Neither Hamas Nor The Israeli Gov. Have Defensible Position

There are many in the United States, including many in the media, that seem to believe the Mideast mess is an either/or situation. You either support Israel or you support the Palestinians. But it's not that easy, because both are being ruled by indefensible entities.

Hamas has been ruling Gaza, and Hezbollah is the main influence in the West Bank. Both are terrorist organizations guilty of the indiscriminate murder of many innocent people. And they don't really support a real solution that could lead to peace - a two-state solution. Instead, they want to see the end of Israel so they can have all of Palestine. That is not a morally defensible position.

And while the Israeli government had the right to respond to the attack by Hamas, they have indiscriminately killed tens of thousands of civilians, and seven months after the attack. Even before the attack, they were blocking food, medical supplies, and construction materials from entering Gaza. The need for these items have only grown worse with the continuing war, and they still don't allow adequate supplies to enter. They have also refused to negotiate a two-state solution - content to continue stealing Palestinian land to build illegal settlements. That is not a morally defensible position.

There is only one morally defensible position. That is to support neither the Hamas/Hezbollah terrorists not the Israeli government. Both the governing entities of the Israelis and Palestinians must be kicked out of power, and replaced by entities that will truly negotiate a two-state solution with respect for the other side. Neither side can be allowed to control all of Palestine and push the other out.

I believe the people of Israel and the people of Gaza/West Bank just want to live in peace and allow the other to do the same. Neither side will get that with their current ruling entities.

Israel Shows It Is Not Interested In Peace

(Image is from a 5/25/2009 edition of The Telegraph.)

Once again, the Israeli government is showing it is not really interested in the success of peace talks with the Palestinians. They are just using the peace talks to keep Europe and America off their backs while they continue to expand their country by stealing Palestinian land.

The Israeli government has just published it latest list of more than 600 towns and areas that need (and will get more money from the government) -- and the list includes 91 illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian areas. That's six more settlements than were included in the last report, and shows the Israeli government is not really interested in peace (since the last peace talks were discontinued for this same kind of settlement expansion).

The settlements are illegal according to international law. And they expose the real policy of the Israeli government -- to expand their country by building settlements in captured and occupied areas. And they are not willing to even negotiate giving any of the land back (for a Palestinian state) that their settlements are on. Israel doesn't want any two-state solution (which might lead to peace). They just want to expand their country's size.

This is nothing but outright theft of lands that do not (and should not) belong to Israel. The western nations, including the United States, should stop all aid to Israel until it alters this policy of land theft. Is there really any difference between Israel's seizure and annexation of Palestinian lands and Saddam's seizure and attempt to annex Kuwait? How can the United States let the first happen, while it went to war to prevent the other? Isn't it more than a bit hypocritical to turn a blind eye when our friend's do what we would not let other nations do?

Israel Wants Territory - Not Peace

Most Americans think the government of Israel would like to have peace with the Palestinians, and the only thing that prevents that from happening is the refusal of Palestinians to recognize the right of Israel to exist. That was true back in the mid-1960s, but that was a long time ago and things have radically changed.

The fact is that most Palestinians already recognize the right of Israel to exist, and the rest (like Hamas) have said they are willing to negotiate that with the idea of a two-state solution. It is not the Palestinians that are standing in the way of negotiating a fair and lasting peace -- it is the Israelis. For years the Israelis have been building settlements in the West Bank (and in East Jerusalem) -- land that was not a part of Israel originally, and should rightfully be a part of an independent Palestinian state.

The chart above shows just how extensive the Israeli settlements have become (each blue dot on the map represents an illegal Israeli settlement -- and they continue to build new settlements). The Isrealis know that most of the rest of the world consider the building of these settlements to be against international law. They just don't care, and they have no intention of giving up any of these settlements in a peace negotiation.

Even the United States government has asked the Israelis to stop building new settlements on Palestinian land. But the Israelis know the U.S. is not willing to back up that request with action, so they ignore it. The longer they can put any peace talks off, the more land they can steal. As the map shows, there are only small parts of the West Bank that doesn't have Israeli settlements (and they may well be planning to take most of that land in coming years).

And why should they negotiate a peace? No one is willing to force them to do it, and the longer they can put it off the more land they can take for their own (and to hell with international law). It is to the advantage of these land-grabbers to put off peace negotiations as long as possible.

Right after World War II the Israelis had legitimate moral authority to create the nation of Israel and defend it against anyone who would deny them the right to exist. But that is not the situation anymore. None of the Arab nations in the area pose a real threat to Israel anymore. They would all like to see a two-state solution and a real peace. Israel has the strongest and most modern military in that part of the world, with the latest in military technology. They even have nuclear weapons. They are far from the weak victim they once were.

In fact, they are now the bullies. They have bottled the Palestinians up in what can only generously be called ghettos, and they are systematically stealing their land. And they get away with it by continuing to play the "victim" card. And most Americans are still buying that false and tired old argument.

Even many progressives still believe the Israeli victimhood argument. Rep. Anthony Weiner, who I normally agree with on most issues, can't seem to fathom the truth about Israel. He remarked the other night that there are no Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. That's ridiculous. Does he really believe there are no Israeli soldiers defending all the settlements shown on the map above (and the highways connecting those settlements)? Of course there are Israeli soldiers in the West Bank (and East Jerusalem) -- hundreds of them, and they have no intention of withdrawing them (or dismantling the settlements).

