Israel rebuffs U.S. call for total settlement freeze

[IndianaGreen]

Last update - 09:51 28/05/2009

Israel rebuffs U.S. call for total settlement freeze

By Barak Ravid and The Associated Press

An Israeli government spokesman said Thursday that Israel will continue some construction work in West Bank settlements, despite an unusually blunt U.S. call for a complete settlement freeze.

Spokesman Mark Regev said the fate of existing settlements will be decided in peace negotiations but that in the meantime, normal life in the settlements must be allowed to continue.

His remarks Thursday appeared to be a rebuff to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said Wednesday that the U.S. wants a halt to all settlement construction - including their natural growth.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088799.html

Related earlier thread by Donald Ian Rankin:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x276134

[Chulanowa]

1. So what is the US's response going to be?

Some pouting? A letter with slightly stronger wording?

Israel's not going to do jack shit, ever, about anything, no matter how nice or how tough we ask, because we will never ever, ever do anything. We're all puff and bluster, because, holy shit, Israel's gotta be there for Jesus to come back.

[IndianaGreen]

2. There are those on both sides of I/P conflict that think a 2-state solution is no longer possible

This could well be true, particularly if Bibi manages to keep his fractious coalition together to avoid new elections. The question then becomes how to pivot into a one-state solution, and what sort of one state will it be.

[Chulanowa]

3. I'm sort of one of them

I've preached the virtues of a one-state solution before, though I'm not die-hard about it. Whatever solution leads to a solid peace the quickest is what I'm for. Some days it's two-state, other days it's one-state.

There's one huge hitch to the one-state solution. None of the governments are interested in it. Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority both benefit politically from keeping their peoples separate, while the other major party, the United States, is for the most part piloted by people who think Israel needs to be racially pure for the second coming. All three have too much invested both financially and ideologically in the two-state path, anyway

With that given, any movement to a single state would have to start at the grass roots, on both sides. Look to the fellow in your avatar. The key to a Marxist revolution is getting the workers to realize that the divisions of race, sex, creed, and culture are artificial and meager, compared to the division between the have and have not. Similarly, the key to this revolution will be bringing Israelis and Palestinians to recognize their similarities, and that it is their respective "leaders" who are ensuring the rockets and missiles keep coming.

[IndianaGreen]

4. Listen to what Lenin had to say

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ1jlbS0bTg

[Chulanowa]

5. Nails, heads, all that. n/t