Israel approves new West Bank settlements amid surge in Palestinian violence

[dexterm]

Actually to be serious for a moment, I gave you a caricature of the Israeli far right position and that was the one esteemed members already portrayed as Israel's official position. The so called Quartet released a more balanced document on the conflict recently. It called on the Israelis to curtail settlement construction but it also called on the Palestinians to stop violence and incitement. It also failed to mention the 67 borders, which have sailed away a long time ago. Abbas of course spat his dummy out big time as any responsibility or action points for himself are unthinkable. I applaud the more balanced document, which is the next best thing to telling the two sides to sort it out bilaterally whilst exiting stage left.

http://m.jpost.com/Israel-News/Abbas-calls-on-UN-Security-Council-to-reject-Quartet-report-459696

The Quartet produced a watered down report only because Netanyahu nobbled the committee...don't know what he promised them in return.

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu 'persuaded world powers to water down illegal settlements report'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-diplomats-illegal-settlements-netanyahu-quartet-report-palestine-west-bank-revealed-world-a7120976.html

And of course you did your own bit of watering down by deliberately misquoting even the Jerusalem Post which wrote

"Late last week the Middle East Quartet called on Israel to cease settlement construction"

...which you changed to "curtail"

The New York Times does a better job of quoting the report than you.

"Israel should cease its policy of building settlements in the occupied West Bank, stop setting aside land for “exclusive Israeli use” and end the practice of denying Palestinians permission to build homes, according to a long-awaited report released Friday and endorsed by the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/02/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-quartet-report.html?_r=0

The word whitewash springs to mind.

[JingerBen]

Actually to be serious for a moment, I gave you a caricature of the Israeli far right position and that was the one esteemed members already portrayed as Israel's official position. The so called Quartet released a more balanced document on the conflict recently. It called on the Israelis to curtail settlement construction but it also called on the Palestinians to stop violence and incitement. It also failed to mention the 67 borders, which have sailed away a long time ago. Abbas of course spat his dummy out big time as any responsibility or action points for himself are unthinkable. I applaud the more balanced document, which is the next best thing to telling the two sides to sort it out bilaterally whilst exiting stage left.

http://m.jpost.com/Israel-News/Abbas-calls-on-UN-Security-Council-to-reject-Quartet-report-459696

The Quartet produced a watered down report only because Netanyahu nobbled the committee...don't know what he promised them in return.

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu 'persuaded world powers to water down illegal settlements report'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-diplomats-illegal-settlements-netanyahu-quartet-report-palestine-west-bank-revealed-world-a7120976.html

And of course you did your own bit of watering down by deliberately misquoting even the Jerusalem Post which wrote

"Late last week the Middle East Quartet called on Israel to cease settlement construction"

...which you changed to "curtail"

The New York Times does a better job of quoting the report than you.

"Israel should cease its policy of building settlements in the occupied West Bank, stop setting aside land for “exclusive Israeli use” and end the practice of denying Palestinians permission to build homes, according to a long-awaited report released Friday and endorsed by the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/02/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-quartet-report.html?_r=0

The word whitewash springs to mind.

Thanks for the clarification.

It's like a fresh breeze that disperses the fog of propaganda.

[Steely Dan]

Actually to be serious for a moment, I gave you a caricature of the Israeli far right position and that was the one esteemed members already portrayed as Israel's official position. The so called Quartet released a more balanced document on the conflict recently. It called on the Israelis to curtail settlement construction but it also called on the Palestinians to stop violence and incitement. It also failed to mention the 67 borders, which have sailed away a long time ago. Abbas of course spat his dummy out big time as any responsibility or action points for himself are unthinkable. I applaud the more balanced document, which is the next best thing to telling the two sides to sort it out bilaterally whilst exiting stage left.

http://m.jpost.com/Israel-News/Abbas-calls-on-UN-Security-Council-to-reject-Quartet-report-459696

The Quartet produced a watered down report only because Netanyahu nobbled the committee...don't know what he promised them in return.

