Settlements

There are currently over 121 Israeli Settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. There are on top of this at least 100 or so “outposts”, communities not officially recognized by the Israeli Government.

According to the 4th Geneva Convention, Article 49 it states that an occupying power may not transfer part of its own civilization into territories it occupies. Seeing that the West Bank is considered occupied territory, the settlements Israel is building there are deemed illegal under international law and a violation of the Geneva Convention.

According to “B’tselem – The Israeli Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories”:

“As part of the regime, Israel has stolen thousands of dunams of land from the Palestinians. On this land, Israel has established dozens of settlements in which hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians now live. Israel forbids Palestinians to enter and use these lands and uses the settlements to justify numerous violations of Palestinian rights, such as the right to housing, to earn a living, and freedom of movement. The sharp changes Israel made to the map of the West Bank make a viable Palestinian state impossible as part of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
The settlers, on the other hand, benefit from all rights given to citizens of Israel who live inside the Green Line, and in some instances, even additional rights. The great effort Israel has expended in the settlement enterprise – financially, legally, and bureaucratically – has turned the settlements into civilian enclaves within an area under military rule and has given the settlers a preferred status. To perpetuate this unlawful situation, Israel has continuously violated the Palestinians’ human rights.”

Christian Zionists see the settlement of the West Bank as a fulfillment of Biblical promises and that Israel has a divine right to this land, even at the expense of Palestinian landowners. Although the Settlements are the #1 cause of human rights abuse against the Palestinians, many Christians in the West support these settlements financially and through other practical means.