The Demographic Success of Israel's Settlement Project

The numbers suggest that Abbas's bid to the UN was too little, too late.

Special thanks to +972 Magazine in Israel

(JERUSALEM) - The United Nations General Assembly recognised Palestine as a "nonmember state".

Mahmoud Abbas

But it may very well be that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has already missed the boat.

With the help of graphic designer, Michal Vexler, we have created an infogram to illustrate and explain how demographic changes within the West Bank obstruct the possibility of the two-state solution.

The numbers suggest that Abbas' bid to the United Nations was too little, too late.

In the early 1990's when the land-for-peace formula was embraced internationally, Jewish immigration from Israel to the Occupied territories was necessary to guarantee the success of Israel's settlement project.

Currently however, the Jewish population's natural growth rate )births minus death) suffices to safeguard Israel's expansionism.

Neve Gordon is the author of Israel's Occupation and can be reached through his website.

Yinon Cohen is Yerushalmi Professor of Israel and Jewish Studies, Department of Sociology, Columbia University, New York.

First Published in Al Jazeera

Prof. Neve Gordon
Dept. of Politics and Government
Ben-Gurion University
972-8-6477766
www.israelsoccupation.info