Israel Defies U.S. on Settlement Expansion

(CBS/AP)  Israel authorized the construction of 112 new apartments in the West Bank despite a pledge to slow down settlement building, the government disclosed Monday - enraging the Palestinians just a day after they reluctantly agreed to resume peace talks.

Word of the new construction in the Beitar Illit settlement and their possible complication of the talks came amid a flurry of activity by the U.S. to try to salvage peacemaking.

Vice President Joseph Biden arrived in Israel on Monday, marking the highest-level visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories by an Obama administration official.

CBS Radio News correspondent Robert Berger reports that Biden is widely expected to urge Israel not to carry out its threat to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Biden's message will simply be: "Don't bomb Iran," as one Israeli official put it.

Biden will meet separately with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to give a boost to new indirect peace talks, reports Berger.

Washington's special envoy to the Mideast, George Mitchell, was also in the area, meeting Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel of trying to undermine the talks even before they began. "If the Israeli government wants to sabotage Mitchell's efforts by taking such steps, let's talk to Mitchell about maybe not doing this (indirect talks) if the price is so high," Erekat said.

The Palestinians presented the U.S. envoy with a document outlining their desired peace agreement - a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank, with minor border adjustments. At his meeting with Mitchell, Abbas also raised the issue of the new construction, Erekat said, saying it "put a big question mark on what it is that we came to do."

Netanyahu sounded upbeat after his meeting with the U.S. envoy Monday. "I believe we will succeed in advancing the diplomatic process," the Israeli leader said. "But the diplomatic process is not a game, it is real, and rooted first and foremost in (Israel's) security."

Jewish construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem is a particularly sore point with the Palestinians because it challenges their claims to lands they want for a future state.

Under heavy U.S. pressure, Israel agreed in November to restrict building in the West Bank to some 3,000 apartments whose construction was already under way. But it rejected any curbs in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want for their future capital.

The government said at the time that exceptions to the slowdown could be allowed, and on Monday, the Ministry of Defense said an exception was made in the case of the ultra-Orthodox Beitar Illit because of what it termed safety and infrastructure issues. The ministry said it was the biggest exception granted since the slowdown went into effect.

Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now also questioned Israel's motives. "The Israeli government is welcoming the (U.S.) vice president by demonstrating, to our regret, that it has no genuine intention to advance the peace process," said the group's settlement expert, Hagit Ofran.

On Sunday, Palestinian leaders agreed to take part in U.S.-brokered peace talks with Israel for four months, ending a 14-month breakdown.

In so doing, they backed off from a demand that Israel freeze all building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem before they would return to the negotiating table.

Militant Palestinian groups like Hamas have condemned Abbas' decision to renew talks, and on Monday several factions based in Damascus accused the Palestinian Authority of caving in to pressure from the U.S. and Israel.

Abbas' Palestinian Authority has close ties to the West, enjoying generous funding from the international community. It has undertaken economic reforms in recent years, and on Monday Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad unveiled a $3.13 billion budget for 2010, about $80 million more than last year. He said that after years of a conflict-driven downturn, government revenues are up, partly due to economic growth projected at 7 percent this year.

Fayyad said he will more than triple spending on development projects to $667 million, in line with donor countries' desire to see more money earmarked for infrastructure, health and education.

[Bulls42]

All who oppose the Zionist regime please STOP calling it "Israel" Every time you do it you reward the occupation of Palestine. Name "Israel" implies a state on the occupied territory. Call the occupiers what they really are: the Zionist regime. This way, every time you refer to it, you will imply its temporary nature (the nature of all occupying regimes). Encourage your fellow comment posters to use the name Zionist regime as well.

We must also be categorically against generalizing, and recognize that many Jews are against the crimes the Zionist regime is committing in their names, and that many Jews are leading the global resistance to it. They should be proud. I wish that they finally find piece wherever they choose to live (including Palestine) through a peaceful democratic process as opposed to the Nazi-style occupation the current Zionist regime is using.

The only way to oppose the Zionist controlled media and Zionist paid bloggers is to take each other's comments and copy, repost, email, and otherwise distribute them to other blogs, newspaper websites, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking websites. Please do so with this comment for justice to prevail.

