"Moreover, although the official jurisdictions of the settlements’ regional councils encompass some 40% of the West Bank, the built-up areas within these sprawling boundaries constitute only a single percent. In 1982, at a time when some 800,000 Palestinians lived in the West Bank, Benvenisti estimated that the settler population would gradually approach that of the Palestinian population since the latter would have no more living space and would have to emigrate from the West Bank. Today some 2.7 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, as compared with about 300,000 settlers. The settlements have developed no substantial local industry, commerce or agriculture, and more than two-thirds of settlers themselves work inside the Green Line. Of those of work in the settlements themselves, the percentage of government and municipal employees is considerably higher than in Israel. In fact, the settlement movement’s greatest achievement – that is, their success in luring droves of Israelis to move to the Occupied Territories for economic benefits – is also its clearest weak spot. Indeed, many of the non-ideological settlers can be just as easily incentivized (both positively and negatively) to relocate back to Israel." h/t bat
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 08:37:40 +0000
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