Surprise! Israel has misappropriated Palestinian land

This, as reported in the NY Times, will not really come as a surprise to anyone:

"An Israeli advocacy group, using maps and figures leaked from inside the government, says that 39 percent of the land held by Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is privately owned by Palestinians.

About 86 percent of Maale Adumim, an Israeli settlement, sits on privately held Palestinian property, according to government data.

Israel has long asserted that it fully respects Palestinian private property in the West Bank and only takes land there legally or, for security reasons, temporarily.

If big sections of those settlements are indeed privately held Palestinian land, that is bound to create embarrassment for Israel and further complicate the already distant prospect of a negotiated peace. The data indicate that 40 percent of the land that Israel plans to keep in any future deal with the Palestinians is private."

Only the usual, predictable and loud die-hard suspects will seek to defend the indefensible.

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