Construction: Beginnings and Ends

According to the report published by Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2016, 5% of the building starts in Israel were in the areas of Judea and Samaria:-

The actual number was 2,620 out of 52,400.

The percentage of construction completions is 3.9%:

The Yesha Council, in its weekly bulletin issue 519, noted that the previous numbers of starts were:

2015 - 1.624

2014 - 1,516

2013 - 2,874

In 2008, during Ehud Olmert's administration, 2,400 starts were registered and in 2000 when Ehud Barak was Prime Minister, 5,000 construction starts were recorded.

Year after year, the Judea and Samaria region records the lowest percentage of construction starts despite its large population growth and its potential of huge increase in housing needs.

That's what we call a "freeze".

Nevertheless, the actual parameters of the freeze described here in fact authorize vast amounts of construction which is a total reversal of Obama.

^

Off-key Trumpeting of Trump

New York Times reports that Israel has been told to "hold off" on construction in Judea and Samaria.

That stemmed from an unnamed official in Washington via a Jerusalem Post story by a Michael Wilner on Thursday which reads, supposedly, that Israel was asked:

to cease settlement announcements that are “unilateral” and “undermining” of President Donald Trump’s effort to forge Middle East peace

The continuation of the remarks were

"While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal."

So, any intelligent reader would presume:

a. Jewish communities are okay, in principle.

b. In the meantime, Israel can continue its decades-old policies.

c. For the foreseeable future, no announcements.

d. And the US administration is not sure and hasn't made up its mind as construction "may not be helpful". Which means it could be helpful.

Read these stories:

More Fake News: Trump ‘Opposes’ Israeli Settlements

Spicer: 'Trump administration has not taken an official position' on Israeli settlements

Donald Trump reversed Barack Obama’s policy toward Israel’s settlements


_________

Official Press Spokesperson statement

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 2, 2017

Statement by the Press Secretary

“The American desire for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians has remained unchanged for 50 years. While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal. As the President has expressed many times, he hopes to achieve peace throughout the Middle East region. The Trump administration has not taken an official position on settlement activity and looks forward to continuing discussions, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he visits with President Trump later this month.”

^

The Difference Between Construction in Shiloh and...in Shiloh

As my readers know well, the construction and building (and even planning) of houses, schools and other edifices as well as fields, orchards and hothouses are headline material, a subject for UN deliberations, fodder for campus strife and what not.

I live in Shiloh in the Benjamin Region and sort of suffer from all this hullabaloo.

Unlike other Shiloh residents, like those in Illinois, USA.

Here's their barn problem.

Barn problem?

Yes, a problem with a barn:-

The Shiloh Board of Trustees remains divided on how to move forward with the dilapidated Red Barn that continues to sit at the end of Country Lane. Do they pass the bid opening up to $400,000 to restore the building for a new Cultural Arts Center? Or do they tear it down and construct a new building for the center?
After much deliberation, the board remained split during its Jan. 23 committee at large meeting 3-3. Shiloh Mayor Jim Vernier cast the swing vote to pass moving the bid opening to a $300,000 maximum, and a $400,000 finance proposal for the Red Barn rehabilitation. A final vote is expected to take place next month during the full board meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 6.
Village Administrator John Marquart informed the board that the village qualified for a tax exempt note on a loan with Commerce Bank locally for $400,000 to finance the initial improvements.
Trustees Mark Kurtz, Greg O’Neil and Bob Weilmuenster voted in opposition, while Colleen Powers, Tina Warchol and Kurt Burrelsman approved the maximum bid amount be reduced from $400,000 to $300,000.

Just think about that.

And can you imagine me talking about "Greater Shiloh"?


^ 

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/news/local/community/ofallon-progress/article128658914.html#storylink=cpy

Headline Mix-up

I read this

Construction progressing in Shiloh

and got excited.

Then I got past the headline:

Construction makes headway in the Village of Shiloh with various projects like demolitions, sidewalk installations and asphalt street repair work, according to Norm Etling, village engineer.  Illinois Department of Transportation weighed in on the bidding process, according to emails from Jon Schaller, IDOT local roads field engineer, to Etling.
“The federal participation is 75 percent of the construction costs with the village picking up the balance,” Etling said. “Our portion is being funded out of Motor Fuel portion of the budget.  The contractor gave us a very competitive bid and is doing a great job.”
According to Etling, the bids received from six companies were below the estimated cost of $547,045.99 for phase III of Shiloh Station Road Improvements project, with the lowest from Baxmeyer Construction Inc. at $369,813.08.

But worry not.

We're also constructing here in Shiloh, Binyamin, Land of Israel. 

^

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2014/10/09/3445478/construction-progressing-in-shiloh.html#storylink=cpy

Shiloh, My Home Village, in the News

Haaretz reports:

The Civil Administration, Israel's highest civilian authority in the West Bank, approved construction plans on Wednesday for 878 housing units in isolated settlements across the territory...
   
