In Area C, civilian Jews have increased from 1000 colonists in 1972 to over 300,000 today all in violation of the Fourth Geneva Conventions proscription against an Occupying Power filling the territory it occupies with its civilian population.
Since there are only 90,000 to 150,000 Arabs currently living on the same land, of course apologists for "creeping annexation" would suggest Arabs give up their land and water rights for a minority vote in a Jewish Ethnocracy.
How else to explain how the fact that nearly 70% of Palestinian villages are not connected to a water network that serves illegal settlers squatting on land that Arabs had lived on for centuries before Israel's Iron Wall lurched into Palestine?
(COMMENT)
POINT #1: It is not a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention (GCIV) proscription. As the GCIV only addresses "transfers by force." However, it is a
prima facie violation of the Rome Statues (RS-ICC). I copied them both for you to compare so that you can see the difference. The importance of this point is that while Israel is a signatory of the GCIV, it is not a signatory of the Rome Statues.
(This is a very common mistake for people who don't do their own research and analysis; and have a preconceived notion or agenda. In every good piece of propaganda there a bit of truth.)
Comparison of the selected codes: GCIV 'vs' RS-ICC said:
Section III. Occupied territories - Article 49 - Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949.
Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.
SOURCE: http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/385ec082b509e76c41256739003e636d/6756482d86146898c125641e004aa3c5
PART 2 - Jurisdiction, Admissibility, and Applicable Law -- Article 8 - War crimes, Para 2b(viii), Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (RS-ICC)
(viii) The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory;
SOURCE: http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/ADD16852-AEE9-4757-ABE7-9CDC7CF02886/283503/RomeStatutEng1.pdf
You will notice that the GCIV says: "Individual or mass
forcible transfers." Wherein, the RS-ICC does not have "force" as a criteria or element of the offense.
POINT #2: The "settlement" issue is to the Palestinians --- as is --- the "right of return" issue is to the Israeli. This is a negotiating point at any Peace Talk. The attempt by the Palestinian to use the pre-War 1967 Borders as a pre-condition to the Talks is a crafty attempt by the Palestinians to get the upper hand on the negotiation of settlements and the right of return.
(Most people don't get that.)
Most Respectfully,
R