The Palestine thread

[seafoid]

Should we do with the protestants what you propose to do with the jews? Shall we send them packing, or are they allowed to stay?

Jews should be allowed to do whatever they want subject to the parameters of democracy.
Maybe some will leave once they lose their privileges.
But Israel as is is no democracy.

Then you agree that they should be allowed to live where they want, just as long as they abide by any democratic decision made by whoever governs where they live?

If Israel isn't a democracy, then what the hell is PA? 

The PA is a county council for people living under occupation.
I don't agree that settlers have rights to anything seized post 67. It wasn't democratic.
It was a land grab.
If you want to give settlers those rights then Palestinians are entitled to everything they lost in 1948.
So are you on for it? 

[Ball DeBeaver]

Palestinian Museum: 200 years of history?



Wednesday, April 24, 2013 |  Aviel Schneider   





Last week, the laying of the cornerstone of the new "Palestinian Museum" made headlines worldwide. The museum is a private initiative that aims to tell a 200-year-old Palestinian history.

Established adjacent to Birzeit University near Ramallah, the museum will be build in two stages and eventually encompass an area of almost 100,000 square feet.

Palestinian sources said a museum is one of the things every proper state needs. "I hope that the museum gives the Palestinians the opportunity to present their story to the world," said museum director Jack Persekian. While the exhibits will purportedly treat Muslims, Christians and Jews equally, the focus will be on the Palestinian Arab version of events since the end of the Ottoman period in 1917.

Presenting a history going back any more than 200 years will be difficult, as the Palestinians themselves are divided over their own past.

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat emphasized frequently that the Palestinians are the successors of the Philistines; former Palestinian politician Abu Siad Siad told Israel Today that they are the descendants of the Canaanites; several years ago, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Khamal Khatib, told Israeli radio that the Palestinians are from the line of the Jebusites.

Perhaps most honestly, former Arab member of Israel's Knesset, Azmi Bishara said on Israeli television years back that there never was a Palestinian people, but only a wider Arab nation. Bishara has since had to flee Israel after collaborating with Hezbollah, but his remarks on the origin of the "Palestinians" can be seen in the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U1KkYjhFryA

Palestinians on the streets have told us repeatedly in private conversations that they are followers of various Arab tribes from Saudi Arabia or other Arab countries in North Africa.

Nevertheless, Israeli President Shimon Peres said years ago that "even if there is no historic Palestinian people, there exists a de facto Palestinian people today with whom Israel must negotiate."

Even so, a museum is not going to be able to change the past and rewrite (or, rather, invent) the history of a people.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23809/Default.aspx?topic=article_title

[Ball DeBeaver]

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=8813



US: It's time for UN's Richard Falk to go

U.N.'s Human Rights Council special rapporteur for the Palestinians Richard Falk blames American policy in the Middle East for the Boston bombings, and warns that "as long as Tel Aviv has the compliant ear of the American political establishment, those who wish for peace and justice in the world should not rest easy."

Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff


U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice on Wednesday said that it was "past time" for the U.N.'s Human Rights Council special rapporteur for the Palestinians to be relieved of his position.


On her twitter account, Rice said, "Outraged by Richard Falk's highly offensive Boston comments. Someone who spews such vitriol has no place at the U.N. Past time for him to go."


The American Jewish Committee also denounced Falk, a U.N. official, for asserting in an online essay that U.S. and Israeli policies were responsible for the Boston Marathon terrorist bombings. U.N. Watch first reported on Falk's comments.


Falk, a special rapporteur with the U.N. Human Rights Council, was reprimanded two years ago by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for promoting 9/11 conspiracy theories, alleging that the U.S. had a role.


"Here he goes again," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Given his public record, the question is why Richard Falk still occupies a U.N. position. Is there no shame?"


In his essay, "A Commentary on the Marathon Murders," published April 21 in Foreign Policy Journal, Falk warned that "the United States has been fortunate not to experience worse blowbacks, and these may yet happen, especially if there is no disposition to rethink U.S. relations to others in the world, starting with the Middle East."


Falk also warned that "as long as Tel Aviv has the compliant ear of the American political establishment, those who wish for peace and justice in the world should not rest easy."


