Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories

Israeli president Shimon Peres recently observed, “There is a competition here over staying power, not just over the ability to withstand suffering.” Peres was referring to the conflict with Hamas in Gaza,that has just entered a new phase with the joint declaration on June 19 of a tadhiya or “calm.”

First‑time foreign visitors to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, or those who have not been to the area for many years, are shocked by the large scale of settlements and related occupation infrastructure that have transformed the landscape.

There are approximately 4,000 settlement dwellings under construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. . .

A letter to President Bush from Benny Kashriel, Mayor of Ma’ale Adumim and Chairman of the Greater Jerusalem Forum