Except in this case Israel intentionally broke the TV and then demanded a refund. Oslo was a legitimate treaty signed by elected bodies- but Israel never stopped the expansion of settlements, the number one concern of the Palestinians (the other signators of Oslo). I do not agree with the reaction of the minority of Palestinians who participate in terrorism but to ignore one of the root causes, Israel's failure to abide by legitimate treaty, is ignorance.Very good assessment.
The Geneva Convention bans occupying nations from moving their own people into occupied lands. There's a very good reason for this. It makes it difficult to return lands as part of a peace deal when one's own citizens are there forming a lobby for annexation. A "no peace" faction is created within the occupier's internal political structure.
The West Bank and Gaza are classic examples of why this was wise. Almost immediately, zealots began squatting in these territories, in an attempt to force their annexation. The Israeli government either lacked the courage or the inclination to deal with them, so their numbers grew. Soon, the squatter lobby became powerful enough to consign either Labor or Likud to permanent minority status if they took action against them.
There's a misconception in America about the settlements, one which is encouraged by the Israeli lobby. They are presented as simple villages being attacked by the evil Arabs. That's not true. While some of the settlers are there because land is cheap (subsidized by the Israeli government) or because they were only allowed into Israel if they lived there, others are some of the most strident and zealous factions of Israeli society.
Indeed, the settlement movement provides Israel proper a sort of safety valve. The zealots are out in the West Bank, not in Israel proper pestering secular-minded Jews or Arab Israelis. This helps keep the peace at home.
The settlements have privileges that normal Arab villages do not have. They may grow almost at will simply by fencing off land they want. They have "by pass roads" which cut off the Arabs from each other. They are given the rights to up to 85% of the water in some regions. Perhaps most critically, their towns are not targetted by the IDF when there is trouble, the Arab towns are...regardless of who started the trouble.
The continued existence of the settlements would make any Palestinian state as unviable as the South African "homelands". Bush recognizes this, and has told the Israelis they must freeze the settlements and be prepared to remove them.
-Eric