Jewish Settlement in the Occupied Territories

Abstract

While previous discussions focused mostly on the question of Palestinian labour, the present chapter attempts to examine some of the implications of Israeli settlement processes in the occupied territories. The significance of these settlement activities stems from the fact that during the last 20 years they have attracted the bulk of Israel’s development efforts, and as such have considerably affected not only the occupied territories and their inhabitants, but also Israel’s social geography as a whole. While several aspects of these settlement activities have been analysed (for a survey of the literature, see chapter two), their net effect on the Israeli settlement system and society as a whole is only now beginning to be considered. An assessment of this wider effect is the first aim of the discussion below. The second is to relate the settlement process to our previous studies concerning Palestinian workers in the Israeli labour market. A third and interrelated aim is to apply, and further elaborate, the theoretical framework for the analysis of Israeli- Palestinian relations.