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu 'persuaded world powers to water down illegal settlements report'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-diplomats-illegal-settlements-netanyahu-quartet-report-palestine-west-bank-revealed-world-a7120976.html

And of course you did your own bit of watering down by deliberately misquoting even the Jerusalem Post which wrote

"Late last week the Middle East Quartet called on Israel to cease settlement construction"

...which you changed to "curtail"

The New York Times does a better job of quoting the report than you.

"Israel should cease its policy of building settlements in the occupied West Bank, stop setting aside land for “exclusive Israeli use” and end the practice of denying Palestinians permission to build homes, according to a long-awaited report released Friday and endorsed by the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/02/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-quartet-report.html?_r=0

The word whitewash springs to mind.

Since when have world powers listened to Netanyahu? Well actually you may just be onto something, BDS is failing miserably, it's bank accounts shut down and counter boycotts set up. The UNHRC also met recently for the only reason they ever convene, namely to condemn Israel. This time things were different, every single Western democracy walked out prior to the motions concerning Israel.

I'm afraid the game of provoking Israeli retaliation then going whining to the international community is rapidly coming to an end. Israel is rapidly building relationships with the Arab world so the only allies left for the Palestinian terrorists are Iran and their army of rabid keyboard warriors.

P.s I paraphrased, never quoted or made it appear that I had. Nice try no cigar.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Steely Dan

[JingerBen]

Actually to be serious for a moment, I gave you a caricature of the Israeli far right position and that was the one esteemed members already portrayed as Israel's official position. The so called Quartet released a more balanced document on the conflict recently. It called on the Israelis to curtail settlement construction but it also called on the Palestinians to stop violence and incitement. It also failed to mention the 67 borders, which have sailed away a long time ago. Abbas of course spat his dummy out big time as any responsibility or action points for himself are unthinkable. I applaud the more balanced document, which is the next best thing to telling the two sides to sort it out bilaterally whilst exiting stage left.

http://m.jpost.com/Israel-News/Abbas-calls-on-UN-Security-Council-to-reject-Quartet-report-459696

The Quartet produced a watered down report only because Netanyahu nobbled the committee...don't know what he promised them in return.

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu 'persuaded world powers to water down illegal settlements report'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-diplomats-illegal-settlements-netanyahu-quartet-report-palestine-west-bank-revealed-world-a7120976.html

And of course you did your own bit of watering down by deliberately misquoting even the Jerusalem Post which wrote

"Late last week the Middle East Quartet called on Israel to cease settlement construction"

...which you changed to "curtail"

The New York Times does a better job of quoting the report than you.

"Israel should cease its policy of building settlements in the occupied West Bank, stop setting aside land for “exclusive Israeli use” and end the practice of denying Palestinians permission to build homes, according to a long-awaited report released Friday and endorsed by the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/02/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-quartet-report.html?_r=0

The word whitewash springs to mind.

Since when have world powers listened to Netanyahu? Well actually you may just be onto something, BDS is failing miserably, it's bank accounts shut down and counter boycotts set up. The UNHRC also met recently for the only reason they ever convene, namely to condemn Israel. This time things were different, every single Western democracy walked out prior to the motions concerning Israel.

I'm afraid the game of provoking Israeli retaliation then going whining to the international community is rapidly coming to an end. Israel is rapidly building relationships with the Arab world so the only allies left for the Palestinian terrorists are Iran and their army of rabid keyboard warriors.

P.s I paraphrased, never quoted or made it appear that I had. Nice try no cigar.

Misinformation from the first word to the last.

The international condemnation of Israel is gaining momentum - not losing it.

The illegal settlement building on Palestinian territory is what is provoking it.

[dexterm]

Actually to be serious for a moment, I gave you a caricature of the Israeli far right position and that was the one esteemed members already portrayed as Israel's official position. The so called Quartet released a more balanced document on the conflict recently. It called on the Israelis to curtail settlement construction but it also called on the Palestinians to stop violence and incitement. It also failed to mention the 67 borders, which have sailed away a long time ago. Abbas of course spat his dummy out big time as any responsibility or action points for himself are unthinkable. I applaud the more balanced document, which is the next best thing to telling the two sides to sort it out bilaterally whilst exiting stage left.

http://m.jpost.com/Israel-News/Abbas-calls-on-UN-Security-Council-to-reject-Quartet-report-459696

The Quartet produced a watered down report only because Netanyahu nobbled the committee...don't know what he promised them in return.

