Barack Obama is watching this. Vladimir Putin did what he has not done, visited Israel and Palestine, and met with both Netanyahu and Abbas. Putin shrugged off anti-Iran demands from Netanyahu and Shimon Peres and made it clear that Palestinian statehood is fine with him.
Putin praised Abbas for what he said was the PA’s “responsible” position in its negotiations with Israel, and said Russia has no problem recognizing a Palestinian state. “We did so 25 years ago and our position has not changed,” he said.
Putin also offered veiled criticism of Israel, saying unilateral action “is not constructive.”…
“We [Abbas and I] talked about ways of overcoming the dilemma of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process,” Mr. Putin said Tuesday. “I point out here the responsible position of President Abbas and his endeavour to reach a peaceful settlement based on a two-state settlement.”
When is the last time Obama even spoke to Abbas? (Thanks to Ilene Cohen)
“Responsible” as in being meek in the hands of adversity whilst their homeland shrinks and the world turns a blind eye.
/Life without a lobby:/
Ahh the beautiful life of a de facto dictator that answers to no one.
“Ahh the beautiful life of a de facto dictator that answers to no one.”
LMAO. Better than being dragged around by the dollar by Israel Firsters.
+ 1
Yes Netanyahoo has it good, he truly answers to noone, good point Oleg.
Wasn’t there something about Isr. elections being canceled?
@Jones, the elections were not cancelled. They have to be held by a particular date (remember Israel is a democracy unlike it’s neighbors). Netanyahu was originally intending to have them earlier, but because of political dealings that are completely legitimate, the elections will be happening next year as was originally planned.
” (remember Israel is a democracy unlike it’s neighbors). ”
LMAO. When every person whose life is governed by that government has a say in it, then it can call itself a democracy. It’s an ethno-religious apartheid state that holds a population equal in size to its voting population stateless and without the vote or other human rights and has for generations.
jones, mayhem is wrong. netanyahu called for early elections and then cancelled them the day after a supreme court decision about dismantling settlements/outposts.
link to usatoday.com
“Early election canceled”
the day the elections were cancelled i mentioned them in an article about that court case here link to mondoweiss.net
shmuel translates from hebrew press in the comments:
“Such legislation is strongly opposed by Justice Ministry officials. In all of the discussions so far, the legal experts have said that such a step would be unconstitutional, immoral and impossible. Maybe now, Netanyahu will listen to the State Attorney’s Office. Haaretz has discovered that in the three meetings chaired by Netanyahu prior to the formulation of the state’s position to be presented to the HCJ, Osnat Mandel, head of the State Attorney’s HCJ department, said that the judges would reject the request, based on the ruling on Migron in March and, as we know, that is exactly what happened.”
it didn’t take long for him to cancel the elections knowing he’d be campaigning while outposts were being dismantled. migron is supposed come come down by august first and there’s a bunch of last minute finagling going on right now over ulpana’s july 1st deadline as well.
read paul mutter’s “It’s Good to be the King: Netanyahu scraps elections, buys off opposition and cements power with new unity gov’t” . he cites noam shezaif link to mondoweiss.net
History of the US-Israel Relationship, Part I
How the “Special Relationship” was created
By Alison Weir
“June 26, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — While many people are led to believe that US support for Israel is driven by the American establishment and U.S. national interests, the facts don’t support this theory. The reality is that for decades U.S. experts opposed Israel and its founding movement. They were simply outmaneuvered and eventually replaced.
Like many American policies, U.S. Middle East policies are driven by a special interest lobby. However, the Israel Lobby, as it is called today in the U.S.[1], consists of vastly more than what most people envision in the word “lobby.”
As this article will demonstrate, it is considerably more powerful and pervasive than other lobbies. Components of it, both individuals and groups, have worked underground, secretly and even illegally throughout its history, as documented by scholars and participants.
And even though the movement for Israel has been operating in the U.S. for over a hundred years, most Americans are completely unaware of this movement and its attendant ideology – a measure of its unique power over public knowledge.
The success of this movement to achieve its goals, partly due to the hidden nature of much of its activity, has been staggering. It has also been at almost unimaginable cost.
It has led to massive tragedy in the Middle East: a hundred-year war of violence and loss; sacred land soaked in sorrow.
What is less widely known is how profoundly damaging this movement has been to the United States itself.
As we will see in this two-part examination of the pro-Israel movement, it has targeted virtually every significant sector of American society; worked to involve Americans in tragic, unnecessary, and profoundly costly wars; dominated Congress for decades; increasingly determined which candidates could become serious contenders for the U.S. presidency; and promoted bigotry toward an entire population, religion and culture.
