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Last update - 22:27 06/09/2009
Comment / West Bank settlements are good for peace
By Raphael Israeli
Tags: Palestinians, West Bank 

One of the axioms of the "peace process" is that the settlements are "an obstacle to peace," as if removing them would instantly bring peace on earth. It's well known, however, that before 1967 there were no settlements, and no peace - unless, of course, you consider the communities within Israel "settlements," since the Arabs considered them occupied territory. The greatest contribution of the settlements, then, is that they took the place of Israeli towns as occupied territory, except perhaps for Hamas and considerable parts of the Arab world. Therefore, the formula that removing settlements equals peace is laughable and baseless.

The Arabs' total-denial approach to Israel never depended on settlement on a particular parcel of land. They are bothered by Jewish settlement in Israel in general. It's enough to browse through the books of the "moderate" Palestinian Authority to see that Haifa, Jaffa and even Tel Aviv are considered Palestinian cities, while Hamas believes the Wakf land of all Palestine should be expropriated from the Jewish state, which doesn't have the right to land on either side of the Green Line.

In 2000, Yasser Arafat was offered an Israeli withdrawal from 95% of the territories in exchange for agreeing to end the conflict. He refused, because he didn't consider this a full withdrawal from Palestinian land. Although Israel made yet another step in leaving the Gaza Strip, not only freezing construction there but evicting the settlers, all it got in return was more war and destruction, a far cry from the peace that removing this "obstacle" was supposed to create. In other words, not only did the Arabs not consider Israel's older settlements different from the new ones that "endanger peace," but the eviction of the latter drove them to begin attacking the former.
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We know now that one thing that motivated Anwar Sadat to come to Jerusalem was his fear that unless settlements in the Rafah area and Sinai were uprooted, they would grow into large cities that no peace agreement could remove.

The Syrians and Palestinians, on the other hand, believed they had nothing to lose if they maintained their refusal to negotiate, since their land would wait for them, frozen in time, until they could graciously take it back from Israel and then attack again from these positions. They can't comprehend that they have lost their lands because of their aggression, and that it is immoral to return to an aggressor the positions from which he might renew his aggression, since letting him escape without harm only encourages him to attack again. There can be deterrence only once the aggressor has paid a price that dissuades him from attacking at whim. This is what happened to Germany.

So until there is a permanent status agreement, only Jewish settlement activity can be enough of an incentive to make the Arabs, like Sadat, hurry up and seek peace, because their losses will multiply the longer they wait. We know from the Gaza example that the Arabs' goal was not to remove Israel from precious land, but to uproot Jews and fight them from the land they left. It is better, then, to keep with the peace-building construction in communities beyond our borders, and only when we see genuine signs of a culture of peace and good neighborliness next door to talk about evacuation - with due consideration to the new reality on the ground, which will change all the more if the Arabs don't rush toward an agreement.

