Israel West Bank Annexations Considered

This, if allowed to take effect by world “democracies,” would be reason 82 why Palestinians should seek freedom and expel the Zionists thugs from their holy lands. The Middle East’s “only so-called democracy” was not “created” to live in peace: it is a country founded by terrorists and thugs on stolen lands to spread terror and disrupt a region of over 300,000,000 Arabs. It’s time for an Arab Palestinians uprising against this disease called Zionism!  Israel does not belong in the Middle East. Period.

JERUSALEM — Israel is considering annexing major West Bank settlement blocs if the Palestinians unilaterally seek world recognition of a state, an Israeli official said Tuesday – moves that would deal a grave blow to prospects for negotiating a peace deal between the two sides.

Israel has refrained from taking such a diplomatically explosive step for four decades. The fact that it is considering doing so reflects how seriously it is concerned by the Palestinian campaign to win international recognition of a state in the absence of peacemaking.

The Palestinians launched that campaign after peace talks foundered over Israeli construction in West Bank settlements. On Tuesday, the Israeli Interior Ministry said it would decide next month whether to give final approval to build 1,500 apartments in two Jewish enclaves in east Jerusalem. Israel captured both east Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan in 1967.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem, home to shrines sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity, immediately after seizing it. But it carefully avoided annexing the West Bank, where 300,000 settlers now live among 2.5 million Palestinians.

Although it is widely assumed that under any peace deal, Israel would hold onto major settlements it has built in the past 44 years, any decision to formally annex West Bank territory would be a precedent-setting move that could increase Israel’s already considerable international isolation. The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, in addition to the Gaza Strip, for a future state.

The government official who disclosed the possible annexation said he did not know how seriously authorities were considering the option. He said that “adopting unilateral measures is not a one-way street” and added that other options were also being considered.

These could include limiting water supplies beyond agreed-upon amounts and restricting Palestinian use of Israeli ports for business purposes, he said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was aware of the moves being discussed, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity because no final decisions have been made.

Netanyahu’s office had no comment. Nimr Hamad, an aide to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, said “these threats are not new. … But we are continuing (our campaign) and are convinced our position is right.”

Although peace negotiations have taken place since Netanyahu came to power two years ago, they have been sporadic and largely mediated by the U.S. Three short weeks of direct talks broke down in September over Palestinian objections to continued Israeli settlement construction.

Palestinians say they won’t talk peace with Israel unless Israel freezes all construction in both the West Bank and east Jerusalem, lands they claim along with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for their hoped-for state. Israeli officials fault Palestinians for the peacemaking impasse, saying a construction moratorium should not be a condition for peacemaking, because it never was in the past. [The Arrogance!]

Israeli building in east Jerusalem is especially contentious because the Palestinians want to create their future capital there. Because of the annexation, Israel does not consider the Jewish enclaves housing 200,000 Jews there to be settlements, but the rest of the international community does.

Settlers are Terrorists

Roi Lachmanovich, a spokesman for Interior Minister Eli Yishai, said officials would decide the fate of the 1,500 new apartments on April 14. The homes would be built in two existing “Jewish enclaves” in east Jerusalem.

Major Western powers have not given up on the concept of a negotiated solution. But with talks deadlocked, Palestinian leaders plan on seeking international recognition of a state, with or without an agreement with Israel, at the United Nations in September.

Their campaign has received a boost from Latin American countries that have lined up in recent months to offer recognition. It hasn’t received crucial U.S. or Western European support.

Although international recognition wouldn’t immediately change the situation on the ground, it would isolate Israel and put additional pressure on it to withdraw from occupied territories.

source: Huffington Post (see below)

Related Articles

• Israel West Bank Annexations Considered (huffingtonpost.com)

81 Reasons Why Gaza has every right to Self Defense

81 Reasons Why Gaza has the right to self-defense

By Julie Webb-Pullman

Seventy-nine of them can be found in United Nations Security Council Resolutions “directly critical of Israel for violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the U.N. Charter, the Geneva Conventions, international terrorism, or other violations of international law.” (1)

Ironically, after violating 80+ UN Resolutions,  Israel Demanded UN Response to Palestinian Rocket “Attacks!”

Number 80 can be found in the Goldstone Report (2), the recommendations of which have yet to implemented some 18 months after its submission to the Human Rights Council, and Paragraph 1912 of which stresses “all States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 have in addition the obligation, while respecting the United Nations Charter and international law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention.”

