World must pressure Israel to stop settlements: Activist

Press TV has conducted an interview with Esam Baker, a Palestinian activist in Ramallah, about official data showing Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied West Bank have increased sharply and considerably in the first quarter of this year.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Talk to us about the recent statistics that have been revealed and also what it means about what it points to about, the Israeli policy of settlement expansion and achieving any form of peace with the Palestinians?

Baker: Well, I think this is actually not the first report talking about the statistics of the increasing of number of building settlements and settlement activities in all over the West Bank.

What the report included is talking about three main top activities. The first one in Salfit district in the north of the West Bank which separates and divides the West Bank from the continuity with Ramallah and with Nablus district. The second is al-Aghwar near Jericho in the eastern side of the occupied Palestinian territories which is the geographical continuation with Jordan Valley and Jordan border and the third one is in Jerusalem district.

This is a very dangerous and important report actually which has included as I said the meaning of the Israeli target with this building is to separate this land and to make those lands like three separated divided pieces with no geographical continuity and to avoid in the future any building of a geographical continuity of the Palestinian independent state in the West Bank.

This is the main target of the Israeli policy, increasing on the ground a reality to prevent the Palestinian people from building any independent state in the future.

Press TV: Mr. Baker, the international community considers Israeli settlements on occupied Palestine land as illegal even the closest ally to Tel Aviv, the United States, has even criticized the settlement expansion carried out by the Israeli regime. My question is what has to happen to get the Israelis to stop?  

Baker: There is a lot of things to be done from the international community and from the UN agencies even including the human rights agencies. Well I think talking about the illegal settlements in the West Bank is not enough. There is supposed to be steps to punish Israel and to put pressure on the Israeli right-wing government to stop immediately this building and to consider as illegal and did not serve any efforts to return back to the table of negotiation. Which negotiation they are talking about while they are building everyday settlements, growth in settlements took place and as I said will continue, for example in Salfit district from the eastern side of the West Bank with the border of Jordan until the Kuwait land that has been occupied in 1948.

So it will divide the West Bank and it will separate by a block of settlements any continuity to build a Palestinian state.

So the international community and the EU, should play the role immediately to put pressure on the Israeli government because if they are not they will encourage the policy of building more settlements in the West Bank and divide all the distance of the West Bank without settlements because the Israeli right-wing government talk everyday clearly, they are ignoring all the international speeches or talks or calls here and there and they are continuing day and night building these settlements.  

The Israeli government looked to the way simply that they are above all the international community and above the international security resolutions so the Palestinian formal level, the PLO, the PNA and all the Palestinian society should go immediately with steps for the high court and to go immediately for the General Assembly of the UN and to go to the other human rights organizations to have a clear position to put pressure on the Israeli government immediately.

AHK/HMV

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