In contrast to the manner in which the spokespeople of the settlement-right seek to present matters, only a less than one fifth of the de facto territory of all of the settlements in the area that is today called “Gush Etzion,” are lands purchased by Jews prior to 1948. The settlements in this area were established over the years, mainly through a combination of institutionalized and pirate land theft, familiar to us from additional places in the West Bank, and including: seizures for military purposes, declarations of state lands and takeovers of private Palestinian lands whose owners are denied access to them.