Has that happened? Clearly not. (3)

The most compelling reason number 81, can be found in the United Nations Charter, Article 52 which states: “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.” (4)

There would also be a Reason 82, but for the United States power of veto exercised in the Security Council in February 2011. (5)

Read Ashkelon: Why Gaza Exists

If the international community has abandoned its responsibilities towards Palestinians, and particularly towards Gaza, as the above examples over the last 63 years plus this map of Palestinian territories so graphically illustrate, what else is left to Gaza but self-defense?

The Stealing -and Ethnic Cleansing – of Palestine

Israel and its chorUS disingenuously cite Israel’s right of “self-defense” to justify not only Israel’s disproportionate military response to Gaza – and Palestinians’ – genuine right to self-defense, but also to attempt to disguise Israel’s blatant land-theft from existing citizens.

Contrast the “newcomers” in Israel, for example, to many of those who in recent years have arrived in Australia. The latter have been considered illegal immigrants and incarcerated in off-shore islands or desert detention camps –the subtle distinction being that

1. those latterly arriving in Australia sought refuge from repressive regimes whereas the Israeli immigrants came from European and North American democracies…(enough said, perhaps) and
2. unlike Australia’s (and New Zealand’s) immigrants, who now accept the existing population’s rights to their existing property, culture and citizenship, Israel’s immigrants bulldoze and destroy the homes of existing residents to build their own in their place, not only rendering thousands homeless but also destroying historic, economic and culturally-important sites such as religious buildings, olive groves, farms, and cemeteries – and now legislating that they also be of the Jewish religion in order to have citizenship.

Is not our perception of the wrongness of such actions why New Zealanders, for instance, just spent thirty years redressing such wrongs in their own country, through the Waitangi Tribunal? Is not our perception of the wrongness of such discrimination why we all fought to end similar structural apartheid in South Africa?

In the past week, Israel has killed at least 10 people and seriously wounded scores more in in Gaza in sustained military attacks with sophisticated weaponry targeted at civilians, a week in which so-called ‘rocket’ attacks from Gaza (into traditional Palestinian territory) have not caused any Israeli deaths, or physical injury. Yet Israel on Wednesday threatened “After barrage of rocket and mortar fire, Vice Premier Shalom says Israel may have to consider wide operation in Gaza; Minister Limor Livnat: Operation Cast Lead 2 may be in order.” (6)

After a cosy telephone chat to US President Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Thursday said from Moscow that “Israel’s reaction to rocket attacks will be measured” (7) – but by what, is the question…caesium, perhaps?

US Secretary of Defense Robert now waits in Israel for Netanyahu’s return, discussing with his Israeli counterpart Barak how to ensure Israel maintains its ‘qualitative military edge’ in ‘a period like now when Israeli-US security relations were so strong.’ (8)

Obama in South America while his troops hammer Libya, insisting that the US role will be minor, Netanyahu in Moscow proclaiming the same for Gaza…this arms’ length war-mongering to give an appearance of moderation makes me very suspicious – to paraphrase Shakespeare, “Methinks they doth protest too much.”

Yes, on any reading of the situation, Gaza certainly does have good cause for concern about their security and territorial integrity.

In the face of continuing military attacks against civilian targets and the absence of any meaningful and/or enforceable UN Security Council Resolution to protect them, and of any meaningful assistance from the international community in preventing Israel’s ongoing use of force, they have every legitimate reason to resort to self-defense, under Article 52 of the UN Charter.

Source

References

(1) Israeli Violations of UN Security Council Resolutions

(2) HUMAN RIGHTS IN PALESTINE

(3) Amnesty International UK et al (2008) The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion , and
Amnesty International UK et al (2010) Dashed Hopes: Continuation of the Gaza Siege
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (2010) The illegal closure of the Gaza Strip: Collective Punishment of the civilian population
UNICEF, UNRWA and Minister of Education and Higher Education (2010) Palestinian children deprived of basic rights to education ;
UNDP (2010) One Year After GAZA Early Recovery and Reconstruction Needs Assessment ;
OCHA (2010) Farming without Land, Fishing without Water: Gaza Agriculture Sector Struggles to Survive
(4) Charter of the United Nations Chapter V11 Article 52

(5) United States vetoes Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements

(6) and (7) links: broken or do not load.

(8) Gates calls for bold action to reach two-state solution

Related Articles

• Tension back to Gaza following Israeli airstrike, Jihad vows revenge – Xinhua (news.google.com)

Freedom & Dignity for Palestinians: Mona Eltahawy’s Remarks; J Street 2011

Mona Eltahawy speaking at the J Street Conference 2011 (2.27.11) . These are her complete opening remarks.

