Apartheid Israel Policy To Retain Area C

                A recent Apartheid Israeli Supreme Court decision allows the exploitation of Palestinian natural resources to fund the military occupation of Palestine.  It also suggests a long term policy within Apartheid Israel to fund the continued occupation of Palestine indefinitely.  This has been the policy of Apartheid Israel since the Oslo Agreement.

The Court decision involves quarries in Area C in the West Bank which under the Oslo Agreement is controlled by Apartheid Israel.  This decision sheds light on how Apartheid Israel wants to retain Area C and give Areas A & B to the Palestinians under limited rule.

                Without going into the illegality of the ruling under international law, the decision renders some long term policy considerations within the Apartheid Israeli government.  In a previous article entitled “Will Areas A & B become Palestine?” I stated that Apartheid Israel’s policy is to keep Area C and give Areas A & B to the Palestinians, thus self-imposing a “peace” solution upon the Palestinians.  I stated that already Apartheid Israel is calling the checkpoints as “terminals” and “crossings” which is an obvious reference to a border.  Additionally, Apartheid -in-Chief Benjamin Netanyahu wants to give additional powers to the Palestinian Authority in Area B so as to entice them to continue to the talks that question when the peace talks should begin and to thwart any reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.

                The decision by the Apartheid Israeli Supreme Court sheds a new argument for my analysis.  The decision had the audacity to state that even if the exploitation of the Palestinian quarries

“…still takes place during the next thirty years at the estimated extent (in an estimated value of approximately 7.2 million tons on average, annually, for the next fifteen years, and approximately 11.2 million tons on average, annually, for the following fifteen years), the total overall consumption for the whole abovementioned period will exhaust about half a percent of the overall mining potential in the Area, which stands at approximately 65.1 billion tons”  (emphasis added)

This reference to the “next thirty years” came from the “States [Israel] estimation” according to the Judgment opinion.  It unequivocally states that Apartheid Israel is looking three decades ahead for the continuation of the illegal occupation.  Referring to Area C, the opinion confirms the statement that the “Civil Administration” states that “…these quarries are established on Israeli state land…”  

Apartheid Israel has no intention of giving up Area C upon which the illegal settlements have been erected.  By hook or crook, Apartheid Israel is moving forward to retain Area C.   Unfortunately, the Palestinian authority had negotiated “the responsibility over the issue of quarries and mining within Area C– including licensing authorities, supervision, their expansion and operation” to the Apartheid Israeli Civil Administration.  Such responsibility was to be gradually transferred from the Civil Administration to Palestinian hands as a part of a comprehensive process aimed at transferring powers and responsibilities within those areas.   This gradual transfer of power to Palestinian hands was to be part of the final status talks that never materialize.   Thus, if these talks never materialize then they will remain in Apartheid Israeli hands. 

Within the Oslo Agreement and the Interim Agreements, the parties, Palestinian Authority and Israel, had agreed that during the interim term the quarries would remain active, and it was even decided that in case any questions should arise in the course of the process of transferring rights over the quarries, such questions shall be discussed by a joint committee.  The parties further agreed to respect the recommendations of said committee, and it had been also agreed that "until the committee had reached its decision, the Palestinian party shall refrain from taking any measures that could negatively affect those quarries"

The Court’s decision generally stated that the issue of the quarries was a political decision that was addressed by Apartheid Israel and the Palestinian Authority and the court will not undue a political agreement with a foreign state. Additionally, the Court, in an obvious attempt to seem in compliance with the 4th Geneva Convention, ruled that the royalties collected from the excavation of the quarries helps fund the military occupation and helps employ Palestinians. 

What a quagmire situation the Palestinians have dug themselves into?  The Israeli Supreme Court will not interfere in the exploitation of Palestinian natural resources and the Apartheid Israeli government will not discuss final status talks thus leaving everything in Area C in limbo but in the control of the occupier.

  

This has been Apartheid Israel’s plan with the signing of the Oslo Agreement.  What else can anyone conclude when Apartheid Israel has continued to build more and more illegal settlements in the West Bank after the signing of the Oslo Agreement?  What else can anyone further conclude when “the settler population has grown consistently between 4-6% per year over the last two decades, a much higher rate of growth than Israeli society as a whole (1.5%).”[1]

                The Palestinian Authority must resist all efforts to fall into the scheme of this Apartheid Israeli policy.  It should not negotiate with Apartheid Israel and must continue to expose Apartheid Israel for what it truly is an Apartheid State of Israel. It must support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement worldwide. 


(© Copyright, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)

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[1]Israeli Settlements, Palestine Monitor, Exposing Life Under Occupation, http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article7