[GeeZee9]

It appears that sharing and reposting others' comments is becoming a trend. You can definitely copy, repost, or email mine to anyone including lobbying senators, state representatives and any other public officials who shape our country's foreign policies.

The main Zionist claim is that they have a supreme right to some of Palestinian territory because they lived there thousands of years ago. Let's examine the core and real nature of this claim.

Firstly, this claim is mistaken and selfish in its core concept because Zionists fail to recognize that history is a continuum and that there were other people living in majority in Palestine before the Jews and also after the Jews. Zionists simply cut history at a convenient point for them and claim ancestral ties to the land as of that convenient point.

Secondly, whatever the claim, it is beyond absurd to try to shape modern world based on thousands of years old maps. Imagine if the rest of the world would be reshaped by who was on the land thousands of years ago. It would cause horrific wars, countless refugees, and unimaginable human suffering, exactly what is happening in Palestine.

Thirdly and most disturbing, Zionist goal was to establish a Jewish state wherever possible. Palestine may have been a preference, but Palestine was not the only location that Zionists planned as their state in modern times. Another location was Argentina where Jews have been migrating for hundreds of years for the purpose of establishing a state. Also, locations in Europe were on the list and that's why the Catholic Church was killing/expelling Jews since Roman times (read the history of the Holly Inquisition). Whatever the location, Zionist plan was to simply occupy the people living on the land even if that would mean imposing a regime worst than Nazi Germany's from which they escaped. And Zionists would just use a different ideological coloring than the one used in Palestine in the attempt to rationalize the occupation.

In conclusion, the main claim on which the Zionist regime is built in Palestine is erroneous, selfish, and a lie. I am categorically against generalizing, and recognize that many Jews are against the crimes the Zionist regime is committing and that many Jews are leading the global resistance to it. They should be proud.

[Cave_West]

If it is ever reached, the current and any other artificial "peace agreement" will be illegitimate before it is ever signed because (1) all people living in Palestine regardless of religion, race, origin, etc. (hereinafter "All People of Palestine") were never given a choice on how they want their land to be governed, and (2) all contracts signed under duress are null and void.
The biggest problem in Palestine is that the Zionist regime never offered a choice to All People of Palestine on how they want to govern their land because the Zionist regime cannot exist as a democratic entity. If there was ever any democratic process in Palestine, Zionists would have been outvoted and the Zionist regime would have never existed. That is why the Zionist regime is the occupier because it does not offer choice (i.e. democracy), but instead imposes its regime (i.e. occupies). Imagine if Russians would simply occupy a town in the U.S. where they are in significant numbers and attempt to create a Russian state there without giving the rest of the Americans living there a choice. Imagine then if they would try to institute a "peace agreement" that would attempt to legitimize their occupation. The "peace agreement" would logically and legally be illegitimate because the Americans were not given a choice.

Under all countries' laws, any contract is null and void if it is signed under duress. The current Palestine "peace agreement" process reminds me of The Godfather movie where the mafia boss (i.e. the Zionist regime) made a guy "an offer he could not refuse" by placing a gun (i.e. Zionist conventional and nuclear arsenal) to his head and making him sign the contract. Like the mafia boss' offer, any "peace agreement" other than the choice for All People of Palestine is a crime, and the contract is legally null and void.

The bottom line is that All People of Palestine never wanted to divide their land into artificial two states the way the occupation and this "peace agreement" attempt to divide it. From the beginning of the Zionist regime to its unavoidable end, All People of Palestine and the region never wanted the Zionist regime and they do not want it even more after all the atrocities the Zionist regime committed. I just cannot believe how the Zionist regime can be so ignorant to think that this or any other "peace agreement" that does not allow people to choose how they want to be governed will last and ensure its people's survival. The Zionist regime fails to realize that no matter if it succeeds in muscling this "peace agreement" by unspeakable historic coercion tens of millions of moral people around the world will oppose it until it is corrected, and until justice and free choice prevail. Also, ever increasing number of Jewish people are realizing that Zionism is becoming a destructive force for them and are leading the global resistance to it.
P.S. feel free to copy this comment, email it to other bloggers, and repost it on other blogs, newspaper websites, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking websites, and include it in any correspondence/lobbying with senators, state representatives and any other public officials so the public learns the truth?

