what with all these white jewish people in the imperial core who suddenly just NEED to go live in the middle east and commit war crimes and genocide along the way? Just… go buy a house in Arizona or something if you REALLY want to live in the desert? These people who are moving into Israel presumably had a place to live before moving across the planet. Why do they specifically need to move to Israel of all places? Who the fuck is waking up in the morning thinking “I need to murder brown children so I can live in that very specific bit of desert on the other side of the world”?
Is this really the case though? I know there are some Israeli Haredi groups (with members living below the poverty line) that sponsor settlers, but I’ve also known some perfectly comfortable Americans that move out near Bethlehem.
Some of the settlements have pretty comfortable conditions even by U.S. standards, and even as nearby Palestinian neighborhoods still have to ration daily water.
It’s still an economic motivator to go there, since they get benefits from the state of Israel. If Israel didnt provide tangible benefits to people, like stolen housing, then no one would be moving there
The cheaper price of the settlements comes partially from benefits but also its less valuable land because you’re under threat of counter attack. There’s a premium on distance from those tensions within Israel. The settlers get benefits to move out. I’m sure there are plenty of ideological settlers that go so that in some potential peace deal they can grab up the land, but I’d bet a significant majority are poor or downwardly mobile and are attracted primarily to: the cheap rents and the subsidies Israel gives to settlers,
If you’re not ideological and from America , you don’t go to a settlement unless you’re poor. You move to a regular neighborhood in Israel. It’s just not worth the risk or the tension to be in a settlement if you can afford an apartment or house normally.