Israel begins new settlement push

[FutureTaoiseach]

The latter day Ulster Plantation continues, with predictable consequences in terms of prolonging and worsening the conflict, and denying justice to the Palestinians, as Israel steals more of their land.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5312084.stm

The Israeli government says it plans to build 700 new homes in two settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank.
Adverts published in Israeli newspapers invite bids for work in Maale Adumim just outside east Jerusalem and Beitar Illit to the south, near Bethlehem.

It is the biggest expansion of Jewish settlements to be announced since the government came to office in May.

Palestinians see such moves as an obstacle to peace and the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

The Israeli government froze a controversial project to link Maale Adumim to east Jerusalem following sharp American criticism.

Suspended

The two settlement blocs are among the largest in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, together housing about 60,000 settlers.

....................

During the conflict Hezbollah fired about 4,000 rockets at northern Israel, raising concern that a partial West Bank pullback could leave central Israel cities vulnerable to similar attacks by Palestinian militants.

About 240,000 Jewish settlers and 2.4 million Palestinians live in the West Bank. The settlements are deemed illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

[White Horse]

The latter day Ulster Plantation continues, with predictable consequences in terms of prolonging and worsening the conflict, and denying justice to the Palestinians, as Israel steals more of their land.

Is it not the Islamic plantation in ancient Israel that is the root problem?

Mohammed's armies weren't exactly missionaries.

[FutureTaoiseach]

The latter day Ulster Plantation continues, with predictable consequences in terms of prolonging and worsening the conflict, and denying justice to the Palestinians, as Israel steals more of their land.

Is it not the Islamic plantation in ancient Israel that is the root problem?

Mohammed's armies weren't exactly missionaries.

The Jews had long since left under the Romans, generally speaking. They had long since been outnumbered by the descendents of Roman settlers. And where would it stop it you decided to return the demographics of the world back 2,000 yrs? The Whites would then have to leave the US, the Northern Protestants would have to leave NI etc. It would create international chaos, death and destruction. Strange then that Unionists are supportive of Israel.

[merle haggard]

katyushas may well be the only answer for the palestinians . I suggest they ignore attempts by gerry to have them accept these settlements as legitimate in the belief that someday they will simply disappear

[White Horse]

The Jews had long since left under the Romans, generally speaking. They had long since been outnumbered by the descendents of Roman settlers. And where would it stop it you decided to return the demographics of the world back 2,000 yrs? The Whites would then have to leave the US, the Northern Protestants would have to leave NI etc. It would create international chaos, death and destruction. Strange then that Unionists are supportive of Israel.

Don't forget the Celts leaving Ireland, they were planters/settlers at one point!

Also, don't forget that republicans were once supportive of Israel. Strangley enough, that was when the Israelis were fighting the British. They had no problems with Jewish settlers in Palestine then.

There is more than enough hypocrisy to go around for everyone. No-one has a monopoly.

[merle haggard]

I was unaware the celts had even been to Ireland , never mind left it to colonise somewhere

[FutureTaoiseach]

The Jews had long since left under the Romans, generally speaking. They had long since been outnumbered by the descendents of Roman settlers. And where would it stop it you decided to return the demographics of the world back 2,000 yrs? The Whites would then have to leave the US, the Northern Protestants would have to leave NI etc. It would create international chaos, death and destruction. Strange then that Unionists are supportive of Israel.

Don't forget the Celts leaving Ireland, they were planters/settlers at one point!

Also, don't forget that republicans were once supportive of Israel. Strangley enough, that was when the Israelis were fighting the British. They had no problems with Jewish settlers in Palestine then.

There is more than enough hypocrisy to go around for everyone. No-one has a monopoly.

The difference then was the legality. Israel was allotted 55% of Palestine in 1948 by the UN. It now controls all of it and that clearly violates UN Security Council Resolution 242 on withdrawl from the occupied territories. They gave back Sinai to Egypt and got no trouble from them afterwards. When they pulled out of Gaza though they continued murdering its people through shelling and bombing, and then played dumb with a "oh why are they attacking us when we were so 'generous' in giving back the land we stole?". Israel's constant two-fingers both to international-law and international public-opinion has earned it the contempt of many and possibly most internationally, including in the West (except the sycophantic US). This should translate into a consumer boycott of the Zionist entity, and morally economic sanctions at least by the EU. Germany in particular needs to get over this insane concept that it is somehow making up for the Holocaust by agreeing to Israel's every action. All it is doing is colluding in another Holocaust, this time against the Arabs, especially via the arms sales to Israel.

[White Horse]

The difference then was the legality. Israel was allotted 55% of Palestine in 1948 by the UN. It now controls all of it and that clearly violates UN Security Council Resolution 242 on withdrawl from the occupied territories. They gave back Sinai to Egypt and got no trouble from them afterwards. When they pulled out of Gaza though they continued murdering its people through shelling and bombing, and then played dumb with a "oh why are they attacking us when we were so 'generous' in giving back the land we stole?". Israel's constant two-fingers both to international-law and international public-opinion has earned it the contempt of many and possibly most internationally, including in the West (except the sycophantic US). This should translate into a consumer boycott of the Zionist entity, and morally economic sanctions at least by the EU. Germany in particular needs to get over this insane concept that it is somehow making up for the Holocaust by agreeing to Israel's every action. All it is doing is colluding in another Holocaust, this time against the Arabs, especially via the arms sales to Israel.

I don't follow this area very closely and will bow to your greater knowledge.

However, since the recent Lebanon conflict, I have been reading up.

Israel's approach is that they want to negotiate settlements with neighbouring countries. They will give back occupied land for recognition.

Egypt was willing to do this, so Israel gave back the Sinai, despite being under no military pressure to do this.

However, Syria and Iran are unwilling to recognise Israel in return for removal from occupied lands.

Even the arch anti-Israeli journalist Robert Fisk recognises that Syria and Iran have the principal forces in the region preventing progress.

While this stalement exists, the Palestinians are caught in the middle.

[Munion]

I was unaware the celts had even been to Ireland , never mind left it to colonise somewhere

The genetic evidence would seem to indicate that there was no one great Celtic invasion involving a military force coming across the sea en masse from Europe and subjugating the native population.

Ireland's population seems to be a mainly pre-Indo European one which only slight foreign influence.

It would be more correct so to say that the Celtic "invasion" from mainland Europe was more of a cultural than a military one.

Back to the topic. Israel has to be the ultimate hypocrit. Saying they want peace one week and then using cluster bombs in Lebanon & planting settlers in the West Bank which are obviously long-term points of conflict the next.

[FutureTaoiseach]

Israel's approach is that they want to negotiate settlements with neighbouring countries. They will give back occupied land for recognition...However, Syria and Iran are unwilling to recognise Israel in return for removal from occupied lands.

I agree that Iran has no business in this affair as it's territory is not occupired. However the Syrian Golan Heights are occupied. Israel does not want peace. For the last 6 years they have repeated the mantra that "there is no partner to talk to on the other side". This is a self-fulfilling prophecy, and creates a political-vacuum which, as we know from the Northern experience, leads to more violence. Israel wants to fool the world that it wants negotiations, while intransigently refusing to engage in them. It reminds me of the DUP. Totally intransigent, totally opposed to compromise.