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu 'persuaded world powers to water down illegal settlements report'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-diplomats-illegal-settlements-netanyahu-quartet-report-palestine-west-bank-revealed-world-a7120976.html

And of course you did your own bit of watering down by deliberately misquoting even the Jerusalem Post which wrote

"Late last week the Middle East Quartet called on Israel to cease settlement construction"

...which you changed to "curtail"

The New York Times does a better job of quoting the report than you.

"Israel should cease its policy of building settlements in the occupied West Bank, stop setting aside land for “exclusive Israeli use” and end the practice of denying Palestinians permission to build homes, according to a long-awaited report released Friday and endorsed by the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/02/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-quartet-report.html?_r=0

The word whitewash springs to mind.

Since when have world powers listened to Netanyahu? Well actually you may just be onto something, BDS is failing miserably, it's bank accounts shut down and counter boycotts set up. The UNHRC also met recently for the only reason they ever convene, namely to condemn Israel. This time things were different, every single Western democracy walked out prior to the motions concerning Israel.

I'm afraid the game of provoking Israeli retaliation then going whining to the international community is rapidly coming to an end. Israel is rapidly building relationships with the Arab world so the only allies left for the Palestinian terrorists are Iran and their army of rabid keyboard warriors.

P.s I paraphrased, never quoted or made it appear that I had. Nice try no cigar.

OK why did you paraphrase the report's cease settlement construction to curtail settlement construction? (cease means stop, curtail means don't stop,just cut back)

...the Zionist whitewash propaganda machine exposed!

[GeorgesAbitbol]

But interestingly you have highlighted the fact that it would not be barbaric terrorists such as ISIS causing a refugee problem, but Zionists and their colonization.

Of course, it is all Israel's fault. We are well aware that - according to you - Islamic terrorists can do no wrong.

Land stealing is terrorism too

It is obvious this fuel the Palestinian hate for Israel.

Far right Israeli government worth no more than the Hamas and are even worse IMO as they pretend to be a "beacon of human rights and democracy" in middle east.

Israel is an apartheid state, the US, the Europe, the UN and the whole world despise Israel government for these land stealing, and yet some lunatics still think there is nothing wrong with this...

[mania]

JDL Forces are busy as beavers on this forum

[mania]

How about disbanding UNRWA, who have not settled a single Palestinian anywhere and encourage the Palestinians to get on boats headed for Europe.

Better yet send the Israeli's ...??

[Steely Dan]

How about disbanding UNRWA, who have not settled a single Palestinian anywhere and encourage the Palestinians to get on boats headed for Europe.

Better yet send the Israeli's ...??

Been tried four times before, the Arab states have quit trying, noticed?

[Steely Dan]

JDL Forces are busy as beavers on this forum

Whereas the dozen or so who post obsessively condemning Israel yet scarcely manage half a dozen posts on all other topics have no agenda whatsoever. 555

[Jingthing]

JDL Forces are busy as beavers on this forum

Whereas the dozen or so who post obsessively condemning Israel yet scarcely manage half a dozen posts on all other topics have no agenda whatsoever. 555

To be clear, I'm not a member of any organization, though I could join AARP if I wanted. I think the JDL is odious, but the ADL is very admirable.

Indeed, Steely Dan, the forces of the obsessive Israel demonization agenda are always active here.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Jingthing

[thaibeachlovers]

Based on the saying you might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb I like Naftali Bennett's suggestion of annexing the entire West Bank. At least that would get the whining over all in one go.

I wonder where they think all the legal inhabitants will go? They certainly won't want them in the State of Israel.

[thaibeachlovers]

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. By that definition Netanyahu et al must be really crackers.