History before Our Eyes: Broader Implications of Democracy Movements in the Arab World.

Panelists:

Mona Eltahawy, Journalist
Ron Pundak, Director General, The Peres Center for Peace
Robert Serry, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process

Moderator: Steve Clemons, Senior Fellow, New America Foundation
Chair: Ambassador Samuel Lewis, Former American diplomat and former head of the U.S. Institute of Peace

 

“Muslim” murders “Jews” in Israeli Settlement!

The posts attacking Muslims and depicting the thugs (Israeli Settlers as victims) have quickly sprung up on WordPress by the hateful  mob of NaZionists and their Muslim-hating supporters.

These Israeli settler thugs who are really subhuman, have committed atrocities against Palestinians daily and as the Israeli Terrorist Forces simply stood by! Even Israelis themselves hate settlers but will use them as a propaganda serving “piece” when it suits the NaZionist regime.

A key event in these was a Day of Rage declared by the Jewish settlers and its brutal oppression by the Israeli police (including severe sexual harassment of a 15 year-old girl by a Jewish police officer). The violence reached the Knesset, where the police was unable to defend its grave offenses: “uniformed criminals” was the general verdict on them.

Source

The recent killing of a family is now Headlines: “The religion of peace: killing Jews in their sleep” or some ignorant self-serving propaganda.

Yet, when these thugs occupy Palestinian homes by force, commit murders and are authorized to terrorize and kill Palestinians, everyone is suddenly silent. They look away hoping for a “Muslim” Palestinian to commit a murder that they could use to bury and hide their own crimes.

Killing in the name of Judaism

But they can’t!

Here’s a sample and simple list of these thugs crimes against Palestinians that – till this day, hardly surface unless one is persistent in one’s search for the truth.Some of the sources are Israeli sources too, which makes this more amazing: that the western media would not even refer to such crimes, because, after all, they’re Jewish crimes.. and stating that fact would be anti-Semitic!

1. Two Palestinians killed by Israeli Settlers
2. Israeli Court Rules Shooting Palestinian OK
3. Settlers Attacking Elderly Palestinians – on Video
4. “We Killed Jesus and We’re Proud of it” – on Video
5. 2 Palestinians Killed, 9 Wounded, 31 buildings damaged
6. Settlers or Nazis? Video
7. The Terror State of Israel a Democracy?
8. Settler thugs attacking Palestinian Schoolgirls
9. Facts about Jewish Settlements
10. Settlers: The Jewish Terrorists

Source

Related Articles

• Settlers attack West Bank villages following outpost demolitions – Ha’aretz (news.google.com)

Israel planning new War on Neighbors

Israel is reportedly planning to launch a new war to strengthen its position in the Middle East, following recent political reforms in regional states.

A Western diplomat in the Jordanian capital Amman said on Wednesday that Israel has decided to attack Syria and Lebanon following the downfall of Hosni Mubarak’s regime in Egypt, which served as a great loss to Tel Aviv, the Lebanese daily Assafir reported.

The diplomat reiterated that since Tel Aviv is seriously worried about consequences of the Egyptian revolution and future developments in the region, it wants to start a new war in the Middle East in order to turn the situation back in its favor.

“Israel intends to overthrow Bashar al-Assad government in Syria in a matter of weeks after a war with Lebanon’s resistance movement of Hezbollah east of Lebanon, near the border with Syria,” Assafir quoted the diplomat as saying.

He added that Israel has already informed Washington about the plan.

Egypt, which shares a long border with Israel, was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Tel Aviv in 1979, following secret negotiations at the Camp David resort in the US.

For years, Egypt Mubarak helped Israel impose a deadly siege on the Gaza Strip by closing the Rafah crossing to Palestinians, keeping Gaza’s 1.5 million population trapped in the tiny coastal enclave.

The Israeli regime now fears that by the opening of Rafah, Hamas, the democratically-elected government of Gaza, will gain more power.

Source

Israel has informed Washington? And Washington, apparently approved! Do these morons-of-so-called-leaders learn anything from history, let alone current events?  Then the Western Powers “discuss” a No Fly Zone over Libya? Makes sense!!!

May be Israel should start a war. The last two aggressions against Palestinians in Gaza and the Lebanese resulted in humiliating defeats for the Israeli Terror Forces. Maybe we need to celebrate another humiliation of Israel.

