There has been progress as of late in the continued struggle to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Palestine managed to become recognized as its own state and, even if Israel is against this change, it still signals a potentially resolution ahead. Israel insists that this will hurt the peace process, though the resolution of the conflict to them seems to involve nothing less than the occupation of Palestinian lands. For even though the end to violence is may be within their reach, they still insist on aggravating the situation by building further settlements on Palestinian land.
There are plans to put up more housing projects in Palestine, nearly 1200 units in total. These are to be built in both Brochin and Itmar, in the West Bank region. The land that the settlements will be erected on is, of course, already possessed by Palestinians, although this does nothing to discourage the development. In addition to the settlements, there are also plans to erect accompanying businesses, such as a mall and a recreation center.
The Palestinian’s are, naturally, quite unhappy with these developments. The Prime Minister is speaking out against the plans and the Palestinian President has said that there will be no new peace talks between the two states until the settlement building has stopped. The United Nations has also voiced their disapproval of the move, adding their weight to that of Palestine. Thus, the ball is in Israel’s court if they truly wish a resolution to the violence.
It is shameful that Israel insists on continuing their settlement plans, thus destroying hopes of peace. Their commitment to a colonial attitude is a form of conquest that has been decried for nearly a century now, yet they still persist. If they seriously want peace, they need to cease any plans for settlement until a true solution has been found, whether that be a two-state solution or otherwise. Unfortunately, since little real military threat exists from Palestine, one has to wonder at whether Israel will decided that peace is more important than expansion.
Israeli settlement courtesy of un.int
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