[thaibeachlovers]

But interestingly you have highlighted the fact that it would not be barbaric terrorists such as ISIS causing a refugee problem, but Zionists and their colonization.

Of course, it is all Israel's fault. We are well aware that - according to you - Islamic terrorists can do no wrong.

One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. Zionists know all about that, given that they had a terrorist PM ( Begin ).

If Israel steals Palestinian land, what do they expect? If YOU were Palestinian, would you be a happy chappie, or would you stand up to the invader of YOUR land by whatever means available?

[DeaconJohn]

Based on the saying you might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb I like Naftali Bennett's suggestion of annexing the entire West Bank. At least that would get the whining over all in one go.

I wonder where they think all the legal inhabitants will go? They certainly won't want them in the State of Israel.

That question was asked in post #21 on this thread. No answer was given.

It is relevant to the topic and should be considered by those who want to see a prosperous and peaceful Israel.

[Ulysses G.]

If YOU were Palestinian, would you be a happy chappie, or would you stand up to the invader of YOUR land by whatever means available?

I would have not started attacking the Jews in the first place. THAT is what prevented both peoples from living together peacefully. The Palestinians had a chance for their own country in 1947, but they blew that too. They are their own worst enemies.

[Ulysses G.]

Based on the saying you might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb I like Naftali Bennett's suggestion of annexing the entire West Bank. At least that would get the whining over all in one go.

I wonder where they think all the legal inhabitants will go? They certainly won't want them in the State of Israel.

That question was asked in post #21 on this thread. No answer was given.

How about Jordan? Numerous Jordanians have claimed THAT is the real Palestine.

The Jews should have thrown all the Arabs out in the 1948 war, but they wanted to be nice guys and asked them to stay. What a mistake that turned out to be.

Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan.

―King Hussein of Jordan

Edited July 7, 2016 by Ulysses G.

[dexterm]

Based on the saying you might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb I like Naftali Bennett's suggestion of annexing the entire West Bank. At least that would get the whining over all in one go.

I wonder where they think all the legal inhabitants will go? They certainly won't want them in the State of Israel.

That question was asked in post #21 on this thread. No answer was given.

How about Jordan? Numerous Jordanians have claimed THAT is the real Palestine.

The Jews should have thrown all the Arabs out in the 1948 war, but they wanted to be nice guys and asked them to stay. What a mistake that turned out to be.

Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan.

―King Hussein of Jordan

European Zionist immigrants nice guys??...Total nonsense. I'll have a pint of what you are drinking please.

You rely on mythology, making Zionists somehow the victims and nice guys, because the factual history of European invading illegal immigrants ethnically cleansing and dispossessing the resident Palestinian population is so abhorrent, you have to attempt to sugar coat it to hide the truth.

You know that herding 2.5 million Palestinian into cattle trucks and transporting them to the Jordanian border to suit your mythology is not going to happen, so why persist in this fantasy? You undermine your credibilty when you state such far fetched scenarios. OK for scoring a few points in a high school debate, but far removed from the real world. No-one takes you seriously any more.

Why not tackle the reality on the ground, that Israel's colony building may appeal to the fanatical right wing nationalists temporarily, but it ain't going to bring a permanent peace for Israel, which is after all what you want isn't it??...permanent peace within universally recognized borders?? I sometimes wonder!?

Edited July 7, 2016 by dexterm

[Ulysses G.]

No-one takes you seriously any more.

That is rich, coming from someone who has been repeatedly caught posting blatant inaccuracies, spin and downright lies over and over again on these threads. Pot, kettle, black.

I said that Israel should have thrown the Arabs out after the Palestinians started the war back in 1947. I said nothing about doing it now. However, if the Palestinians keep resorting to terrorism - murdering innocent civilians - and refusing to make peace, I suppose that it might come to that eventually.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Ulysses G.

[Scott]

Please keep the discussion civil. Personal comments will result in warnings.

[impulse]

Irrespective of any other discussion, the headline seems to have left out the word "illegal" in front of "settlements".

That in itself speaks volumes.

