From Reuters (8.31.14)..."Israel announced on Sunday a land appropriation in the occupied West
Bank that an anti-settlement group termed the biggest in 30 years,
drawing Palestinian condemnation and a U.S. rebuke.
Some 400
hectares (988 acres) in the Etzion Jewish settlement bloc near Bethlehem
were declared 'state land, on the instructions of the political
echelon' by the military-run Civil Administration.
'We urge the government of Israel to reverse this decision,' a State
Department official said in Washington, calling the move 'counterproductive' to efforts to achieve a two-state solution between
Israel and the Palestinians."
After 50 days, the war is over. Hallelujah.
On the Israeli side: 71 dead, among them 66 soldiers, 1 child.
On the Palestinian side: 2,143 dead, 577 of them children, 263 women, 102 elderly. 11,230 injured. 10,800 buildings destroyed. 8,000 partially destroyed. About 40,000 damaged homes. Among the damaged buildings: 277 schools, 10 hospitals, 70 mosques, 2 churches. Also, 12 West Bank demonstrators, mostly children, who were shot.
So what was it all about?
The honest answer is: About nothing.
Today's news, however, about the largest "land appropriation" in thirty years, says something a little different. It was about land. It's always about land. It's about a sad and mutually destructive "appropriation" of land in what should be Palestine. Is there any question?
And the more land is "appropriated" in the West Bank, the more the West Bank is carved up by highways and settlements and humiliation, the less likely a significant and vital Palestinian state is. Is there any question about that either?
And the more the West Bank is carved up, the more Gaza is beaten up, the less likely a thoughtful, moderate and forward-looking Palestinian government. And harder it is for thoughtful, moderate, forward-thinking Palestinians to remain. Is there any question about that?
So what was all the bombing about? What was really intended by the harsh, brutal and collective punishment of Gazans and Palestinians for the three awful kidnappings in June? It seems that it was about "land appropriation."
It seems to me, from far away, that those of us who care about peace must make this connection clearly and urgently. The terrible perpetuation of this conflict serves only the cause of "land appropriation." And the cause of "land appropriation" destroys the possibility and promise of Palestinian statehood. And that, that does the whole world a world of hurt. And it's wrong.
