Haaretz: Settlers defy peace talks with new construction across West Bank

This development should signal the end of the peace talks between Israel and the PLA. It is Rightardia's postion that the peace talks are a complete waste of time. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has already stated that he would not extend the building freeze. 


Hours before peace talks were set to begin in Washington, Jewish settlers defiantly announced plans on Thursday to launch new construction in their West Bank enclaves in a test of strength with Palestinian Islamists.

Naftali Bennett, director of the settlers' Yesha council, said settlers would begin building homes and public structures in at least 80 settlements, breaking a partial government freeze on building that ends on September 26.

West Bank Migron settlement

"The idea is that de facto it (the freeze) is over," Bennett said, criticizing the U.S.-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian talks as aiming for a "phony peace" and rejecting Palestinian demands for a halt to settlement building on land they want for a state.

"Once they understand Israelis are here to stay and only growing stronger day by day, they will give up," Bennett said.

The settlers, who have threatened to depose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he does not let them resume building after September 26, ended the freeze unilaterally on Wednesday, the day after gunmen killed four settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Pro-settler parties are a majority in Netanyahu's right-wing coalition and a number of cabinet ministers have already backed demands to resume settlement construction.


Earth-moving vehicles and cement mixers went to work in several settlements on Wednesday, breaking ground for homes and community centers.

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Israel remains the biggest impediment to peace in the Middle East

Thirty  years ago when Secular Human was in college in the west, he met some Saudi students. The Saudis believed that time was on the side of the Arabs. They stated that it might take 50 to 100 years to beat Israel, but it would eventually happen. Rightardia suggests the Saudis had a point.


Israel is an island of 6 million Jews in the middle of an Arab sea. It is a unifying issue among Arabs. It is also not a self-sufficient nation after 50 years of US foreign aid. Although it is the smallest of nations that the US provides aid to, it it is also the biggest beneficiary of US foreign and military aid.


If Israel is unwilling to stop settlements in the West bank and follow UN Accords, the US should freeze foreign and military aid until it comes back to the table. We need to start playing hard ball with Israel. It is the best interests of Israel if we do this in the long run.


Rightardia also likes the Pope Benedict's idea of making Jerusalem an international city rather than the capital of Israel. Again the Israelis are trying to be a player in situation that affects three of the world's religions.

The construction of illegal Israeli settlements is a major sticking point to restarting peace talks [AFP] Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, has met the US special envoy to the Middle East in Jerusalem for talks on restarting stalled peace negotiations. Netanyahu held talks with George Mitchell on Tuesday, for a meeting that was expected to focus on reaching an agreement on freezing the construction of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. But in advance of the talks, Netanyahu reaffirmed his position that Israel will not bow to US demands to completely halt the building of settlements. In remarks to a parliamentary committee on Monday, Netanyahu rejected calls to freeze all settlement construction, but said he would consider a temporary slow-down in the rate of building. 'Reducing scope' "They (Americans) asked us for a complete freeze and we told them that we will not do this," Netanyahu was quoted as saying by a parliamentary official. "I told the Americans we would consider reducing the scope of construction. "But there has to be a balance between the desire to make progress in political negotiations and the need to allow inhabitants of Judea and Samaria to continue to lead normal lives." Netanyahu was referring to areas of the occupied West Bank. A freeze on settlement building is one of the key Palestinian conditions for the resumption of peace talks. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has said that peace talks will not restart negotiations, on hold since December, until Israel freezes its settlement activity.  Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

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Palestinian Authority suspends Al Jazeera's operations in the West Bank

A prominent human rights group and a media watchdog have condemned a decision by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to suspend Al Jazeera's operations in the occupied West Bank.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday called on Palestinian officials to immediately allow the network to reopen its offices in Ramallah.

"The suspension of Al Jazeera sends a clear message that the Palestinian Authority has red lines when it comes to free speech," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East and North Africa director at HRW.

"Are they going to silence the media every time someone reports something they don’t like? Prime minister Fayyad should reverse this punitive step."

The PA has threatened legal action against Al Jazeera after it broadcast allegations by Farouk Kaddoumi, a Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) official, that he had documents indicating that Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, had plotted to assassinate Yasser Arafat, his predecessor.

Kaddoumi, a long-time rival of Abbas and one of the founders of the Fatah movement, claimed he had transcripts of the Palestinian president discussing the issue with Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli prime minister.

The Palestinian information ministry accused the network of "devoting significant segments of its broadcasts to incitement against the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA)".

'Serious violation'

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) also criticised the suspension, calling it "a serious violation of press freedom".

"It shows intolerance on the part of the Palestinian Authority and suggests that it is trying to control media by suppressing reporting which it does not like," Aidan White, the general secretary of IFJ, said in a statement:
The ban should be lifted immediately.

Riad al-Malki, the Palestinian information minister, on Thursday denied that the PA was cutailing press freedom.

"We are respecting the law, that is why we asked the legal system to act," he said from the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Summit in Egypt.

Legal action

Al Jazeera has rejected the PA's complaints.

In a statement, the network said it was "stunned" that it had been sanctioned for the story, which had also been aired by several other media.

"Al Jazeera is astonished to learn of the Palestinian Authority's decision to suspend the network’s operations in the West Bank and the PA's intention to take legal action against Al Jazeera's Arabic channel.

"Al Jazeera believes that it has maintained strict professional journalistic standards and acted in accordance with its Code of Ethics in its coverage, and that the Palestinian Authority's reaction reflects a repression of the freedom of media and a refusal to tolerate the opinions of others.

"Al Jazeera is surprised that it has been targeted by this decision while many other Arab and international media organisations also broadcast Kaddoumi's allegations."
 
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/07/2009717151934329294.html

 
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