A valid education about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is hard to come by considering the years of propaganda Americans have been subjected to, which has blamed lack of peace entirely on the Palestinians, of late invoking terrorism as the main cause or excuse. There is no need to haggle over what is to blame: the facts on the ground in the West Bank make clear the obstacle.
In a word, settlements.
What is an Israeli settlement?
For the average American, the notion of a settlement probably invokes an image of pioneers, settlers arriving in wagons and building homes and small even isolated communities on the western frontier. If this image of a settlement seems off base, look up the term, settlement, in the dictionary. The term has certainly helped Israeli propaganda to downplay the significance of its colonialism in the West Bank.
In fact, if this picture of a settlement were ever applicable to the typical Israeli settlement in the West Bank, there would hardly be any difficulties in attaining something close to a permanent peace between Israelis and Palestinians, a real two state resolution of the conflict. The removal of these settlements would likely be inconsequential.
The problem here is that the term, “Israeli settlement,” is a thoroughly misleading one, a deceiving understatement for what it is that actually confronts the peace process. By the above definition, none of the more than 150 “Israeli settlements” in the West Bank is a settlement by any definition of the term. The typical Israeli settlement in the West Bank is instead a village, town, or small city, some over 30,000 in size, supported by many industries and agribusinesses, and interconnected with Israel by a network of Israeli only roads and highways, which are scattered throughout this small piece of Palestinian real estate. This map, courtesy of Anna Baltzer, shows the layout.
To obtain a better idea of what an Israeli settlement is and what an impediment to peace they are, watch the documentary, The Iron Wall, accessed below, where the problem caused by the presence of settlements becomes evident.
It is these “settlements” that is presently the major obstacle to peace, was the major un-removable obstacle in 2000 during the Camp David/Taba negotiations, and is probably the principle reason why Israel rebuffed later peace plans and offers from the Arab League (2002, 2006) and Iran (2003) among others, and has permitted Oslo and the current Road Map to die a slow death. Aside of the other unsettled issues like the right of return and East Jerusalem, a Palestinian state cannot exist if a sovereign entity in the midst of alien villages, towns, and cities, all interconnected with Israel by a network of Israeli-only roads and highways, which wind through the West Bank.
View the Iron Wall by clicking below. It has been on Google Video since Sep 15, 2006. Its length is 57 min 19 sec. You will be so much the wiser about the impenetrable obstacle, settlements, to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if you do.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8598031591119784930&hl=en