Whats the situation right now in the West Bank?

Question

Right now we Gaza is pretty distuted with all the things going on inside of it like Extremely hateful propaganda, firing rockets into Israel, Israel cut of aide to Gaza except for hospitals.

But right now whats happening in The West Bank? I know its under FATAH control at the moment. But what else?

Are discussion's still being held about land and what not just now excluding Gaza and Hamas from the equation?

What about the settler issue, Freedom of movement is difficult in The West Bank (especially for the palestinians) for a number of reasons i mentioned before but like Londoner in Israel said the issue should be handled with sensitivity and the fact that the settlers where dupped (more info on this?) into coming to live in the settlements in the 70's and 80's means that the settlers should be given special consideration aswell, what is there fate looking like at the moment?

Answer 1

I live in Tel Aviv so I don't go into the West Bank very often, but when I visit Jerusalem I sometimes end up travelling through it because Jerusalem is essentially encircled by it.

So I can tell you the little I have seen with my own eyes.

First things first, unlike Gaza, access to the West Bank is not difficult at all for most people, including tourists and journalists - there are many roads which lead into the West Bank where you won't even realise you've crossed the Green Line until you reach an army checkpoint several miles later. At many of these checkpoints you don't even need to stop on your way into the West Bank, only on the way out, and even then only for a couple of seconds for the army sentry to check that you aren't a Palestinian attempting to infiltrate Israel with a bomb. So if you are doubtful of what I say or what you read in the press, you can always come here to see it for yourself.

Secondly, according to my understanding of the situation in the Gaza Strip (I've never been in there, so this is based on watching the news), the current situation is not quite as grave as you suggest, at least not yet. It is true that no-one goes in or out, and so the Gazans are effectively locked in prison there, but aid has not been cut off. Agencies still provide Gaza with essential medicines and food, and most importantly, Israel has not cut off their electricity or water supply. Israel is currently trying to work out what to do about the qassam rockets which the Gaza militants keep sending onto the town of Sderot, and one measure being considered is to reduce their power supply by a certain number of units for every rocket they send. Airstrikes are generally fairly successful at targeting the militants, but occasionally strike innocents such as the recent case of three Gazan children who were just playing next to the rocket launchers. Another option is to launch a ground incursion, but it appears that this won't take place at least until after peace efforts are attempted in November. But while the Gazan civilians are no doubt having a miserable time of it, their situation is far from desperate, for now anyway.

OK back to the West Bank. I occasionally drive from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on a road which after the Israeli town of Modi'in cuts through the West Bank until it arrives in North Jerusalem. Palestinians are not allowed to drive on this road for security reasons, and roads leading to Palestinian towns are denied access to it by way of huge concrete blocks placed at their entrances. As a result, Palestinians seeking to travel between their towns in that area are forced to either drive on rugged tracks, or walk along the side of the highway. However the only army presence I have seen is at the checkpoints at each end (one just before Jersualem, and the other just before Modi'in), and all seems quiet in the Palestinian towns along the way. Army incursions into Palestinian towns only happen rarely, so the Palestinians are generally able to go about their lives from what I have seen, except for the travel restrictions which are I'm sure humiliating and annoying for them.

By comparison, another road through the West Bank I sometimes drive is the one leading from Jerusalem down to the Dead Sea, passing Jericho. The area is essentially desert and so much more sparsely populated, and tensions are correspondingly much lower. As a result, Israelis and Palestinians use the same road and seem to co-exist entirely peacefully there.

So are conditions improving in the West Bank, you ask. I think the answer at the moment is that not a lot is changing just yet. Israel is releasing some Palestinian prisoners and removing a few checkpoints of lesser importance as gestures of support for Mahmoud Abbas, but I don't think the situation can change materially unless progress is made in the peace talks. Fatah hate Hamas, but they are reluctant to abandon the large part of the Palestinian population which lives in the Gaza Strip, so I think it may be difficult for Abbas to take steps towards any resolution which ignores Gaza. Which means that unless Hamas suddenly start behaving rationally, the situation probably won't be able to advance.

