Gaza pullout: Israeli settlements are not inviolable
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) The Israeli withdrawal from Gaza must be a "first step" for rethinking the question of other Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory: this is the appeal that Fr Franz Bowen, President of the Justice and Peace Commission in Jerusalem, makes to the international community through AsiaNews.
In a conversation with AsiaNews, the White Father missionary, in Israel since 1969, stressed that the Israeli pullout from Gaza "breaks the taboo that had made settlements inviolable The international community has a great responsibility in ensuring that this withdrawal dynamic does not come to a halt, but continues." This appeal by Fr. Bowen, who is also editor of the magazine Proche Orient Chrétien, comes at a time when thousands of Israeli settlers are poised to enter into the Gush Katif settlement to contrast the withdrawal planned for next month.
Israeli police have been blocking entry to settlers over the past two days. Protest leaders cancelled their march, but have decided to keep hundreds of protesters near the border, as a base for future protests. In his remarks, Fr Bowen points out that current difficulties within Israel are precisely a factor of the symbolic value of the pullout. At the same time, Palestinian authorities are filled with suspicion as they are unable to envision prospects for the future.
There is much that, in our view, remains uncertain, contradictory and unpredictable in the Gaza pullout.
In any case, international public opinion should hope that the pullout actually takes place and that it becomes a first step to be followed by others. The importance of this withdrawal lies in the fact that, for the first time, settlements will be dismantled and settlers will be obliged to return within the Israeli state. It is the end of the taboo that had made settlements inviolable.
This explains the strong resistance on the part of religious nationalists and right-wing groups within Israel: they understand that this withdrawal is the beginning of something that could be far-reaching, that is against the bond between religion, the gift of land, the right to land. Here, we touch upon three very delicate and sensitive points in Israeli public opinion.
From the Palestinian point of view, there is a lot of distrust. They fear that the Gaza pullout is seen by the international community as only a fact unto itself, something that serves only to better assure the presence of Israeli settlers in Palestinian territories. For Palestinians, the Gaza withdrawal must be the sign of a vaster pullout.
Sharon has understood that there is no longer any point in staying in Gaza and settlers have no future there. But he has not arrived at any conclusion for the rest of the Palestinian territories.
What counts is that Gaza is seen as a beginning, the trigger for a new trend in the relation with colonists and settlements. The international community holds a great responsibility in ensuring that this withdrawal dynamic does not come to a halt, but continues.
For the Israeli perspective, nothing is being said about what comes next. Israeli authorities have made clear that, following the Gaza pullout, the government will take no further step until Palestinian authorities put into effect all the pre-conditions for dialogue: that all violence come to an end; that all terrorist groups be dismantled. They are well aware that such absolute conditions can never be met. This is of no help to the Palestinian authorities and gives it no leeway in being able to show the results and effectiveness being requested by extremist organizations.
.png)
