Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumPresidency condemns new Israeli settlement plans
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=663418"Whenever US secretary of state John Kerry intensifies his efforts to push the peace process forward, Israel seeks to destroy these efforts through its decisions and its ongoing settlement activities," Abu Rudeineh said, according to official news agency Wafa.
He also condemned remarks by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday about maintaining all illegal settlements in Hebron, the largest Palestinian city by population, and Beit El, located just north of Ramallah.
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Israel's recent approval of 272 new settlement homes shows the true face of an Israeli government which refuses the idea of Palestinian sovereignty and is only seeking to buy time to impose certain realities on the ground, the independent Palestinian MP said.
A little song, a little dance a little seltzer down your pants during the apartheid picnic.
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R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)of dismantling settlements in the West Bank as part of any peace.
He has no intentions of ever making peace as long as he can theft more land for his illegals.
If a US President were doing that today he would be brought up on impeachment charges, but yet our Presidents continue to fund an apartheid state.
BDS.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)The Netherlands' largest pension fund management company has decided to withdraw all its investments from Israel’s five largest banks because they have branches in the West Bank and/or are involved in financing construction in the settlements.
PGGM’s investments in Israeli banks amount to only a few tens of millions of euros. But its decision is liable to damage the banks’ image, and could lead other business concerns in Europe to follow suit.
A source involved in the issue said that over the past few months, the Dutch pension giant contacted Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot, the First International Bank of Israel and Israel Discount Bank and informed them that their ties with the settlements, and/or companies involved in building in the settlements, created a problem from the standpoint of international law.
PGGM told the banks its opinion was based on an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 2004, which said that settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegal and violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. That article states that “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
The Israeli banks responded that Israeli law doesn’t allow them to cease providing service to entities connected to the settlements. Nor, given the daily reality in which the banks operate, would this even be feasible, they added.
A few days ago, therefore, PGGM informed the banks that since it had not managed to alter their conduct with regard to the settlements via dialogue, and since no change in the situation seemed likely in the foreseeable future, it had decided to divest from them. This decision took effect on January 1.
PGGM is the Netherlands' largest pension management company and one of the leading such companies in the world, with some 150 billion euros of pension money under management. Last year, as it reviewed its investment policy for 2014, it considered divesting from several banks and companies worldwide in accordance with its policy of “social responsibility.” At the end of this review, it concluded that it would be impossible to create a firewall between its investments in Israeli banks and the banks’ activities in the territories.
Over the past few weeks, Dutch firms have engaged in a wave of boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israeli firms. Last month, the Dutch water company Vitens announced that it was suspending cooperation with Israel’s national water company, Mekorot, given the latter’s operations in West Bank settlements. A few weeks earlier, another Dutch company canceled a contract to build a sewage treatment plant that it had signed with Jerusalem’s water company, Hagihon, because the plant was to be located over the Green Line.
The Foreign Ministry is very worried by the trend in the Netherlands. Officials in Jerusalem believe the background to this recent wave of boycotts is a new policy adopted by the Dutch government under which it encourages commercial enterprises to avoid any business dealings with the settlements. But in PGGM’s case, the pension company decided to boycott even Israeli banks with only indirect ties to the settlements.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.567548
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)The pressure seems pretty intense, coming from the US primarily on the Palestinians. The positioning/posturing of
Bibi and Lieberman, expanded settlements and demanding the moon only to later appear to have made concessions
to land they do not have legal rights to seems to be coming down the pike.
*“The marking of produce from the [Palestinian] territories is on hold at this stage," the European diplomat said to his Israeli interlocutor. “However, should the negotiations with the Palestinians run aground you should expect a deluge of sanctions.” The Israeli official was taken aback by the sharp words. “Aren’t the circumstances of a breakdown in negotiations relevant,” he asked. The European replied laconically, “the way things look now, you will be the losers in the blame game.”
**The EU has also said, negotiations fail then no more money: *EU officials raised questions about continuing assistance to the PA a few months ago, in view of the lack of progress in the talks, the official said, in a briefing to Israeli journalists in Brussels. The assistance was intended to help the Palestinian Authority prepare itself for statehood, not to perpetuate the existing situation, he said.
“Some people suggested giving the money to other countries, like Syria, Mali and other places around the world,” he said.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.561593
***Kerry has warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a drive to delegitimize Israel and of a “boycott campaign on steroids” that will unfold if talks fail. These dire warnings by the Secretary of State and the European diplomat are already starting to play out. There is not yet a deluge of boycotts and sanctions by Western states, but flow is certainly increasing. The main target of this campaign are the settlements and any entity associated with them.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.563242
****Kerry asks Saudis, Jordan to support Palestinian recognition of Israel as Jewish state
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.567533
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)Settlements are the stumbling block, and without their removal there can be no Palestinian state.
That being said the Palestinians just have to wait out the clock with their demands for removal. When that doesn't happen then we will see where BDS goes.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)I believe the Israeli's intend for the negotiations to fail but they intend on the complete and total blame to go to the Palestinians
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)is growing pressure on Abbas, he may go along in the end...of course it is difficult to
say with any certainty but it does not look good, thus far.
Pressure is increasing on Bibi too, I suspect Kerry is an influence here, from Canada's
friendly phone call :
Despite UN support, Canada reprimands Israel over new settlement plans
A few days after Netanyahu called Canada's PM to thank him his support in the Palestinian UN vote, Harper reproaches him for plans to develop the E-1 West Bank corridor; South Africa, Greece summon Israeli ambassadors for talks.
Over the weekend, after Canada was one of the few states who stood by Israel at the UN General Assembly vote, Netanyahu called Harper to thank him for his support. But a few days later, Harper was forced to phone Netanyahu back - this time to reproach him. The fact Harper chose to leak the content of the conversation indicates how strongly Canada opposes Netanyahu's decision concerning E-1 construction.
Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird revealed details of the talk to the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. Baird said that Harper made it clear to Netanyahu that a wave of construction in the settlements will put a hamper on efforts to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
"The Palestinians’ actions last week were very unhelpful to the cause of peace, and the Israeli response of settlement expansion is very unhelpful to the cause of peace,” Mr. Baird said.
Harper, who heads Canada's Conservative Party, is considered to be Netanyahu's closest ally. Despite their close relationship, according to the report in The Globe and Mail, Israel's decision to advance construction plans in the E-1 area was one step too many for Harper, and he wanted to make his reservations on the matter clear to Netanyahu.
South Africa, Greece rebuke ambassadors
Meanwhile, Israel's Ambassadors in South Africa and Greece, Dov Segev-Steinberg and Arye Mekel, were summoned to the Foreign Ministries of those countries for talks on the Netanyahu government's new settlement plans and the decision to withhold tax revenues from the Palestinians. Foreign Ministry officials in South Africa told the Israeli ambassador that they are strongly opposed to Israel's actions, saying that there is no excuse for the non-transfer of Palestinian money and that this could have serious consequences for the Palestinian population.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/despite-un-support-canada-reprimands-israel-over-new-settlement-plans.premium-1.483129