Construction of new West Bank projects hits seven-year high

By Noam Sheizaf June 10, 2013 | Edit

Despite the 2011 tent protests, housing construction has actually decreased over the last year in Israel. At the same time, the West Bank registered a national high in new construction projects for Jewish settlers.

Construction of new West Bank projects hits seven-year high

Israeli bulldozers seen in the settlement of Halamish near the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, April 19, 2013. (Photo by: Ahmad Al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, new construction projects in West Bank settlements have grown by 176 percent (!) compared to the same period last year (January-March 2012). This is a 355 percent increase, when compared to the final quarter of 2012 (October-December).

Currently, construction projects for Jews in the West Bank make up eight percent of all construction projects in Israel (not including those run by the Palestinian Authority).

The numbers refer only to legal projects and not to unregulated projects in the so-called “outposts.” Furthermore, construction projects in annexed East Jerusalem are left out are are counted separately. Construction projects in Jerusalem as a whole make up 13 percent of the national figure, and since the city cannot be developed to the west, at least some of the new projects are done beyond the Green Line.

Despite the real estate crisis and the public protest, new construction projects in Israel actually decreased by 8.9 percent during the same period. These figures can help explain the attractiveness of settling in the occupied territories for many Jews.

Peace Now, which does the most extensive work on monitoring settlement growth, issued the following response:

These findings provide further evidence of a continuing government policy to prioritize settlement expansion, at the behest of settler interests and at the expense of the majority of Israeli citizens. Settler populations comprise of a mere 4% of the population, yet received a 176% increase in construction starts, while the other 96% of Israeli citizens received an 8.9% decrease in construction starts.

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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