As assaults on Palestinians soar during olive harvest, B'Tselem publishes new report demonstrating how settler violence is intrinsic to the state violence Israel uses to take over West Bank land

14 November 2021

State Business

Israel's misappropriation of land in the West Bank through settler violence

B'Tselem published a new report today showing how Israel has used settler violence against Palestinians to misappropriate more than 28,000 dunams* [1 dunam = 1,000 sq. meters] of West Bank farmland and pastureland that served Palestinian communities for many decades. The report examines five areas: in the South Hebron Hills, settlers from the Ma'on and Manne farms seized 2,640 dunams; in nearby Khirbet Zanutah, settlers from three "farms" seized 5,050 dunams; near the settlement of Halamish, settlers seized 3,171 dunams; near the Havat Gilad outpost, settlers seized 2,576 dunams; and in the Jordan Valley, settlers from the Um Zuqa "farm" seized 14,979 dunams. In these areas, state-backed settler violence has denied Palestinians access to a total of 28,416 dunams – a land mass larger than the municipal jurisdiction of most Israeli cities.

Havat Ma'on - land Israel has blocked to Palestinians using settler violence

B'Tselem: Settler violence is state violence

For more than 30 years, B'Tselem has been documenting daily acts of settler violence against Palestinians. As the governing power in the West Bank, Israel could choose to prevent these acts. Instead, the state has harnessed settler violence to promote its policy of taking over Palestinian land for Jewish use. To that end, Israel has for many years backed, protected and financed settlers who violently disposses Palestinians of their land.

The state allows settlers to use the land from which Palestinians have been violently ejected and actively helps them by financing security, paving roads and hooking them up to the electricity and water grids. Various government authorities finance ventures for settlers. At the same time, the state gives settlers free rein to commit violent acts against Palestinians, and even assists them: The military does not confront the perpetrators or prevent their violence, and in some cases soldiers even take part. After the fact, the law enforcement system does not take measures against settlers who harm Palestinians.

In the new report, B'Tselem shows that settler violence is not a private initiative, but rather an unofficial branch of the state violence Israel uses to expel Palestinians from their land. Attributing the violence to young fundamentalists or to “rotten apples” while keeping up a pretense of law enforcement allows Israel the best of both worlds: maintain a comfortable space for “plausible deniability” and enjoy the outcome of the violence by taking over swaths of land in the West Bank.

State violence – official and otherwise – is part and parcel of Israel's apartheid regime, which aims to create a Jewish-only space between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and treats land as a resource designed to solely serve the Jewish public. The apartheid regime is based on organized, systemic violence against Palestinians carried out by numerous agents: the government, the military, the Civil Administration, the Supreme Court, the Israel Police, the Israel Security Agency, the Israel Prison Service, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and others. Settlers are yet another function on this list. Like the violence employed against Palestinians by the military and the bureaucracy, settler violence is organized, institutionalized, well-equipped and implemented in order to achieve a defined strategic goal.

The report illustrates how settler violence has complemented official methods by helping Israel take over farmland and pastureland that, for many decades, served Palestinian communities in five areas: shepherding communities in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills, in the southwestern Hebron Hills and in the Jordan Valley, and established villages west of Ramallah and west of Nablus. According to the report, the state has dispossessed these communities of thousands of dunams by using settler violence. In some areas, this has been carried out explicitly by the military closing off swaths of land or requiring Palestinians to request advance permission to access their own land. In others, farmers and shepherds stay away for fear of encountering settlers who will assault them. In testimonies given to B'Tselem field researchers, residents describe how the violence and fear threaten the continued existence of their communities, driving them – for lack of choice – to abandon or scale back types of work they relied on for decades, forcing them stay away from pastureland and water sources that used to serve them, and limiting their cultivation of farmland.

The Um Zuqa farm is one of six “farms” set up by settlers in the northern Jordan Valley in the past five years. The farm was built in 2016 on a site that housed the Palestinian village of Khirbet al-Mzoqah, which Israel demolished after occupying the West Bank.According to a calculation prepared by Kerem Navot at B’Tselem’s request, settlers from Um Zuqa “farm” have taken 14,979 dunams – roughly twothirds of the nature reserve. Settlers from the farm are already cultivating 99 dunams of this land. Photo by Eyal Hareuveni, B'Tselem.

* Data collected and processed by Kerem Navot.

Suggested items

Settler Violence = State Violence

State Business

Settler violence against Palestinians is a daily matter in the West Bank. Instead of taking preventive action, the Israeli authorities aid and abet the settlers in harming Palestinians and using their land. The report shows how settler violence is an unofficial arm of the state violence Israel uses to drive Palestinians off their land. By downplaying it as a fringe phenomenon while keeping up a pretense of law enforcement, Israel enjoys the best of both worlds: maintaining room for “plausible deniability” while taking over more West Bank land.

14 November 2021

The Palestinian village of Nahalin and the settlement of Beitar Illit. Photo by Anne Paq, Activestills, 11 March 2019.

