The Six-Day War: Forty years on

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

Published: 26 May 2007

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2582180.ece

--SNIP--

Less than a kilometre past the hillside olive groves of the sprawling Palestinian village of Sinjil, Dror Etkes turns left off route 60 as it dips and winds north through the terraced West Bank hills halfway between Ramallah and Nablus. He drives his white Mazda pick-up at alarming speed up a bumpy dirt road to the panoramic summit of what has been known for centuries in Arabic as Jebel Betin Halaweh but which is designated by the Israeli military the clinical name of Hill 804. A slight figure in his blue shirt, dark grey jeans, sunglasses and sandals, he parks the vehicle by the Army antenna, breathes in and announces with all the emphasis of the tour guide he once was: "We are now really in the heart of the ideological, religious, settlement movement."

It's easy to see what he means. We are in occupied Palestinian territory 21 kilometres east of the green line, which until the Six-Day War exactly 40 years ago denoted Israel's eastern border and in international law still does. On the windswept hilltops along a wide three-quarter circle to the west, north and east, the ridges are dominated by four Jewish settlements, the houses easily distinguishable from those in Palestinian villages by their red roofs, and eight of the satellite outposts, mainly consisting of up to 20 grey and functional container/caravans. Due west is Ma'ale Levona; to the north is Eli; to the east, just across Route 60, Shilo; and beyond it Shevut Rahel, founded in 1991 and named after a woman shot by Palestinian militants. And just south in the Shilo Valley is the open "industrial zone" with not a single factory on it, which along with the large municipal "jurisdictions" under their control mean that settlement-controlled land (including land previously cultivated by Palestinians) now accounts for 40 per cent of the West Bank.

A few minutes later, Etkes will pull off route 60 again and take a narrow paved road up to the 20-caravan settlement outpost of Nofei Nehemia, one of many identified as wholly illegal in the devastating Ariel Sharon- commissioned – but still to be implemented – 2005 report by the eminent lawyer Talia Sasson, showing how varying arms of the Israeli state – in this case the Housing and Construction Ministry – had secretly connived to establish such communities. Etkes keeps up a non-stop running commentary as we approach an outpost that has doubled in size in the past two years even though no one, including the Israeli government, pretends it has any legal right to be here. "Oh, someone's got a sense of humour," he says, translating a painted sign in Hebrew declaring: "Nofei Nehemia Security Road". "Look, here's an automatic barrier. Been here about half a year, I'd say. You can see the soldier manning it. This settlement is illegal in every way – supposed to be dismantled under the Road Map, Sasson report, everything." Legal or not, the settlers enjoy full military protection as Israeli citizens in a hostile environment. "It's in the DNA, it's in the system," says Etkes. "This is the military, supposed to be part of the law-enforcement agencies but in fact participating in massive law violation." As we drive back down the approach road, Etkes is so exasperated by the road sign that he jumps from the car and starts to wrench it from the ground. Changing his mind he says with a grin: "I'll come back when there aren't any journalists around."...