The story that caught my eye this morning was on the express train that Israel is building between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The planners want to tunnel under the Latrun salient, which is part of the occupied territories. They also want to dig a bit beyond the Green Line at the Mevasseret Zion settlement, which is a Jewish enclave just outside Jerusalem. Ha’aretz reports that
Several months ago, Attorney General Menahem Mazuz froze plans for the section between the Daniel intersection and Jerusalem in order to research the legal implications of building tracks beyond the Green Line. The subcommittee for roads of the government’s Supreme Planning Council in Judea and Samaria submitted the investigation request to Mazuz, asking him to examine land rights, and determine whether building the tunnels within the territories violates international law.
The Justice Ministry said that Mazuz demanded that “planning and operational steps be taken to allow the rail infrastructure of the State of Israel to be connected in the future to the rail infrastructure serving the residents of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.” In this way, apparently, Mazuz sought to comply with international law requirements that any use of occupied territory should benefit its residents.
Happily, the Justice Department approved the request.
I must admit that on first reading this, for a moment, I thought Mazuz envisioned a rail line that would cross between the Palestinian and Israeli states after a peace settlement - allowing Palestinians to commute into Israeli cities. But note that he refers to Judea and Samaria (standard Sharon-government usage for the West Bank, connoting Israel’s biblical right to the land). And note that this would contradict the policy of separation that Sharon has embraced.
Unfortunately, it looks more like Israel wants to preserve the option of rail stops in Latrun and Mevasseret Zion. This, in effect, broadcasts Israel’s intention of ignoring the Green Line in its territorial planning.
Al Jazeerah quotes Palestinian cabinet minister Saib Uraiqat saying that
any Israeli building in the territories occupied in 1967 is illegal according to international law. “This rail route is part of an Israeli policy of creating a permanent occupation and this policy will undermine any possibilities of reaching a peace agreement.”
Little good it does him to say so.
These small things, almost as much as the military raids and house demolitions, illustrate how powerless the Palestinians are under the occupation. We feel no obligation to go to any Palestinian body to ask for permission to dig. Presumably, Israel’s Justice Department balances the competing interests without any input from the Palestinians and rules, “objectively”, in Israel’s favor.
Processes like this probably harm Israel even more than they do the Palestinians. They subvert the meaning of law, turning it into a gloss on the exercise of power. Ultimately, oppression destroys the oppressor.
It is noteworthy, too, that Israel does feel constrained by international law. This underlines the importance of international involvement in the conflict.
The JTA take
The JTA adds this little nugget:
Under a plan approved by Israel´s Transportation Ministry last week, the new tracks will run through a mile of West Bank land near the narrow Jerusalem corridor. The Palestinian Authority on Friday called the blueprint a violation of international law, a claim dismissed by Israeli government legal consultants.
According to Haaretz, Israel intends to propose that it annexes the affected West Bank area under a territorial-exchange offer to the Palestinian Authority once it elects a new government on January 9.
So, see, it will be all legal and the land will belong to Israel! Just wait and see.
I always forget to log in
The above post was me.
Train route
When I read this, the settlement name rang a bell. Mevasseret Zion was in the news last year as the setlement which joined forces with its neighboring Arab village, Beit Surik, to protest the route of the security fence through the fields of Beit Surik. According to an article in the Christian Science Monitor (July 1, ‘04), the residents of Mevasseret Zion, who have coexisted peacefully for many years with their neighbors, requested that the Israeli Council for Peace and security, (made up, interestingly, of former senior army officers), submit to the Israeli Supreme Court an opinion that “the route of the fence harms Israeli security.” Among other things, the council claimed in its petition that the fence “makes the existence of the residents harder and will increase their bitterness and anger, something which in itself represents a severe security danger.” The case was decided in favor of the council’s petition, a couple of weeks before the International Court of Justice issued its ruling on the illegality of the wall, and the planned route was modified to be closer to the Green line and not cut through the Arab villages. The residents of both communities had previously organized imaginative protests, including a “joint kite event in which 50 children in Mevasseret Zion and 100 in Beit Surik flew kites at the same time.” It will be interesting to see how these communities, which are still presumably living as peaceful neighbors, will deal with this newest land grab ploy on the part of the Israelis.