Expert: David - 1/8/2006

Question
hi!
could you tell me about the process of founding a settlement? who funds it? does the israeli government approve of it? doesn't it require some violation of the palestinian rights? thank you very much!

Answer
Hi Jessy,

The Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and formerly Gaza, are established on places where Jews either have lived in or made pilgrimages to, for thousands of years, or where Jews once lived or made pilgrimages to, thousands of years ago. How the present communities come into being today depends on the location you are talking about. In places like Hebron or Nablus, Jewish property was stolen by Arabs, so the local Jews didn't think twice about going ahead and just retaking the property. But in most other places, the land was state land where no one lived and "Palestinian" rights were not violated (contrary to the anti-Semitic propaganda you hear on the news media), and therefore, with government approval, a "settlement" can be founded.

Nowadays, there is a movement called the Hilltop Youth who go to hilltops scattered across the disputed territories, settle there without government approval, and claim it as Jewish land. This is the government's fault. If the people of Judea and Samaria weren't constantly threatened with expulsion, there'd be no need for a Hilltop Youth movement and the communities in these places can go about there business like any other communities any where else in the world.