By Thomas L. Friedman
Continuing to build settlements (illegal settlements) in the West Bank, and even housing in disputed East Jerusalem, is sheer madness. Yasir Arafat accepted that Jewish suburbs there would be under Israeli sovereignty in any peace deal that would also make Arab parts of East Jerusalem the Palestinian capital. Israel’s planned housing expansion now raises questions about whether Israel will ever be willing to concede a Palestinian capital in Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem — a big problem.
Israel has already bitten off plenty of the West Bank. If it wants to remain a Jewish democracy, its only priority now should be striking a deal with the Palestinians that would allow it to swap those settlement blocs in the West Bank occupied by Jews for an equal amount of land from Israel for the Palestinians and then reap the benefits — economic and security — of ending the conflict. [nytimes.com]
http://thepoliticalelite.com/tag/illegal-west-bank-settlements/
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Supporters of Israel always want the U.S. to ignore their wrongdoing
By Roland S. Martin
Sorry, folks. Israel, no matter how close an ally of America, should not expect the United States to act as if everything it does is fine.
The decision by the Israeli government to announce the building of 1,600 homes in the disputed area of East Jerusalem while Vice President Joe Biden was in the country to move forward the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was a slap to the United States. (more…)