Erin Pelton, United States Mission to the United Nations spokesperson, said "The United States completely rejects the provocative and offensive commentary by Mr. Richard Falk, U.N. Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, regarding the recent terrorist attack in Boston, Massachusetts. The United States has previously called for Mr. Falk's resignation for his numerous outrageous statements, and these comments underscore once more the absurdity of his service as a U.N. Special Rapporteur."


"Falk's unhinged diatribes against the U.S. and Israel are well-known," Harris added. "He should have been barred, five years ago, from being appointed the Human Rights Council's special rapporteur on the Palestinians, but this reveals precisely what is wrong with the U.N. system."


"Falk's latest commentary demonstrates his total insensitivity to the victims of the terror attacks in Boston," Harris continued. "His malicious propaganda regarding the U.S. and Israel -- and his glaring inability to see the stark truth about extremist violence and terrorism -- has no place in any international body that takes itself and its mission seriously."

B'nai B'rith International called for Falk's removal from the Human Rights Council, saying that his "latest string of inflammatory remarks -- whether it be on the Internet or in one of his 'reports' to the council -- has no place in the United Nations and his continued presence at the UNHRC further undermines the credibility of the system."


Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch, sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, calling on them to condemn Falk's "odious and preposterous" remarks.

[seafoid]

Palestinian Museum: 200 years of history?



Wednesday, April 24, 2013 |  Aviel Schneider   





Last week, the laying of the cornerstone of the new "Palestinian Museum" made headlines worldwide. The museum is a private initiative that aims to tell a 200-year-old Palestinian history.

Established adjacent to Birzeit University near Ramallah, the museum will be build in two stages and eventually encompass an area of almost 100,000 square feet.

Palestinian sources said a museum is one of the things every proper state needs. "I hope that the museum gives the Palestinians the opportunity to present their story to the world," said museum director Jack Persekian. While the exhibits will purportedly treat Muslims, Christians and Jews equally, the focus will be on the Palestinian Arab version of events since the end of the Ottoman period in 1917.

Presenting a history going back any more than 200 years will be difficult, as the Palestinians themselves are divided over their own past.

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat emphasized frequently that the Palestinians are the successors of the Philistines; former Palestinian politician Abu Siad Siad told Israel Today that they are the descendants of the Canaanites; several years ago, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Khamal Khatib, told Israeli radio that the Palestinians are from the line of the Jebusites.

Perhaps most honestly, former Arab member of Israel's Knesset, Azmi Bishara said on Israeli television years back that there never was a Palestinian people, but only a wider Arab nation. Bishara has since had to flee Israel after collaborating with Hezbollah, but his remarks on the origin of the "Palestinians" can be seen in the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U1KkYjhFryA

Palestinians on the streets have told us repeatedly in private conversations that they are followers of various Arab tribes from Saudi Arabia or other Arab countries in North Africa.

Nevertheless, Israeli President Shimon Peres said years ago that "even if there is no historic Palestinian people, there exists a de facto Palestinian people today with whom Israel must negotiate."

Even so, a museum is not going to be able to change the past and rewrite (or, rather, invent) the history of a people.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23809/Default.aspx?topic=article_title

You do Israel a great disservice with such horseshit, Beaver.
I suppose the Catholics in Tyrone are all descendants of people from Cavan who moved up in 1921 as well, are they?

[Ball DeBeaver]

Attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinians





Rocket and mortar fire into Israel.




Published:
1 Jan 2011

Updated:
17 Apr 2013

Rocket and mortar fire as a war crime

Palestinian organizations that fire rockets and mortar shells into Israel openly declare that they intend to strike Israeli civilians, among other targets. Aiming attacks at civilians is both immoral and illegal, and the intentional killing of civilians is defined a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a war crime that cannot be justified, under any circumstance. Furthermore, the rockets and mortar shells are illegal weapons, even when aimed at military objects, as they are greatly imprecise and endanger civilians present both in the area from which they are fired and where they land, thus violating two fundamental principles of the laws of war: distinction and proportionality.

