In Jabal al-Baba, a small Bedouin community east of Jerusalem, Israel controls almost every aspect of Palestinians’ daily life, from building homes and accessing water to moving freely.
asserted
Israel → control → water
Yet when Israelis head to the polls on October 27, the vast majority of the nearly three million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank will have no say in choosing the government that rules their lives under occupation – unlike the 700,000 Jewish settlers living in some 300 illegal settlements and outposts across the territory, including occupied East Jerusalem.
asserted
that → head → Jerusalem
“They treat us like something that doesn’t exist,” said Atallah al-Jahalin, Jabal al-Baba’s community representative.
asserted
Jahalin → treat → something
“You don’t have the right to vote.
asserted
You → have → right
You don’t have the rights that you would have in a democratic state.”
asserted
you → have → state
About 450 people live in Jabal al-Baba, a community in Area C, which makes up about 60 percent of the occupied West Bank and remains under full Israeli military and civil control.
asserted
which → live → control
Many residents here raise sheep and goats beside homes made from corrugated metal.
asserted
residents → raise → metal
Most belong to the Jahalin tribe, whose families were expelled from the Naqab (Negev) desert region by Israeli authorities in the years after the Nakba, the violent ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Zionist militias in 1948.
asserted
families → belong → 1948
“You are forbidden from building a house.
asserted
You → forbid → house
You are forbidden from building a street.
asserted
You → forbid → street
You are forbidden from building a school,” said al-Jahalin.
asserted
Jahalin → forbid → school
“Everything is forbidden to us.”
asserted
Everything → forbid → us
Residents face constant pressure from Israeli soldiers and settlers, al-Jahalin said, on top of repeated demolitions.
asserted
Jahalin → face → demolitions
“In the past few years, we have had more than 100 demolition operations in our community,” he said.
asserted
he → have → community
“We were constantly rebuilding our homes.”
asserted
We → rebuild → homes
Israel says it demolishes Palestinian structures built without permits, which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain.
asserted
Palestinians → say → permits
Israeli rights group Bimkom found authorities rejected more than 99 percent of Palestinian building permit applications in Area C between 2021 and 2024.
asserted
authorities → find → 2021
While Palestinians are restricted from developing, Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law, are expanding at a record pace.
asserted
which → restrict → pace
In April, Israel’s security cabinet was reported to have approved 34 new settlements in a single decision, including outposts legalised retroactively, according to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog group.
uncertain
cabinet → report → Now
For al-Jahalin, the aim is clear: to push his community out and make way for settlers.
asserted
aim → push → settlers
“There is an Israeli plan to displace the people who are here,” he said.
asserted
he → be → people
We have to leave these areas for the benefit of the settlement projects.”
asserted
We → have → projects
E1 exposes limits of government change
asserted
E1 → expose → change
In this month’s vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party and the far-right coalition it leads face a tight race against an opposition alliance consisting of an assortment of parties that are united in their stated aim to “preserve and strengthen Israel as a Jewish and democratic state”.
asserted
that → lead → state
The opposition grouping has not declared an official leader, but former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, of the centrist Yashar party, is seen as its most likely candidate for prime minister.
asserted
Eisenkot → declare → minister
Recent polls indicate the two blocs are running neck and neck, with neither side appearing on course to win a majority.
asserted
side → indicate → majority
Most leaders of the Jewish-led opposition bloc, meanwhile, have ruled out joining forces with the Arab-led parties that represent the Palestinian citizens of Israel who make up about 20 percent of its population.
asserted
who → lead → population
But for many Palestinians, a change at the top would mean little.
asserted
change → mean → little
Jamal Juma’, coordinator of the grassroots Stop the Wall campaign, said decades of occupation have taught Palestinians not to expect a new government to shift fundamental Israeli policies.
asserted
government → stop → policies
He pointed out that it was Israel’s centre-left Labour Party – and not the right – that began building settlements in the West Bank after 1967.
asserted
that → point → 1967
For Jabal al-Baba, the clearest test of what a change in government would mean is E1, a strip of land between Jerusalem and the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, where the community sits.
asserted
community → mean → Adumim
The E1 project would link the settlement to Jerusalem, cutting the West Bank in two and threatening the forced displacement of some 18 Bedouin communities, including Jabal al-Baba.
asserted
project → link → Baba
In August 2025, Israel gave final approval to 3,401 settler homes in E1, which far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said would “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state.
asserted
Smotrich → give → state
A month later, Netanyahu vowed “there will be no Palestinian state.
asserted
Netanyahu → vow → ?
This place belongs to us.”
asserted
place → belong → us
This year, the government put the land up for sale in two tenders, timed to advance before the election.
asserted
government → put → election
Israel’s attorney general has since moved to delay parts of the process until after the vote, and Smotrich is challenging that in court.
asserted
Smotrich → move → court
In the lead-up to the election, Eisenkot rejected the idea of a Palestinian state as “delusional” while also expressing support for “strengthening” settlements.
asserted
Eisenkot → reject → settlements
But asked about the E1 tenders in August, he said: “Not now.”
asserted
he → ask → August
He called advancing the project a mistake with an international cost, and said far-right ministers and settler violence were damaging Israel’s standing abroad.
asserted
ministers → call → standing
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