Several plans that had already been approved in the past by the government came up for discussion in the Civil Administration Higher Planning Council, including validations for the construction of 95 new residential units in the settlement of Shiloh, on a site in a southern neighborhood that now holds chicken coops.
    
Validation is the final stage necessary for approval in the planning council, paving the way for the construction and sale of the unit - pending approval by the Defense Ministry.
    
The council also gave retroactive approval for the construction of 17 residential units in another area of Shiloh, where the Amana movement has already begun to build, apparently without permits.

"Apparently"?

Well, it's legal now.

And those chicken-coops?

They'll stay put.


P.S.  Appreciate good wine?  Read this and Shiloh's vineyards and wineries, among others.

it is no surprise that the Jewish People's return to Israel in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries involved the reintroduction of vineyards and quality winemaking. Six thousand hectares (roughly 15,000 acres) of land is currently being cultivated as vineyards, mainly in the Galilee and Judean mountains, but also prominently in the Golan Heights and the Shomron (Samaria). The Land of Israel is coming alive and giving forth fruit to its indigenous people after 2,000 years of desolation and neglect!

Taste, for example, the deliciously crisp 2012 Sauvignon Blanc produced by Teperberg 1870 Winery from grapes grown in the Shomron mountains, near Shiloh. Or Teperberg's intense and well-balanced 2010 Reserve Shiraz from the same Shiloh vineyard. Of course, these wines are off-limits for Catherine Ashton. Too bad for her.

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The New Hotel on Emeq Refaim

The new Isrotel hotel of construction begins

This one:

a new Isrotel site in Jerusalem's German Colony neighborhood. The facility will be built at an estimated cost of NIS 256 million, including about NIS 31 million from the ministry [of Tourism]. The hotel, which will have 256 rooms, will be located at the corner of Emek Refaim Street and Bethlehem Road. Construction is slated to begin near the end of this year and is expected to take three years.

 Location:

Looking south along Emeq Refaim (the construction site is marked by the white fence on the left):

On the first building on the left:

By 1875, 100 people lived in the neighborhood. 1878 marked the beginning of a golden era. In this year the Templar leadership moved from Jaffa to Jerusalem. The head of the Templars, Christoph Hoffmann, called this the 'step' to Jerusalem....A secondary school was built in 1892 at 3 Emek Refaim. A cultural center was built at 1 Emek Refaim Street. This was transferred by Israel after 1948 to the Armenian Church.
 

and this

The Communal Hall – 1 Emek Refaim St.

...Communal life was important to the Templars, and the Communal Hall is evidence of this. It was inaugurated in 1882 in the presence of the governor of Jerusalem, and other honorable guests. The building also served for as a place of Sunday’s prayers and sermons, but the community members made sure not to call it a church and thus it hosted performances and meetings.

The architecture is unlike that of any conventional church: the apse, the recess where the altar stands near the wall of the church, rather than facing east, faces north. The building was built in Neo-Romanesque style, which was common in Europe of the Middle-Ages. The   roof has a triangle façade, embedded with a rounded window at its center and a small belfry on its vertex.

The communal life was led by the head of the colony who managed economical issues, by the communal council, and by the Council of Elders. Once a year a general meeting was held, and similarly to our government, it had to decide about the annual budget for the coming year and about other plans. It was mandatory for all citizens to participate, and those who were absent had to pay a fee of one mark, an example of the German's love of order...

and on the houses in the Colony that are on the construction site:

The School – 4, 5 Emek Refaim Street.

The children of the Templars studied in these houses. The school – lyceum – was built during two phases – the older southern part was built in 1878 and the newer northern part in 1882.

The Miller house – 6 Emek Refaim Street

^

Construction Proceeding Apace

Recent photographs I snapped here in Shiloh:-

a) apartments on the west side of our hill, 11 in number, being readied for occupancy residency; sidewalk being prepared:

b) the 12-apartment terraced complex on the south side of the hill,

c) the first apartment already with occupants residents:

d) a single family home proceeding with steps almost leading to somewhere:

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Illegal Construction

I have tried to explain the situation in Israel where construction actions are taken in line with reality but the approvals and licencing procedures are slow to catch up.

Usually, the construction activity out here in Yesha is in the limelight.

But I found this:

the cemetery, called Menuha Mehubedet (Hebrew for "dignified rest"), is running out of land and has built a 33-meter-long, four-level hillside structure for burial. But the structure was built without a permit, and is now under a demolition order.

Do you really think that it will be demolished or that ex post facto, official recognition will be granted?

Oh, the cemetery is in Kibbutz Givat Brenner.

A secular project, a socialist icon for location.

It's just a matter of how long it'll take to smooth bureaucratic problems.

Take note:

Before the demolition order was issued, the authorities turned a blind eye to the unlicensed burial structure and acted as if its approval was a mere formality, Abir said. The cemetery submitted an application to the courts to stay the demolition, but the order remains in place.

When Menuha Mehubedet built the disputed structure into a hillside, with space for 160 burials, it did not apply for a permit, confirmed Abir. He said the building was built on agricultural land, and the plan to rezone it has not yet been approved.