Related Articles

• Israeli drone buzzes over S Lebanon (PressTV)
• WikiLeaks: Israel Plans Total War on Lebanon, Gaza (alternet.org)
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• Israel’s Split Over Arab Uprisings (thedailybeast.com)

Dictators Are Us; Toppled One by One

QADDAFI’S HORRIFIC CRIMES – VERY GRAPHIC!

What are these people thinking?

Are they that dumb, deaf and blind?

They all repeat the same thing… it’s as if they have the same mother.. or father (Ramses II) for that matter!

Some Predictions for the remaining morons!

U.S. Losing Credibilty on Egypt!

The United States is ‘losing credibility by the day’ in calling for democracy in Egypt while continuing to support President Hosni Mubarak, leading dissident Mohamed ElBaradei says.

‘The American government cannot ask the Egyptian people to believe that a dictator who has been in power for 30 years will be the one to implement democracy,’ ElBaradei told US network CBS from Cairo on Sunday.

On MEET THE PRESS today, Sunday January 30, 2011, the only two worth-while guests one should listen to and learn something from, were Martin Indyk, Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Tom Friedman, Columnist, New York Times. Full scripts and video on MSNBC.

The interview really revolved more about Israel than about the Will of the Egyptians. We show no support or concern that a real democracy be installed in the Middle East. We just worry about Egypt opening its borders to Gaza – and that would break the illegal Israeli siege! No concern whatsoever to the starving Palestinians and their well being.. no empathy with Egyptians to be a free democratic state… all we are concerned about is how this revolution in Egypt will affect our – OUR – interests… the hell with everyone else! Shameful.

And we [U.S.A.] are the advocates of democracy? Do we now understand why the people – not dictators – of the Middle East don’t trust us and our politics?

Excerpts – Martin Indyk:

Egypt is at the epicenter. But not just geostrategically central, it’s the largest militarily most powerful by far the most influential country. Where egypt goes will have a tsunami effect. It may start in Yemen but the if it end up in Egypt this is very profound. Because american interests are so tied up with Egypt, what happens there will have a profound effect.

We have to walk a very fine line because some of our interests are tied up with this leadership in egypt.

[Mubarak] He’s 80 years old. He’s sick and an old man. The compact with his people has been broken. Unfortunately because he’s been a good friend of the United States, but he did not open his political space. He did not allow for the people to express themselves and now he’s reaping the consequences and basically nothing that he or we can do about its.This is such a big deal that could have profound consequences for the peace treaty and the whole process of reconciliation between Israel.. The regime is critically important. There’s a head of the military who has been put in place as vice president. They are the ones who have to hold the ring now, tell Mubarak to go and announce that there will be presidential elections within, I think six months. Omar Suleiman, the Vice President now will not stand but the military will oversee a process of democratic evolution.

I often wonder how “politicians” get their positions and speak with such eloquence ignorance!

A more intelligent outlook and foresight comes from Tom Friedman:

Excerpts – Tom Friedman, Columnist, New York Times

We got to this moment, basically, because our concern about having a stable Egypt first and foremost to preserve the Peace Treaty with Israel and later after 9/11 to be a partner in the war on terrorism. Basically let us give Mubarak a pass on democratization. For the first 15 years of his rule Egypt stagnated. I visited 12 years ago I remember writing Mubarak had more mummies in his cabinet than King Tut. Then he slowly under our pressure and pressure over globalization, started to open up.. and in the last few years actually appointed a lot of reformers to his cabinet who produced a real opening, 6% growth, I believe, last year. Egypt is in such a hole economically, David, that it needs to grow at China-India [7.5%] rates if it’s going to even remotely have chance to keep up with this population.

I think what the United States should be focusing on are three things. One, emphasizing that we hope whatever transition there, is peaceful. Two, that we hope that it will be built around consensual politics, not another dictatorship and Three, whatever regime, whatever government emerges, whether the Muslim brotherhood or not, it’s a government that’s dedicated to ushering Egypt into the 21st century.

Egypt and really most of the Arab world has been on vacation from history for the last 50 years thanks largely to oil.

Egypt didn’t have oil.. it had the peace treaty with Israel. What peace with Israel was to Egypt, oil is to Saudi Arabia: it got Egypt all of this aid [$1.5 billion a year].

