Hey guys, are you more interested in the actual story here, or in beating your heads against the only wall the mods have put up? Because all this complaining is doing is derailing the thread and distracting from the issues.
Now, to add some context to the article, it should be noted that yes, there is technically a process by which Palestinians could be granted permission to build on land in the West Bank. The BBC notes, however, that this is rare, while vaguely attributing this remark to some Palestinians and dropping the discussion. So, just how rare is it? Well,
have a look for yourselves:
Less than
two percent. Palestinians looking for places to live are basically damned if they do, damned if they don't when it comes to seeking out government permission. Of course, the Israeli government doesn't care about this. After all, while they already have a very lenient policy toward the Israeli settlements that encroach on Palestinian land, somehow the reverse is practically impracticable in the law's biased eyes. It only "makes sense" if such policies are taken as the preamble to outright displacement, including genocide, and annexation—and at this point, it's hard to see the current Israeli government's motives in a more positive light than that.
This maneuvering over building permits is completely transparent and craven, and if the Israeli courts don't force a more equitable interpretation of the law (and this case was a major litmus test), there's very little hope for the Palestinians barring a shift to a more liberal and tolerant Israeli government.