In a significant number of cases, Palestinians have fired the rockets and mortar shells from civilian residential areas. International humanitarian law (IHL) prohibits attacks from inside or near the homes of civilians, and using civilians as human shields. Palestinian organizations that choose to carry out attacks against communities in Israel from within or near populated areas breach this rule, and in doing so, demonstrate not only their intention to harm Israeli civilians, but also indifference to the lives of Palestinian civilians.

The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip must do everything in its power to stop the rocket and mortar fire, and the Palestinian organizations must cease attacks aimed at civilians, in particular when they are carried out from populated Palestinian areas. The government is responsible for the breaches of international humanitarian law, due to its failure to take sufficient action to stop the firing from areas close to civilian homes, and even more so, as it actively takes part in these attacks. The persons involved in these breaches are guilty of war crimes and bear individual criminal responsibility for their acts.


An Israeli police officer extinguishes a burning car after a Qassam rocket attack in Sderot. Photo: Amir Cohen, Reuters, 19 May 2007.

Data

B'Tselem's research indicates that, from June 2004 to 17 April 2013, 24 Israeli civilians (four of them minors) and one foreign national were killed in Israel by Palestinian rocket and mortar fire. In addition, five soldiers were killed, three in Israel and two in the Gaza Strip. Another Israeli civilian and three foreign nationals were killed by rocket fire at settlements in the Gaza Strip, before they were evacuated. Palestinian rocket fire also killed at least ten Palestinians (seven of them minors).One Israeli civilian (a minor inIsrael) and one soldier (in the Gaza Strip) were killed by an anti-tank missile fire.

A total of 44 persons have been killed by rocket and mortar fire, and two persons have been killed by anti-tank missiles.

According to the Israel Security Agency reports, in 2013 (until 31 March 2013), Palestinian organizations fired 15  rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, compared with 2,157 rockets and 175 mortar shells that were fired in all of 2012 (most of them during operation "Pillar of Defense"). For multi-year details  (Data source: ISA website):

http://www.btselem.org/israeli_civilians/qassam_missiles

[Ball DeBeaver]

You do Israel a great disservice with such horseshit, Beaver.
I suppose the Catholics in Tyrone are all descendants of people from Cavan who moved up in 1921 as well, are they?

If you would take the time to read the article and watch the link you would understand that it is only the name "palestinian" that is wrong. The name "palestinian" was only conjured up to give a national identity to the arabs living in the region after Israeli independence. There has never ever been a nation called palestine up until now.

In 1937, a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, told the Peel Commission, which ultimately suggested the partition of Palestine: "There is no such country as Palestine! 'Palestine' is a term the Zionists invented! There is no Palestine in the Bible. Our country was for centuries part of Syria."  The representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations echoed this view in a statement to the General Assembly in May 1947, which said Palestine was part of the Province of Syria and the Arabs of Palestine did not comprise a separate political entity. A few years later, Ahmed Shuqeiri, later the chairman of the PLO, told the Security Council: "It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but southern Syria."

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths3/MFroots.html

[seafoid]

You do Israel a great disservice with such horseshit, Beaver.
I suppose the Catholics in Tyrone are all descendants of people from Cavan who moved up in 1921 as well, are they?

If you would take the time to read the article and watch the link you would understand that it is only the name "palestinian" that is wrong. The name "palestinian" was only conjured up to give a national identity to the arabs living in the region after Israeli independence. There has never ever been a nation called palestine up until now.

In 1937, a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, told the Peel Commission, which ultimately suggested the partition of Palestine: "There is no such country as Palestine! 'Palestine' is a term the Zionists invented! There is no Palestine in the Bible. Our country was for centuries part of Syria."  The representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations echoed this view in a statement to the General Assembly in May 1947, which said Palestine was part of the Province of Syria and the Arabs of Palestine did not comprise a separate political entity. A few years later, Ahmed Shuqeiri, later the chairman of the PLO, told the Security Council: "It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but southern Syria."

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths3/MFroots.html

Your own links

Palestinians on the streets have told us repeatedly in private conversations that they are followers of various Arab tribes from Saudi Arabia or other Arab countries in North Africa.
Nevertheless, Israeli President Shimon Peres said years ago that "even if there is no historic Palestinian people, there exists a de facto Palestinian people today with whom Israel must negotiate."

