Posted on 08/10/2009 1:10:41 PM PDT by seanmerc
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama should stick to his guns in pressuring Israel to stop building settlements on Palestinian land. The Israeli land grabs that result in more settlements on the West Bank and the forced eviction of Palestinians in East Jerusalem are clearly violations of international law.
The Israeli leadership knows what it is doing and hopes it still has a green light and open-ended support from U.S. policy makers, just as it did in the administration of President George W. Bush.
Bush was totally sympathetic with all Israeli military moves, including the catastrophic bombing of Gaza. His administration failed to recognize the election of Hamas leaders in Gaza, even though international election observers said the balloting was fair.
Instead, the Bush administration immediately moved to cut off food and other aid to Gazans and withheld diplomatic recognition. According to the New York Times, the Israelis evicted two families from their homes in East Jerusalem to make way for Israeli settlers this past weekend. The families had been living in the homes for 50 years.
The Arabs’ belongings were dumped on the street.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called the evictions "provocative" and urged the Israeli government to halt such actions.
Meanwhile, the pro-Israel Anti-Defamation League has called on the president to "stop pressuring our vital friend," taking out a full-page ad in The New York Times to make that plea. The ADL said the Palestinians have to recognize Israel’s "right to exist."
This raises the question: Will Israel recognize the rights of Palestinians to their homes and olive groves that were confiscated over the years? Will Israel agree to go back to its pre-1967 war borders?
Not if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has his way.
The Israeli leader wants the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a "Jewish state." That’s what the Palestinians call their homeland.
The Israeli prime minister also said any adjacent Palestinian state created under the two-state solution would not be allowed to control its own borders or airspace.
"The truth is that in the area of our homeland, in the heart of our Jewish homeland now lives a large population of Palestinians," Netanyahu said in a recent address. Well, yes, Palestinians have lived in Palestine for centuries.
Criticizing Israel is difficult for American presidents " and so they rarely do it. It takes a lot of political courage. But it’s good to know there are many Israelis and Americans who know when Israel is overstepping its bounds and repressing the people it has under occupation and colonial-style rule. What’s more, they are not afraid to say so.
President Obama has a great opportunity to seek a just peace in the Middle East that is fair to the oppressed Palestinians.
To achieve that goal, it would be helpful if Saudi Arabia took a leadership role among Arab nations in encouraging peace in the region.
The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, recently scoffed at the American argument that "confidence-building" gestures can lead to better relations between Israel and the Palestinians.
"Incrementalism and the step-by-step approach have not, and we believe will not, achieve peace," the Saudi said. "Temporary security, confidence- building measures, will also not bring peace."
He has a point. The Saudis have been involved in one way or another in every major development in the region since 1948 and they have seen so many peace plans fall apart.
The key forward is this: Peace is possible if Obama remains even-handed.
that’s just wrong...
you realize that I am now typing blind due to that image....
Yoo-hoo, Helen Thomas ping list members! FReepmail me if you'd like to be added to the list...
Glad to see your aren’t slackin’ ;)
that which is seen can’t be unseen... seared on my brain. Thanks. Misery loves company I guess.
Do we get glasses with filters to view these threads?
I thought PO Bama said he wasn’t going to “meddle”.
Are you psychotic?
“The Face of the Gorgon”
“The Face of the Gorgon”
“The Face of the Gorgon”
You have to admit that picture is mesmerizing...
Obama brought this lady cupcakes on her birthday?? I wonder if the cupcakes got sick looking at her?
I think my cojones just ascended back into my body.
Any thread with her name in the title should be accompanied with a biohazard warning.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaa! EVEN with the warning I still scrolled down. It’s more hideous than I imagined.
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