The West Bank: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

The West Bank: A Contested Territory

• The video focuses on the West Bank, a region home to over 3 million Palestinians, the eastern half of Jerusalem, and holy sites for Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
• The West Bank has been overshadowed by the Gaza conflict, but it is a crucial part of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

• The video provides a brief history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the founding of Israel in 1948, the displacement of Palestinians, and the Six-Day War in 1967.
• Israel's occupation of the West Bank and its construction of settlements are considered violations of international law, as acknowledged by Israel's own legal advisor.

The Oslo Accords and Their Aftermath

• The Oslo Accords divided the West Bank into three areas: Area A, under Palestinian control; Area B, under Palestinian government control with Israeli security control; and Area C, under complete Israeli control.
• Area C comprises about 60% of the West Bank and is the most politically fraught area.
• The Oslo Accords were meant to be temporary while a larger peace deal was negotiated, but after the agreement fell apart, the arrangement was frozen in place.

Israeli Settlements in the West Bank

• The presence of hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers in the West Bank contributes to the tension in the region.
• The video highlights the story of a Palestinian woman confronting an Israeli settler living in her family home, illustrating the displacement and conflict surrounding settlements.
• Despite international condemnation, Israel continued building settlements for decades, despite a brief period of hope for peace in the 1990s.
• Israel has continued to build settlements in the West Bank, with the number of settlers increasing from around 250,000 at the time of the Oslo Accords to around 700,000 today.
• Many settlers describe their communities as attractive and suburban, emphasizing quality of life factors like good schools, parks, and shopping.
• The Israeli government heavily subsidizes life in settlements, providing more per capita spending on education and infrastructure than within Israel itself.
• The Israeli government claims there are two types of settlements: legal, approved settlements and illegal outposts created by rogue settlers. However, under international law, both are illegal.
• The Israeli government often provides resources to outposts, including military defense, access to utilities, and sometimes even retroactive legalization, blurring the line between the two types of settlements.
• Some settlers argue that their presence in the West Bank is not political, claiming they are building on unused land. However, building on land claimed by Palestinians is inherently a political act.

Israel's Land Acquisition Tactics

• The video discusses Israel's land acquisition tactics in the West Bank, specifically the claim that unused land can be declared state land. This argument is criticized as illogical, as it ignores the difference between unused and unowned property.
• Israel's strategy often involves preventing Palestinians from cultivating land through violence, intimidation, and a restrictive permit process. This makes it difficult for Palestinians to utilize their land, leading to the justification of claiming it as unused.

Restrictions on Palestinian Development

• Israel controls building permits in the West Bank and rejects over 95% of Palestinian requests. This makes it nearly impossible for Palestinians to build legally, leading to the demolition of many Palestinian homes built without permits.
• The video highlights the hypocrisy of Israel demolishing Palestinian homes for lacking permits while simultaneously incentivizing Israeli construction in the West Bank.

Physical Obstacles and Isolation

• The video also discusses the physical obstacles Palestinians face in their daily lives, including the separation wall, checkpoints, and gates. These obstacles can lead to extreme consequences, including delays in accessing healthcare, education, and employment.
• The video cites examples of Palestinian women giving birth on the side of the road due to delays at checkpoints and the deaths of mothers and infants due to these delays.
• The video points out that settlements are strategically placed to cut off Palestinian communities from one another, further isolating them.
• The video highlights the absurdity of the situation through the story of a Palestinian family living in a house surrounded by a metal fence, effectively creating a "house within a cage." The family's 11-year-old son was detained for 6 hours after his football rolled near the settlements.

Unequal Justice System

• Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military law, which offers significantly fewer protections than the civilian law enjoyed by Jewish settlers. This creates a two-tier justice system with a 99% conviction rate in military courts.
• Despite legal obligations to protect Palestinian residents, Israeli officials often fail to act when settlers attack Palestinians. A human rights group found that only 3% of settler violence cases resulted in convictions.

Settler Violence and "Price Tag" Attacks

• In Hebron, Israeli settlers live above Palestinians, throwing garbage and projectiles down at them. This creates a constant reminder of the unequal power dynamic.
• Settlers argue they live in fear of violence, but statistics show that Palestinians are far more likely to be killed by Israelis than vice versa.
• "Price tag" attacks, acts of revenge against Palestinians, are often indiscriminate and target innocent people. One settler described these attacks as a way to show that they "won't stay in quiet" and that Palestinians are guilty simply by being present.

Apartheid and International Condemnation

• The situation in the West Bank is described as apartheid by experts, including a former head of Mossad and a former IDF general. They argue that the separation of Palestinians and Israelis in terms of political, economic, and legal rights is arbitrary and unjust.
• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has issued an opinion stating that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and that Israel must provide reparations for the damage it has caused.

The US Role in the Conflict

• The United States officially opposes Israeli settlements in the West Bank but has been criticized for not taking a stronger stance against them.
• While both Republican and Democratic presidents have called settlements illegitimate, they have avoided calling them illegal to avoid potential international sanctions against Israel.
• The Trump administration went further by stating that it no longer considers settlements to be against international law.
• The US State Department has undermined the ICJ's opinion, arguing that it will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict.

Evangelical Support for Settlements

• American individuals and organizations, including evangelical Christians, have contributed significantly to the growth of settlements.
• Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), is a prominent figure in the evangelical movement that supports Israel.
• CUFI is the largest pro-Israel lobbying organization in America, even surpassing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
• Many evangelicals believe that the establishment of Israel is a prerequisite for the coming of Armageddon, and they anticipate a mass conversion of Jews to Christianity during this event.

The Rise of the Right-Wing Government in Israel

• Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Prime Minister of Israel, has formed a coalition with far-right parties, creating the most right-wing government in Israel's history.
• This government includes extremist politicians who advocate for the annexation of the West Bank and have a history of making inflammatory statements.

Escalating Violence and the Two-State Solution

• The Israeli government has been taking actions that have worsened the situation in the West Bank, including imposing tighter restrictions on Palestinian movement, canceling work permits, and allowing settler violence to escalate.
• The situation has become so dire that the UN has found that at least 19 Palestinian communities have been displaced due to settler violence.
• The Israeli government has also seized a large amount of Palestinian land, the largest land grab since the Oslo Accords.
• These actions have led to a spike in violence and have made the possibility of a two-state solution seem increasingly unlikely.
• Many Israelis and Palestinians have lost hope for peace due to the ongoing violence and the Israeli government's actions.

The Importance of Human Dignity and Justice

• The text highlights the importance of human dignity and justice in achieving peace.
• The text emphasizes the importance of the "never again" slogan, arguing that it should apply to all people, not just Jewish people.

The US's Role in Perpetuating the Conflict

• The text criticizes the Israeli government's actions and the US's support of them, arguing that the US should not continue to abet the Israeli government's actions.
• The United States has the ability to influence the situation in the West Bank by imposing conditions on the billions of dollars in military aid it sends to Israel.
• The US could also stop vetoing United Nations Security Council resolutions that criticize the Israeli government's actions, a practice it has engaged in for decades.
• The US should publicly condemn the settlements in the West Bank as immoral and illegal, and take action accordingly.
• The speaker argues that even Ben & Jerry's has shown more moral backbone than the US government in this situation.