Same as saying Nordies are not entitled to live in the Wee Six.

As for this

The Jewish people base their claim to the Land of Israel on at least four premises: 1) the Jewish people settled and developed the land; 2) the international community granted political sovereignty in Palestine to the Jewish people; 3) the territory was captured in defensive wars and 4) God promised the land to the patriarch Abraham.

The Polish Jews didn't live in Palestine.
Say I go to Guatemala and buy a farm and improve it, does the country belong to me ?

God promised the land, did he? Prove it.

[seafoid]

If you would take the time to read the article and watch the link you would understand that it is only the name "palestinian" that is wrong. The name "palestinian" was only conjured up to give a national identity to the arabs living in the region after Israeli independence. There has never ever been a nation called palestine up until now.

Read your own links. that is not what you posted.
and the argument of yours is simply incoherent. The name "Slovenian" was conjured up to give a national identity to the Slavs living around the Julian alps. There has never been a country called slovenia until now. Does that land also belong to the Zionists?   

[seafoid]

Beaver

Thanks for the
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths3/MFroots.html
link. It should keep me going for a few months


In 1917, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration:

His Majesty's Government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

How did that work out? did Balfour grant the Jewish people the right to run Gaza as a concentration camp?

[Ball DeBeaver]

 
Arab League sweetens Israel-Palestinian peace plan


Arab League announcement puts Netanyahu in bind, possibly straining both internal coalition tensions, external pressure, as both local, international figures laud announcement

Associated Press Published:  05.01.13, 00:13 / Israel News 
 

The Arab League's decision to sweeten its decade-old proposal offering comprehensive peace with Israel has placed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a bind and swiftly exposed fissures in his new government.

In Washington Monday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani tried to allay some of the Israeli concerns. Speaking on behalf of an Arab League delegation, he reiterated the need to base an agreement between Israel and a future Palestine on the 1967 lines, but for the first time, he cited the possibility of "comparable," mutually agreed and "minor" land swaps between the Israelis and the Palestinians.




Sheik Hamad spoke after talks with Vice President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been pushing Arab leaders to embrace a modified version of the Arab peace plan as part of a new US-led effort to corral Israel and the Palestinians back into direct peace talks. The changes are meant to win Israeli support by allowing it to keep parts of the West Bank and east Jerusalem as part of an agreement.



In Washington, Kerry called the changed language a "very big step forward."


"This is literally a statement by the Arab world that they're prepared to make peace, providing the Palestinians and Israelis reach a final status agreement," he told reporters Tuesday at the State Department after meeting Spain's foreign minister.

"I don't underestimate the significance of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Arab Emirates, the Egyptians, the Jordanians and others coming to the table and saying, `We are prepared to make peace now in 2013,'" he said. Still, he said much more was left to do.

"We have a lot of homework to do, a lot of tough hurdles to get over, but each step forward is the way you get there," Kerry said.

The gesture immediately put Netanyahu in a difficult position. A cool reception to the Arab League could reinforce the international perception that Netanyahu is not serious about pursuing peace.

But forces in Israel could doom the plan before it ever gets off the ground. Netanyahu himself has repeatedly said the 1967 frontiers would put Israel's security in danger and said he is not bound by any concessions made by his predecessors. In addition, the hard-liners who dominate his coalition would resist the concessions required by the Arab plan.


Netanyahu's office declined requests for comment Tuesday. But Cabinet minister Silvan Shalom, a senior Likud member, played down the Arab League's decision, saying, "there is nothing new here."

"In principle, I support renewing the process. Of course, I don't accept the 1967 lines," he told Israel Radio. "If the Arab League wants to be a partner to this process, then we welcome it, but this is not negotiations."
At the same time, the more dovish members of his coalition are likely to press Netanyahu to embrace the latest Arab approach.

Dovish partners
Livni, while acknowledging that Israel had concerns about some of the details of the Arab initiative, said Israel must nonetheless respond positively. "It's good news that should be welcomed," she said in a Facebook post.
She noted that the plan gave the Palestinians important backing from the broader Arab world to make small concessions on the border issue, while it sent an important message to Israel that peace with the Palestinians means peace with the entire Arab world. "I hope that the message that comes from Qatar will help launch the negotiations as soon as possible."

