Evelyn Gordon recently claimed that "the settlements cover only 1.1 percent of the West Bank" and hence cannot be an obstacle to peace. Lara Friedman drops some facts:
Almost 43% of the West Bank is under the direct control of settlers/settlements….
[Settlements] comprise less than 2% of the West Bank but aren't neatly packed into a single area. They are spread across the entire length and breadth of the West Bank, connected by dedicated infrastructure and bolstered throughout by the Israeli army. Together, all of this forms a network of control that makes normal Palestinian life and development virtually impossible throughout the approximately 98% of the West Bank on which settlements have not (yet) been physically built.
(Map via Wiki)
The Dish 