It has promoted policies that have exposed Americans to growing danger, and then exaggerated this danger (while disguising its cause), fueling recent actions that dismember some of our nation’s most fundamental freedoms and cherished principles.
All this for a nation that today has reached a peak population of, at most, 7.4 million people; smaller than New Jersey.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click on link below for the rest of the story:
link to informationclearinghouse.info
@Woodrow
You mean like in the U.S., where felons can’t vote in a lot of states and where D.C. has no congressmen or Senators?
Or in U.S. territories where they can’t even vote for President?
Or in places under U.S. control like parts of Afghanistan?
Or maybe you mean like in Saudi Arabia, and heck, just about every Arab country where almost no one gets a say.
A democracy is a government where the citizens vote. There is no requirement that non-citizens be allowed to vote.
Fredo,
“You mean like in the U.S., where felons can’t vote in a lot of states”
Yes. That’s fundamentally undemocratic.
“and where D.C. has no congressmen or Senators?”
Yes. That’s fundamentally undemocratic.
Or in U.S. territories where they can’t even vote for President?
Yes. That’s fundamentally undemocratic. (Although I believe at least Puerto Rico was given the option of being free, something your country never gave to the Palestinians.)
“Or in places under U.S. control like parts of Afghanistan?”
If it becomes a 40-year occupation against the wishes of the rightful owners of the land, as has occurred by the Jews in Palestine to the Palestinians, then, yes, it would be democratic.
So, in sum, while my country is a democracy with some undemocratic tendancies, your country is an undemocratic country, as 50% of the population doesn’t get a vote and has been kept in this state for 3 generations based solely on their ethnoreligious background. When my country is as bad as yours is, for as long as it has been, then you can say that the US is not a democracy.
“A democracy is a government where the citizens vote. There is no requirement that non-citizens be allowed to vote.”
And it’s a fundamentally undemocratic to have a piece of land as de facto part of your country but, de jure, exclude it, solely because of the ethnoreligious background of the people whose land it is. That’s apartheid, and that is what your country is engaging in.
No Fredblogs, the Palestinians cannot vote just as slaves in the US could not vote and Blacks in South Africa could not vote.
“Fredblogs says:
June 28, 2012 at 2:13 pm
@Woodrow
You mean like in the U.S., where felons can’t vote in a lot of states and where D.C. has no congressmen or Senators?”
You mean Fred, as opposed to Israel where every Israelis is an unconvicted criminal living on stolen land and they still get to vote?
@Woodrow
My country is America.
@Fredo:
“My country is America.”
I’ve read your posts. No, it’s really not.
You’re about as ‘American’ as Dennis Ross. Then again, what does it mean to BE an American?
We aren’t talking about citizenship. We are talking about some ideal here. A romantic notion of course because we know our own history is full of much more blood and lies than Zionism’s.
That being said, you’re no, ‘American’ as I see myself, Freddy. Neither is any MW Zionist, whether its hoppy or the various assorted nutjob Jewish nationalists.
That’s what you lot are – Jewish nationalists with American citizenship.
“As we will see in this two-part examination of the pro-Israel movement, it has targeted virtually every significant sector of American society; worked to involve Americans in tragic, unnecessary, and profoundly costly wars; dominated Congress for decades; increasingly determined which candidates could become serious contenders for the U.S. presidency; and promoted bigotry toward an entire population, religion and culture.”
That sure sums it up…that is exactly what has happened and done for one purpose, to benefit Israel. All this corrupting of so many sectors of the US—by such a few for such a few and a country that has turned out to be totally despicable to most of the world.
It’s taken them a long time to do this in the US, but hopefully the undoing will be faster.
@Cliff
Born and raised here. Believe in Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Vote in every election. I like your “no true Scotsman” fallacy though “to be a true American you must hate Jews”. I think not. Hate to burst your bubble, but there are a lot more Americans like me who support Israel than there are like you who oppose it.
“I like your ‘no true Scotsman’ fallacy though ‘to be a true American you must hate Jews’.”
Well, Fredo certainly has the “if you hate my acts it mean you hate Jews” nonsense that the israelis excel at down pat…
Listen up Freddy. There are plenty of ignorant Christian Zionists, Islamophobes, anti-Arab racists, gun-nuts, and all-around conspiracy theorist wackos who look forward to Armageddon and believe Israel is the best conduit to get there faster.
You may twist and spin ‘that’ as ‘America’ (along with your absurd hysterics of ‘Jew-hatred’ as a prerequisite) – but it ain’t my ‘America.’
I’m sure there are more idiots out there than there are people who actually look at history in context rather than through the lens of what so and so did to ‘the Jews’.
