Quotes about the Illegality and Immorality of the Jewish Settlements

As noted in my previous post, I am printing below the handout I prepared prior to a panel discussion in 2003 about the legality of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

QUOTES OVER THE YEARS ABOUT THE ILLEGALITY AND IMMORALITY OF THE SETTLEMENTS

1980 April 25, 1980 - Hon Arie Lova Eliav – his belief that Palestinians also have a right to the land led him being a prominent member of the Labor party to leadership of the doves “It also is the basis for his opposition to the present policy of establishing Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. This land, under his proposal is being held for the Palestinians subject to their agreement on demilitarization and other conditions.”

1991 -Michael Lerner on Linkage in Nov/Dec 1991 Tikkun Starting in early 1990 Shamir clearly announced his intention to use Soviet Jewish immigration to counter …the threat of higher Palestinian birth rates … But to carry out Shamir’s strategy, Israel needs loan money to be used inside Israel; this would then free up the billions of dollars for settlements on the West Bank… So in a supreme act of chutzpah, Shamir turned to the U.S. and asked Bush to provide the funds to make a mockery of Bush’s own land-for-peace policy.

2002 Core Vision and Founding Principles of the Tikkun Community “… the greatest obstacle to the creation of a state living up to the values of an ethically and spiritually renewed Judaism are the Occupation, the settlements, and what is described in Michael Lerner’s book Jewish Renewal as the “Settler Judaism” mentality.

2002 - Michael Lerner – June 24, 2002 - If the US wants peace, George Bush is going to have to summon the courage that allowed his father to stand up to the American friends of Israel’s Right wing. In 1991 that meant demanding a settlement freeze, but in 2002 that will mean support for an international intervention to separate and protect the two sides from each other and to impose a settlement which minimally requires an end to the Occupation and the settlements, reparations for the Palestinian refugees

2002 Jan Hayden – the settlements are currently an obstacle to peace - I want to get the US to move from the “obstacle to peace” language … downgraded from “illegal” over the years, back to stating that the US considers the settlements to be illegal, and therefore Israel must abandon them.

2002 - April 14 - Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold at Harvard Hillel – Building of Israeli settlements in parts of the West Bank has frustrated their (Palestinians) hopes. At this point three generations of Palestinians have lived for thirty-five years under Israeli occupation and the persistent building of settlements on their land has led to violent conflict. When Sharon was elected . . his commitment to the preservation of the settlements precluded the possibility of a peaceful resolution of the conflict. . the conflict can not be solved by power alone. Then by what? By removing the basis for the conflict. The Jewish settlements on the West Bank are a grave and dangerous mistake that have done much harm to Israel. Micah. “He has told you, O man, Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” By all means, Humbly.

2002 Brit Tzedek V’Shalom - Founding Principles – 6) The evacuation of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories. These settlements are a major obstacle to peace, a tremendous
financial burden to Israel and do little, in anything, to enhance Israel’s security. There settlements constantly endanger the settlers themselves and the Israeli soldiers sent to defend them, and they bring grave harm to the Palestinians living under Occupation. We call for bringing safely home to Israel the settlers from all settlements except those included as part of a negotiated and mutually agreed upon exchange of territories between Israel and Palestine in determining the final borders of both states.

2002 Archbishop Desmond Tutu statement – In a region where repressive governments and unjust policies are the norm, Israel is certainly more democratic that most of its neighbors. This does not make dismantling the settlements any less of a priority. . Over 35 new settlements have been constructed this year. Each one is a step away from the safety deserved by the Israelis and two steps away from the justice owed to the Palestinians. If apartheid ended, so can the occupation, but the moral force and international pressure will have to be just as determined.”

2002 Jimmy Carter – “Arial Sharon … rejection of all peace agreements that included Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands, his invasion of Lebanon … have all been orchestrated to accomplish his ultimate goals; to establish Israeli settlements as widely as possible throughout occupied territories and to deny Palestinians a cohesive political existence.”

2002 National Lawyers Guild – April 15, 2002 – More than 200,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank in some 190 settlements linked by special highways (from which Palestinians vehicles are excluded) that have effectively cut the West Bank in isolated enclaves surrounded by Israeli military forces and checkpoints. In numerous resolutions, the UN Security Council and General Assembly have condemned these settlements as illegal under Article 49(b) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an Occupying Power from transferring parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. In May 20, 2001, the Mitchell Report urged that Israeli government completely freeze building more settlements. Nonetheless, Peace Now, reported in March 2002 that an aerial survey of the West Bank shower thirty-four new settlement sites build in the last year. The recent military offensive continues the same process that the settlements reflect, and in so doing is an attempt by Israel to effectively continue the occupation indefinitely or drive the Palestinian population from the West Bank.

2002 Rabbi Arthur Waskow - Periodically in Israeli public life, the question is raised about bringing settlers safely home from the Gaza settlement of Netzarim, where fifty families of Israeli settlers have required the presence of thousands of Israeli troops and the deaths of more than a dozen in order to protect them. Asked in an interview with Ha'aretz in April 2001, .. "Would you be ready to evacuate settlements as part of a non-belligerency agreement?", Sharon answered bluntly: "No. Absolutely not." "Not even isolated settlements like Netzarim in the Gaza Strip?", the interviewer followed up: "No. Not at any price," Sharon answered. "Why do we have to evacuate Netzarim? For what?" Later Prime Minister Sharon said that to him, this settlement is as precious as Tel Aviv.

2002 – July 27 - Yitzhak Frankenthal – My beloved son Arik, my own flesh and blood, was murdered by Palestinians. The Palestinians … have been ready to make peace with us; it is we who are unwilling to make peace with them .. as an occupation force it is we who trample over human dignity, it is we who crush the liberty of Palestinians and it is we who push an entire nation to crazy acts of despair. Finally, I call on my brothers and sisters in the settlements – see what we have come to.