[Ambroise555]

Why would Zionists want to discuss any peace agreement with the Palestinians when they have overwhelming military supremacy, seemingly ultimate power, and apparently bright future? Because the future is completely opposite and Zionists know it.

1. All military powers in history with no exception ultimately came crashing down. Someone stronger always comes, and it does not take a rocket scientist to see (just look around you) this coming and not ending well for the current military power in Palestine. Forward-seeing Jewish people under the Zionist regime already started packing up and leaving for Australia, South America, and the U.S. before this occurs.

2. It is obvious that the Zionist regime survives mainly because of its external allies who so far provided it with money, weapons, political support, access to markets, etc. After countless U.N. human rights violations, killing of its allies' citizens (search on youtube for American "Rachel Corrie" video of Zionist bulldozer crushing her to death), forging of its allies' passports in acts of murder, etc. its former allies are increasingly turning against the Zionist regime. Who would want to be remembered in history as an accomplice in international murders and especially of their own citizens.

3. Not only that the list of remaining supporters is growing thinner, but an international coalition is formed and growing larger of countries that are cutting all economic and diplomatic relations with the Zionist regime.

4. No country ever survived a complete isolation from its neighbors. No person of the area currently under Zionist occupation can obtain any type of visa from any of the surrounding countries for any reason - a complete land lock.

5. Well attended speeches take place almost weekly at colleges and universities across the U.S. and the world condemning the Zionist regime, their remaining supporters, and companies that do any business there. These speeches are often lead by moral Jewish people, church leaders, business people, etc., in addition to traditional peace activists.

6. The West where most of the traditional supporters of the Zionist regime are located is loosing global influence. China, the Middle East, South East Asia, Russia, South America, etc. are emerging as new pockets of economic and political power where the Zionist regime has angered most of the population.

7. Not only that the West is declining, but Zionists are loosing political control in the declining West. Diversity is bringing minority groups into politics, groups that are actively opposing the Zionist regime.
In conclusion, the Zionist regime is negotiating now because its future is changing for much worse. It knows that it temporarily exists now only through the force of its arms and this will be short-lived. It knows that it is at its peak and a downturn has come. It is a mistake to negotiate with the Zionist regime at the present time. But, if you have to negotiate, do not accept anything less than a single region in question (single state) where all who live there are equal. Any other "solution" would just reward the Zionist regime at the time of its demise. If the Zionist regime wants true piece, let's not make it dependent on Zionist political and land acquisition goals, but on democratic vote for all who live there and making everyone equal (something we Americans cherish so passionately).

Disclaimer: All who wish to reproduce my comment on mailing lists, repost on other blogs, or send to politicians and public officials are welcome to do so. Let justice be served!

[noloyalisti]

I am Jewish but for peace and justice in Palestine. The Israeli government learned very well from the Nazis they abhor. They have become right wing extremists who live (and will die by) the sword.

I used to work for a dwebe who let his bosses mistreat him so he turned around and did it to us. It is the same way with these Israelis. And they KNOW they are wrong.

[noloyalisti]

"Let's just get rid of the murderous cowards" Well we got rid of the Bushoccio Crime Family although they are still loose on the streets.

We need to get rid of the economic terrorists running the rich, greedy, uncaring big corporations. A lot of people die each year due to corporation run health care. And because the rich have taken all the money, a lot of children die each year from poverty and sickness.

The people responsible for that are the REAL enemy of the people. And they are right here.

[curse914]

The enemy is among us. The new aristocracy is getting closer to the most coveted Feudal States of America.

[curse914]

by jeffrey2469 March 8, 2010 2:49 PM EST

Okay, once every Muslim in the world is dead.

==============

You can not kill and idea jeffery. Maybe if you extinguish all life on the planet. You rationalize your violence and hatred with the same rhetorical zeal as those you want to kill. Dogma is a facilitator of genocide.

[curse914]

And we snubbed our nose at the UN and went in unilaterally. Don't bother feigning support for the UN or some sort of contrived "world society" that you are apparently the sole guardian of. You have your own little dogmatic slant on what society should look like.

Are you a religious man, Jeffery? Your rationalization of bloodshed has very little to do with the realities on the ground and much to do with fear and potentially divine writ.

Like I said, religion is the vehicle for extricating land. It is the symptom of limited land and resources. That will not change. Even if you killed every "Muslim", what happens when the chosen people fill those lands to their capacity? It is a child's puzzle, Jeffery, how many children can you fit into a 10'x10' sandbox?

