When Netanyahu understood his mistake it was too late. He painfully watched how the boomerang that he had thrown at the State of Palestine was making a slow, smooth turn in the Jerusalemite cold air. On January 11, 2013, the boomerang hit Netanyahu, his government, and his people.
Following the UN decision to accept Palestine as an observer state on November 29, 2012, Netanyahu made several belligerent answers. One of them was to bisect the West Bank in an attempt to transform Palestine into a non-viable state. This was to be achieved by constructing 3,000 new buildings in a zone known as E1, located between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim (see map below). The article E1: Trashing Evil contains a detailed description of Netanyahu's mistake. The problem was that Benjamin Netanyahu took the decision without having visited the site. In the cold winters of Judæa, he favors his cozy office over the windy hills surrounding the city. That was a shame. After Netanyahu's rushed declaration, Jerusalem's mayor, Nir Barkat, rushed to the phone and told Netanyahu that Israel had placed a substantial waste dump in E1. The trash is blocking Israel's plan to bisect the West Bank; forcing a delay. Before the area can be built, the waste must be removed; the Israeli plan has been delayed.
After criticizing Netanyahu's "policy of creating facts on the ground," the group declared in a formal statement "today, we are the ones creating facts on the ground, on our land." The statement began, "We, the sons and daughters of Palestine, declare the founding of the village 'Bab al-Shams,' by order of the people, without permission from the occupation, or any other body, because this land is ours, as is the right to build on it." Mr. Netanyahu, if you declare them illegal, then you cannot recognize Jewish settlements in the West Bank as legal. We are joyously waiting your decision.