Get over yourself you psycho. This isn’t about you. This is about America, Zionism, and most importantly (for me anyway) – liberating the Palestinian people (as an abstraction and what that means for all occupied peoples and the people of the ME as a whole, as well as in a very direct physical sense in that I simply want the damn colonization and occupation to end AND be fixed).
You are a troll, Fred. In ‘real’ life and on this website. You would be a wart of a human being regardless of your ethno-religious identification. It simply does not matter.
@Fredo
“Believe in Truth…”
Unless your country of israel requires you to spout lies.
“…Justice…”
But not for Palestinians.
“…and the American Way”
Well, since the American way is to genocide the people whose land it actually is and to lie about doing it… Yeah, you got this one. It’s exactly what your country is doing.
“(remember Israel is a democracy unlike it’s neighbors)”
I really don’t know how this wonderful piece of hasbara has propagated for so long without someone blowing off its lid. Turkey is a democracy, as is that little nation immediately above you for which the IDF has a sore spot. Before you bother going off about the Armenians, Hezbollah, and Brigitte Gabriel I’m going to point out that Turkey and Lebanon are not apartheid states.
Yeah, so uncouth when you’ve grown accustomed to de facto dictators that answer to Washington.
Isn’t it funny how anyone who answers to no one (meaning the West) is automatically dictator?
Shingo,
There are probably some post-Soviet satellite states that do not answer to the West, like Ukraine, that is not considered a dictator. Ukraine’s last president could be considered anwering to the West, but the present one is considered more pro-Russian.
I think you have a point. But the post you were referring to didn’t say that he was a dictator because he didn’t answer to the west. Rather, it suggested it was very pleasurable to not have to answer to the West.
“When is the last time Obama even spoke to Abbas?”
Any possible discussion about Palestine, the settlements or I/P peace has been obliterated by the Israeli-manufactured and Israeli-maintained Iran “crisis” diversion.
And Abbas marching off to the UN to get the mobsters to give the Pals a state wasn’t unilateral action?
no it is not. it is the opposite.
@Annie, Merkel and Obama certainly don’t agree with you. Any viable solution requires both parties to come to the table whether you like it or not. Refer link to medilldc.net
That’s no longer the case. The US doesn’t want it because Israel doesn’t want it, but the US is part of the problem.
The reason the US and Israel are so opposed to it is becasue they don’t want the PA having access to the ICJ.
Sorry Shingo your suppositions don’t wash.
A Palestinian people divided cannot become a credible member of the UN. Hamas has opposed the PA’s UN bid.
Israel does not have a legitimate Palestinian entity with which to sit down and talk.
Why not? They became a member of UNESCO. If their application was doomed on the basis that they were divided, then the US wouldn’t have embarked on what they admit has been a marathon effort to sabotage the bid.
Sorry Mayhem, you’re talking bunk – as always.
First off, it’s absurd to describe appealing to an international body as ‘unilateral action.’
Second, the UN mandated a Palestinian state sixty four years ago — and that mandate remains on the books. Indeed, Israel accepted it. Legally, the only question is whether the P.A. can be held to be the legitimate government of the state already created — even if only created on paper.
Once that’s settled, then we can settle down to getting Israel to comply with the other conditions she agreed to — like the borders set forth in 1947, and no dispossession of the Palestinians resident within them. Happily, there are good records of exactly what land was in Jewish hands in 1947, so legally, I don’t see any problems.
What we have here is somebody claiming they are in fact the party named in the will — and he’s going to court to have his claim recognized. That’s hardly ‘unilateral action.’
@Colin, you can conceive whatever inequitable solution you like inside your head and that’s where it should stay, because it bears no relation to the facts on the ground and all that has happened in the last 65 years.
Not even the most ardent pro-Palestinian today is suggesting anything other than a return to the 1967 borders. So your 1947 borders idea is a complete joke.
“…to give the Pals a state…”
The “Pals”?? Since when is ethnic slurs permitted? And is every ethnicty permitted (including Jews) or is it only Palestinians who may be slurred?
Woody- I never use the shortened form for Palestinians, why start a fight over writing someone’s complete name. Although you have to admit that “Palestinians” is a mouthful, or a handful at a keyboard. By the way, odds are heavy that “Jew” was shortened from something else, at least they dropped the “d” from the German Jude. I prefer Yehudi, although i don’t demand it. Most Jews don’t mind what you call them, as long as you spell their name right on the check.
So this is the “Jewish self determination” the zionist insist they have a right to?