The plan, which includes a new road to reach the site and the industrial zone next to it, has been stuck in the planning committees for eight years now...Despite these objections and the committee's demand that the law be enforced, no steps were taken against the cemetery and two previously constructed multi-level burial structures...

On Sunday, the district committee discussed the issue again. The minutes have not yet been published, but Ofer says it approved the plan. However, the Interior Ministry says the plan has still not been approved and must be reviewed by legal experts.

Will Peace Now ask for criminal charges to be brought?

^

From November to March, A Criminal Investigatioin

Reported:

the police will now hold a criminal investigation into the actions that led to the unauthorized building in Shiloh, which the civil administration is in the process of legalizing. It is unclear who the police will investigate.

Attorney Akiva Sylvetzky of Jerusalem, who represents Shiloh and its regional governing body, the Binyamin Regional Council, said the investigation was purely technical and designed to close the door on any allegations of illegality. To do this, he said, the police must first study the matter.

“It would be irrational for the state to press charges for illegal building when that building is being legalized,” he said.

The state has already said it intends to authorize the homes, he said. Plans to do so are in an advanced stage, Sylvetzky added.

He plans to ask the court to close the case and acquit his clients of any wrongdoing.

It's a continuation from last November, as I blogged then.

If it took him three months to decide, imagine where this is going.

^

Article on Shiloh and Construction

By P. David Hornik.

^

Does Peace Now Deserve a Medal?

Further to the new constuction authorizations at Shiloh news, there is this from Dror Eydar:-

Praise Peace Now

...Peace Now, by force of habit, petitioned the court against the construction in Shiloh and in Shvut Rachel. As we know, Shiloh is mentioned in the Quran as an Arab community that has existed since creation. Who would believe the stories in the Bible indicating that Shiloh was the capital of the Tribes of Israel for hundreds of years?

Peace Now's argument was that these communities lacked the necessary zoning authorizations – as is the case in countless cities, even within the Green Line – making construction there illegal.

In response to the petition, the state provided the zoning permits, legalizing the existing construction and even authorizing future construction of hundreds of additional housing units. At this rate, Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer will get a Zionism medal for instigating the construction of entire cities...

__________

UPDATE

...a spokesperson for the EU's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Ashton said the FM was "deeply concerned by the approval on 22 February by the Israeli Civil Administration of new construction in the settlements of Shvut Rachel and Shiloh as well as the retrospective approval granted for housing units already built."

"Settlements are illegal under international law. In addition the Quartet Roadmap states that Israel should not only freeze all settlement activity, but also dismantle those settlements erected since March 2001," the statement said.

..."The High Representative calls on Israel to respect its obligations under the Roadmap and reverse this decision," the statement concluded.

And the State Dep't:-

QUESTION: Can I ask you about --

MR. TONER: Sure.

QUESTION: -- settlement activity in Israel? There was news of a preliminary decision regarding, I think, 600 units in Shiloh, which is quite far inside West Bank territory. Do you have a reaction to this that’s different than previous reactions for the same --

MR. TONER: I really don’t. I don’t have a – frankly, I haven’t seen those press reports. I mean, you know where we stand on settlement activity. We don’t believe it’s in any way constructive to getting both sides back to the negotiating table and we want to see, clearly, a comprehensive settlement that delineates borders and resolves many of these issues.

But read here.


^

Sorry, Serry

Where is the UN when you need it - in Syria, in Sri Lanka, in a dozen locations around the world?

It's busy condemning Jewish residency rights in the territory ofj the Jewish National Home as decided by its forerunner, the League of Nations, a decision Article 80 of the UN Charter upholds as still valid today*.

Read on:

UN slams plan to authorize outpost, Shiloh homes

The United Nations on Wednesday condemned Israeli plans to authorize both the Shvuet Rachel outpost and 180 already existing homes in the Shiloh settlement, located in the Binyamin region of the West Bank.

These actions are “deplorable and move us further away from the goal of a two-state solution,” said UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry.

“The Secretary-General reiterated the UN’s well known position that settlement activity is illegal, contrary to Israel’s obligations under the Road Map and will not be recognized by the international community.”

...Final approval of a zoning plan for both for the settlement and the outpost, would retroactively legalize all existing homes in Shiloh and Shvuet Rachel.

...The Defense Ministry’s settlement adviser Eitan Broshi said that the Higher Planning Council’s actions on Wednesday were a piece of that process.  He clarified that the Council’s actions on Wednesday moved the plans to the next level in the bureaucratic process, but that it could still take a number of months before the plans were finally approved.

He took issues with Peace Now’s designation of the construction as “illegal” and with the description of Shvuet Rachel as an outpost, even though it was classified as such in the 2005 report which attorney Talia Sasson presented to the government.

“Shvuet Rachel is a neighborhood of the Shiloh settlement,” he said.

The new zoning plan, he said, adjusts a technical problem for homes in Shiloh, including in the neighborhood of Shvuet Rachel, that lack all the proper paperwork.