Finally, yes all of the West Bank Jewish settlers are still there, including in Hebron - I even know someone very religious who studies at the yeshiva there. The reason I say that many of them have been effectively duped, is because many of them moved there purely because homes are much much more affordable there, and the Israeli government promised to look after them. But times can change, and when Ariel Sharon decided that Gaza needed to be evacuated, they were all booted unceremoniously out of their homes and a large number of them are still stuck in temporary accommodation dotted randomly around the country, separated from their family and community, with nothing left of their former life.

I hope that helps - as you see nothing is ever simply black or white when you get down to it.

Edit to HopelessZ00: Yes numberplates are a very important security identifier round here. Yellow numberplates are granted to anyone with Israeli citizenship, including Palestinian Arabs who live inside the state of Israel. White numberplates are given to UN or diplomatic vehicles. I believe that vehicles with yellow or white numberplates are essentially free to drive anywhere in Israel or the Palestinian territories. Meanwhile blue numberplates are given to Palestinians who live in the occupied territories, and are therefore deemed to be a potential security risk to Israelis. They are free to drive around within the occupied territories, but would raise serious alarm bells if they tried to drive such a vehicle inside Israel, and so if that is what those journalists were trying to do then I'm not surprised they didn't get far...

Answer 2

I hope you are asking a serious question anyway Gaza and since the democratic elections was governed by hamas consequently all those who encouraged the democratic election including Israel and fateh made sanctions "goods money electricity petrol food medicine only 17 goods were allowed in in order not to reach starvation (s a wheat oil Sugar...) once fateh and hamas reached sort of reconciliation and made a national government which worked right for one day or two no one opened the way for this new government to work things out even more some sort of military action was going to take place against hamas so now simply Gaza is getting more stable now specially after truce with israel which was negotiated through egypt in the west bank things are bit different you see for instance some areas as close to jerusalem as a hand long in which PA is not allowed to have even police force "such as lram area eezareyyeh abo dis anata " the population of any of them is not less than 40 000 people so you should imagine how this 40 000 would live with no even police for Traffic these areas are supposed to be controlled by PA so only in few cases you can see an israeli militant is getting in to pick one or two but not for theft or Traffic accident or drugs or burger these areas are called "b" areas /the "a" areas are no longer exist these areas which the full responsibility is that of the PA ====== shaybani thanx for the link it says a lot i am sure that some answerers give you exactly the attitude of those who carry the guns.hope those who give orders are different

Answer 3

Right now the solution is to support more moderate elements and wait for the next Palestinian election. Assuming that the Palestinian people elect a more moderate government i.e. not Hamas, the peace process can get back on track. Israel can't act unilaterally as it just allows for terrorist elements to prosper, nor can Israel come to an agreement with a government that isn't popularly elected.

Answer 4

I really appreciated your report Londoner in Israel . Thumbs up! Nothing is either black or white, and nothing in this life is what it appears to be. Thank you for mentioning that if one is a tourist or journalist or Israeli they can move about pretty easy. I would just like to point out though, a few weeks ago some journalists did go with a hidden camera and a car that had a blue license plate on it. They were stopped everywhere they went , every 10 min had to get out, and were questioned. When they asked "Why are we being stopped?" A straight answer could not be given. In the end one IDF admitted because you have a blue License Plate. EU (Blue Licence Plate) is given to Palestinians only.

Answer 5

I would guess horrible. It has been horrible for decades. What has changed? Human rights are frequently violated and International laws are frequently violated. Have you heard that the situation has gotten better? People still do not give the Palastinians human dignity so it is still bad i would imagine.

Answer 6

u can never know for sure unless ur actully there, dont trust the CFR controlled media

Answer 7

israel is a bully and will always be one towards muslims in palestine