Your post simply drops the context of Israeli settlements on the West Bank and Gaza.
The heck it does... You have missed the forest for the trees.
The matter of settlements IS A SECURITY ISSUE for Israel.. They have located the majority of them on hilltops in areas where there are "choke points" between hills which are easily defended. The intent is to create a line of defense that would permit the IDF forces to mobilize against an invading force.
At least THAT is what the Israeli government would like the world to perceive is the reason.
And Arafat has DONE NOTHING to destroy the rationalization behind the Israeli reasoning.. Namely to spend time stabilizing the Palestinian economy, not provoking the Israelis, and creating the infrastructure for a stable and viable Palestinian state that can live in peace with the Jews.
Had Arafat TRULY been interested in creating a Palestinian State and obtaining control over the remaining territory on the West Bank and Gaza, he would have AVOIDED provoking Israel, and met all of their demands for decreasing tensions in the territories and eliminating extremist groups.
But instead, Arafat played into the hands of the Israeli right wing which has long argued that giving up the West Bank is not only military suicide, but also a betrayal of historical goals of resettling Jews in Judea and Samaria.
Arafat dragged his people into open conflict with Israel, and permitted his government to become an OVERT agent of Iranian and Iraqi interests.. This only provided CONCLUSIVE CONFIRMATION to the Israeli right that the West Bank can never be surrendered to the current Palestinian government.
Again... the way to get the Jews out of the West Bank is to eliminate and nullify ALL of their arguments for why they can't give up their claim. And that can ONLY be achieved by building confidence that Israeli security will not be compromised by the existence of a Palestinian state.
So don't get caught up in the issue of settlements... If anything, you should be pondering why Bethlehem, a city close to Christianity, where Christians were the previous majority, is now populated primarily by Muslims:
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What has been the situation for Christians in Israel/Palestine?
In the last census conducted by the British mandatory authorities in 1947, there were 28,000 Christians in Jerusalem. The census conducted by Israel in 1967 (after the Six Day War) showed just 11,000 Christians remaining in the city. This means that some 17,000 Christians (or 61%) left during the days of King Hussein's rule over Jerusalem. Their place was filled by Muslim Arabs from Hebron.
During the British mandate period, Bethlehem had a Christian majority of 80%. Today, under Palestinian rule, it has a Muslim majority of 80%.
Few Christians remain in the Palestinian-controlled parts of the West Bank. Those who can - emigrate, and there will soon be virtually no Christians in the Palestinian Authority controlled areas. The Palestinian Authority is trying to conceal the fact of massive Christian emigration from areas under its control.
- from PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS (Prime Minister's Office ) November, 1997
As a result of unceasing persecution, the Christians are forced to behave like any oppressed minority which aims to survive. Christians in PA-controlled areas have taken to praying in secret. The wisdom of survival compels them to assess the "balance of fear", according to which they have nothing to fear from Israel but face an existential threat from the Palestinian Authority and their Muslim neighbours.
They act accordingly: they seek to "find favour" through unending praise and adulation for the Muslim ruler together with public denunciations of the "Zionist entity."
- Middle East Digest - Nov/Dec 1997
Time magazine (April 23, 1990): "After years of relative harmony, friction between Christians and their fellow-Arabs [in the disputed territories] has intensified sharply with the rise of Muslim fundamentalism." (Time went on to cite various examples of Muslims pressuring Christian Arabs).
The Jerusalem Post (May 2, 1991): "Muslim activists have been trying to convert Bethlehem, home of some of Christianity's holiest sites and once predominantly Christian, into a Muslim town. In contrast to the world-wide fuss over the purchase of a hostel in Jerusalem's 'Christian Quarter' by Jews, this steady and often violent encroachment has met with a thunderous silence in the Christian world. The pattern of increased violence has been unmistakable. Last December 21, a school for nuns was torched. During the first week in March, there was an attempt to break through the wall of the Carmelite monastery, followed by a break-in at a Christian school. On March 3 vandals desecrated Bethlehem's Greek Orthodox cemetery, removing crosses and disinterring and mutilating corpses ..."
La Terra Sancta (A Vatican publication, dated 1991): "The Christians are abandoning the Middle East ... [although] the Jewish presence has alarmed the Arabs ... more than anything else, the commercial, cultural and technological contacts of recent years have caused a confrontation between Western civilisation and Middle Eastern culture, or, as is commonly known, Islamic culture against Judeo-Christian."
The Jerusalem Post (May 6, 1994): In April 1994, Israel's Hebrew press reported that Christian Arabs had accused activists of Arafat's Fatah faction of the PLO of harassing Franciscan nuns in the Aida convent near Bethlehem. One nun described as a "reign of terror" the behaviour of the activists, who allegedly regularly invaded the convent, vandalised graves, destroyed equipment and painted graffiti.
CNN (December 20, 1995): "Today, Bethlehem is a predominantly Muslim town. At Friday prayers, they spill into Manger Square [the traditional site of Jesus' birth], so crowded are the mosques. Christians complain they're publicly harassed and harangued for their faith. The Christian cemetery has been desecrated and vandalised ... this Christian boy said the Muslims are fascists, bad people. Muslim families of 10 and 12 children leave smaller Christian families awash in an Islamic sea, afraid they will be overwhelmed by the refugee camps and Muslim villages around Bethlehem. Many of the town's Christians are afraid to talk openly now."
The Times (London, December 22, 1997): "Life in [PA-ruled] Bethlehem has become insufferable for many members of the dwindling Christian minority. Increasing Muslim-Christian tensions have left some Christians reluctant to celebrate Christmas in the town at the heart of the story of Christ's birth".
yahoodi.com
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