Israel approves another 1,200 settlement units around Jerusalem

[Redfairen]

Source: Guardian

Israel has given the green light for the fast-track development of a further 1,200 settlement units around Jerusalem. It brings the total number of new approvals to 5,500 in just over a week, the largest wave of proposed expansion in recent memory.

The latest plan, which would see almost 1,000 new apartments built over Jerusalem's green line in Gilo, comes as the Israeli media is reporting mounting pressure on the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, to drop his commitment to a two-state solution from his platform for re-election in January.

.......

With some critics of Israeli settlement policy arguing that the latest approvals mark the death knell for the two-state solution, it has emerged that some members of Netanyahu's own party are also pushing for him to remove his commitment to a future Palestinian state from his election platform.

"Dividing the land will bring about Israel's destruction," one senior Likud official told the newspaper. "We've said that in the past and we say it today. How does this sit with recognising a Palestinian state?"

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/25/israel-approves-settlement-units-jerusalem

[PDJane]

1. And happy holidays.

I hate the thought of this; Israel is not doing the right things, nor will they until forced to.

[oberliner]

10. "Israel is not doing the right things, nor will they until forced to."

Forced to?

[PDJane]

14. Stop building illegal settlements.

Stop confiscating tax money and the water table. Stop killing and maiming children, and stop blaming their greed on the Palestinians.

Israel is the aggressor, boys and girls. Always has been.

[Orrex]

2. This is certain to guarantee peace and tranquility in the new year.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Maineman]

3. Israelis have much better skills in some areas than with relationships

We should not support any religion based state.

[former9thward]

4. So you oppose the many countries with Islam as their state religion I assume.

[PDJane]

6. I object to state religions, period.

I don't care whose religion. The real objection with Israel is the claim that they are the only democracy in the middle east. That's a lie. Israel is not a democracy. It is a religious state, and you can't be both.

[former9thward]

7. It is not a lie.

And it is certainly not a "religious state" although many Orthodox Jews wish it was. Any religion is free to practice in Israel and all three of the major monotheistic religions have holy sites in Israel. It is the democracy in the Middle East with no one in second place.

[PDJane]

9. Yeah, it is.

You can excuse it six ways to Sunday, you can talk about free votes, but it is a theocracy, not a democracy. Hell, even Stalin held 'free votes.'

[oberliner]

11. Can you really believe what you are typing?

A theocracy?

[PDJane]

13. Yeah, I can. Because that's the reason for the state of Israel;

to have a Jewish State called Israel. It is a mostly theocratic state, and it has to be; there is no other way to continue a war of aggression and confiscation for more than 40 years.

You can call it a democracy, but it isn't. You can talk about how inclusive it is, but it isn't. And Netanyahu made his usual 'we're better than the arabs' speech for Christmas, too. It's nonsense.

[Comrade Grumpy]

5. The existence of Israel is so far a blip in the history of the Middle East.

The Israelis must think moves like this will ensure its longevity, but they could have the opposite effect.

[humblebum]

8. Yes, of course we know that the name Israel was on no ME maps before 1947. LOL nt

[mallard]

12. Largest illegal expansion in "memory", and yet ...

... Israel loyalists posting here are still as vicious as ever in guarding against any suggestion that these expansions indicate Israel might suffer consequences for being in the wrong. That a total lack of moral authority is at issue doesn't apply, nor do ethnic and religious biases which don't exist in the ME's only 'democracy'.

That a Palestinian solution remains ever illusive is completely displaced in the process. Zionism apparently thrives through unresolved conflict.