Post by Moses on Feb 1, 2006 13:41:43 GMT -5
The Truth Is In The Numbers…
While Hamas' stunning election victory seems to have altered conventional wisdom on Middle East politics, there are some things that have not changed at all in the last week. Indeed, the ongoing increase in Israeli settlements on Palestinian land creeps up on us in years rather than days. In its latest "Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories," the Foundation for Middle East Peace provides telling statistics that are sometimes overlooked: In the beginning of 1993, the population growth in the West Bank and Gaza (excluding East Jerusalem) was 105,400. By the end of that year, it was 116, 300—a jump of 10.4%. Each subsequent year — during the so-called "peace process"— settlements grew by at least 10,000. By the end of 2004, the settlement population had reached an astounding 243,900. And this number does not include the more than 200,000 settlers living in the West Bank areas around Jerusalem that Israeli occupied in 1967. Those are some stark "facts on the ground" which should not be forgotten.
While Hamas' stunning election victory seems to have altered conventional wisdom on Middle East politics, there are some things that have not changed at all in the last week. Indeed, the ongoing increase in Israeli settlements on Palestinian land creeps up on us in years rather than days. In its latest "Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories," the Foundation for Middle East Peace provides telling statistics that are sometimes overlooked: In the beginning of 1993, the population growth in the West Bank and Gaza (excluding East Jerusalem) was 105,400. By the end of that year, it was 116, 300—a jump of 10.4%. Each subsequent year — during the so-called "peace process"— settlements grew by at least 10,000. By the end of 2004, the settlement population had reached an astounding 243,900. And this number does not include the more than 200,000 settlers living in the West Bank areas around Jerusalem that Israeli occupied in 1967. Those are some stark "facts on the ground" which should not be forgotten.