Israel OKs new settlement in West Bank
Pepe Silvia
Posts: 3,758
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... bDzZAr7UBg
Israel OKs new settlement in West Bank: minister
(AFP) – 3 hours ago
JERUSALEM — Israel has given the green light for the building of 112 new homes in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank despite a partial moratorium on such construction, a minister said on Monday.
The houses will be built in the Beitar Ilit settlement near Bethlehem, Environment Minister Gilad Erdan told public radio.
Israel's continued expansion of settlements is one of the biggest obstacles to the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians, now suspended for more than a year.
The new project came to light the day after the Palestinians agreed to indirect peace talks with Israel but warned that the US-mediated negotiations could collapse if Israel continued expanding settlements.
The Palestinians insist they will only return to direct negotiations if Israel agrees to a complete freeze on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem.
Israel announced a 10-month moratorium on new building permits for settler homes in the occupied West Bank in late November but it excludes east Jerusalem, public buildings and works already under way.
The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land illegal.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved
Israel OKs new settlement in West Bank: minister
(AFP) – 3 hours ago
JERUSALEM — Israel has given the green light for the building of 112 new homes in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank despite a partial moratorium on such construction, a minister said on Monday.
The houses will be built in the Beitar Ilit settlement near Bethlehem, Environment Minister Gilad Erdan told public radio.
Israel's continued expansion of settlements is one of the biggest obstacles to the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians, now suspended for more than a year.
The new project came to light the day after the Palestinians agreed to indirect peace talks with Israel but warned that the US-mediated negotiations could collapse if Israel continued expanding settlements.
The Palestinians insist they will only return to direct negotiations if Israel agrees to a complete freeze on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem.
Israel announced a 10-month moratorium on new building permits for settler homes in the occupied West Bank in late November but it excludes east Jerusalem, public buildings and works already under way.
The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land illegal.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved
don't compete; coexist
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
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Comments
" A SATIATION,.....WITH OCCUPATION" EV
" WHERE THEY HAVE MORE,... STILL THEY TAKE MORE" EV
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
how dare the Palestinians!!!! What makes them think it's there land? Don't they know god gave it the Israelis? It says so in one of the many bibles writtten.....which one, I can't seem to remember..... :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
Everybody should just stop harping on Israel, atleast they haven't charged the Palestinians for the air that they're stealing from them. Those fucken palestinian thieves!!!!! Who the fuck are they to breathe free Israeli air!!!!!!!!! :roll: :roll: :roll:
crimes against humanity
crimes against humanity
whatever allows you to sleep at night i suppose ... how many israeli civilians have died due to rocket attacks and suicide bombings over the last 10 years again?
i thought you said israel should stop its expansion - what is your justification for this?
wait, so it's the Palestinian's fault Israel approved a new illegal settlement??? :?
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
but what i wrote was essentially offensive to your nationalistic ears that you had to respond accordingly?
http://www.middleeastwindow.com/categor ... /alex-awad
Alex Awad is pastor of East Jerusalem Baptist Church, as well as Professor at Bethlehem Bible College in Palestine. You can read more of his articles at: AlexAwad.Org.
Regarding Gaza
By Rev. Alex Awad,
Dean of Students,
Bethlehem Bible College
December 31, 2008
One hundred tons of bombs are Israel’s way of saying to the captive citizens of Gaza, Merry Christmas, Happy Eid (feast) and Happy New Year. These “gifts” that were showered from US-made F-16 fighter jets demolished government buildings, mosques, a university, hundreds of homes and snuffed out many lives – among them scores of children. Like many in this part of the world and around the globe my heart aches when I read and see pictures of the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and likewise when I see Israelis killed or injured by Qassam rockets. However, I have a special love for Gaza and its people. Before the strict closure of Gaza, Bethlehem Bible College used to have an extension there. I went to Gaza once every Thursday to teach our students and often I stayed the night there. Interacting with Gazans in class, in church and in the community, I learned much about the kindness and the hospitality of the people of Gaza, both Muslims and Christians. The majority of the people of Gaza are not Hamas militants. They are people like you and I who long to live in peace day in and day out. Regretfully, everyone in the Gaza Strip--men, women, children, civilians and fighters alike—is now feeling the horrible impact and devastation caused by the newest and deadliest Israeli incursion over the Strip in many years.
The majority of the people of Gaza are not Hamas militants. They are people like you and I who long to live in peace day in and day out. Regretfully, everyone in the Gaza Strip--men, women, children, civilians and fighters alike—is now feeling the horrible impact and devastation caused by the newest and deadliest Israeli incursion over the Strip in many years.
