Culture, Israel, Mishegas

Americans for Peace Now releases settlement tracking GoogleMap and iPhone app

Since the explosion of GoogleMaps mashups nearly four years ago, Israeli-Palestinian conflict nerds like me have dreamed of seeing the settlements and sundry occupation data applied in such a visual manner. Most American Jews are idiots when it comes to the basic facts about the conflict because they have a pathetic grasp of the simple geography. Forgive my blunt assertion, but even most Israelis are blithely clueless about where even the Green Line runs.
Americans for Peace Now has answered my geeky prayers. Every since I heard that the Israeli government’s settlement database was leaked to Haaretz nearly two years ago, I have been hankering to have access.
Now behold! Americans for Peace Now releases much of that database, combined with their own copious Settlement Watch research, in “Facts on the Ground” — also available as an iPhone app! Take a tour via my screencast below:

Cross-posted from Judaism Without Borders.

20 thoughts on “Americans for Peace Now releases settlement tracking GoogleMap and iPhone app

    1. More problematically, they mark Har Hatzofim as an Israeli settlement. Unlike “East” Jerusalem (including the Old City), Har Hatzofim was an exclave under Israeli jurisdiction from 1948 to 1967, and is therefore “inside the Green Line” for all purposes (topology aside). If Har Hatzofim is a settlement, then so is all of West Jerusalem.

  1. Fakewood — facts are facts, yo. That land is not Israel. Nobody except Israel thinks that land is Israel. Whether or not Israel will eventually receive jurisdiction of the Old City under the terms of a final negotiated agreement, that land is under dispute and Jewish construction there is technically a settlement. Far from the worst examples of settlement construction, but that is a fact. Get used to it.
    BZ — Remember, the land of the present-day Har Hatzofim neighborhood that spills outside the borders of the exclave is still called “Har Hatzofim” but is technically settlement construction. That and I don’t see Har Hatzofim on their settlements list: http://www.peacenow.org/map.php?list=1

    1. BZ — Remember, the land of the present-day Har Hatzofim neighborhood that spills outside the borders of the exclave is still called “Har Hatzofim” but is technically settlement construction. That and I don’t see Har Hatzofim on their settlements list: http://www.peacenow.org/map.php?list=1
      It’s not on the settlement list, but it’s still colored blue on the map (including the parts inside the exclave). It should be colored the same as West Jerusalem.

    2. That land is not Israel. Nobody except Israel thinks that land is Israel.
      It’s not quite “not Israel”. Israel claims sovereignty over that land, and no other state does. That’s different from the West Bank, which even Israel hasn’t annexed.

    1. Justin writes:
      i thought colored blue on the map, as opposed to the little blue houses, just means israeli municipal jurisdiction…
      It’s still colored light blue (for “Israeli Settlements”) even if you uncheck the “Israeli Municipal Jurisdiction” layer.

      1. Also, when you turn on “Palestinian Municipalities”, various areas within “East” Jerusalem show up. What definition of “municipalities” are they using here?

  2. It’s not quite “not Israel”. Israel claims sovereignty over that land, and no other state does.
    More that that, no other country recognizes Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the Old City, whereas most countries in the world recognize Israel’s claim to sovereignty over its pre-’67 boundaries.

  3. Ahhhh, FINALLY somebody who can provide us with up-to-the-minute mobile updates on where the ‘BAD’ Jews live…
    Everybody uses technology to feed their own obsessions.

  4. More problematically, they mark Har Hatzofim as an Israeli settlement. Unlike “East” Jerusalem (including the Old City), Har Hatzofim was an exclave under Israeli jurisdiction from 1948 to 1967, and is therefore “inside the Green Line” for all purposes (topology aside).
    This is just the another example of the folly that we must worship on the alter of the June 4, 1967 line. Really, what difference does it make that Israel was able to secure a tiny piece of land–over the Green Line–in 1949, and then spent 19 years sending armed convoys to maintain control of that land?
    BZ, are you telling us that you see a moral difference between Har HaTzofim and East Talpiot, on the basis of such a legal fiction?
    The June 4, 1967 lines are a thing of the past–those lines represent none of Israel’s current borders (depending how we value the Lebanon border.) Both in Gaza and the West Bank, the borders will have to be re-drawn, as part of any Palestinian-Israeli deal.
    Nobody except Israel thinks that land is Israel.
    So we can’t decide for ourselves what we think Israel is? I’ve got bad news for you, yo, but a lot of our neighbors don’t think that Tel Aviv is Israel. So? Next you’re going to tell us that Abu Mazen needs to recognize Israel for there to be an agreement, because we can’t be Israel unless enough other people say we are.

    1. This is just the another example of the folly that we must worship on the alter of the June 4, 1967 line. Really, what difference does it make that Israel was able to secure a tiny piece of land–over the Green Line–in 1949, and then spent 19 years sending armed convoys to maintain control of that land?
      BZ, are you telling us that you see a moral difference between Har HaTzofim and East Talpiot, on the basis of such a legal fiction?

      Moral, not clear. Political, yes. The map has to define settlements in one way or another. If we’re going to define a settlement as being outside Israel’s 1948-1967 borders (whether or not those borders will be the final ones), then Har Hatzofim is inside those borders and is not a settlement. If we’re not going to define a settlement that way, and include parts of “West” Jerusalem such as Har Hatzofim, then other parts of “West” Jerusalem (which was designated as international under the 1947 UN partition plan, then captured by Israel in 1948-49) should be fair game also, such as Katamon, whose Jewish presence is newer than Har Hatzofim’s.
      (BTW, East Talpiot is different from Gilo, French Hill, etc., in that it was “no-man’s land” from 1948 to 1967, as opposed to Jordanian territory.)

  5. @BZ. Ok. Fair enough. I was referring more to what the boundaries might be under a future political settlement, not necessarily which communities are today known as settlements.
    The point I was hoping to make is a partition really need not be based on the June 4, 1967 lines, which are artificial and, at places, illogical to begin with.

  6. @KFJ. Ok. Fair enough. I can’t really defend the settlements–I’m just trying to point out that the Green Line is not sacrosanct, and we need not treat it as such.

  7. I understand why this app is ‘cool’ for the purposes of a media hit promoting APN. But I don’t understand the utility of it. Who needs this? a dozen diplomats and researchers specializing in settlement growth?
    I’d love to see the case statement from APN describing how the app would be used and produce value AFTER the initial release buzz is over.

  8. JG, no way, man. Firstly, it’s an invaluable educational tool for anyone who’s trying to explain the settlements. APN produces a new map every year and every new year it’s out of date. Secondly, you will soon be able to tag and add you own photos and notes on the map, so you can track events, settlement growth and protests as activists on the ground conduct them.

  9. What kind of censorship will Peace Now impose on this, if any? I can see this being quite handy for residents of the communities themselves. I actually think the more people around the world know about the jewish communities – that they are not trailer parks inhabited by gun-toting nutjobs – the better. People should understand what they’re talking about when they speak of settlers, especially Israelis themselves.

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