All the homes in question, Broshi said, were constructed on state land and should be authorized.

...If these homes are authorized, it would more than double the size of both communities, Ofran said.  "The government is giving a prize to building offenders and continuing the system by which every time the settlers build without permits, the government approves the construction and allows them even more construction,” Peace Now said.

Mr. Serry, please read the material following the asterisk.

You won't be sorry.

*
As here:

The view often expressed in the UN that Jewish settlements in the West Bank are illegal in international law ignores the fact that close settlement by Jews on West Bank land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes was to be encouraged and is legally sanctioned by the Treaty of Sevres, article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter. Denying this vested legal right by unilaterally passing a resolution that seeks to negate the exercise of that right breaches article 80 of the UN Charter and is a denial of natural justice.

Article 80:

1.Except as may be agreed upon in individual trusteeship agreements, made under Articles 77, 79, and 81, placing each territory under the trusteeship system, and until such agreements have been concluded, nothing in this Chapter shall be construed in or of itself to alter in any manner the rights whatsoever of any states or any peoples or the terms of existing international instruments to which Members of the United Nations may respectively be parties.
2.Paragraph 1 of this Article shall not be interpreted as giving grounds for delay or postponement of the negotiation and conclusion of agreements for placing mandated and other territories under the trusteeship system as provided for in Article 77.

And as elucidated by Eli Hertz:

The “Mandate for Palestine” is Valid to This Day

The Mandate survived the demise of the League of Nations. Article 80 of the UN Charter implicitly recognizes the “Mandate for Palestine” of the League of Nations.

This Mandate granted Jews the irrevocable right to settle anywhere in Palestine, the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, a right unaltered in international law and valid to this day. Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (i.e. the West Bank), Gaza and the whole of Jerusalem are legal.

The International Court of Justice reaffirmed the meaning and validity of Article 80 in three separate cases:

ICJ Advisory Opinion of July 11, 1950: in the “question concerning the International States of South West Africa.”33

ICJ Advisory Opinion of June 21, 1971: “When the League of Nations was dissolved, the raison d’etre [French: “reason for being”] and original object of these obligations remained. Since their fulfillment did not depend on the existence of the League, they could not be brought to an end merely because the supervisory organ had ceased to exist. ... The International Court of Justice has consistently recognized that the Mandate survived the demise of the League [of Nations].”

ICJ Advisory Opinion of July 9, 2004: regarding the “legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory.”35

In other words, neither the ICJ nor the UN General Assembly can arbitrarily change the status of Jewish settlement as set forth in the “Mandate for Palestine,” an international accord that has never been amended.

All of western Palestine, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, including the West Bank and Gaza, remains open to Jewish settlement under international law.

Professor Eugene Rostow concurred with the ICJ’s opinion as to the “sacredness” of trusts such as the “Mandate for Palestine”:

“‘A trust’ – as in Article 80 of the UN Charter – does not end because the trustee dies ... the Jewish right of settlement in the whole of western Palestine – the area west of the Jordan – survived the British withdrawal in 1948. ... They are parts of the mandate territory, now legally occupied by Israel with the consent of the Security Council.”36

The British Mandate left intact the Jewish right to settle in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. Explains Professor Rostow:

“This right is protected by Article 80 of the United Nations Charter, which provides that unless a trusteeship agreement is agreed upon (which was not done for the Palestine Mandate), nothing in the chapter shall be construed in and of itself to alter in any manner the rights whatsoever of any states or any peoples or the terms of existing international instruments to which members of the United Nations may respectively be parties.

“The Mandates of the League of Nations have a special status in international law. They are considered to be trusts, indeed ‘sacred trusts.’

“Under international law, neither Jordan nor the Palestinian Arab ‘people’ of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have a substantial claim to the sovereign possession of the occupied territories.”

When will the UN and its employees free themselves from anti-Israel and anti-Zionist prejudices as well as, it would assume, simple ignorance?

UPDATE

AP reports about Israel's preliminary approval to build new homes in the West Bank: the timing of the move may further hinder already troubled Mideast peace efforts. It casts a shadow over a trip by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington in March...Speaking to reporters, State Department spokesman Mark Toner declined to comment about the announcement, but said the U.S. policy on settlement activity is clear. "We don't believe it's in any way constructive to getting both sides back to the negotiating table. And we want to see clearly a comprehensive settlement that delineates borders and resolves many of these issues."

And they had a pictureby Abir Sultan:

^

And the News of Shiloh Comes From...Lebanon

Of all the places from where to get updated, The Daily Star of Lebanon:

Israel to approve 500 new West Bank homes: spokesman

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: An Israeli committee was on Wednesday to approve construction of 500 new homes in the West Bank settlement of Shiloh and retroactively legalise more than 200 built without permits, a spokesman said.

The committee "will meet today to approve construction of 500 units," civil administration spokesman Guy Inbar told AFP, confirming that more than 200 homes, some in a nearby settler outpost, would be legalised "for humanitarian reasons."

