Biden administration restores Trump-rescinded policy on illegitimacy of Israeli settlements

[BootinUp]

Source: AP News

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday restored a U.S. legal finding dating back nearly 50 years that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are “illegitimate” under international law.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. believes settlements are inconsistent with Israel’s obligations, reversing a determination made by his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, in the Biden administration’s latest shift away from the pro-Israel policies pursued by former President Donald Trump.

Blinken’s comments came in response to a reporter’s question about an announcement that Israel would build more than 3,300 new homes in West Bank settlements as a riposte to a fatal Palestinian shooting attack.

It wasn’t clear why Blinken chose this moment, more than three years into his tenure, to reverse Pompeo’s decision. But it came at a time of growing U.S.-Israeli tensions over the war in Gaza, with the latest settlement announcement only adding to the strain. It also came as the United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice, is holding hearings into the legality of the Israeli occupation.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/israel-settlements-illegitimate-palestine-biden-rescind-law-0bed7cf5d6f98012193e9f5075eb719a

[radicalleft]

1. Good

This is progress

[DBoon]

2. Now block private funds used to finance these settlements

[TeamProg]

3. Yes! The occupation / invasion is a big contributor to Hamas' terrorism activity.

History will not be kind.

[MuchBetterThanThis]

4. Better late than never!

It’s been so hard to discuss this topic over years without being called anti-Semitic or a terrorist sympathizer.
It’s always been about the people that have lived in that area for years regardless of their religion

[Bayard]

5. About time

I've never understood why they thought they had the right to just take this land. Kind of like what the U.S. government and white settlers did to Indigenous land here.

[BootinUp]

6. I doubt the current Israeli government

Will take this seriously enough to change their policy, but having it the way Trump left it is crazy.