[Jingthing]

Irrespective of any other discussion, the headline seems to have left out the word "illegal" in front of "settlements". That in itself speaks volumes.

Perhaps because the legality of those "settlements" is a grey area, as under Israeli law they are not illegal, and the "state of Palestine" does not exist now and has never existed in all of history.

No, stating those facts does NOT mean that I'm personally in support of expanded Jewish "settlements" in the west bank. I agree that they are not helpful towards any potential peace process, just as Palestinian terrorism is not helpful towards that either.

This is a long standing, very COMPLEX conflict, and assigning all the blame to one side or the other is a denial of reality.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Jingthing

[impulse]

 

Irrespective of any other discussion, the headline seems to have left out the word "illegal" in front of "settlements". That in itself speaks volumes.

Perhaps because the legality of those "settlements" is a grey area, as under Israeli law they are not illegal, and the "state of Palestine" does not exist now and has never existed in all of history.

No, stating those facts does NOT mean that I'm personally in support of expanded Jewish "settlements" in the west bank. I agree that they are not helpful towards any potential peace process, just as Palestinian terrorism is not helpful towards that either.

This is a long standing, very COMPLEX conflict, and assigning all the blame to one side or the other is a denial of reality.

Seems that the UN General Assembly, the International Court of Justice and just about every US President since Carter would disagree with your "grey area". Perhaps it gets more complicated each year because that's their ethnic cleansing strategy? Tweak'em a little so they react badly, steal a little more of their life when they do, rinse and repeat.

[Jingthing]

I was only speaking of Israeli law. You can debate how things should be described in press reports but the fact remains that a grey area does exist when you have a political conflict. For example, is it "occupied" west bank if you don't recognize that there is another nation that exists to be occupied.

If there ever is a peaceful resolution to all this, I'm not sure that how things were described in the press is going to be much of an important factor. What will be an important factor is mutual recognition of conflicting narratives that need to be worked out.

There are anti-Israel extremists that refuse to name places clearly in Israel such as TEL AVIV as Israel, but rather insist that is Palestine. Does that change anything on the ground in Tel Aviv?

If the Israel demonization agenda thinks they have "won" by forcing more demonizing terms on describing things, I suggest they're deluding themselves if the sincere aim is real peace.

Of course, my personal hope is for a real two state solution, as unlikely as that seems now. Sometimes I get the strong feeling that many espousing the Israel demonization agenda are much more about punishing Israel (and often worse) than any sincere interest in a compromised peaceful solution. Recently Abbas pushed back at criticism that BOTH Israeli settlement expansion AND Palestinian terrorism needed to be addressed to move towards peace. He only wanted to blame Israel ONLY. No blame on his side. That is obviously garbage, yet seems to have so much support from the Israel demonization agenda.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Jingthing

[impulse]

Of course, my personal hope is for a real two state solution, as unlikely as that seems now. Sometimes I get the strong feeling that many espousing the Israel demonization agenda are much more about punishing Israel (and often worse) than any sincere interest in a compromised peaceful solution. Recently Abbas pushed back at criticism that BOTH Israeli settlement expansion AND Palestinian terrorism needed to be addressed to move towards peace. He only wanted to blame Israel ONLY. No blame on his side. That is obviously garbage, yet seems to have so much support from the Israel demonization agenda.

I'm not for punishing Israel any more than is required to get them off this trajectory that makes the 2 state solution more and more difficult every time they annex a little more Palestinian land (Palestinian according to the UN). At some point, they'll have so many Israelis settled on annexed land that the 2 state solution (and peace) will be politically and economically impossible. And I don't believe that's accidental, or incidental.

Edited July 8, 2016 by impulse

[Jingthing]

Of course, my personal hope is for a real two state solution, as unlikely as that seems now. Sometimes I get the strong feeling that many espousing the Israel demonization agenda are much more about punishing Israel (and often worse) than any sincere interest in a compromised peaceful solution. Recently Abbas pushed back at criticism that BOTH Israeli settlement expansion AND Palestinian terrorism needed to be addressed to move towards peace. He only wanted to blame Israel ONLY. No blame on his side. That is obviously garbage, yet seems to have so much support from the Israel demonization agenda.

