Over U.S. Objections, Israel Approves West Bank Homes

[wellst0nev0ter]

The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, authorized construction bids on Monday for another 690 homes in the occupied West Bank in the face of pro forma American criticism.

The houses will be built in Maale Adumim and Betar Illit, two settlements near Jerusalem that the Israeli government says it intends to keep in any agreement with the Palestinians.

Mr. Olmert, whose Kadima Party was elected earlier this year on a promise to pull thousands of Israeli settlers out of the West Bank, beyond the route of Israel’s separation barrier, has been clear about keeping and expanding settlements inside the barrier, even though they are on land occupied since the 1967 war.

The Construction and Housing Ministry published advertisements on Monday seeking construction proposals for the largest settlement activity undertaken by this government. Israel has also promised President Bush that it will pull down more than 20 illegal outposts created since March 2001, but has not done so.

The Bush administration’s position is that Israel should not expand settlements in the West Bank, because it makes the process of a final agreement harder. In general, much of the world considers Israeli settlements in territory seized in the 1967 war, including East Jerusalem, to be illegal, which Israel disputes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/05/world/middleeast/05mideast.html?ex=1315108800&en=fff3aefc47dd520b&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

[Name removed]

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[wellst0nev0ter]

2. Well, At Least They're Stealing Behind The Security Wall

Who says facts on the ground don't work :sarcasm:

[acmavm]

3. Yeah, the boundaries of that wall run in who's land? Israel's? No.

The Palestinians.

[Tom Joad]

4. I keep getting asked what my response will be if Palestinians keep

attacking after Israel leaves the West Bank.

The danger of hallucinogenic drugs is evident, where else can someone get the idea this is likely to happen?

It is very unlikely that Israel will leave the West Bank. Where has an Israeli politician proposed such a thing? All that is in the future is more building up of settlements, there was never anything else planned. The only thing Israel will do is remove a few far-flung settlements. It will still force more and more Palestinians into less and less land.

[wellst0nev0ter]

5. Those Who Thought Israel "Withdrew" From Gaza

must be on some drug too. Unless imposing a hermetically sealed stranglehold on a territory utilizing checkpoints and destroying infrastructure at will is called "withdrawing"

[breakaleg]

7. Just because they say the words, doesn't make it so...

[breakaleg]

6. If the US really wanted Israel to stop expanding settlements, they

would make it happen. The fact is, they don't, they just pretend to because they know that action is wildly unpopular. Just like they could have stopped the invasion of Lebanon, if they chose.

Let's at least stop pretending about that.

[Scurrilous]

8. U.S. rebukes Israel for fresh bid to build 690 settlement homes

<snip>

"The United States gently rebuked Israel on Thursday for plans to build 690 new homes in two Jewish settlements in the West Bank despite an obligation under the U.S.-backed "roadmap" peace plan to halt such construction.

"The policy is the same. .... There should not be expansion of the settlements," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in response to a question at his daily briefing.

McCormack said that the U.S. government raises the issue with Israel but typically does so in private.

"This is an issue that we do talk to the Israeli government about," he said, adding, "Often times those discussions are done quietly and they are done privately - and you may not hear about them - but we do talk about the issue."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/760251.html

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