Facts on the ground

Facts on the ground is a diplomatic and geopolitical term that means the situation in reality as opposed to in the abstract.[1] The term was popularised in the 1970s in discussions of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict[2] to refer to Israeli settlements built in the occupied West Bank, which were intended to establish permanent Israeli footholds in Palestinian territory.[3]

Rashid Khalidi wrote in 2010:

One reason Israel continues to build settlements is that, according to the so-called Clinton parameters laid down in 2000, a final Israeli–Palestinian agreement would grant sovereignty over Jewish-occupied areas to Israel, and Palestinian-inhabited areas to the new Palestinian state. Indeed, well over a decade of failed negotiations have only led to an acceleration of Israel's land grab in the Holy City. Israeli planners have spent this time pushing settlers into heavily Arab-inhabited areas of the city, such as Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, and Abu Dis, in order to create fresh "facts on the ground"—a tactic used by the Zionist movement for over a century in order to obtain control over more and more of Palestine.[4]

The strategy of "establishing facts on the ground" described as a means to generate normative consequences that add pressure to dispute resolution attempts.[5]

Definition

The term is not a legal concept or a scientific term.[5]

Scottish sociologist Andrew Ross defined it as "Jewish settlements and security infrastructure established prior to any legal recognition". He used the phrase to describe the West Bank barrier and the to vacant Palestinian homes left empty following the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight which were then possessed by over 100,000 European Jews who initially arrived as Holocaust refugees.[6]

American historian Josiah Ober explained it as follows: "The "facts" were newly-established Jewish settlements and the "ground" on which they were created lay outside Israel's internationally recognized national borders".[2]

Origin

The earliest use of the phrase found in LexisNexis' newspaper search tool is a 1978 Newsweek article quoting Haim Shaham, a leader of the Shilo settlement project.[2]

Example uses

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Berridge & Lloyd 2012, p. 147.
  2. 1 2 3 Ober 2006, p. 442.
  3. ↑ Rosen 2007.
  4. ↑ Khalidi 2010.
  5. 1 2 Stolzenberg, Nomi Maya (14 December 2009). "Facts on the ground". Property and Community: 107–140. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195391572.003.005. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  6. ↑ Ross, Andrew (6 April 2021). Stone Men: The Palestinians Who Built Israel. Verso Books. pp. 3, 47, 202. ISBN 978-1-78873-027-3. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  7. ↑ "Israel approves settler building plans in Palestinian West Bank city". Reuters. 17 June 2026. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  8. ↑ "Palestine warns of Israeli settlement plans to seize 100 sites in occupied West Bank". Anadolu Agency. 1 July 2026. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  9. ↑ "Opinion: Israel's Gaza strategy: Create facts on the ground that can't be undone". Los Angeles Times. 2 January 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2026.

Bibliography

Further reading

  • Gorenberg, Gershom (2006). The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967–1977. New York: Times Books. ISBN 978-1-4668-0054-0.
  • Wiktionary logo The dictionary definition of facts on the ground at Wiktionary


This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.