Settlement Freeze: When Pigs Fly

I haven't seen any pigs flying lately, have you?

I have seen a lot of construction going on in Israel's illegal settlements in the West Bank, however. Here, I'll show you:

New Constructions in Ma'ale Adumim

Going back and forth between Ramallah and Bethlehem over the past few months, I've seen this row of houses in Ma'ale Adumim--a gigantic Israeli settlement in the West Bank--going from concrete skeletons to finished houses.

I would have taken pictures earlier, only it's along the highway and you're not exactly allowed to stop to take pictures. But the day before yesterday we had a problem in the car and had to stop. So I pulled out my camera and made the most of the situation.

You see the second house from the right? It's still under construction. And so are number six and seven from the right. The rest in the row were all constructed in the past months.

Newer Construction in Ma'ale Adumim

This is a clearer picture. Tarek drove slowly after he fixed the car so that I could take better pictures. Another new house in Ma'ale Adumim, under construction.

So? You might think.

So. This means that Israel's settlement freeze is not a freeze at all, but empty words from Israel's government to appease the American government. As usual.

What about a partial freeze? I mean, Israel has said that they don't consider East Jerusalem occupied territory, and that demolishing Palestinian houses and evicting Palestinian families and putting up Jewish neighborhoods there is therefore like... constructing in Tel Aviv. They've been very clear on that point: they never intended the freeze to include East Jerusalem.

Fine. But Ma'ale Adumim is not in occupied East Jerusalem, it's in the occupied West Bank.

I know, my blog is turning into something like a settlement watch.

The past few months I've blogged about other non-East Jerusalem constructions, and uploaded pictures (here and here) that I've taken on construction sites faaar away from East Jerusalem. Because regardless of what you might understand from the world press, Israel is not only demolishing Palestinian homes and building new homes for Jews in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem during their alleged settlement freeze, they're doing it all over the West Bank.

So forgive me for thinking that there is a correlation between the absence of flying pigs and the continued settlement expansions. And forgive me for thinking that we won't see a settlement freeze here until the day pigs fly.