La filtración de un documento oficial sobre la proliferación de asentamientos judíos ilegales en Cisjordania con el beneplácito activo y pasivo de las distintas Administraciones israelíes está levantando polvareda. El documento ha sido filtrado al periódico Haaretz y la organización de derechos humanos israelí Yesh Din está difundiendo su contenido. Podéis leer transcripciones en inglés de este documento aquí (pdf).
Según revela el documento, más de 30 asentamientos se han construido sobre suelo que era propiedad de los palestinos y la filtración de este documento puede ayudar a que los palestinos interpongan demandas en los tribunales israelíes. El Jerusalem Post informa:
A newly leaked database detailing the complicity of the government in widespread illegal construction in West Bank settlements will be used to help Palestinians file lawsuits over what they say is their lost land, rights group Yesh Din said Friday.
The classified database, compiled by the Defense Ministry and obtained by Yesh Din, shows that government agencies and private companies building settlements in the West Bank widely ignored Israeli law, in many cases seizing land that belongs to Palestinians. It also demonstrates that the government has long been aware of the lawbreaking and has kept it secret.
More than 30 settlements were built in part on land owned by Palestinians, the report shows, and in three out of every four settlements some construction was conducted without proper permits.
In one settlement, Elon Moreh, the report says, 18 houses were built on private land. In another, Efrat, a park and a synagogue were built on private land, and in a third, Ariel, a college was built without legal approval. In other settlements, roads, cell phone antennas, basketball courts and neighborhoods were built illegally.
El editorial del periódico israelí Haaretz muestra indignación por la complicidad del Gobierno israelí en la proliferación de estos asentamientos ilegales.
The Defense Ministry's database documents illegal construction in more than 30 settlements, including such veteran settlements as Ofra, Elon Moreh and Beit El. Worse, the document - which is being revealed today for the first time in an article by Uri Blau in Haaretz Magazine (in Hebrew) - details a scandalous amount of land theft by the "legal" settlements. Schools, synagogues and even police stations have been built on private Palestinian land.
This is not another report by Peace Now or another investigative report by the media. It is an official document, drafted by a retired senior officer, Baruch Spiegel, on orders from former defense minister Shaul Mofaz. It casts a heavy shadow over Israel's pro-peace statements, while raising questions about its official position that "the use Israel makes of land for the settlements accords with all the rules and norms of international law. Privately-owned land has not been expropriated for the sake of establishing the settlements."The harsh findings were hidden from the public for two years due to the brazen argument that their exposure would undermine the country's security and its foreign relations. But is the revelation of Israel's ongoing land theft and its seizure of territory supposedly under negotiation what undermines its security, or the crooked behavior itself? Is enabling the public to exercise its right to know that the authorities are systematically violating their international commitments to stop settlement expansion, especially outside the "blocs," what undermines Israel's foreign relations, or the very fact that such deceit is occurring?
La cuestión de los asentamientos es, desde mi punto de vista, más compleja de lo que un examen de la legalidad vigente permite concluir. De acuerdo con la ética liberal, tierras inhabitadas que no están explotadas por nadie son perfectamente apropiables por quien quiera que le dé un uso útil o productivo, es irrelevante en que lado de la frontera política se encuentren.
El problema es que en el caso de los asentamiento judíos ilegales en Cisjordania numerosas edificaciones parecen haberse construido sobre lo que es suelo privado palestino, no tierras "públicas", y los costes de mantener esos asentamientos seguros y bien comunicados recae sobre los contribuyentes israelíes, luego la construcción ha sido subsidiada e incentivada. Por otro lado, la multiplicación de asentamientos y vías de transporte viene acompañada de "check points" y restricciones adicionales al movimiento de los palestinos, lo que en última instancia contribuye a la fragmentación de Cisjordania y dificulta que pueda crearse un Estado palestino.
El programa 60 minutes ha abordado el tema de los asentamientos en Cisjordania recientemente. El documental muestra varias injusticias que se derivan de estos asentamientos (alucinante el caso de los soldados israelíes ocupando regularmente la casa privada de una familia palestina, sometiéndolos a un arresto domicilario de facto, para llevar a cabo una de sus misiones; ¿acaso no sería legítimo echar a esos soldados por la fuerza?).
Incluyo dos vídeos (12 minutos):