Another version:

JERUSALEM: An Israeli committee was on Wednesday to approve construction of 500 new homes in the West Bank settlement of Shilo and retroactively legalise more than 200 built without permits, a spokesman said.

The committee "will meet today to approve construction of 500 units," civil administration spokesman Guy Inbar told AFP.  Asked about reports that more than 200 homes built without a permit, some in the nearby settler outpost of Shvut Rachel, would be legalised, he said: "Yes it's true -- they will be legalised for humanitarian reasons.

...Shiloh is a settlement community village with more than 2,000 residents which lies some 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of the northern city of Nablus Shchem.  And Shvut Rahel is a nearby unauthorised [nope. legal]settler outpost which is home to 400 people, and which the government has pledged to retroactively legalise [?].  Press reports said some of the homes which would be granted legal status were in Shiloh while others were in Shvut Rachel.

Yariv Oppenheimer, head of the settlement watchdog Peace Now, described the move as "one of the biggest projects in the territories."  It proved that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "doing everything he could to prevent the creation of two states for two peoples, and is heading towards a bi-national state," he said.

Well, good news is good news from wherever it is reported.

^

State Department Loses Diplomatic Points

As a friend with a background in international law wrote on the matter of the problem Arabs and the media have with Jewish residency in Yesha, which I redacted -

They make unprecedented demands on the issue of the Jewish communities so as to avoid negotiations, and this government made an unprecedented concession (a 10 month freeze) in order to try to lure them back to the talks. After the Israeli concession they still refused to talk, so how can they presume to be able to come back and demand further unilateral concessions from the Israelis on the issue. Whatever concerns the Arabs have about the communities can be resolved easily by getting serious about negotiations.

and as two others noted:

the issue of "settlements" was part of final status negotiations and not a precondition for talks. Israel’s record proves that it has made and kept peace deals notwithstanding settlement construction—for instance, Israel has a peace deal with Egypt notwithstanding settlements in the Sinai prior to that deal. The Palestinian record, by contrast, shows that they have not kept previous deals to end terrorism and resolve all differences at the negotiating table. Whereas Israel never agreed to stop financial incentives in settlements, the Palestinians did agree to negotiations without preconditions on settlements. Anyone serious about peace has to press the Palestinians to live up to their previous commitments on "settlements".

now consider this palabra from the State Department's
Daily Press Briefing of January 31, 2012 -

QUESTION: ...The Israeli Government has announced plans to actually encourage settlers to move into the West Bank and to begin – and also to begin a process that would – that could end up in legalizing what are now illegal outposts. I’m assuming that your position on both of these things hasn’t changed, so I’m wondering --


MR. TONER: You assume correctly.


QUESTION: Yeah.


MR. TONER: You know we’ve said multiple times --


QUESTION: What is it – can you maybe make it a little bit more clear, because it seems to be apparent that the Israelis, or at least Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government, don’t understand exactly what it is that you, as their prime benefactor and large – huge ally, want from them.


MR. TONER: Well, Matt, we’ve said this many times from this podium and from elsewhere that we view any move that would jeopardize getting these two parties back to the negotiating table, and indeed, we’ve obviously seen them back – face-to-face negotiations over the past couple of weeks – that we find those unconstructive and unhelpful.


QUESTION: And that would include what they have announced today?


MR. TONER: Yes, that would include that.


QUESTION: All right. So what is the consequence, then, for Israel for them continuing to defy – not only defy but really to do – not just to say no, we don’t agree with that, but then to actually actively -


MR. TONER: Well, again --


QUESTION: -- oppose or actively take active steps that fly in the face of what you say is helpful?


MR. TONER: Well, again, we’re seeking clarity on what is actually being proposed here. We did have an initial round of direct talks in Jordan. Those talks have ended, but they did show signs of progress and we certainly want to see them continue. And these kinds of actions don’t help create the kind of atmosphere that are conducive to these talks continuing.


Now, David Hale is in the region. He’s going to have meetings in Amman as well as Jerusalem and Ramallah, and he’ll be back in Washington later this week. But – obviously, he’s there in his capacity, but also I think he’ll make some of these concerns – convey them to the Israeli Government.


QUESTION: Well, these concerns have been conveyed over and over and over to the Israelis. What is the consequence for them continuing to do this?


MR. TONER: Well, again, this is about getting them back to the negotiating table. And what we make clear is that whenever these kinds of actions take place, that they hamper that process.


QUESTION: So there is no consequence at all?


MR. TONER: Well, again, it’s not about carrots and sticks. What it’s about is trying to encourage these parties to get back to the negotiating table.


QUESTION: Why not? It’s about carrots and sticks everywhere else in the world. Why isn’t it about carrots and sticks here?


MR. TONER: In this case, it’s in both their --


QUESTION: What are you doing --


MR. TONER: -- it’s in both parties’ best interests to continue negotiations towards a comprehensive settlement.


