NYC Zionazis pay off settlers to stage political BS against peace

[citizenx]

Reports: Deal Near to Continue Mideast Peace Talks
Israel Would Agree to 60 Day Freeze for US Compensation
by Jason Ditz, October 07, 2010

Reports are flying today that a deal is near on continuing the stalled Mideast peace talks, with Sunday’s vote on a “loyalty oath” an apparent concession to Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for his vote in favor of the 60 day settlement freeze.

Though the 60 days of freezing new construction would be enormously significant as a sign of good faith, it would likely mean virtually nothing to settlement construction, as massive amounts of new construction has already been started in the week and a half since the last freeze expired. It is, however, the condition for the Palestinian’s participation in the talks.

continued:

http://news.antiwar.com/2010/10/07/reports-deal-near-to-continue-mideast-peace-talks/
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Reports: Deal Near to Continue Mideast Peace Talks
Tags: ISRAEL
Reports are flying today that a deal is near on continuing the stalled Mideast peace talks, with Sunday’s vote on a “loyalty oath” an apparent concession to Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for his vote in favor of the 60 day settlement freeze.

Webmaster's Commentary:
Translation: there is no real "freeze"; this is simply to give Obama the semblance of some slight foreign policy victory right before the election.

He sure as heck cannot run on any domestic "wins", and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq do not appear to have an end in sight.

Netanyahu may well not give it to him, however, because he is hoping for a more malleable Republican majority sweeping the house and senate in the midterms which will be more "in tune" with the Israel agenda.

After the election, watch Obama drop this issue as though it were kryptonite.

http://whatreallyhappened.com

[citizenx]

Netanyahu approves forced Jewish state allegiance oath
Vita Bekker

Last Updated: Oct 8, 2010


TEL AVIV // The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, yesterday approved controversial legislation that would force any non-Jew seeking Israeli citizenship to pledge allegiance to Israel as a "Jewish state".

The announcement infuriated Israel's Arab citizens, who accused the government of targeting them with the proposal. Israeli Arabs who are married to Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza would be impacted because their potential spouses, many of whom are seeking Israeli citizenship, would balk at taking such an oath.

Left-leaning legislators and members of the only centrist party in Mr Netanyahu's predominantly right-wing ruling coalition also condemned the proposal, warning that it may further deteriorate Israel's image abroad as well as worsen domestic relations between Jews and Palestinians.

Israeli media speculated that Mr Netanyahu made his announcement in a bid to keep US-backed peace talks with the Palestinians alive.

Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, said that the premier backed the legislation in exchange for getting support from Avigdor Lieberman, the ultra-nationalist foreign minister, and other right-wing coalition members for an extension of a settlement freeze in the occupied West Bank.

continued:

http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/middle-east/netanyahu-approves-forced-jewish-state-allegiance-oath

[citizenx]

News Analysis
Arab League Offers Reprieve on Mideast Talks
 
Asmaa Waguih/Reuters


By ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: October 8, 2010

JERUSALEM — Arab League ministers meeting in Libya walked a diplomatic tightrope on Friday, issuing a statement that put the Israeli-Palestinian peace process on notice but also giving American brokers another month to resolve an impasse over Israeli settlement construction and restart the talks.

This compromise, reached after intense American lobbying to avoid a total collapse of the talks, appeared to reflect the ambivalent attitude of the parties to the conflict. Neither the Palestinian nor the Israeli leader seems willing to take significant political risks and immerse himself fully in the process, yet, pressed by an American administration that is so heavily invested in the process, neither wants to be seen as the one who walked away.

Efforts over the next four weeks will most likely continue to focus on the issue of extending an Israeli freeze on settlement construction, rather than the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict like borders, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of the Palestinian refugees of 1948 and their descendants. On that score, the Arab League decision bought the sides another reprieve.

continued:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/09/world/middleeast/09mideast.html?_r=1&hp

[citizenx]

Arab League urges US to call halt on Israeli settlements
Committee has backed the decision of Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to suspend peace talks with Israel
   (15)
Ian Black, Middle East editor The Guardian, Saturday 9 October 2010 Article history
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas (left) listens to Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani during a meeting of the Arab League yesterday. Photograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images
 
Arab foreign ministers have given the US another month to persuade Israel to halt settlement activity in the occupied territories – backing the decision by Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to suspend peace talks.

Talks in Libya produced a statement by the Arab League last night urging the Obama administration to carry on working for an extension of Israel's 10-month settlement freeze, which expired last month, so that the already faltering negotiations can continue.

Abbas had urged ministers of the 22-member league to back his call for more time before pronouncing the talks a failure, as many observers predict they eventually will be.

continued:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/09/arab-league-palestinian-israel

[citizenx]

Saturday, October 9, 2010
Ace Hardware is the Place... for Occupying Palestine
Who Profits from the Occupation of Palestine?

A chain of hardware stores, a franchisee of the American Ace Hardware chain. The chain owns a store in the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Edomim in the West Bank.



