Jewish settlements offer Jews peace of mind, for Palestinians they mean loss of land, anger and the growing fear that Israel wants to drive them out altogether, denying Palestinian hopes of living in a state of their own.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators flew to Washington Monday for another round of talks aimed at arriving at a permanent peace, but there was little hope of progress.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians would ask the United States to become more involved in finding solutions for such issues as prisoner releases and the opening of a Palestinian seaport and airport.

And Erekat said any U.S. proposal would have to include a halt to Israeli settlement building and other activities that, he said, "prejudice the results of the permanent settlement."

That is why now, more than ever, the settlement issue is so explosive.

---

 

---

Sound off on our message boards & chat

© 1998 Cable News Network, Inc.
A Time Warner Company
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.