Israeli settlements

With the approval of nearly 1,800 new settler homes by Israel, it has become evident that Palestinian aspirations for their homeland are becoming a distant dream. Israel’s right-wing defence minister has announced the settlements for new homes just days before another general elections in the country. Since this will be the third general election within a year, the ruling party is doing its best to please the right-wing lobby so that it can form the new government. It is noteworthy that in the previous general elections in April and September 2019, the party of incumbent Prime Minister Netanyahu was unable to score enough majority to form a government on its own. Now with these announcements, the chances of him getting reelected are likely to increase. Though the settlements were announced after a ‘committee’ approved them, it appears to be the handiwork of the Israeli defence and prime ministers.

Israel has repeatedly announced that it will not give an inch of land of to Arabs and the recent announcement was no different. The defence minister of Israel was unequivocal in his assertion that to keep the land they must build new settlements. As an NGO has rightly pointed out, the planned settlements will be over 90 percent inside the West Bank of River Jordan. The part of the West Bank where Israel is planning these new homes is highly sensitive to Arabs who have lived and worked in these Palestinian areas for centuries. The total number of new houses will cross the 3,500 mark once these settlements are complete. And there appears to be no way out for the Palestinians.

Israel has been totally heedless to the demands of Arabs and the world community alike who have been condemning Israeli expansionism in this region. During the last three years, since President Trump assumed power in the United States, Israel has been emboldened greatly and has displayed complete disregard to the rights of the Palestinian people. The worst aspect of this episode is that neither Arab countries nor the Muslim Ummah at large has been able to do much about these transgressions. Especially the roles of the Arab League and of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation have been disappointing.