The West Bank: Between Annexation and Displacement and the Illusion of an Independent State

The bitter truth that we must face with courage, without evasion, and frankly is: the West Bank is being lost. The West Bank is being annexed meter by meter and inch by inch. The West Bank has completely changed. There is no longer a place for Palestinians except inside their large or small prison. Villages have turned into prisons. Cities are isolated from each other through barriers of humiliation, oppression, and killing.

Ethnic cleansing is ongoing. The war of extermination and displacement continues in Gaza and the West Bank. There is no room for niceties. This is what Oslo and the Osloites have brought upon us. This is what the advocates of "closing the loopholes" have brought upon us by surrendering means of resistance and security coordination.

The people here have lost hope for a just solution. After Gaza and the global conspiracy embodied in UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which legitimizes permanent occupation, permanent colonization, and the separation between Gaza and the West Bank, criminalizes resistance, and withdraws all its capabilities.

The Palestinian Authority is on the verge of collapse under dual pressure: the weight of Israeli occupation and the disconnection of the authority from the concerns and suffering of the people in the face of settler attacks, incursions, daily killings, and arrests.

The settler savagery and violence practiced by settlers have reached an indescribable and unbearable level. People here feel they have been left to their fates alone without protection.

The Israeli authorities have distributed more than 120,000 firearms and 157,000 gun licenses to settlers in the West Bank, and have eased restrictions on gun ownership.

The residents of Palestinian villages have been cut off from their lands where settlement outposts have been established around every village in an arc shape. The outpost may consist of a tin house or a tent inhabited by one person or a family.

One teacher told me that she has been receiving half her salary for three years. In return, the school opens its doors to children for only three days.

The last concern of the Palestinian people is elections. President Mahmoud Abbas has called for municipal council elections. But on the condition that they take place according to his terms.

The ongoing killings, incursions, raids, house demolitions, settler violence, and humiliation barriers lead to displacement.