QUESTION: But the actions of at least – one could argue the actions of both parties, but in this series of questions, which is about the announcements by the Israeli Government --


MR. TONER: Right.


QUESTION: -- they are not acting in the best interests of that, according to you.


MR. TONER: Again --


QUESTION: Correct? So what is the consequence of that? The consequence is they don’t get back to talks that they apparently don’t seem to want?


MR. TONER: Well, again, you’ll have to ask the Israeli Government what their intent is here. But you’re absolutely right that this has to be something that both sides want to pursue and to do so in a meaningful and committed fashion. And again, we are very outspoken when we see actions by either side that we believe hampers the chance for these parties to get back into direct negotiations. It’s certainly – as we’ve said many times, it’s in both of their interests to be in direct negotiations.


QUESTION: All right. Two more very quick ones --


MR. TONER: Yeah. Sure.


QUESTION: -- and then I’m done. You talk about meaningful and committed fashion. Are the actions of the Israeli Government something that you would consider meaningful and committed to be – is what they’re doing, is that something that you consider to be acting in a meaningful and – now I’ve forgotten the other word --


MR. TONER: That’s okay.


QUESTION: Committed.


QUESTION: -- and committed fashion?


MR. TONER: Thanks, Andy. Again, I think I’ve been very clear that actions by either side that we view as unconstructive to the process --


QUESTION: So they are not acting in a meaningful and committed fashion?


MR. TONER: Well, again, we have had talks in Jordan over the past few weeks that we believe offered a good start. We want to see those talks continue. David Hale is in the region. He’s consulting with all sides as well as the Jordanians.


QUESTION: Mark, that’s a great answer to a question, but it’s not the question I asked. Is Israel asking in a meaningful – acting in a meaningful and committed fashion toward getting a peace – towards encouraging these talks?


MR. TONER: Again, we’ve said that these kinds of actions are not constructive.


QUESTION: I think it’s a yes-or-no question.


MR. TONER: And I’m going to answer you the way I’m answering you, which is that it’s not constructive.


QUESTION: It’s not constructive, all right. And then the last one is just Hale – he is where at the moment right now?


MR. TONER: That is a good question. I believe he’s in Amman today.


QUESTION: Okay. And was he aware – was he aware of this before he went or --


MR. TONER: I don’t know. I haven’t – I didn’t talk to him.


QUESTION: Did this come out as a complete surprise to you guys?


MR. TONER: I do not know whether he was aware of it or not.


QUESTION: What about the rest of the building?


MR. TONER: Again, I believe that we were – again, I’m not going to get into what we may or may not have known. What we’re seeing here is actions that we believe aren’t constructive.


QUESTION: Mark, just a --


MR. TONER: Yeah. Sure, Said.


QUESTION: -- quick follow-up on this. Now, you keep saying that the path to statehood is through direct negotiations. Seeing how the settlement processing increased by 20 percent in 2011 and with today’s announcement, and in fact, since the beginning of this month we are likely to see an increase if they continue at this pace – like a 40 percent increase in settlement activities. So what incentive is there for the Palestinians to go into these negotiations to sort of get a state that is viable – as you keep saying – that is viable and contiguous and independent and sovereign?


MR. TONER: Well, the motivation should be clear, and that is the sooner they sit down with Israel and work through these issues in a comprehensive fashion so that we can get a clear way forward in terms of borders, then the sooner they have that comprehensive settlement and that statehood that they so desire.


QUESTION: But isn’t there a pattern that every time there is some sort of a negotiation and, in fact, a visit by a high-level U.S. official and so on to Israel, that the Israelis always counter by announcing a new settlement and increase the settlements and so on?


MR. TONER: Again, you’re asking me to speak to the motivations behind this decision. I don’t know.


QUESTION: Okay. So you talk about incentives for the Palestinians, but do you have any kind of disincentive for the increased Israeli settlement activities?


MR. TONER: Well, we’ve always been clear that – and Israelis themselves have commented that the status quo is unsustainable. So that’s --


QUESTION: So then the expression of anger and perhaps a little pouting, there is nothing that you can do?


MR. TONER: I disagree. David Hale is right now in the region. He is consulting with our partners as well as the parties. And we’re committed to getting them back into direct negotiations.


QUESTION: Can you tell us the last time that your position that was made very clearly to the Israelis did have an impact on stemming the settlement activities?


MR. TONER: Again, we are very outspoken when we see these kinds of actions by either side. We convey those to the Israelis, but you’re asking me to --


QUESTION: But you expressed a little recollection on that --


MR. TONER: -- elaborate on some kind of actions that I can’t.


QUESTION: In the last 12 months, you have not been able to sort of dissuade the Israelis from settlement activities. Are you aware of any time that you were able to persuade them?


MR. TONER: Again, Said, it is a question better directed to the Israeli Government. What we’re trying to do without preconditions, we’re trying to get the parties back to the negotiating table, and we’ve had a good start.

Amazing, no?

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Construction at Shiloh

The current construction situation at Ramat Shmuel in Shiloh.

