Israel decided on Tuesday (January 19) to temporarily ban Palestinian workers from Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, following two anti-Israeli stabbings there in two days.
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Israeli businesses benefit from a “two-tier” system that applies military law to Palestinians in the West Bank, but not to Israelis.
This government and previous Israeli governments have repeatedly expressed their support for a negotiated two-state solution – a solution that would involve both mutual recognition and separation. Virtually the entire worldwide community view Israeli settlements in the territory as illegal or illegitimate.
“Settlement businesses unavoidably contribute to Israeli policies that dispossess and harshly discriminate against Palestinians, while profiting from Israel’s theft of Palestinian land and other resources.” said Human Rights Watch, Business Director, Arvind Ganesan.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds.
“To Israelis, who are understandably suspicious of Iran and anxious about Iran’s nefarious activities in other realms, we say the following: This new nuclear framework leaves the worldwide community united and better equipped to respond to other regional challenges – and to respond ‘without the looming threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, ‘ as Secretary Kerry said”, Shapiro said.
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, described Israel’s reported move as a violation of global law.
Palestinians want to form an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as the capital.
Israel cited recent alleged stabbing attacks against settlers – residing in the occupied West Bank contrary to global law – as reasons for refusing to provide passes, which are issued on a day-to-day basis. Since it is in Israeli military administered land, the Palestinian owners weren’t allowed to use it at any rate.
In an email sent to Reuters, COGAT, a unit of Israel’s Defence Ministry, said the political decision to seize the territory had already been taken and “the lands are in the final stages of being declared state lands”.
Palestinian human rights campaigner Tahseen Elayyan said that Palestinians often find themselves in a catch-22 situation.
The last three and a half months have seen near-daily Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers that have killed 24 people.
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“If these employers truly cared about the financial wellbeing of Palestinians, they should be lobbying their own government to lift its discriminatory restrictions and end its settlement policies”, she said.
