Efrat settlement near Bethlehem to expand

[ProgressiveMuslim]

IMEMC, Mar 22, 2008


This article was originally published by IMEMC and is republished with permission.

The administration of Efrat, an illegal Israeli settlement near Bethlehem, decided to launch a construction project to build a new "neighborhood" which will be added to the settlement by annexing more Palestinian-owned lands.

Elly Mizrahi, the mayor of the Efrat settlement will head a "celebration" along with the settlement's chief Rabbi and will place the cornerstone of two new buildings which will include 54 housing units and a park, according to the right-wing Israeli newspaper Makor Reshon.

In 2003, the Israeli government gave its preliminary agreement to this project. There are nearly 4000 settlers living in Efrat and it is considered part of the Gush Ezion settlement bloc, south of Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, settlers created a new illegal settlement "outpost" composed of four caravans in order to "temporarily" host new settler families after receiving approval from the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

Creation and expansion of settlements on occupied land in the West Bank and Jerusalem is in violation of international law. These activities also are in direct violation of the US-backed "Road Map" Plan which calls for freezing of all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

http://imeu.net/news/article008230.shtml

[ProgressiveMuslim]

1. Obama surely nailed the reason for this conflict in his speech, didn't he?

Those goddam Muslims extremists.

If it weren't for them, there could be peace in the Middle East.

[Vegasaurus]

2. It is those Muslim extremists

who prevent peace, without doubt. Obama is correct.

Israeli settlements don't cause internal civil war between Shia and Sunni, between Hamas and Fatah, do not cause suicide bombers to blow up the Trade Towers, London subways, airliners, nightclubs in Bali, weddings in Jordan.

Blame the extremists for their own sick behavior.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

4. No, it's Israel's insatiable drive to colonize more land that stands in the way.

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor peace process shall stop the settlement machine.

[oberliner]

5. I think most Israelis view East Jerusalem differently

I don't think Israel has an "insatiable drive to colonize more land". If that was the case, Israel would've held on to the settlements in Gaza and kept their army there. Regarding the West Bank settlements, I think that Israel knows that most of them will eventually have to go, but I think they are unprepared/unwilling to make that happen in the current climate.

As for East Jerusalem, however, I think that most Israelis have a harder time viewing that as occupied territory, what with the huge religious and cultural significance of the city, which many still view as being liberated from Jordanian occupation/desecration.

Be that as it may, at some point, some kind of compromise is going to have to be reached if there is ever going to be peace between Israelis and Palestinians. I remember reading in Bill Clinton's autobiography about how they were going over the maps, street by street, to try to come up with an agreement regarding Jerusalem that could have been acceptable to both parties.

Needless to say, that, and many other issues, remain unresolved.

[Violet_Crumble]

7. Current climate?

Regarding the West Bank settlements, I think that Israel knows that most of them will eventually have to go, but I think they are unprepared/unwilling to make that happen in the current climate.

Israel hasn't been willing to remove the West Bank settlements, so what's the difference between 'curent climate' and 'normal climate'?

[oberliner]

10. Israel withdrew all 21 settlements from Gaza in 2005

Up to that point, Israel had not been willing to remove those settlements, but in 2005, they did so.

I think if there was a different climate, not only in terms of the approach that Hamas is taking towards the conflict, but also within the Israeli political structure (i.e. new elections), then we could see movement towards a compromise such as the one outlined in the Geneva Accords, whereby the majority of the West Bank settlements would be removed, with others being incorporated into Israel in exchange for an equal territorial exchange from Israel to the new Palestinian state.

[Violet_Crumble]

22. We were talking about the West Bank so my point still stands...

The 'current climate' for Israel when it comes to settlements in the West Bank is the normal climate....

[Vegasaurus]

6. The Israelis aren't colonizing in Iraq, where there is a bloodbath

Israel isn't responsible for all the murderous militants blowing themselves, and innocent civilians up, in order to meet their 27 virgins and be hailed as heros.

Don't blame Israel for the deep tribal and sectarian differences in the middle east. Israel is just a scapegoat for all those problems, which would exist, whether or not Israel was even there.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

8. I blame Israel for that which it is undeniably responsible: the occupation of Palestine

with its concommitant violence and destruction.