Mubarak has had three decades, basically, to make the big decision of making Egypt, promoting Egypt in a transition to democratization. He did not use this opportunity all these years and now he’s got to make a big decision. Egypt’s got to make a decision not from a position of strength but at least from the government’s point of view from a real position of weakness.

You never make good decisions, you never make far sighted decisions from a position of weakness. So it’s hard to see something positive ever coming out of the Mubarak-Egyptian relationship again.

I would add that Israel today, though, I think israel should really reflect what’s going on in Egypt. It does not want to be the Mubarak of the peace process. Israel has never been stronger militarily or economically. This is exactly the time it should be looking to forge and close a peace deal with the Palestinians, not because it will change the Arab world but because it will be a huge opportunity and stabilizer for that relationship.

I think for all of us analysts inside, outside, the most dangerous thing you can do in a situation like this is confuse your hopes with your analysis. I know what my hopes are. My hopes are we’ll see a transition in Egypt that will allow the emergence of a Muslim moderate progressive center there, precisely what Mubarak never built. But my analysis and my fear, especially looking at the news, the looting today and whatnot is that when you open the lid on a society like this, where the government has done nothing basically to build civil society for the last 20 years, what comes out is anger, rage. And makes the building of a kind of a modern progressive center that much more difficult. Now the implications are enormous. One of the big questions is the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt, a huge powerful movement.. will they go for one of three strategies? One is to emulate Iran.. the other is Hamas. Or the option we hope they choose is the Turkey model, be a partner in a consensual rebuilding. Egypt and basically try to build their strength on a democratic foundation.

ATW Views

If we are really for democracy and justice, then we (the USA) should offer genuine help to the Egyptians in this process. We should respect the wishes of the people and the direction their country will take. We should get our heads out of the sand and stop the attacks on anyone and everyone criticizing Israel. When we offer Israel $4 billion in aid a year and less than half of that to a country of 80 million (10 times the size of Israel), what message are we sending Egyptians and the Arabs? Long gone are the days Israel claimed it was a victim. As Friedman said above, Israel has never been stronger militarily and economically. It’s time to treat everyone equally if we expect peace to work.

And those who are quick to blame Hamas and Hizbollah and that any aid falling in their hands will be used against Israel, look at the facts before you insert you Zionist shoe in your mouth. Palestinians have been deprived from any and all humanitarian aid by Israel. Israel continues to annex and ethnic cleanse Palestinians and openly discriminate against Palestinians whether they are Israeli-Arabs or Palestinians seeking rebuilding permits.   And the US just looks the other way. The death toll of Palestinians outnumber that of Israelis by at least 10 to 1.The chart below is from an Israeli Human Rights group: B’Tselem.

Breakdown of Deaths

	Israelis	Palestinians
Children Killed (More on the impact on children.)	124 Remember These Children	1,452 Remember These Children
Civilians* Killed	731 B’Tselem	3,535 – 4,226 B’Tselem
People killed in the course of a targeted killing	1	408 or more B’Tselem
People who were the object of a targeted killing	1	238 B’Tselem
People killed on own land	586 (54.1%) B’Tselem	6,359 (98.9%) B’Tselem
People killed on others’ land	498 (45.9%) B’Tselem	71 (1.1%) B’Tselem

It’s time for the U.S. to apply the “Equal Opportunity” principles here:

1. Our first and foremost concern should not be to worry about a dictator we continue to call ALLY! Our allies should be democracies not dictatorships we install and reward with billions!
2. If we are against the occupation of Kuwait by Iraq and will use power to reverse such occupation, the same should be applied to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
3. If we advocate the freedom of southern Sudanese, we should equally advocate Palestinian freedom and the right for them to have their own state – not threaten to Veto any such UN resolution.
4. If we intend to apply U.N. resolution by force – against Iraq, Iran, Syria, etc., then the same is to be applied against Israel’s violation of over 60 UN resolutions.
5. If we support dictatorships – whether in Saudi Arabia, Jordan or the Gulf states, then we should continue to expect a turbulent Middle East. Maybe that’s really our interest… keep it in chaos while we exploit the resources.
6. If we are serious about a peaceful prosperous Middle East and eliminate terrorism, we should extend both hands to all, support democracies, topple dictatorships without meddling in internal politics and end-up with a European-Union type of a region.

Related Articles

• Mubarak’s concessions not enough: Clinton (cbc.ca)
• Israel ‘anxiously monitoring’ Egyptian riots, says Netanyahu (jta.org)
• Special Report: The Revolt in Egypt and U.S. Policy (Guest Voice) (themoderatevoice.com)