There is no doubt that the Qassam rockets launched against the western Negev and Ashkelon by Islamic militants linked to Hamas cause great pain and anxiety for many Israelis. Most people agree that Israel, like any other country, has the right to defend itself from outside attacks. However in this unequal conflict between Israel and Hamas, Israel, as usual, has overdone it. When it comes to dealing with its enemies, Israel has a pattern of being extreme. “An eye for an eye” does not satisfy. It has to be more like one hundred eyes for one eye and one hundred teeth for one tooth. When the Israelis attacked Lebanon in June 2006, they sprayed the country with millions of cluster bombs (which are internationally banned) and these bombs continue to kill innocent people even today. What troubles me most in this current war is that most of the victims of this Israeli incursion on Gaza are average people-men, women and children--who are struggling to just to survive under the extreme and harsh conditions that the Israeli siege has created. For 40 years the Gaza Strip has been under Israeli occupation and during the last few years, although the Israelis redeployed their troops from Gaza, they never withdrew the symbols of their dominance and occupation. They continue to control the borders, which mean controlling food, medicine, fuel and goods going in and out of the Strip. In essence, they have turned Gaza into the largest open-air prison in the world.
If the Israeli leaders assume that they can assure the security of their citizens by the might and the power of their superior army and air force, they are mistaken. The outrage caused among the peoples in the Arab and Islamic world by these horrible attacks will most likely blow dark clouds over the skies of Israel or elsewhere in the world.
Israel should learn to negotiate with its neighbors in good faith. Negotiating in good faith means implementing UN resolutions, ending the occupation of the West Bank, opening the borders of the Gaza Strip to the rest of the world and stopping military incursions into the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The rise of Hamas and militancy in Gaza is directly related to a vacuum that Israel and the United States have created by dragging their feet in never-ending and fruitless peace negotiations with moderate Palestinians. As long as Israel continues to place obstacles on the path of the peace process and as long as the US continues to allow it to do so, we can expect new outbursts of violence in the Middle East that will cause more horrors and waste more lives on both sides of the political divide.
The Israelis have the right to live in peace and security and so do the people of Gaza. I call on you, friends, to pray for the civilians on both sides who are caught in this nightmare. In addition to praying, let us protest these lethal bombs with a barrage of our own letters to our elected leaders calling for an end to this human tragedy.
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
What you wrote had the tone of a child throwing a tantrum. I responded accordingly.
what did he write that was incorrect?
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
I am not sure which I prefer, the overgeneralizations about everyone in Israel or Byrnzie pretending that he doesn't know what Hezbollah does wrong.
honestly? ... i understand it is not to your liking ... but a tantrum!? ... i think that is a bit of a stretch ...
anyways - it has been my contention on this issue that Israel does not want peace (at least the people the gov't) and i think this is yet another example that reinforces my point ... of which you clearly have no rebuttal ...
:?: :?:
The last poll I came across suggested that around 60% of Israelis oppose a total settlement freeze ... Leaving about 40% who SUPPORT such a notion. 40% is a pretty important proportion, and thus saying that "Israel is not interested in peace" (not to mention the all-caps usage to emphasize said point) is an overgeneralization.
first of all - i have always said that I believe most Israelis want peace ... i have always inferred to the gov't specifically the right wing faction that controls much of the policy when i say they do not want peace ...
secondly - how can you have peace if 60% of the population will not stop expansion!??
haha ... well, that isn't a rebuttal as that it pretty much is what i said! ...
This is a good question, and I do believe that someone in Israel will have to make a potentially unpopular decision to do so, if peace is ever going to occur. I won't dispute the numbers, this 60% figure is a problem. But not an insurmountable one. If you don't fall into the category, fine, my apologies ... I am really defensive because whenever I post, someone tells me that I am an idiot, essentially, for viewing as complex situation as ... complex.
it's obviously a complex situation however, the fundamentals are quite simple ... i know Yosi likes to point out that there are nuances ... but let's just take this recent expansion (which made news only because of Biden's visit) ... there is a consensus even amongst us that this was not good ...
the Israeli parliamentary is made up of a gazillion parties ... the right have dominated for a long time now and those people are not interested in peace - what is done at glorified meetings with some US official is lip service ... when was the last rocket attack or suicide bombing? ... the expansions have NOT stopped ... how are they acting in good faith? ...
Exactly. This number could reflect genuine expansionist views, or it could reflect mistrust, fear, and a demand that some form of negotiation happen, rather than something unilateral.