Proposals for a Palestinian state refer to the establishment of an independent state for the Palestinian people that have been occupied by Israel since the Six Day War of 1967 and before by Egypt (Gaza) and by Jordan (West Bank) since 1949. The proposals include the Gaza Strip which is currently controlled by the Hamas faction of the Palestinian National authority, the West Bank which is run by the Fatah faction of the Palestinian National Authority and East Jerusalem which is under Israeli administration.
The American government is seeking to end the forty year Jewish settlement and foster a Palestinian state in the West Bank. But the American Treasury has been helping to sustain the settlements through tax breaks on donations to support them.
There's a Christian Tennessee-based charity called HaYovel that believes helping Jewish winemakers in the occupied West Bank foretells the second coming of Christ. They invite volunteers to "labour side by side with the people of Israel" and to "share with them a passion for the soon coming jubilee in Yeshua, messiah."
But during their visit in February, the volunteers found themselves in the middle of a fight for land. When they went into the vineyards, they were pelted with rocks by Palestinians who say the settlers have planted creeping grape vines on their land to claim it as their own. Two volunteers were hurt and in the scuffle, a settler guard shot a 17 year old Palestinian shepherd in the leg.
"These people are filled with ideas that this is the Promised Land and their duty is to help the Jews" said Izdat Said Qadoos from the neighbouring Palestinian village. "It's not the Promised Land. It's our land."
HaYovel is one of many groups in the US using tax-exempt donations to help Jews establish permanence in the Israeli-occupied territories - effectively obstructing the creation of a Palestinian state, widely seen as a necessary condition for Middle East peace.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/world/middleeast/06settle.html?_r=1&hp
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