Apparently, the big question surrounding the possible start of "direct talks" between the Palestinian Authority and the Netanyahu government is whether the so-called "settlement freeze" will be extended past its expiration date in September.
In an interview with Benjamin Netanyahu on ABC’s Good Morning America, George Stephanopoulos asks Netanyahu whether he will extend the freeze in three different questions.
But all of this speculation about extending the "freeze" doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. The only thing that the "freeze" is about is internal Israeli politics and Israel’s relationship to the United States. For Palestinians under occupation, this topic must seem laughable.
Perhaps Netanyahu will extend the "freeze" and keep up the good rapport with the Obama administration. Or maybe he won’t because he needs to placate the radical right-wing elements in his coalition and realizes that, with the full might of the Israel lobby, he has won out over Obama. It doesn’t matter either way.
As Max Blumenthal recently noted, the notion that there ever was a "freeze" in place is a "sham."
And yesterday, in an article that received little attention, the New York Times’ Ethan Bronner reported:
An examination of the freeze after more than seven months suggests that it amounts to something less significant, at least on the ground. In many West Bank settlements, building is proceeding apace. Dozens of construction sites with scores of Palestinian workers are active…
Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics for 2006 through 2008 show that on average about 3,000 West Bank settlement units were built in each of those years. So the 10-month freeze offered no fundamental change of pace. In addition, the statistics show, in the last quarter of 2009, more than 750 housing units were approved for West Bank settlements. That was double the number of each of the three previous quarters. So in the first half of 2010, when no more units were permitted, the pace of building remained largely unchanged.
"Freeze" or no "freeze," the colonization of the West Bank continues unabated.
