WEST BANK: Israeli settlers and Palestinian villagers exist close to each other geographically but remain far apart on the core issues of renewed peace talks

Record ID: 566401

  • Title: WEST BANK: Israeli settlers and Palestinian villagers exist close to each other geographically but remain far apart on the core issues of renewed peace talks
  • Date: 30th July 2013
  • Summary: DURA AL-KARA, WEST BANK (JULY 30, 2013) (REUTERS) SCENIC VIEWS OF VILLAGE NEXT TO AMONA OUTPOST VIEW OF HOUSES IN AMONA OUTPOST AS SEEN FROM VILLAGE SCENIC VIEWS OF VILLAGE VIEW OF MINARET IN VILLAGE MOHAMMED AHMED KASEM IN STREET ANOTHER MINARET (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF DURA AL-KARA, MOHAMMED AHMED KASEM, SAYING: "I feel that settlements increase day after day, even with the decision by President Abbas that said no negotiations until they stop settlement construction. But they haven't stopped, it's the opposite, they've increased.'' MORE VIEWS OF VILLAGE VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS STANDING NEARBY SHOP 31 (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF DURA AL-KARA, JABER BAJES, SAYING: "Now I say to the Palestinian negotiator in Washington, our priority is prisoners and settlements. Settlements have consumed around 80 percent of our land, settlements restrict the affairs of farmers and villagers in the villages with regards to building and planting." VARIOUS VIEWS OF AMONA OUTPOST FROM VILLAGE
  • Embargoed: 14th August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA71BUWJ288VA3Y7IHYEM4I5O4Q
  • Story Text: Only a barbed wired fence separates the neighbourhoods of an Israeli settler and a Palestinian villager in the West Bank, where both held little hope on Tuesday (July 30) for revived peace talks taking place in Washington.
    Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators met on Monday (July 29) after almost three years of deadlock, following months of intensive mediation by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry aimed at resolving a decades-old conflict. The last round of peace talks collapsed in 2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, which the Palestinians want along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem for their future state.
    About 350,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, along with some 2.5 million Palestinians, who say that the settlements deny them a viable and contiguous state. The international community regards the settlements as illegal.
    Israel cites historical and biblical ties to the territory. It hopes to keep major settlement blocs in any future deal with the Palestinians but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also indicated he would give up smaller more isolated settlements.
    One of those could be Amona, a settlement outpost that was the site of fierce clashes in 2006 as Israeli forces tore down homes built by settlers without a permit.

    "As a settler living in Amona I feel that the coming negotiations in a way are futile," said Eli Greenberg, who lives in the outpost with his wife and eight children.

    "I really think that right now the idea that two states for two nations is a bit premature because right now what we see in the Middle East this area is not ready for democracy," added Greenberg, 40, who believes Israel should extend its sovereignty over the entire West Bank.
    In adjacent Dura al-Kara village, Palestinians questioned the sincerity of the peace talks as Jewish settlements expand on land they want for a future Palestinian state.
    Mohammed Ahmed Kasem said much of his privately-owned land had been confiscated.

    "I feel that settlements increase day after day, even with the decision by President Abbas that said no negotiations until they stop settlement construction," he said.
    Jaber Bajes, who says his land was also confiscated, agreed that settlements remain a core issue to be resolved along with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
    A poll published on Friday (July 26) in the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper found 55 percent of Israelis would vote for a peace deal resulting in the establishment of a Palestinian state, with 25 percent against and 20 percent undecided. The same poll found 69 percent believed the chances of an agreement was low.
    The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research published a poll in June which showed similar sentiment among Palestinians.
    Fifty-three percent supported the two-state solution, though 58 percent believed it was no longer practical due to Israeli settlements, and 69 percent thought the chances of establishing a Palestinian state in the next five years was slim to none.
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