[In “Should Churches Divest?” August 2005], Don Wagner refers to “bypass roads available only to Israeli settlers.” There are no such roads. While vehicles registered to Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been barred from certain roads during periods of violence, the roads are not limited to settlers. Cars with Israeli license plates belonging to Jews, Muslims, and Christians living inside Israel, in addition to settlers, have free access.Furthermore, Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza Strip traveling in Israeli cars are not necessarily barred from the roads.
Wagner also claims that during the Oslo process, between 1993 and 2000, “the number of Israel’s settlements had doubled.” In fact, according to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, an organization cited by Wagner and harshly critical of Israel, “During the Oslo negotiations, the settler population doubled. Thirty new settlements were established.” That is, while the population doubled, the number of settlements did not.
Gilead Ini
Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA)
Boston, Massachusetts
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