The author is a professor of Islamic, Middle Eastern and Chinese history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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      1.   This was in Haaretz? 03:05  |  Yitzhak 06/09/09
      2.   FInally! A true article from Haaretz! 03:23  |  Amos 06/09/09
      3.   At long last 03:27  |  Richard 06/09/09
      4.   Wake up, Raphael 03:54  |  Courcey 06/09/09
      5.   On the mark 03:57  |  B 06/09/09
      6.   Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty is good for peace. 04:20  |  wally 06/09/09
      7.   good for peace? yes make peace on our terms or we steal more land 04:28  |  nothing new here 06/09/09
      8.   peace process 04:35  |  Charlie 06/09/09
      9.   Israel 04:37  |  BMS 06/09/09
      10.   The article is off track 04:37  |  Zvuv 06/09/09
      11.   A Most Astute Article 04:51  |  Jeff Northridge 06/09/09
      12.   Maybe the piece is supposed to be satirical 05:22  |  Colin Wright 06/09/09
      13.   Settlements Will Bring Peace 06:10  |  Eli 06/09/09
      14.   Wheres the 2000 Map 06:20  |  Ben 06/09/09
      15.   right-wing propaganda 06:21  |  Khalid Amayreh 06/09/09
      16.   Force the Palestinians to play by the world`s rules 06:45  |  Jordan 06/09/09
      17.   perverse or profound? 06:50  |  peter rouget 06/09/09
      18.   The party line is that all of Israel is "settlement" 06:54  |  Peace Games 06/09/09
      19.   And a realist emerges 06:56  |  Danny F 06/09/09
      20.   observation 06:57  |  potobac 06/09/09
      21.   misguided article 06:59  |  bronxite10 06/09/09
      22.   Prof. Raphael Israeli- a rare case of sanity in Israeli academia 07:16  |  Likud voter 06/09/09
      23.   Yes, but... 07:19  |  MarkC 06/09/09
      24.   This article 07:21  |  Edifice 06/09/09
      25.   A few comments on this pragmatic article deemed to slaugher a few 07:33  |  sacred cows 06/09/09
      26.   True...and so... 07:35  |  Mariano 06/09/09
      27.   Sadat`s peace meant rhe removal ofall settlements. 07:42  |  Palestinian Brit 06/09/09
      28.   San Marino why not? 07:49  |  arik 06/09/09
      29.   The correct title shoul be: 08:01  |  Esther 06/09/09
      30.   Twisted, Backwards Logic 08:03  |  David 06/09/09
      31.   excellent article 08:04  |  Christian 06/09/09
      32.   About the left, the media and the settlers. 08:17  |  B. Gold 06/09/09
      33.   "Settlements" have nothing to do with the question of war & peace 08:35  |  Eitan 06/09/09
      34.   Bi-National Solution 08:43  |  Matt 06/09/09
      35.   to Charlie #2 08:50  |  zeev 06/09/09
      36.   The Palestinians should also be forced to freeze 08:56  |  Zev 06/09/09
      37.   Not a single original idea from this"professor"... 09:06  |  S 06/09/09
      38.   You`re right David (No #12) 09:42  |  J 06/09/09
      39.   Pals in frenzy over settlements but refuse to accept Jewish state 09:44  |  Sam 06/09/09
      40.   You contradict yourself 11:03  |  jeff 06/09/09
      41.   Is suicide bombing also good for peace? 11:08  |  John 06/09/09
      42.   settlements are legal, but not wise 11:39  |  Jochai Rubinstein 06/09/09
      43.   settlement 12:04  |  oz 06/09/09
      44.   raphael israeli i prefer you be more direct 12:04  |  ombudsman 06/09/09
      45.   peace 12:13  |  shimi 06/09/09
      46.   great article 12:25  |  Lisa - peace lover 06/09/09
      47.   khalid 12:59  |  oz 06/09/09
      48.   Strange Peace Promotion. 13:02  |  khairi janbek 06/09/09
      49.   Peace is an illusion 13:16  |  ky 06/09/09
      50.   The refusal by the Arabs to accept Israel`s legitimacy is at the 13:31  |  Eitan 06/09/09
      51.   So suicide bombs are good for the peace process too 13:33  |  Elizabet 06/09/09
      52.   SETTLEMENTS are Israels only bargaining chip 13:55  |  PETER SM 06/09/09
