The Israeli occupation of the regions and people around it has always been a matter of intense debate and dialog. Many view it as an important aspect for the security of Israel and it's self defense against attacks. But the truth of the matter is that history tends to repeat itself.
Most of us on dailykos generally agree that Israel is entitled to 67 borders and security from other nations. This is accomplished through dialog and treaties. That is the problem with Israeli policy. Since the state of Israel only defines it's boarders depending on the extent of the occupation that the IDF can ensure.
Basically, Israel's military dictates the limits to it's state existance. Which causes it's neighbors a great sense of resentment and anxiety. This can be seen through out history where settlements have been built in Egypt and Syria and continue to exist in Syria.
Moshe Dayan, a defense minister of Israel best explains it when he said:
After all, I know how at least 80 percent of the clashes there started. In my opinion, more than 80 percent, but let's talk about 80 percent. It went this way: We would send a tractor to plow some area where it wasn't possible to do anything, in the demilitarized area, and knew in advance that the Syrians would start to shoot. If they didn't shoot, we would tell the tractor to advance farther, until in the end the Syrians would get annoyed and shoot. And then we would use artillery and later the air force also, and that's how it was. I did that, and Laskov and Czera did that, and Yitzhak did that, but it seemed to me that the person who most enjoyed these games was Dado. We thought that we could change the lines of the ceasefire accords by military actions that were less than war. That is, to seize some territory and hold it until the enemy despairs and gives it to us.
During the 67 war Israel captured and then held under military occupation Gaza, the west bank, East Jerusalem, the Golan heights, and the Sinai peninsula. With the beginning of such conquest started a campaign of ethnic cleansing and Israeli population transfer into these lands.
Sinai Peninsula and Gaza
In the case of the Sinai peninsula, the Israeli government first went to secure and exploit it's resources. Which entailed the Seuz canal as well as other commodities. They also settled the area with Israelis. The number of which peaked at around 4,500 settlers until they where forcibly removed after successful peace negotiations.
The Gaza strip was also similarly settled. With a few hundred people that held total control over the local populace through the IDF military occupation. At it's height in 2004 it contained as much as 7,826 settlers who oversaw every aspect of Gaza society. Ariel Sharon, in 2004, evacuated the settlers in order to make Gaza a prison rub by it's inhabitants. So that "formaldehyde" would set into any peace process. Man also feel that the Gaza "disengagement" was an experiment to see how a future two state solution would operate.
As it turns out. Israeli expansionism tended to favor territory in the east. As East Jeresulem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights testify to.
The West Bank
Benny Morris, a "new historian" and zionist wrote this in relation to the "population transfer" of the Palestinians once Israel occupied it. His apologism
Altogether, about one-quarter of the population of the West Bank, about 200-250,000 people, went into exile. ... They simply walked to the Jordan River crossings and made their way on foot to the East Bank. It is unclear how many were intimidated or forced out by the Israeli troops and how many left voluntarily, in panic and fear. There is some evidence of IDF soldiers going around with loudspeakers ordering West Bankers to leave their homes and cross the Jordan. Some left because they had relatives or sources of livelihood on the East Bank and feared being permanently cut off. Thousands of Arabs were taken by bus from East Jerusalem to the Allenby bridge, though there is no evidence of coercion. The free Israeli-organized transportation, which began on June 11, 1967, went on for about a month. At the bridge they had to sign a document stating that they were leaving of their own free will. Perhaps as many as seventy thousand people emigrated from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world. On July 2 the Israeli government announced that it would allow the return of those 1967 refugees who desired to do so, but no later than August 10, later extended to September 13. The Jordanian authorities probably pressured many of the refugees, who constituted an enormous burden, to sign up to return. In practice only 14,000 of the 120,000 who applied were actually allowed by Israel back into the West Bank by the beginning of September. After that, only a trickle of "special cases" were allowed back, perhaps 3,000 in all.
Not withstanding the contortions of logic he uses in his apologism. He makes the point that IDF and other organizations terrorized and expelled a quarter of a million people. As well as that at least 103,000 refugees were denied their right to return to their homes in the West Bank.
East Jerusalem
The Moroccan Quarter
During the time when Jordan controlled East Jerusalem, both governments committed ethnic cleansing as well as desecrated and or destroyed culturally significant and historic establishments. I do not deny that.
What Happened to East Jerusalem after the 1967 war was that it got smaller. With the old city being declared part of West Jerusalem. The Moroccan Quarter, pictured above, was the first housing to be bulldozed in East Jerusalem by Israel. In place of the houses was built a Plaza.
Afterward, Israel expropriated much of the land and annexed it outright. Denying the Palestinians any land to build upon while building Jewish only housing as fast as possible. In 1972 there was 8,649 Israeli settlers. By 1983 that figure had changed to 76,095. By 1993 the went up again to 152,800. As of 2006, the settlers number 181,457 while Palestinians compromise 229,004-242,642 of the population.
This is compounded by the "quiet deportation" of Palestinians. In which they can be stripped of residency status if they leave the city for an arbitrary amount of time. Thus creating a system in which they are a prisoner of their own homes.
The Golan Heights
Quneitra
In 1966 Golan Heights was once a thriving province of Syria with a population of around 150,000 people. It contained as many as 139 villages with Quneitrea, a city who's population totaled 30,000 in 1966, as it's capital.
By 1967 70% of the Golan Heights had become occupied by Israel. By 1968 most of The Golan Heights had been practically wiped off the map. Of the 100,000 people that once lived there only 7,000 Druze were allowed to stay. Of The 139 villages only 8 where not bulldozed into the ground. By 1975 only 4 villages where left.
In 1974, as part of a cease fire agreement Israel returned 100km of the 1,300km that Israel then occupied. This territory included the capital of the province which was Quneitera. What the returning refugees found when they got there was the rubble of their homes. Just before handing over the city in 1974, the Israeli's tore it all down and took anything of value with them.
As of 2009, the occupied Golan Heights has a population of around 41,400. Of which 20,500 are Druze, 17,600 are settlers, and a tiny minority of 2,200 are Muslims. It also has a form of the Jerusalem Law which imposes the same sort of residency laws as applied to the Palestinians of East Jerusalem.
A quick picture to end this diary.
That should sum it up.