Settler group makes ironic statement…

As one of the more complicated world issues regularly in the news for the past several decades, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict offers countless varied topics to make headlines (ie, Gaza? Hamas? Palestinian Authority? Right-wing Israeli government? water issues, land confiscations, building permits, shootouts, on and on).

AFP photo of illegal West Bank settlers and burning Palestinian lands

The spotlight in the past few weeks has been on the issue of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, in light of US President Obama’s pressure on the Netanyahu government to stop all forms of settlement building. Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have made clear and forceful statements in the last week that include the demand to halt “natural growth,” this vague idea of expansion, which the Israeli government won’t give in on.

The international community widely considers these West Bank settlements to be illegal under international law, because they are within the 1967 borders of the West Bank, within which Israel is an occupying military power.

A detailed illustration of all this can be found in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)’s West Bank Closure Map, which shows the separation wall, the illegal settlements (colonies is the right word), the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, checkpoints, etc, here:

UNOCHA West Bank Closure Map

And for some thoughtful analysis, here’s one of the better pieces that came out of the last week’s events:

From The Nation, Ali Abunima: Mr. Abbas Goes to Washington

But the more current news from the West Bank today comes from the Nablus area in the northern WB, home of such ultra-radical settlements as Yizhar. On Sunday night, according to this AFP story, mobs of settlers rampaged through Palestinian agricultural fields and roads, placing road blocks, attacking busloads of Palestinians, setting fire to olive groves, and opening fire on Palestinians and journalists. Apparently they’re “venting fury” at the idea that the Israeli government might give in to US demands to dismantle settlements/outposts.

To me, the craziest thing from this whole outrageous story was the following quote:

“It’s natural that people who face expulsion from their house do what they can to avoid being expelled.”

Why is that crazy? Because the person who said it, Gershon Messika, is the president of an Israeli settler umbrella group in the West Bank. (for the unfamiliar, it’s Palestinians who were expelled from their lands en masse when the State of Israel was created in 1948, and continue to be expelled from East Jerusalem, from areas seized for settlements, and from areas needed to build the behemoth separation wall).

Good luck figuring this one out, everybody.

Jewish settlers rampage in West Bank

By Imad Saada – 4 hours ago

NABLUS, West Bank (AFP) — Jewish settlers rampaged in the West Bank on Monday, wounding four Palestinians, as they vented fury that Israel may answer US calls and dismantle outposts in the territory, officials said.

Jewish extremists blocked roads, hurled rocks at drivers, burned fields, cut down olive trees and opened fire towards Palestinians who tried to chase the trespassers from their fields in the northern West Bank, witnesses said.

AFP article about rampage continues below….

Obama’s Day in Palestine

Palestinians in the West Bank woke up Wednesday morning to a glorious sunny 75 degree day and the news of a new American leadership — as President Elect Barack Obama put it, a new dawn — not just for the US but for the world. THe earliest news reports and my own conversations with people in Ramallah indicate an obvious satisfaction at the very least with America’s choice for preseident, if not the same celebratory and hopeful mood we saw on TV in Washington, New York, Kenya and around the world.

Digging deeper, there exists for the Arab world reasons to be skeptical toward the idea of radical change in the Middle East. But optimism is the prevailing sentiment with the election of America’s first African-American president. During my day in Petra, Jordan last Sunday, I spoke with the young men who sell colorful Petra sand designs in bottles to tourists from all over the world. Cultured and knowledgeable, they had much to say about the US elections and it echoed messages from other non-Western countries.

Palestinians on US elections – questions and speculation

With just a week left until possibly the most highly anticipated US elections in history, I’ve arrived in Amman, Jordan on my way to the West Bank excited to feel out the reaction there to Senators Obama and McCain and this heated race.

The Palestinian-Israeli issue is always a big one in a US government. But to what degree are people in Palestine paying attention to the transition in the US administration? With the difficulties of daily life – from putting food on the table to Israeli travel restrictions – do Palestinians have any room for concern about elections half a world away? Surely the American government has significant impact on the daily lives of Palestinians and on Israeli policy, and my experience visiting Ramallah over my lifetime leads me to believe that people realize this.