Peace Processing

Settlers ignore freeze, continue to build in dozens of settlements

Gregg Carlstrom | February 15, 2010 10:12 AM | 0 | recommend (0) |   |      

Israel is about three months into Benjamin Netanyahu's 10-month partial settlement freeze in the West Bank -- and so far the emphasis is very much on "partial."

The defense ministry released a report today documenting violations of the freeze in 29 settlements -- one-fourth of all Israeli settlements. Violations happened in some of Israel's largest West Bank settlement blocs, like Ma'ale Adumim and Beitar Illit. The Israeli group Peace Now documented separate violations in five other settlements. In some cases, settlers did construction work on Shabbat or under cover of darkness to avoid inspectors.

Matan Vilnai, the deputy defense minister, says the Israeli government is taking "enforcement actions" against violators, which include stop-work orders and demolition.

We've mapped out a few of the settlements in question. This is an incomplete graphic, because the full report isn't posted on the defense ministry's Web site (not in English, at least); we're compiling data from media reports. The red markers are the settlements documented by the ministry; the green markers are for settlements identified by Peace Now as violators.

Settlement violation map

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Categories: Israel, Israel & Palestine, Palestine, Regional News

Tags: Beitar Illit, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli settlements, Ma'ale Adumim, Matan Vilnai, Peace Now, settlement freeze

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