I'm not for punishing Israel any more than is required to get them off this trajectory that makes the 2 state solution more and more difficult every time they annex a little more Palestinian land (Palestinian according to the UN). At some point, they'll have so many Israelis settled on annexed land that the 2 state solution (and peace) will be politically and economically impossible. And I don't believe that's accidental, or incidental.

Yeah, maybe.

But the other side is to consider why so many Israelis have given up on any hope that Palestinians will ever stop being violent towards them. Settlements or no settlements. So there is no trust on either side. I don't have the answers, but neither do you.

[dexterm]

Sorry thread full.

SD wrote,

You would have thought that a people so capable in so many areas would be a bit better at ethnic cleansing, but the Palestinian population keeps rising, unlike the Christian population in every middle eastern Country except Israel. And when they finally do manage to remove one ethnic group from an area they cleanse themselves by leaving Gaza.

On the other hand Arabs have proven themselves more than adept at ethnic cleansing forcing 850,000 Jews out of Arab lands, people who own land three times the size of modern day Israel. The Israelis settled the lot of them, her Arab neighbors haven't settled one single Palestinian.

There is a dubious history of these Jewish migrations/expulsions. I have no doubt that some were indeed expelled ... mainly as a result of the establishment of the State of Israel and resentment caused by their ethnic cleansing of Palestinians...tit for tat. The main Egyptian exodus occurred when Israel conspired with UK and France to attack Egypt during the Suez Crisis.

"The reasons for the exodus included push factors, such as persecution, antisemitism, political instability,[15] poverty[15] and expulsion, together with pull factors, such as the desire to fulfill Zionist yearnings or find a better economic status and a secure home in Europe or the Americas. The history of the exodus has been politicized, given its proposed relevance to the historical narrative of the Arab-Israeli conflict.[16] When presenting the history, those who view the Jewish exodus as analogous to the 1948 Palestinian exodus generally emphasize the push factors and consider those who left as refugees, while those who do not, emphasize the pull factors and consider them willing immigrants."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_Arab_and_Muslim_countries

All that aside are you saying the two wrongs make a right? Israel is entitled to ethnically cleanse because other nations have done so? I would hope that we have become more civilized since the 1940s 50s.

>>her Arab neighbors haven't settled one single Palestinian.

...why should they? The Palestinians already have a land and homes to go to, which they do not want to leave. It's called Palestine.

Like many Zionist apologists you are living in the past in order to justify the present brutal repression and illegal occupation of the Palestinians.

[Galactus]

Of course, my personal hope is for a real two state solution, as unlikely as that seems now. Sometimes I get the strong feeling that many espousing the Israel demonization agenda are much more about punishing Israel (and often worse) than any sincere interest in a compromised peaceful solution. Recently Abbas pushed back at criticism that BOTH Israeli settlement expansion AND Palestinian terrorism needed to be addressed to move towards peace. He only wanted to blame Israel ONLY. No blame on his side. That is obviously garbage, yet seems to have so much support from the Israel demonization agenda.

I'm not for punishing Israel any more than is required to get them off this trajectory that makes the 2 state solution more and more difficult every time they annex a little more Palestinian land (Palestinian according to the UN). At some point, they'll have so many Israelis settled on annexed land that the 2 state solution (and peace) will be politically and economically impossible. And I don't believe that's accidental, or incidental.

Yeah, maybe.

But the other side is to consider why so many Israelis have given up on any hope that Palestinians will ever stop being violent towards them. Settlements or no settlements. So there is no trust on either side. I don't have the answers, but neither do you.

Israelis have given up hope?

Israelis live with their swimming pools, shopping malls and golf course happily! They can go anywhere on earth anytime with their US and European passports.

It is palestinians have given up hope due to constant oppression, land stealing, creating an open air penitentiary and stagnation of peace process by israel. And israel still finds more opportunity to steal more land.