      53.   Why leftists believe the contrary 14:31  |  Michael 06/09/09
      54.   Finally - On the Mark 14:49  |  Shmuel 06/09/09
      55.   Is International Law Irrelevant? 14:56  |  John R 06/09/09
      56.   #44 peace after which war ?? the stae of grace is not achievable 14:57  |  v hardman 06/09/09
      57.   An equally good idea for peace 15:16  |  WHG 06/09/09
      58.   Israel has peace. 15:17  |  Petra 06/09/09
      59.   Let`s wait till... Israel demographically drowns? 15:24  |  Allegra 06/09/09
      60.   to Michael #53 15:27  |  zeev 06/09/09
      61.   West Bank Settlement 15:36  |  Barry Larkman 06/09/09
      62.   A most illogical propagandistic article 15:36  |  Michael N 06/09/09
      63.   Amayreh threatens 1 Pal state if Jews don`t give Pals 2 states 15:37  |  Sam 06/09/09
      64.   I question whether the Arabs have ever been interested in peace 15:43  |  Eitan 06/09/09
      65.   A Question 15:57  |  ARTH 06/09/09
      66.   Is "terrorism" also good for peace....??? 16:10  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/09/09
      67.   If it was going to work it would have worked already 16:15  |  Neena 06/09/09
      68.   to Amos #2 16:19  |  zeev 06/09/09
      69.   the world is quite willing to gamble with our future 16:31  |  ombudsman 06/09/09
      70.   to Jochai Rubinstein #42 - 2nd try 16:34  |  zeev 06/09/09
      71.   False analysis professor 16:36  |  David 06/09/09
      72.   Only Raphael & CO, can believe such nonsence 16:50  |  Kaluti 06/09/09
      73.   You can make war ... 17:01  |  Jasper 06/09/09
      74.   bravo for this true article 17:04  |  charro 06/09/09
      75.   Allegra , very large immigration from the us 17:10  |  charro 06/09/09
      76.   Raphael Israeli 17:37  |  Stuart 06/09/09
      77.   Only good article haaretz ever posted 17:52  |  Jordan 06/09/09
      78.   This talkbalk actually exposes a lot of truth 18:07  |  Ramzi, a Palestinian 06/09/09
      79.   simplistic 1 sided analogies 18:23  |  Welshman 06/09/09
      80.   good article 18:25  |  Jason 06/09/09
      81.   #15 Khalid 18:47  |  Jason 06/09/09
      82.   Falsehoods and diversions. Will only convince the ignorant. 18:55  |  Roo 06/09/09
      83.   Settlers can be good for peace - They will live in Palestine 19:24  |  B`galil 06/09/09
      84.   5% both ways? 19:32  |  Fair 06/09/09
      85.   Raphael Israeli Fairy tail professor 19:34  |  Balkenende 06/09/09
      86.   Raphael Israeli 19:52  |  John Weiss 06/09/09
      87.   on ombudsman #44 - 2nd try 19:56  |  zeev 06/09/09
      88.   illegal settlements have to go because ther are criminal. 20:44  |  jens 06/09/09
      89.   Wishful thinking as always 21:34  |  Ramzi, a Palestinian 06/09/09
      90.   Raphael is exactly right 22:00  |  Scott 06/09/09
      91.   chutzpa(h) 22:28  |  niels nouwen 06/09/09
      92.   so I guess that means citizenship 23:41  |  Aaron S. 06/09/09
      93.   The issue is - Does Israel recognize a Arab state? 01:12  |  Marc Leb 07/09/09
      94.   Ramzi; I understand your pain 01:27  |  WHG 07/09/09
      95.   on zeev 02:10  |  yona 07/09/09
      96.   Racism, Ramzy? 02:16  |  yona 07/09/09
      97.   Settlements good for peace? The settlers disagree. 05:45  |  John E. Smoke 07/09/09
      98.   Settlements good for peace 06:19  |  Bill 07/09/09
      99.   Settlements good for peace? 06:27  |  Mitch Katz 07/09/09
      100.   The truth is hard to take 07:54  |  giora 07/09/09
      101.   Marc Leb 86 - You Are Wrong - Plenty of land to build on 08:13  |  B`galil 07/09/09
      102.   to yona #88 09:19  |  zeev 07/09/09
      103.   to Zev #36 - 2nd try 09:24  |  zeev 07/09/09
      104.   Land for Peace??? 07:10  |  Estee 08/09/09
      105.   sick logic 01:06  |  peace 10/09/09
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