A road, apartment houses and some homes.

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Speedy Construction

Seems my neighbor has found a speedy way of construction:

Those three photographs represent less than a month of work.

I think he's using a refined "American-style" process.

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A Tale of Frozen Starts

Tovah Lazaroff reports

Building in settlements stay at ‘freeze’ level - Housing starts dropped 65% in third quarter.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would have no need to order a second freeze on new settler homes in the West Bank, because a de facto one already exists, according to Central Bureau of Statistics data published on Wednesday.  There were just as few settler housing starts in the third quarter of this year as there were during the same period in 2010, when the government imposed a moratorium on such activity.  Work began on 105 settler homes between July and September of this year, compared with the 113 starts in the same months in 2010, the CBS said.

...there was a 60% drop in the number of West Bank Jewish homes completed in the in the third quarter, to 179, down from 447 in the second quarter, according to the CBS.  That’s a 53% drop when compared with the 382 settler homes that were completed in the third quarter of last year.

Hagit Ofran of Peace Now said she could not explain the sharp drop in the CBS numbers.  “In the field, the numbers are dramatically higher,” Ofran said.

...Dani Dayan, who heads the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, said, however, that the data did not surprise him.
“Not enough new housing approvals have been granted,” he said. The pipeline of approvals from past governments is getting dryer and dryer.”

The council has long warned of a de facto freeze and has repeatedly called on Netanyahu to issue building permits.

...Shmuel Levy, who heads the Association of Building and Infrastructure Contractors of the Jerusalem area, echoed Dayan’s statements.  “It’s as if there was a freeze,” Levy said. The government has bowed to American pressure and is not issuing new permits, and as a result, there is little new construction, he said.

This is news to me but, then again, I live in Shiloh.

________________

UPDATE

And who is constructing?

Eager to make up for lost years, released Palestinian prisoners build houses, hunt for brides

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian prisoners released in a swap for an Israeli soldier last month are racing to make up for lost time: Many of the 477 former inmates are already getting married, building homes or enrolling in college, even as Israel keeps a close eye on them in fear they could return to violence.

...As part of their welcome home, they have received startup grants of up to $10,000 from the Western-backed Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank and the Hamas government in Gaza, and there is talk of stipends and apartments.

...Israeli counterterrorism expert Yoni Fighel said a successful transition to civilian life would reduce the likelihood of a relapse. “If they have work, a salary, an incentive to start a family and get established, the attractiveness of terrorism will be reduced,” he said.

The zeal with which some of the prisoners are trying to catch up suggests they do not want to risk their newfound freedom.

Muayad Abdel Samed, 50, who spent half his life behind bars for killing an Israeli border police officer, said he believes in peaceful means for obtaining Palestinian independence.

“After these long years in prison, and at my age, and the political changes that occurred on our Palestinian case, our duties are less than before,” Abdel Samed said as he mixed cement for a house he is building with an $8,000 government grant.

Abdel Samed hopes to find a bride. He also applied for a monthly stipend from the Palestinian Authority, the self-rule government that was set up six years after he went to prison in 1987.

I just hope there is no dead body in that cement.


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Peace Now Takes the Criminalize Route

As I noted previously, construction at Shiloh, the object of a Peace Now High Court appeal which failed, is a simple matter of administration and bureaucracy, of parcelization and zoning (see what is on the books in the UK).  The ownership, as if it is "stolen privately-owned land", is not the issue but if land originally set aside for agriculture can be used for building homes.

Trust me, living here, no real agriculture can be developed there where the building is.  The original designation was simple an off-hand decision at the time.

There is nothing criminal in the procedure but our Peace Now Zionists won't give up.

Read on from a JPost report: Shiloh construction may bring criminal probe

The State Attorney’s office is weighing the possibility of ordering a criminal investigation into illegal construction [it isn't illegal] in the West Bank settlement of Shiloh, even as the Defense Ministry has said it plans to legalize the building.

...The panel of three justices – Miriam Naor, Esther Hayut and Neal Handel – heard a petition filed by Peace Now over alleged illegal construction of residential housing units in Shiloh, northeast of Ramallah.  Peace Now claims the construction, on three areas of designated state land, is unlawful because the Binyamin Regional Council has not received appropriate planning permits from the Defense Ministry.

Monday’s hearing came after the state informed the High Court on Sunday that the Defense Ministry has decided to retroactively approve building plans in Shiloh, a move that will legalize 119 residential units in the settlement. [a move that happens all the time all over Israel as well as in kibbutzim]

...Peace Now had asked the court to order the Defense Ministry to explain why it had not taken all necessary actions to prevent the houses’ construction and to investigate and to prosecute those members of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council responsible for the building.

...The petition relates to three different areas in Shiloh, one of which was officially zoned as agricultural lands, and which cannot be used for residential building. [well, if you change that status, the land can be used.  is Peace Now asserting that the government can't change its mind?]

