Building Israeli Settlements on Recognized Palestinian Territory

Gaza is still, however, Palestinian territory (and I was referring to it being a territory by the i. e, not having settlements). It is still illegal to build settlements there, but as of 2005, these settlements were pulled (1). A brief history, to demonstrate where Palestinian territory lies: Pre-1948, there were very few Jewish settlements in the land that was known as "Palestine". The Palestinian population (the Christians and Arabs) was 87.84% of the population in that region in 1922, but started decreasing after Jewish immigration, to 69.29% in 1942 (2). After the state of Israel declared independence in 1948, and several wars later (fast forward to 1967), the United Nations passed Resolution 242 that necessitates (i)Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict; and (ii)Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force. They included a map, defining the territories exactly, which include the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights in Syria. The first part of this resolution calls on Israel to withdraw from those territories, and the second part calls for the recognition of all the states in the area, referring to Israel recognizing Palestine and Palestine recognizing Israel (3). Building settlements constitutes a form of oppression because it is an occupation of another country's land, and this occupation takes resources from the Palestinians without proper compensation, often demolishing their homes in the process (4). When people's houses are destroyed, their land taken, their resources stolen, they resort to violence. It is not the point of the debate to argue whether it is justified or not, but many Palestinians, namely Hamas, definitely think that it is justified because they are fighting an oppressive occupation. If the Palestinians stopped resisting, there will be no more violence from their side, and Israeli violence in response will cease. It is then, I argue, the root of the ongoing conflict. There is no doubt that settlements do exist in the West Bank territory, which according to UN resolution 242 that I have mentioned above, are illegal. In the West Bank, "Around 300,000 Israelis live in settlements. .. , scattered in pockets amidst 5 million unwelcoming Palestinians. " (5). Lastly, I do not have to explain precisely what kind of punishment I think is necessary against Israel. That is up to bodies like the United Nations and others to decide. It is not the topic of our debate. We are debating whether they are illegal and should stop or not, and if found illegal, then they should logically be punished like any other illegal behavior. We are not deciding the punishment here. I implore you to stick to the debate topic. 1. . http://www.washingtonpost.com... 2. . http://www.cjpmo.org... 3. . https://unispal.un.org... 4. . https://news.vice.com... 5. . http://content.time.com... 6. . http://www.latimes.com...