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid has said he would demand the government conduct a "serious" peace process with the Palestinians. He has also endorsed the concept of land swaps so that Israel can keep certain Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Dov Lipman, a Yesh Atid lawmaker, said the party had not yet formulated a formal response to the Arab initiative, but said it was "very consistent" with the party's platform. "We need to be negotiating. It's the only way to solve the conflict," he said.

And President Shimon Peres, a Nobel peace laureate, said the Arabs' decision provided a new chance to restart peace talks.

"The ministers of the Arab League once again expressed their support for the two state solution, which is also accepted by us and a broad structure of support is being created for making progress," he said during a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Members of the opposition Labor Party urged Netanyahu to accept the Arab initiative.
Opposition Chairwoman MK Shelly Yachimovich, the Labor party chairwomen, demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially and positively respond to the Arab League's announcement. "This is an important step taken by the Arab world, and there is a chance it will be ground breaking," Yachimovich said

"I think the Israeli government should embrace it with both hands," said Erel Margalit, a Labor lawmaker. "This is the breakthrough we have been looking for." 
Margalit said he was in the process of forming a parliamentary lobby to support the initiative, and said Labor would support Netanyahu from the opposition if he embraced the plan.


While the Palestinians voiced objections to modifying the Arab League plan, their chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said Tuesday that the Palestinians supported the new proposal.
"Israeli rejection of this initiative shows once again that the Israeli government lacks of a peace plan," he said in a statement. "Rather, it is fully engaged in further colonization and attacks against Palestinian rights and regional stability." 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4374522,00.html

[Ball DeBeaver]

Pallywood Light: Guardian video claiming to show 'Jews attacking Palestinians' fails to deliver


Following the murder of an Israeli man, 32-year-old Evyatar Borovsky, by a Palestinian terrorist in a stabbing attack at a bus stop in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, the Guardian's Harriet Sherwood reported on the incident, as well as on subsequent retaliatory attacks by "Jewish settlers". 

The Jewish 'attacks' evidently occurred near the Yitzhar community where Borovsky lived, as well as in the Palestinian villages of Burin, Hawara, and Orif – and a nearby highway (route 60). According to multiple reports, some Israelis threw rocks at Palestinians and some set Palestinian fields ablaze.

The claim that there were some retaliatory attacks by Jews following Borovsky's murder doesn't appear to be in doubt.

However, the Guardian also published a video story on May 1, with the following title:



Here's the video caption:


A group of masked Jewish settlers set fire to a house and fields across villages in the West Bank before attacking Palestinians. Palestinian villagers clash with the settlers on a hill overlooking the village of Orif. Israeli soldiers arrive to disperse the crowd with stun grenades. The attack was in retaliation to the killing of Israeli settler Eviatar [sic] Borovsky

However, upon viewing the one minute and six second Guardian video, we couldn't help but notice the absence of any clips actually showing 'Jewish settlers attacking Palestinians', despite text on the bottom of the screen at various moments stating that such attacks were taking place.

Here's the video in its entirety.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JGw56F0bTx4


Here's what we just saw:
■Israeli soldiers on patrol
■Israeli soldiers talking to what appear to be Palestinians
■Tear gas and stun grenades are employed by Israeli forces
■A Palestinian man (at the 54 second mark), purportedly injured, being carried to an awaiting ambulance

Here's what we did not see, despite claims made in the title and accompanying text:
■Jewish settlers attacking Palestinians
■Jewish settlers burning Palestinian fields

Whilst the events described by the Guardian may have indeed occurred, the video they produced and posted certainly did not present any visual evidence to buttress these claims. 

Though there have been far more egregious examples of 'Pallywood' in action (i.e., intentionally misleading or doctored Palestinian film footage; and the staging of certain scenes) it is reasonable to ask why the Guardian editor who published this video failed to engage in basic journalistic critical scrutiny of what the clips were claiming to document.


http://cifwatch.com/

[seafoid]

Jewish settlers are white trash. If you want to live in the West Bank, why do you need an army? and why not pay the farmers whose land you live on?