In order to legalize building on that land, the state must now undertake a public process, during which members of the public will be allowed 60 days to voice any opposition to the zoning changes.  The other two areas are already zoned as residential, but Peace Now argues that the houses built on that land were constructed without a proper permit. [Peace Now turns here, turns there and wants us to get dizzy]

...Peace Now had contacted the Judea and Samaria regional police and the deputy attorney-general asking for a criminal investigation into alleged illegal construction by the Binyamin Regional Council.  However, the state said in its written response that such an investigation was “not a simple matter.”

In Monday’s High Court hearing, attorney Michal Friedlander, for the state, said that that a decision has not yet been made regarding the criminal investigation...Friedlander said that a decision would be made on the matter within several weeks.

...After the hearing, attorney Akiva Sylzetsky, for the Binyamin Regional Council, told The Jerusalem Post he was optimistic the court would decide not to intervene in the matter of the housing construction.  Regarding the police investigation, Sylzetsky said it would be “difficult to start an investigation in a place where the process of legalization has already started,” and that any investigation would not necessarily result in indictments being filed.

According to Sylzetsky, the state’s move to legalize housing construction in Shiloh is part of a trend that has developed over the past year and-a-half in reaction to petitions like this one, filed against building on state (public) lands in the West Bank.  The petitions have given the state the impetus to legalize settlement construction on state lands, which lacks the necessary permits. The land is considered public and there are no Palestinian private land claims against it, Sylzetsky says, because the High Court has forced the state to give an answer about the land.

“Peace Now’s petitions have been having the opposite affect to that intended,” he added. “In several places, the state has legalized construction because of petitions, whereas if the settlers themselves had asked for legalization it would never have happened.”...The state can legalize the houses because they are built not on private Palestinian land but on so-called “state lands,” land considered public property under Ottoman law. [not only that, sir, but the League of Nagtions Mandate decision specifically charged that state and waste lands were to be used for "close Jewish settlment", Article 6]

According to that law, which was in force when Israel took the area from Jordan in 1967, land in the West Bank is considered state land unless an individual has occupied, cultivated and paid taxes on it for at least 10 years.

Meanwhile, also on Monday, the High Court of Justice decided to postpone a hearing of a petition by civil rights watchdog Yesh Din into alleged illegal construction on private Palestinian land in the Kochav Ya’acov settlement.  The decision came after the state agreed to carry out a land ownership survey. Lawyers Michael Sfard, Shlomy Zecharya and Avissar Lev filed the petition on behalf of Ali Barakat, head of the village council of Akeb, whose constituents allegedly own the land.

One day, the real criminals will get their comeuppance.

That is not a threat but an expectation and observation.

P.S.  What to buy some property?

P.P.S.  Did you know that as of May 1968 a land survey was done by the Israel Lands Administration, the General Staff's Settlement Department and the Department of Agriculture. These were its findings: 50,000 dunums were in private Palestinian lands.
(see: Shlomo Gazit, The Carrot and the Stick: Israel's Policy in Judea and Samaria, 1967-68, B'nai B'rith Books, Washington, D.C., 1995) and that by November 1992, one year after the Madrid Peace Conference and the start of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, land held by Israel potentially for the use of Israeli settlers constituted more than 60 percent of the total area of Judea and Samaria and 35 percent of the total area of the Gaza Strip. Prior to 1948, Jews bought lands in the Judea and Samaria and when the Jordanian government took over, it passed the Custodian of Enemy Property Law and established the office of a Custodian of Enemy Property under whose administration the lands that had been bought by Jews were placed. These amounted to some 30,000 dunums out of the total area of 5.5 million dunums (see: Gazit, op. cit., p. 126).

As this pro-Arab source explains, land ownership is complicated and compounded by refusals to register such.


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Our Construction Is Legal (Peace Now Cries Foul)

Back in March, Peace Now tried to muscle Shiloh around.

And now:

The Defense Ministry has approved two plans for the construction of 119 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Shilo, Ynet has learned. The building permits were revealed in the State's response to a petition filed with the High court of Justice by Peace Now eight months ago after the construction of 40 units had already begun on a number of Shilo plots...Defense Minister Ehud Barak's bureau said in response: "Anything approved in Shilo is just approval of the existing situation; any additional construction will need a new permit."

In its petition, Peace Now claimed the construction was illegal and was not included in the original plan for the area, as approved by the Central Bureau of Planning at the Civilian Administration of Judea and Samaria. In its response, submitted Wednesday, the State said that in light of the petition it has decided to retroactively authorize all permanent housing units included in the two construction plans.

If implemented, the construction plans would expand Shilo by 60%. There are currently 195 housing units in the settlement, in addition to caravans.

To clarify: this was not a matter of illegality.  It's one of internal zoning.  Slow bureaucracy.  Certain areas did not yet have their status altered.   Dany Dayan had an article about the kibbutzim going through decades of administrative paperwork to accomplish similar moves.

P.S.  195?  I'll start counting.  We have about 300 families.

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A House Grows in Shiloh

34 seconds of construction:




Before

During

After

Photo/Video credit: YMedad


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