Ah, karma… I fervently hope it is the bitch everyone says it is.
link to independent.co.uk
‘UK ready to take on Israel over fate of children clapped in irons
Report funded by Foreign Office details claims of routine abuse for Palestinian youths’
The Foreign Office revealed last night that it would be challenging the Israelis over their treatment of Palestinian children after a report by a delegation of senior British lawyers revealed unconscionable practices, such as hooding and the use of leg irons.
In the first investigation of its kind, a team of nine senior legal figures examined how Palestinians as young as 12 were treated when arrested. Their shocking report Children in Military Custody details claims that youngsters are dragged from their beds in the middle of the night, have their wrists bound behind their backs, and are blindfolded and made to kneel or lie face down in military vehicles.
Children from the West Bank are held in conditions that could amount to torture, such as solitary confinement, with little or no access to their parents. They can be forced to stay awake before being verbally as well as physically abused and coerced into signing confessions they cannot read.
The team – led by Sir Stephen Sedley, a former Court of Appeal judge – heard that “every Palestinian child is treated like a potential terrorist”. In a damning conclusion, the report points out repeated breaches of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
“We were sitting in court and saw a section of a preliminary hearing when a very young looking child, a boy, was brought in wearing a brown uniform with leg irons on. We were shocked by that. This was a situation where we had been invited into the military courts for briefings from senior judges,” explained one of the report’s authors, human rights barrister Greg Davies. “To hold children routinely and for substantial periods in solitary confinement would, if it occurred, be capable of amounting to torture,” the report said. Last night the Foreign Office, which backed the report, said it would be taking up the claims with the Israeli authorities:
“The UK government has had long-standing concerns about the treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli detention, and as a result decided to fund this independent report. While recognising that some positive recent steps have been made by the Israeli authorities, we share many of the report’s concerns, and will continue to lobby for further improvements.”
While the legal team said it was in no position to prove the truth of the claims of cruelty made repeatedly by Palestinian children, but denied by the Israeli authorities – which offered unprecedented access to the delegation – it pointed to the disparity in the law.
Israeli children must have access to a lawyer within 48 hours and cannot be imprisoned under the age of 14. But Palestinian children as young as 12 are jailed and can be kept for three months without legal representation. Between 500 and 700 are jailed each year.
“The other shocking thing is they are incarcerated in breach of many conventions. The practical effect is parents can’t get there because they can’t get permits,” said Marianna Hildyard QC.”
Smart Russia, Stupid US, Smart Germany, Stupid US, Smart EU, Stupid US.
I have noticed more and more that other countries Israel seeks something from ‘demand’ something in return from Israel. Merkel in giving Isr the Dolphin sub ‘demanded’ Netanyahu turn over the tax money he was withholding from Palestine–and he did. Russia some time ago ‘demanded’ Israel turn over some property to Russia to ‘help’ Russian-Isr relations–and they have.
Israel to hand over historical building to Russia
26 June 2012 – 12:16pm
Muslim World News
By IANS,
Jerusalem : Sergei Courtyard compound, one of the most important heritage sites in Jerusalem, is all set to officially come under Russian ownership following an agreement between Israel and Russia, according to Israeli media.
Built by Tzar Alexander II’s son in the 19th century, the Sergei Courtyard was meant for the usage of Russian pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem. During the British Mandate’s days the building was nationalised and in 1960s Israel had gained control over it.
The transfer is to take place as soon as the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), a non-profit environmental organisation for preserving natural environments, plants and animals, vacates its offices in the building, around next autumn.
The organisation discussed the final terms with Russian representatives last Sunday.
The ownership’s transfer is to take place amid the official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Israel, reported various Israeli news outlets Monday.
The deal was announced four years ago by the then Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and was part of a diplomatic pursuit to get Russia to stop arming the Syrian army and get them to back the UN Security Council’s sanctions against Iran.
The Russian officials have declared during Sunday talks with the SPNI that the site will be opened for public and restored by the Russian government.”
Did this Israeli concession to Russia stop them from voting against Iran sanctions?..No it didn’t ..LOL. Score one for Russia
Will it stop Russia from doing whatever they consider in Russia’s best interest wrt Iran or Syria…No it won’t.
The US is the only sucker in the world that hands Isr whatever they demand on silver platter and even if we put conditions on it ….the Israelis ignore it while flippping us the finger.
Would I really care if Israel was undone tomorrow as a Jewish majority and Zionist ruled state…Nope, ….I can’t think of a single legitimate reason to recommend it’s continued existence with that status.
So maybe I have been wrong about Two States and in the long-long run, a generational run, and some of the One Staters are right after all…..dilute Israel with Palestines and Arabs, Muslims and Christians away from a Jewish majority ruled state to a multi ethnic ruled country.