Settlements & land

From 1967 to mid-2010, Israel established 121 settlements in the West Bank that were recognized by the Interior Ministry as “communities.” In addition, some 100 outposts (settlements built without official authorization but with support and assistance of government ministries). Furthermore, twelve neighborhoods that were established on land annexed by Israel in 1967 and made part of Jerusalem are deemed settlements under international law. The government has also funded and assisted in the establishment of a few settler enclaves in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, including in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, Silwan, Sheikh Jarrach, Mount of Olives, Ras al-‘Amud, Abu Dis, and Jabal al-Mukabber.

Israel created in the Occupied Territories a regime of separation and discrimination, with two separate systems of law in the same territory. One system, for the settlers, de facto annexes the settlements to Israel and grants settlers the rights of citizens of a democratic state. The other is a system of military law that systematically deprives Palestinian of their rights and denies them the ability to have any real effect on shaping the policy regarding the land space in which they live and with respect to their rights. These separate systems reinforce a regime in which rights depend on the national identity of the individual.