And here you are criticising palestinians for violance. Like it is bc of palestinians!

Maybe pro zionists accept and eat that rhetoric of yours but majority of this world dont.

And israel demonizing agenda? There is no agenda!

Everything is being done allegedly by israel and it is israel demonizing itself. no one needs any agenda.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Galactus

[dexterm]

I was only speaking of Israeli law. You can debate how things should be described in press reports but the fact remains that a grey area does exist when you have a political conflict. For example, is it "occupied" west bank if you don't recognize that there is another nation that exists to be occupied.

If there ever is a peaceful resolution to all this, I'm not sure that how things were described in the press is going to be much of an important factor. What will be an important factor is mutual recognition of conflicting narratives that need to be worked out.

There are anti-Israel extremists that refuse to name places clearly in Israel such as TEL AVIV as Israel, but rather insist that is Palestine. Does that change anything on the ground in Tel Aviv?

If the Israel demonization agenda thinks they have "won" by forcing more demonizing terms on describing things, I suggest they're deluding themselves if the sincere aim is real peace.

Of course, my personal hope is for a real two state solution, as unlikely as that seems now. Sometimes I get the strong feeling that many espousing the Israel demonization agenda are much more about punishing Israel (and often worse) than any sincere interest in a compromised peaceful solution. Recently Abbas pushed back at criticism that BOTH Israeli settlement expansion AND Palestinian terrorism needed to be addressed to move towards peace. He only wanted to blame Israel ONLY. No blame on his side. That is obviously garbage, yet seems to have so much support from the Israel demonization agenda.

Israeli is the only country in the world that believes its occupation is not illegal. And in the words of Mandy Rice Davies "They would say that wouldn't they?"

OK, you may not regard any other nation existing in Palestine (actually recognized now by 70% of UN member states), but there are certainly Palestinian residents existing there,....almost 6 million to be exact (plus a further 5.5 million in the Palestinian diaspora). What does Israel plan to do with these invisible people?

"Palestinians to Outnumber Jewish Population by 2020, Says PA Report

The estimated number of Palestinians in the world at the end of 2012 is 11.6 million, of whom 4.4 million are in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem and 1.4 million live inside Israel.

The number of Arabs and Jews in Israel and the occupied areas will be equal by 2016, but the number of Arabs will exceed that of Jews by 2020, a report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday."

http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians-to-outnumber-jewish-population-by-2020-says-pa-report-1.491122

>>There are anti-Israel extremists that refuse to name places clearly in Israel such as TEL AVIV as Israel, but rather insist that is Palestine. Does that change anything on the ground in Tel Aviv?

What a joke! Israel has made an art form out of depopulating, destroying and renaming Palestinian villages and towns in order to air brush them out of history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_villages_depopulated_during_the_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_conflict

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arab_towns_and_villages_depopulated_during_the_1948_Palestinian_exodus

http://www.iahushua.com/Zion/zionrac14.html

https://electronicintifada.net/content/israels-plan-wipe-arabic-names-map/8351

A prime example of course being Tel Aviv itself whose full conurbation name is Tel Aviv_Yafo with a hint as to what once was the thriving Palestinian city of Jaffa, whose 80,000 Palestinian inhabitants were rounded up and ethnically cleansed in 1948.

Edited July 8, 2016 by dexterm

[JingerBen]

Irrespective of any other discussion, the headline seems to have left out the word "illegal" in front of "settlements". That in itself speaks volumes.

Perhaps because the legality of those "settlements" is a grey area, as under Israeli law they are not illegal, and the "state of Palestine" does not exist now and has never existed in all of history.

No, stating those facts does NOT mean that I'm personally in support of expanded Jewish "settlements" in the west bank. I agree that they are not helpful towards any potential peace process, just as Palestinian terrorism is not helpful towards that either.

This is a long standing, very COMPLEX conflict, and assigning all the blame to one side or the other is a denial of reality.

The legality of Israeli settlements only becomes a ​"grey area" ​to those lost in the fog of Zionist propaganda.

Not one country in the world publicly supports the building of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.