Israel approves provocative massive settlement project, west and rest annoyed... - Polidicks

[release] [img]http://aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2011/9/19/201191921495276734_20.jpg[/img] [B]Western powers have expressed dismay at Israeli plans to build 1,100 more homes on a settlement on Jerusalem's edge.[/B] The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the move "counter-productive" to peace talks while the EU said the plan should be "reversed". The announcement comes days after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called for full UN membership for a Palestinian state. The new houses are to be constructed Israel at Gilo, in East Jerusalem. Almost 500,000 Jews live in settlements on occupied territory. The settlements are illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. [h2]'Provocative'[/h2] US-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are deadlocked over the issue of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Mrs Clinton said Israel's move would damage attempts to resume direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. "We have long urged both sides to avoid any kind of action which could undermine trust, including, and perhaps most particularly, in Jerusalem, any action that could be viewed as provocative by either side," she said. The European Union's Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton told the EU parliament that she heard "with deep regret" that Israeli settlement plans were continuing. "This plan should be reversed. Settlement activity threatens the viability of an agreed two-state solution and runs contrary to the Israeli-stated commitment to resume negotiations." She said she would raise the issue with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when she next met him. "He should stop announcing them and, more importantly, stop building them," she said, adding that it was wrong to get people to live in a place from which they may have to move from after any negotiated settlement is achieved. British Foreign Secretary William Hague too urged Israel to revoke its decision. "Settlement expansion is illegal under international law, corrodes trust and undermines the basic principle of land for peace," he said in a statement. [h2]'Nice gift'[/h2] The plan for construction in Gilo includes the construction of small housing units, public buildings, a school and an industrial zone, according to the Ynet news website. "It's a nice gift for Rosh Hashanah [Jewish New Year]," Yair Gabay, a member of the Jerusalem planning committee, told Ynet. The authorities have now approved the building of almost 3,000 homes in Gilo over the past two years. The chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the decision represented a rejection of a proposal by the Quartet of Mid East negotiators - the US, the EU, Russia and the UN - for new talks between the Palestinians and Israelis, expected to be made officially on Friday. "With this, Israel is responding to the Quartet's statement with 1,100 'NOs'," he said. On Monday, a divided UN Security Council met behind closed doors for its first discussion of last week's Palestinian application for full state membership of the UN. The request needs the support of nine of the 15 members of the council, but the US has said it will veto the bid. 'Discriminatory demolitions' Israel built the settlement at Gilo on land it captured in 1967. It later annexed the area to the Jerusalem municipality in a move not recognised by the international community. Israel says it does not consider areas within the Jerusalem municipality to be settlements. Gilo lies across a narrow valley from the Palestinian village of Beit Jala. It became a target for militants during the second Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in 2000. Meanwhile, the UN rapporteurs on housing, water, sanitation and food rights said there had been a "dramatic increase" in the demolitions this year. "The impact and discriminatory nature of these demolitions and evictions is completely unacceptable," they said in a statement. "These actions by the Israeli authorities violate human rights and humanitarian law and must end immediately."[/release] Special sauces.. [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15085308"]BBC[/URL] [URL="http://aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/09/201192714659256576.html"]Al Jazeera[/URL] Somebody photoshop a trollface onto the above image of Netanyahu...

Israel likes being a dick.

Are you fucking serious Netanyahu? "Almost 500,000 Jews live in settlements on occupied territory. The settlements are illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this." Ugh.

Meanwhile, Obama promises to veto the Palestinian bid for UN recognition on the grounds that negotiations with Israel are the only way to end the conflict. :rolleyes:

And this kind of shit is why I feel little sympathy for Israel.

israel clearly does not want peace with palestine, they want to slowly encroach on their territory until the entire region is part of israel.

So we can't let Palestine gain statehood because it would "damage negotiations", but Israel can pull all this counterproductive shit and all we'll do is say, "Hey, don't do that". Makes sense to me!

why do you guys criticize israel so much i don't get it they haven't done anything wrong or illegal??

i wish when i broke the law i could just say "nah it's not illegal" and have that work.

Can we get a we the people petition on the Israel Palestine conflict?