Palestine has nothing to do with Iraq. Israel's crimes in palestine pre-date any US intervention in Iraq by decades.

Nice try, though. Typical of you in the Israel-only camp.

[Vegasaurus]

11. Your point was that Israel's settlements were the cause of

all of the problems in the middle east. This is ridiculous.

I pointed out that the issues among the various factions of Muslims, such as those in Iraq who insist on killing each other, have absolutely nothing at all to do with Israel.

The Middle east is rife with problems that far precede Israel, and are endemic to the region. Israel is a convenient scapegoat, but it isn't Israel's fault that the middle east is such a mess.

[breakaleg]

12. Prior to 2001, the primary problem in the middle east was the I/P conflict.

[LeftishBrit]

13. Really?

What about the conflict between Iran and Iraq - which went on for years!? Or the civil wars in Lebanon?

The I/P conflict is one serious problem in the Middle East, and a very important one to resolve; but it's hardly been the only problem, even before our countries fucked up Iraq.

[subsuelo]

17. actually he said the *primary* problem, not the *only* problem

[ProgressiveMuslim]

14. Wrong. The gluttonous settlement drive is the number one obstacle to a peaceful settlement.

THAT is what I said.

[oberliner]

15. Why did Israel withdraw 21 settlements from Gaza if it has a "gluttonous settlement drive"?

Removing all the settlements from Gaza did not seem to have much of an impact on the peace process.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

18. Israel removed a few thousand, and put a noose around the neck of Gaza, and redoubled settlment in

the WB. What be so disengenous? I'm sure you're aware of that.

Israel refused to recognized the results of a free and fair election.
Israel and the US instigated an isolation and boycott of a freely elected government.
Israel destroyed Gaza's economy.
Israel instituted a blockade that has left people hungry and dead.

You ask why there's no PEACE????

[oberliner]

20. There is nothing disingenious about the truth that Israel withdrew all settlements from Gaza

There are other truths I am sure you must be aware of.

Palestinians voted for a party that is committed to the destruction of the state of Israel through violent means.
Palestinian leadership continues with their policy of launching rockets against civilian locations within Israel.
Palestinians continue to promote and celebrate terrorist attacks on Israeli children.
Palestinian leadership continues to smuggle weapons illegally into Gaza

There are a multitude of reasons why there is no peace.

[MaryCeleste]

19. At this time the attacks, espcially the Grad rockets are the primary obstacle to peace

[pegleg]

16. there is this little thing called "right to exist" that keeps getting in the way

plus rockets, plus suicide bombs. Until those change little else will.

[Violet_Crumble]

9. More dumbing down of the Middle East.. How predictable...

When it comes to Iraq, the blame for that falls fair and square on the US. There were people in the state department warning prior to the invasion of the power vacuum that would happen, but Bush and his gang chose to ignore it...

You know who I'm going to blame? Dumbarse Americans who think the world is really like an episode of JAG or NCIS....

[Shaktimaan]

21. Really? America?

More so than the people actually committing the sectarian violence such as Sadr? Or maybe Saddam Hussein who created the expansionist police state that demanded some sort of global action to curb? Or maybe even the British who cobbled together the state out of concern for their own needs, ultimately forming a country that required ruling with an iron fist or suffer the consequences of violent factional disintegration.

But if you're going to mention America at all, how can it fall square on our shoulders without any mention of the rest of the coalition? I mean, at least Tony Blair shares at least some of the dishonor here.

But honestly, I think that blaming just America for the situation in Iraq is like blaming America for the Khmer Rouge without mentioning Pol Pot or Ieng Sary.

[Violet_Crumble]

23. You betcha the Bush administration is to blame for what's happened in Iraq...

They were warned by some in the State Department before their illegal invasion of the power vacuum and sectarian violence that would be the result. Yet they chose to ignore the warnings and waded right in. There was no 'global action' needed when it came to Iraq, btw. That's just a bunch of bullshit peddled by the Republicans...

Sorry if it upsets you that I do blame the Bush administration for the mess in Iraq, but sometimes the truth hurts :)

[madrchsod]

3. no room for the muslims and the christians in bethlehem

but the christian rapturists see this as the sign of the second coming of christ so it does`t matter.

Abraham weeps for his children`s folly