It is time for the American government (and the American people) to adjust their thinking to reflect the realities of the 21st century. Israel is no longer a victim, and they should be forced to the negotiating table (and made to stop building the illegal settlements).

Does Israel Want Peace ?

The United States got Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas together this last week in an effort to get Mideast peace talks going again. Newspaper and TV reports hailed it as some kind of breakthrough, but was it? Has any kind of progress been made to establishing a real peace? In a word, no.

The only road to peace in the Mideast would be the establishment of a Palestinian state -- a separate state that would be ruled by Palestinians and not the Israeli government. As of yet, the Israeli government has not shown it is willing to accept such an arrangement. In fact, that would require Israel to give up possession of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The problem with that is that Israel is continuing to build new settlements in the West Bank -- settlements they will not be willing to give up to achieve a lasting peace. While the building goes on a temporary moratorium was placed on approving new projects, but at the end of this month that moratorium expires and Netanyahu has said he will not renew it. That means new settlements will again be approved for the West Bank in less than a month.

This one issue makes it clear that Israel does not want peace. It is in the process of stealing Palestinian land (with every new settlement built) and it has no plans to ever return that land to the Palestinians. The longer it can delay real peace talks, the more land it can steal. They are gambling that the United States will not cut monetary and military aid, even though the U.S. government opposes the new settlements.

Israel is happy to meet with Abbas and make a show of having talks, but they have no intention of participating in any real talks -- talks that could result in giving up land in the West Bank or control over Gaza and the West Bank. They want the world to believe that they must maintain the status quo to ensure their own existence, but that is not true.

The only real enemy Israel has in the Middle East is Iran -- an outlaw nation that not even the other muslim nations in the area support. The truth is that the existence of Israel is a false issue these days. Once the Palestinians have been taken care of with a state of their own (Gaza and the West Bank), the Arab nations in the area would have no trouble making peace with Israel. Even Hamas has said it is willing to negotiate a two-state solution (but they are unwilling to back down as long as the Israelis continue to steal Palestinian land).

Does Israel want peace? No. They have things just like they want them right now. It is time for the United States to get serious about putting pressure on Israel to get them to change their mind. That pressure should include the cutting off of all monetary and military aid. Not doing so would be tantamount to approving the Israeli mistreatment and enslavement of the Palestinian people and stealing of their land.

Israel Continues Violating International Law

There was a time when Isral was in the right. They had a new country and the right to exist and prosper, but there were other countries trying to deny them that right. But times change, and now it is Israel that is violating international law, while its neighbors want to see a peaceful two-state solution.

Most of the world, including the United States and the European Union, believe the solution to peace in the Mid-East is a negotiated settlement resulting in Gaza and the West Bank becoming an independent Palestinian state. The main opponent to this plan is Israel. That's because they steal more land in the West Bank every day by building permanent settlements there.

They don't seem to care that their actions are in violation of international law. They believe they'll be able to claim the settlements as Israeli land in future negotiations, and the longer they delay those negotiations, the more Palestinian land they'll be able to steal.

President Obama has asked Israel to completely freeze all building in the West Bank, as have most of the countries of the European Union. But Prime Minister Netanyahu has snubbed his best allies. He said on Monday that they will not only continue construction on the 2500 units already started, but they have approved construction of another 450 units.

Netanyahu said they will not stop constructing settlements in the West Bank, but they might consider "scaling down construction". No one is sure exactly what that means. Probably, it just means they will approve the new construction in smaller lots, but still continue the building (regardless of the size of new approvals).

This is unacceptable. This is not Israeli land they are building on. It is nothing more than an attempt to steal Palestinian land. It is also their way to delay negotiations while they continue to steal land. They know no negotiations will happen as long as they continue construction.

It is also obvious that the Israelis think they can ignore the United States and the European Union, and the U.S. and E.U. will do nothing about it. It is time to back up our requests with action. The U.S. should immeediately suspend all foreign aid to Israel until the building of settlements has completely stopped and they have returned to the negotiating table. If they want to violate international law, steal land and ignore our requests, they should have to do it without any of our money.

They have a right to exist, but they don't have a right to steal.

Does Israel Really Want Peace With Palestinians ?

I have to wonder if Israel really wants peace with the Palestinian people. Israel tries to present itself as the innocent party in the Mideast conflict, even as it is making plans to violate international law.

Israel announced recently that it will be building a new settlement on the West Bank. The approximately 30 houses to be built in the Jordan Valley will be resided in by former Gaza Strip settlers.

This is not only a violation of international law -- it is also a violation of the 2003 Roadmap for Peace. In fact, this violation is so egregious that even the Bush administration sees it as wrong and destined to provoke the Palestinians.

United States State Department spokesman Gonzo Gallegos said, "The establishment of a new settlement or the expansion of an existing settlement would violate Israel's obligations under the roadmap. The U.S. calls on Israel to meet it's roadmap obligations and avoid taking steps that could be viewed as predetermining the outcome of final-status negotiations [with the Palestinians]."

The European Union has also expressed it's "deep concerns" with the Israeli announcement.

Israel has also said it might release millions of dollars collected in taxes for the Palestinians. Why have they been keeping this money in the first place? This is not their money -- it belongs to the Palestinians, and the Israelis had no right to withhold it.

If Israel wants the world to view them as the innocent party in the Mideast conflict, then they must stop breaking the rules themselves. They cannot accuse the Palestinians of failing to live up to their obligations, if they are unwilling to live up to their own obligations.