"all of the homes being built are in large settlement blocs that Israel expects to retain under any future peace deal.... For now, the moves are paying off.... The White House is ready to overlook its unhappiness with Israel"
The day the taxpayer loot stops flowing is the day I will take notice.
"Israel presses ahead on settlement expansion; Netanyahu risks rising US anger" by Josef Federman, Associated Press | September 10, 2009
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has given the green light for hundreds of new homes in a Palestinian-claimed area of Jerusalem, officials confirmed yesterday, part of a gamble to mollify his restive coalition without sparking a major confrontation with the United States....
So has the White House.
The White House is ready to overlook its unhappiness with Israel....
The Palestinians say the ever-growing settler presence will soon make it impossible for them to establish an independent state in these areas....
Isn't that the point?
Besides, take a look at the map:
Netanyahu granted developers approval to build hundreds of new homes in recent days. Yesterday officials confirmed the government has chosen developers to build nearly 500 new apartments in Pisgat Zeev, a sprawling Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem. That followed an announcement Monday that 455 new apartments would be built in existing West Bank settlements. Israel also wants to complete work on more than 2,000 other homes that are under construction....
When I see some Palestinian construction I'll green it up for you.
Netanyahu aides have tried to play down the significance of the new construction, saying almost all of the homes being built are in large settlement blocs that Israel expects to retain under any future peace deal....
For now, the moves are paying off....
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also expressed concern over Israel’s approval of settlement expansion.
That's it? NO CONDEMNATION or anything?
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the United States’ credibility is at stake.
That's already shot to s***.
“People are asking the Americans now, ‘If you could not convince the Israelis to stop settlement activity, will anybody in the Arab and Islamic world believe you can make Israel return to the ’67 borders or withdraw from settlements?’ ’’ he said.
They don't anyway. They see what is going on; it is the western citizens that are blind.
The Palestinians claim the West Bank and east Jerusalem, along with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, for their hoped-for state.
Going to be real tough with that map I posted. Hold that grip on Gaza tightly, Hamas!
Israel captured all three areas in the 1967 Mideast war, then withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Hamas militants overran that territory two years later.
That is SUCH a LIE and THEY KNOW ITS a LIE, so WHY DO THEY DO IT?
"Hamas overwhelmingly won Palestinian Parliament elections in 2006"
They didn't overrun anything, they WON ELECTION fair and square!
--more--"
Also see: Israeli Blockade is Good Business For Hamas
Yeah, I'm sure the checkpoints, raids, detentions, deprivations, and general indignity of it all is great for Palestinians, yeah! Pffft!
And remember, at least 14 Gazans die every day because of the war-criminal siege.