Had to laugh at yesterday's Irish times. Israel carried out a pinpoint assassination in which several bystanders were injured. How does that work?

[Ball DeBeaver]

Hamas says no peace with Israel under any terms




Monday, May 06, 2013 |  Ryan Jones   


While the American administration gets all excited over the Arab League making passing mention of its previous regional peace proposal, Western power-brokers are completely ignoring the fact that Palestinian powerhouse Hamas rejects the idea of peace with Israel under any circumstances.

After Qatari Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani commented last week that the Arab League would be willing to accept minor territorial compromise as part of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, US Secretary of State John Kerry got to work pressing Israel to accept the proposal.

As Israel feared, all it took was a gentle nudge and the slightest hint of successfully overseeing a peace deal to get Washington drooling, even if the hopes couldn't possibly match reality.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to warn his American friends that while his government remains ready to make territorial compromise, the root of the conflict isn't about borders, but about Israel's very existence.

Hamas was so kind as to make Netanyahu's point for him.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal stated that his group's goal remains the "liberation of the Palestinian territories," which Hamas views as encompassing the entirety of the State of Israel.

Mashaal said the Arab League proposal would harm the true Palestinian end goal by helping to integrate Israel into the region.

Unfortunately, Western leaders didn't seem to be listening. Many in Israel continue to argue that it doesn't matter if a reasonable agreement can be reached with the Arab League and Palestinian Authority if groups like Hamas continue to run the show on the ground. Until all of the Palestinian Arabs actually want peace with Israel, it simply isn't going to happen.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23831/Default.aspx?hp=article_title

[Ball DeBeaver]

Peace Now: PM halting new settlement construction


According to anti-settlement group, Netanyahu's halting of West Bank construction could be attempt to clear way for renewed peace talks with Palestinians

Associated Press Published:  05.07.13, 21:05 / Israel News 


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stopped approving new construction in West Bank settlements, two prominent Israeli activist groups said Tuesday, in what could be an attempt to clear the way for renewed peace talks with the Palestinians.

Anti-settlement group Peace Now, which monitors all new Israeli settlement construction, said Netanyahu has not approved new tenders or announcements of new building plans in the settlements since he won a new term in January's election. 

"It seems that Netanyahu took it upon himself to follow a policy of restraint," Peace Now said in a statement. It said Netanyahu was likely trying to avoid colliding with the US at a time when US Secretary of State John Kerry is attempting to restart peace negotiations.

The group said it did not know how long the freeze on new settlement building would hold, and noted that previously started settlement building is proceeding.

The Yesha settlers council, which promotes settlement construction, also claimed a freeze was in place.

Yigal Dilmoni, a Yesha official, said Netanyahu's office confirmed to him that the prime minister has stopped approving housing tenders.

"This does not help anything, and it is discriminatory," Dilmoni said. "We are severely against this."
Peace talks broke down in 2008 and have remained stalled in large part because of Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians have insisted that Israel halt settlement construction before peace talks to resume. Israel says the talks should take place without preconditions.

Following President Obama's visit to the region in March, Kerry has been shuttling between the two sides to try to break the deadlock.

Last week, after some prodding by Kerry, Arab leaders renewed a decade-old comprehensive peace offer, with softer language to appeal to Israel, to help restart talks. Israel has not responded to the offer. Kerry is scheduled to meet with Israeli and Palestinian representatives in Rome this week.
Last September, the Palestinians won upgraded status at the United Nations. Netanyahu responded by announcing plans to build hundreds of new homes in settlements. But those plans never moved forward.

Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel, a pro-settler hard-liner, met with Netanyahu recently. He asked Netanyahu to push forward the housing tenders, but Netanyahu refused, Dilmoni claimed.

The minister refused to comment on the reported settlement freeze in an Army Radio interview on Tuesday.
"I do not confirm things that I do with the Prime Minister. Therefore I cannot comment on this," Ariel said.
Netanyahu's office declined to comment.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the U.S. is exerting efforts to "create the needed atmosphere" for new talks, but that he was unaware of any Israeli construction freeze.

"We should hear this officially from the Israeli government," he said.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4377417,00.html

[seafoid]

Dying to hear the resident ziobot thinking on israeli pre emptive war and international law .