June 12, 2009 – Although the United States stopped calling the Israeli settlements in the West Bank “illegal” in 1981, they clearly are illegal. The rest of the international community agrees. For reasons which seem self-evident to anyone who travels the West Bank and talks to the residents, the growth of settlements and the actions of settlers are seen by Palestinians and other Arabs as the principal obstacle to peace. What we saw in the Holy Basin, in Ma’ale Adumim, in the E-1 area, and in Hebron, certainly confirms that judgment.

Article 49 (sixth paragraph) of Geneva Convention (IV) states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” Israel has historically made various arguments to evade application of this prohibition to the settlements in the West Bank. Among them are: that although Israel ratified the Convention it did not adopt legislation to enforce it, so no case can be brought; that Israel is not an occupying power, because there is no state to which it can “return” the territory; that Jews should have the right to live anywhere, making arguments against settlers racist; and that, since final status issues include drawing borders, the future of the settlements is a subject of negotiation. These arguments are all fallacious.