Settlements

This Is Ours – And This, Too: New report by B’Tselem and Kerem Navot reviews Israeli development of West Bank settlements over last decade

A new report issued today by B’Tselem and Kerem Navot, “This Is Ours – And This, Too: Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West Bank”, exposes the mechanisms Israel uses to encourage its citizens to move into the occupied territory. The report also reviews developments on the ground over the last decade, focusing on the spatial impact of the two large settlement blocs. Two key aspects of Israel’s policy are examined: First, the report details the official and unofficial ways in which Israel encourages Jews to move to settlements and develop financial ventures in and around them. Among other things, the state offers settlers housing benefits, allowing lower-income families to purchase homes. These benefits are one factor contributing to the growth in the settler population, which in 2019 numbered 441,619 people (in the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem) – an increase of 42% since 2010 and of 222% since 2000. In 2019 alone, the settler population grew by 3.2% – 68% more than the overall population growth rate for Israeli citizens and residents that year, which was just 1.9%. The two largest settlements – the ultra-orthodox cities of Modi’in Illit and Beitar Illit – have grown especially fast. By the end of 2020, they had a combined population of 140,053, comprising nearly a third of all settlers in the West Bank – an increase of 62% since 2010, when the combined population numbered 86,200, and of 435% since 2000, when they had 32,200 residents together. By offering housing solutions beyond the Green Line, the state is essentially exploiting the ultra-orthodox community’s low socioeconomic status and housing shortage to serve its own needs and further its agenda. The state also grants benefits and incentives to Israeli industrial zones in the West Bank by offering discounted land fees and employment subsidies to factories, encouraging their steady growth. More incentives, provided by various authorities, encourage settlers to take over Palestinian farmland and pastureland. Over the last decade, settlers have established some 40 sheep and cattle farms throughout the West Bank, taking over tens of thousands of dunams [1 dunam = 1,000 square meters] where access is now completely or mostly denied to Palestinians. Most of these farms lie on “state land” and control hundreds and sometimes thousands of dunams. Most are surrounded by farmland owned by Palestinians, whom settlers prevent from entering by employing violence, sometimes severe. Some of the pastureland these settlers have taken over, and the pathways leading to them, lie within areas Israel has declared firing zones. Second, the report analyzes the spatial impact of two settlement blocs that cut across the West Bank. The first bloc, built south of Bethlehem, includes the settlements of Beitar Illit and Efrat and the settlements belonging to the Gush Etzion Regional Council. The other bloc lies in the center of the West Bank and consists of the settlements of Ariel, Rehelim, Eli, Ma’ale Levona, Shilo and the outposts built around them. Some 121,000 settlers currently live in both blocs together, and expansion plans are underway to add tens of thousands of residents. Similar plans have rapidly increased the population in both blocs over the last decade. Implementing the new plans is expected to double and even triple the population of Efrat in the coming decades; Beitar Illit’s population is expected to grow by 20,000 and Ariel’s by about 8,000. The impact of the two settlement blocs extends far beyond their number of residents or the size of their built-up areas. The southern bloc severs Palestinian space between Bethlehem and Hebron and separates Bethlehem from its rural backland. The central bloc commands some of the most fertile farmland in the West Bank. The two blocs also command the main longitudinal and latitudinal roads in the area, fragmenting the West Bank into separate geographical units. Click here to enlarge map. Following the establishment of the two blocs, Palestinians lost access to thousands of dunams of farmland and pastureland – whether directly (in areas declared “state land” or closed by military order) or as a result of state-backed settler violence, which deters Palestinians from trying to access their land. Around the settlements of Tekoa and Nokdim, for example, Palestinians are barred access to at least 10,000 dunams. Around the settlements of Shilo and Eli and their satellite outposts, their access is barred to at least 26,500 dunams. Israel’s policies regarding the settlements are a clear expression of the Israeli apartheid regime, which employs various methods to promote and perpetuate the supremacy of one group – Jews – over another group – Palestinians – in the entire area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Israel’s massive investments further entrench its hold on the West Bank, clearly demonstrating the regime’s long-term plans. These include cementing the position of millions of Palestinians as subjects denied rights and protection, who are deprived of any ability to influence their own future and are forced to live in disconnected, dwindling, economically suppressed enclaves. They are forced to look on as they are dispossessed of more and more land, while communities and infrastructure are built for Jews. Two decades into the 21st century, Israel appears more determined than ever to continue upholding and perpetuating an apartheid regime throughout the area under its control, well into the coming decades.

9 March 2021

Cover image: The Palestinian vilage of Nahalin and the settlement of Beitar Illit. Photo by Anne Paq, Activestills, 11 March 2019.

Settlements

This Is Ours – And This, Too

The report by B’Tselem and Kerem Navot exposes the mechanisms Israel uses to encourage its citizens to move into the occupied territory. The report also reviews developments on the ground over the last decade, focusing on the spatial impact of the two large settlement blocs.

9 March 2021