They are illegal, a contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention, "dangerous", "concerning"; they are Israel's illegal settlements, built forcefully on occupied and mostly privately-owned Palestinian land.
The Israeli settlement regime has occupied forty per cent and counting of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Successive Israeli governments have offered Israeli settlers financial, logistical, and security support to create this reality that has now driven Palestinians to the brink of despair.
![[QODLink]](http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2012/2/12/2012212114913931580_16.jpg "The miracle generation")
