CHICAGO: Israel’s repression and its continued expansion of Jewish-only settlements are pushing Palestinians toward violence, Middle East experts said during a panel discussion attended by Arab News on Tuesday.
Hosted by the Middle East Institute, the panelists included Ron Shatzberg, co-executive director of the Economic Cooperation Foundation; Dr. Tahani Mustafa, visiting fellow in the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations; and Yael Lempert, a former US ambassador to Jordan.
“From speaking with Palestinians, the hardship of what they’re going through, I see a potential escalation into violence in the West Bank,” Shatzberg said, adding that the goal of the settler movement and its supporters in Israel’s government is to achieve the collapse of the Palestinian Authority and block Palestinian statehood.
Violence in the West Bank would jeopardize the peace plan of US President Donald Trump, Shatzberg said, adding that accelerated settlement growth is a form of “de facto annexation.”
Mustafa said violence against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank began long before the Hamas attack on Israel of Oct. 7, 2023.
