Reply #33: They didn't transfer people from Gaza to WB.

[Shaktimaan]

I'm not double checking this instant but to my recollection when Gaza was evacuated along with a few small WB settlements the settlers were brought to Israel proper and while they were supposed to get compensation and aid in relocating the whole thing has been a fiasco and the settlers have been bogged down in red tape, even still uncompensated today. I could care less, I hate those guys.

Anyway, at that time there were plans to dismantle other WB settlements as part of unilateral disengagement which were then scrapped after Hamas gained power and the attacks against Israel jumped. It wasn't until a while later that they approved new construction, I think they started in E. Jerusalem suburbs. But by now it has more than offset the 8000 settlers that left Gaza, you're right about that.

Here's the thing to understand, most settlements are tiny. Half have less than 500 people and the six largest house most of the rest. For the most part these enclaves are near the border or are suburbs of east Jerusalem, centralized and compact, not spread out all over. They are clearly not going to be torn down, they'll be incorporated into Israel while the small ones, which cover most of the land utilized by the settlements, are surely going to be destroyed. But the Palestinians themselves have expressed that they could live with Israel keeping some of these areas, namely around Jerusalem. At any rate, they'll have to.

And while I understand that you do not like the settlements, they are not illegal. The West Bank is not guaranteed to strictly belong to Palestinians alone, the area has never been an official part of any state since the ottoman empire, both sides have legitimate claims to areas, and their own agreements, signed by the PLO, clearly state that the border and territories are to be settled in negotiation. It is not as though Palestinians were evicted to make room for these settlements, the actual ownership of the land is disputed. Additionally, there have been no binding UN orders or court judgements ruling against the settlements. And Israel has been given the power to administrate the OT as they see fit until a just peace is declared. So, unless something happened that I don't know about, you are just assuming that they are illegal based on the opinions of organizations whose outlook you prefer. Yet there still remain 2 sides to the argument.

As for your statement...

Exactly. What they'll say is 'what's a few more houses?' but the truth is, as we've seen, they will never remove those people from that land. And to say otherwise is an outright lie.

So, anyone who says anything otherwise than that Israel will never remove the new settlers is outright lying. Right? This was your statement, correct?