[U_S_Drug_Addict]

i fed yours already 100% usda beef.

[dubya_luvr]

I have said it before: cut off Israel's allowance. No more money for this spoiled child.

They're not even an ally, allies don't spy on allies or attack their military ships, like Israel did to the USS Liberty.
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/ussliberty.html

[curse914]

by peregrine3 March 8, 2010 11:36 AM EST

Now Israel wants us to go to war against Iran, or at least sanction one, because Iran won't honor their AEIA agreements or on nuclear proliferation and yet I'm trying to remember the last time the Israelis honored any of their commitments to ceasing their expansion into territory held for centuries by Palestinian families. How long are we suppose to feel sorry for the holocaust? How long are we, in honor of the bravado of the Israeli troops and their ability to kick the sod out of their neighbors, going to keep turning a blind eye regarding their expansionism? The Israelis have nuclear weapons; the Iranians are yet to secure them. The Israelis have the means to suppress the Palestinians, as not even second class citizens, yet they call for the Palestinians to make peace. Please someone; what am I missing?

==================

What you are missing is the perpetual irrationality and ignorance of Religion and the failure of the faithful to except that their nation has limited land and resources. You cannot tell the faithful that it is not their right to reproduce exponentially.

"God" sanctioned the genocide of ancestors of the Palestinians. God was land grabbing back then, because "god" thought that some land was more verdant than other land and deserving of whomever the "chosen people" of any given time period would be. If this is not proof positive that man created god, then I do not know what is. "God" was a capricious, fickle blood thirsty idiot and a perfect reflection of the ignorance of the day.


]snip[

According to the book of Exodus, Amalek is the nation that attacked the weakest among the Israelites as they fled from Egypt. This transgression was not to go unpunished. The Torah has a harsh prescription for Amalek: annihilation.

genocide in the torah"It shall be that when Hashem, your God, gives you rest from all your enemies all around, in the Land that Hashem, your God, gives you as an inheritance to possess it, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heaven. Do not forget it!" (Deuteronomy 25: 19; also see Exodus 17:14 and Numbers 24:20)

"The Canaanites are destroyed because of their idolatry and because their continued presence in the land would jeopardize the purity of Jewish religion (ef. Deut. 6:14; 7:4; 12:29-31; 20:18). The invasion is also a judgment on the Canaanites on account of their wickedness (Deut. 9:4-5). So just as the macrocosm is cleared of corrupted life before the ?new creation? of Genesis 9:1-7, so the land of Canaan is cleared of corrupted life before the consummation of the ?new creation? promise to Abraham. "

[peregrine3]

I don't understand his ways anymore than Job did when God rebuked him. Some of the ethnic cleansing including the flood resulted from the Nephrine, the giants of the earth, spawned by sons of God just prior to the flood. I don't understand a lot of things in the Bible but I do know one of the primary stumbling blocks is theology. Theology is man made, not Bibical. Theology is what man, not God uses to justify, his insanity. The Jews use th old testement to justify (in their minds) the persecution of innocents. The muslims have their Koran, which they use to justify their insanity. Once more its not the Koran, or the common God at fault but the way man tortures the messenger to make it fit his adgenda. Mohammed got along quit well with Jews and Christians in his time and his wife owned a business. Whats happen since. The Pharisees took over. God is something you have to believe in absent proof but there's abundant proof that Religon is used to manipulate the masses, big or small.

[kmrunner122]

Schools across America are struggling with cost cuts and yet we allow our government to send over $5 million dollars A DAY to support Isreal while they break international law. And then people wonder why Muslims want to attack the US. We call for sanctions on other countries that break international law but we pretend to push Isreal into peace talks. It's time to call your reps in Congress and the Senate and say NO MORE.

[U_S_Drug_Addict]

take a good look at the new construction, the manicured lawns
neighborhoods with everything modern, in sharp contrast to the
Palestinian towns, We the Taxpayers pay for it, and its not even
money spent on U.S Citizens.
Without their daily welfare check the state of Zionists would not be as prosperous as it is. sadly our government can put a stop to the atrrocities by cutting off asll financial aid to the welfare recipients from europe, but sll our government does is pay lip service to the tv cameras.