University in Ariel | Silent Milestone

In my recent article about the deeds of Israel in Haiti, I commented how difficult it is sometimes to explain the Israeli reality to an outsider. This week I found another example of a very small news item, apparently of little importance – or even carrying a relatively positive message – that is just the tip of an evil iceberg.

On the last week of January 2010, Ehud Barak – Israel’s Minister of Defense – decided to upgrade Ariel’s college into a full university.

“Is that all? Who cares!” Some of the readers may be thinking along these lines by now, while Satan smiles, enjoying the banality of evil. Did these readers pay attention to the fact that the Minister of Defense approved a university? Isn’t that the job of the Minister of Education? And where is Ariel?

The initial planning of Ariel took place during Rabin’s first term as Prime Minister. The decision was taken later, by Prime Minister Menahem Begin, who in 1977 formed Israel’s first right wing government. For the building of the town, Israel confiscated territories belonging to four Palestinian villages in two different stages, claiming it was done for “military reasons.”

Unlike Israeli cities and councils, Ariel’s territory isn’t continuous but includes three different areas separated by grounds formally owned by Palestinians. Overall, the town’s territory is about five kilometers long and 700 meters wide. The town is surrounded by a fence, meaning Palestinians do not have access to their territories within the municipality. This was done in purpose, so that Israel confiscated less territory than it occupied later.

The population of Ariel is mixed. As most of the settlements, the hard core settlers are Jewish Americans – ready to return to their Fifth Avenue penthouses at the first sign of danger. In the nineties, Ariel’s population doubled with the help of the massive immigration of Russians – brought by the very attractive conditions offered by the State of Israel to those settling on Palestinian grounds. Israeli citizens living within the state borders can only dream of such benefits.

All the settlers are there in clear violation of Geneva’s Fourth Convention and are thus international criminals. Not many people are attracted by this status, regardless the bribes offered by the Zionists, unless they have an American passport – just in case - or are desperate refugees from former Communist countries. Thus a college was founded in Ariel. Colleges are unusual in the Israeli education system. The Israeli academic model follows European standards and thus is based on universities. Those are quite selective and many Israelis cannot enter them. For them, a few colleges were created. The one in Ariel would accept anybody capable of breathing and voting (Likud). This move created a drive for additional people to reach the town.

Overall it didn’t matter, since degrees given by colleges are not good for advanced research degrees, meaning graduated students couldn’t access the mainstream universities for further studies.

Why bothering with founding such a town? Technically, Ariel is within the Salfit Governorate of the Palestinian Authority and thus not part of the State of Israel. Beyond the limits of the Israeli Law, Ariel was planned as an enlargement of Gush Dan and as a provider of a strategic second corridor connecting Tel Aviv with Jerusalem.

“Gush Dan” – namely “Dan’s Block” – is the name given to the seven cities occupying central Israel, with Tel Aviv at the very center. This metropolis is the financial and commercial center of the country. All the Israeli Administration publications claim that Jerusalem is the capital and center of the Zionist entity, but that’s no so. The testimony is not only political – most countries including the US do not recognize Jerusalem as the capital – or financial.

At the very center of Tel Aviv – an area known as the “Kirya,” meaning the “town” – is the imposing needle of the Ministry of Defense, known also as the “Marganit Building.” It was built by a foreign contractor – Israel lacks the technology needed for building such structures. Underneath the building is the infamous “Bor” (hole), an underground bunker from where the Israeli army is run when there is no a war. From a sumptuous office on the fifth floor, the Israeli Minister of Defense runs most of the country. Within the ministry is the “Minhal Ezrahi” (Civil Administration) which is the legal entity responsible of the Occupied Territories administration. As such, the Minister of Defense is responsible for all matters regarding Ariel. He can say a kindergarten is a university and the Minister of Education cannot argue that.

Gush Dan and Jerusalem – the formal capital – are connected by a narrow corridor along Israel’s Highway #1. This is a strategically vulnerable point. To solve that, Ariel was designed as a Jewish city sitting on a new corridor connecting Gush Dan with Northern Jerusalem.

More than thirty years after this illegal plan was put in the move, it is still a failed one. Ariel is a small and insignificant town. Many of its denizens travel to Gush Dan for their daily work. In this context, the minister of defense move to recognize the college as a university looks different. It is in fact an attempt to reinforce the Zionist illegal hold on Palestinian lands and is a silent milestone, since for the first time an institution illegally located on Palestinian grounds was incorporated to the mainstream Israeli education system.

Israel becomes one step closer to annexing Ariel and all the territories along the very strategic “second corridor.”