Thar Be Dragons!

Palestine is being erased before our very eyes.

See the image above, taken from Bing Maps. (To see this map in detail click on the image above, or go to http://binged.it/U6Ytr9 )

The area shown is the northern West Bank. It is shown as mostly empty. But of course it is not empty. It is full of Palestinian Arab villages, towns and cities - and the roads that connect them.

Among the many places that are not shown, is Palestinian city Nablus - population 130,000. It should be on the map, a bit to the south east of the Israeli settlement of Shave Shomron - population 604 - which is shown on the map. Also missing is the city of Jenin - population 40,000. Jenin is immediately to the southeast of the tiny Israeli outpost of Nahal Gannit - also shown on the map.

True, more detail is provided if you zoom in. If you zoom in far enough "Nablus" will appear  But is shown with its Biblical Hebrew name of Shechem. You can be assured that none of present day residence of Nablus would call their city Shechem.

Lest you think Google Maps is much better, it isn't. Below is a map of the West Bank generated by Google Maps. It is mostly Terra Incognita. The only thing missing is the warning, "Thar Be Dragons!"

Lets Say It Again: Israel's Settlement Project is Illegal

An important reminder of exactly why Israel's settlement project in the West Bank is - in addition to everything else, also -  illegal, appeared in Ynet today

In brief, because:

The West Bank was never annexed to Israel's sovereign territory ... it is under Israeli military rule. Military rule means that the state holds the territory only as a trustee.International law clearly determines that Israel can use the territory only to provide for the needs of the local population or to serve its military and security-related needs.

International law clearly states that the occupier must manage state resources (land, water, mineral rights, etc) within occupied territories for the sole benefit of the occupied population.

Of course if Israel wanted to annex the territories (and give the Palestinians residents living there Israeli citizenship) than it would be a different story. But it doesn't.

Read the full story here.