[QUOTE=thisispain;32514289]why do you guys criticize israel so much i don't get it they haven't done anything wrong or illegal??[/QUOTE] don't listen to this guy he's part of the [i]global conspiracy[/i]

[QUOTE=AzureAngelic;32513959]Meanwhile, Obama promises to veto the Palestinian bid for UN recognition on the grounds that negotiations with Israel are the only way to end the conflict. :rolleyes:[/QUOTE] This times a million.

I hope this influences the Palestinian statehood vote one way or another.

Can someone please punch Netanyahu in his pudgy little head?

glass the entire country and make it a parking lot for costco

[QUOTE=Kalibos;32515651]glass the entire country and make it a parking lot for costco[/QUOTE] as long as it has a kosher section i'm cool with it

ya know, the way is sees it, both sides are, like, doing bad stuff and theyre both sort of dicks like, everyone should just give up because, like, its just gonna keep going on forever, know what i mean bros?

[QUOTE=SigmaLambda;32515811]ya know, the way is sees it, both sides are, like, doing bad stuff and theyre both sort of dicks like, everyone should just give up because, like, its just gonna keep going on forever, know what i mean bros?[/QUOTE] well yea that's why i suggested costco because jews and hindus both [B]love[/B] costco [editline]27th September 2011[/editline] fuck, i meant arabs

[QUOTE=SigmaLambda;32515811]ya know, the way is sees it, both sides are, like, doing bad stuff and theyre both sort of dicks like, everyone should just give up because, like, its just gonna keep going on forever, know what i mean bros?[/QUOTE] i say it's high time for some more defeatism

[QUOTE=Zeke129;32514544]don't listen to this guy he's part of the [i]global conspiracy[/i][/QUOTE] thread concluded good job guys

No surprise there. The US curb stomps Palestine's dreams of statehood in the UN, and Israel packs their conquered territories with tons of people so they can scream "Holocaust!" if anyone tries to make them leave.

[QUOTE=AzureAngelic;32513959]Meanwhile, Obama promises to veto the Palestinian bid for UN recognition on the grounds that negotiations with Israel are the only way to end the conflict. :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]Really, are you really going to blame Obama for this.

[QUOTE=POLOPOZOZO;32521556]Really, are you really going to blame Obama for this.[/QUOTE]Of course and he vowed to veto the statehood request, unless you're implying his hands are tied behind his back due to lobbying groups and/or wants to secure his single-issue donors and single issue voters which is an entirely different matter. Anyways, it'd be much more accurate to criticize U.S. foreign policy as Obama is not exclusive in his support.

[QUOTE=POLOPOZOZO;32521556]Really, are you really going to blame Obama for this.[/QUOTE] I'm not trying to blame Obama, I just find it silly that the US doesn't want non-negotiable solutions to the whole Israel-Palestine conflict when Israel clearly doesn't give two shits.

[QUOTE=POLOPOZOZO;32521556]Really, are you really going to blame Obama for this.[/QUOTE] He sure as shit didn't help.

"There was one guy we supposed was Jewish who put his right toe in this land two thousand years ago. Sorry guy, but fuck off and get out of here, this is our territory now" Israel in a nutshell

Even if you were ideologically committed to settlement expansion in the occupied territories, this was an extremely stupid time to announce the expansion. This totally undermines any attempts to stall the UN vote with peace talks and will leave the US further isolated when they veto Palestine joining the UN. So this has not only screwed with the Palestinians, but also diplomatically screwed with any supporters of Israel in the UN vote. (mainly the US)

Haha oh wow, is Israel attempting to shoot itself in the foot about the current issue, or are they just so blindly ignorant of the consequences of their actions? I seriously hope Palestine achieves statehood. Just to see Israeli officials whinge about it (of course also for the good of the Palestinians). Would serve their administration right.

[QUOTE=Catesby;32526732]Even if you were ideologically committed to settlement expansion in the occupied territories, this was an extremely stupid time to announce the expansion. This totally undermines any attempts to stall the UN vote with peace talks and will leave the US further isolated when they veto Palestine joining the UN. So this has not only screwed with the Palestinians, but also diplomatically screwed with any supporters of Israel in the UN vote. (mainly the US)[/QUOTE] I think the phrase is called, "Shooting yourself in the foot."

Israel does stuff like this all the time and just pretend it's not illegal.