The company is part of the Ace Auto Depot, which is controlled B. Gaon Holdings and by Shlomo Zavida.
Your local Ace Hardware store is part of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Is there any business in America that isn't involved in the ethnic cleansing and the Zionist plan to make Palestinians 'disappear off the face of the Earth?'
Since the 1967 military occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, Israel has built in these occupied territories civilian colonies, or settlements, and encouraged Israeli citizens and industries to move into them. Presently there are 135 Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and dozens of additional “outposts” – settlements not yet officially recognized by the Israeli government. These house over 562,000 Jewish Israeli residents: 282,000 in the West Bank (excluding Jerusalem), 260,000 in neighborhoods built in Arab Jerusalem or annexed to Jerusalem, and 20,000 in the Golan Heights.
$16 BILLION a year in sales to Ace, and how much of that is used to oppress the indigenous Palestinians?

(see also -- related story link)

Ace Hardware accounting off by $154 million

continued:

http://careandwashingofthebrain.blogspot.com/2010/10/ace-hardware-is-place-for-occupying.html
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Boycott 729!

Boycott the Israeli Apartheid regime!

Boycott Newsweek!

Boycott Ace Hardware and Auto Depot!

[citizenx]

Yo, tree-huggers!  Now the settlers are going after the trees.


Zionist settlers damage olive trees using chemicals
Palestinian Information Center


 

October 9, 2010

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Zionist settlers destroyed tens of fruitful olive trees in Al-Mughir town, northeast of Ramallah, on Friday after spraying them with a chemical material.

Local sources said that the settlers spoiled 55 olive trees using a white chemical material unknown to locals, adding that the material dries the trees and slowly kills them.
 
continued:

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m70586&hd=&size=1&l=e
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To that ten percent of Israeli Jews who are settlers, I ask you:

"Have you at long last no human decency?"



I think that I shall never see/

a thing as beautiful as a tree.


WTF!


Or, if you don't tlike that poem, I suggest "The Poison Tree" --

-- it's all about the poisonous quality of human hatred.



Food for thought.

[citizenx]

Come to think of it, "A Poison Tree" isn't really appropriate for the settlers as they don't even try to put a false smile out for their enemies.  Nor do they make the slightest attempt to thwart the expression of their own bile -- constructive or otherwise.

Here's a suggestion for the settler agents provocateurs, it's a good idea not to do some things you think you want to do.

Here's a better suggestion: remove yourselves from the occupied land you are settling on.

End the illegal settlements!

If Israel wants peace, if it wants to survive, ending the illegal settlements is one thing (there are others) it must do.

Period.

End of story.

[citizenx]

Well, it's official:

Israel is a (Jewish) theocracy:

Israeli Cabinet approves loyalty oath for new citizens
By the CNN Wire Staff
October 10, 2010 -- Updated 1448 GMT (2248 HKT)

"Democracy is the soul of Israel and we cannot do without it," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Israeli Cabinet approves changes to citizenship law
Changes approved by Cabinet face passage in Knesset
The coalition government appears divided over the proposal
An Arab party member criticizes the proposal as undemocratic


 
Jerusalem (CNN) -- The Israeli Cabinet has approved an amendment to a citizenship law that requires new citizens to declare their loyalty to a "Jewish and democratic state," the prime minister's office said Sunday.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed vote, saying 22 ministers voted for the change and eight voted against it.

Now that the proposal has passed the Cabinet, it will be taken up by Israel's parliament, the Knesset, for passage into law.

Before his government's weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu made a forceful plea Sunday for changing the nation's Citizenship Law. He challenged criticism that the revision is undemocratic and could harm relations with the minority Arab population.

continued (if you have the stomach):

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/10/10/israel.loyalty.oath/index.html?hpt=T2

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I guess they can drop that talk about being the only democracy in the Middle East:  It's clear that there ain't one, Jewish or Muslim.

Sadly.

[agentbluescreen]

Well, it's official:

Israel is a (Jewish) theocracy:

Israeli Cabinet approves loyalty oath for new citizens
By the CNN Wire Staff
October 10, 2010 -- Updated 1448 GMT (2248 HKT)

"Democracy is the soul of Israel and we cannot do without it," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

''clip''
Now that the proposal has passed the Cabinet, it will be taken up by Israel's parliament, the Knesset, for passage into law.

Before his government's weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu made a forceful plea Sunday for changing the nation's Citizenship Law. He challenged criticism that the revision is undemocratic and could harm relations with the minority Arab population.

continued (if you have the stomach):

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/10/10/israel.loyalty.oath/index.html?hpt=T2

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess they can drop that talk about being the only democracy in the Middle East:  It's clear that there ain't one, Jewish or Muslim.

Sadly.

Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on dinner.

The United States is a "free country" because it has a governance founded upon Republican Liberty, the cornerstone of "representative public governance". It has nothing to do with the "democracy" it takes to pass or defeat lawful legislation or elect legislators, approve judicial appointees or leaders.

A free country is a "free republic"! The term "democracy" is a synonym for the established fascist tyrannies of special interest majorities, it has nothing to do with the constitutionally-anointed "freedoms" that are the unalienable inherent rights of of individuals. Democracy is about socialism

A Republic of Liberty "free republic" is an egalitarian (all are equals), dis-establishmentarian (no established religions). and individualist "imperium" with an enthroned anointed "paper monarch" of individual rights and governmental responsibilities to those rights which is it's CONSTITUTION.

A monarchist tyranny like Anglican Fascist England (Shinto Fascist Japan, Marxist Fascist Red China, Sunni Fascist Saudi Arabia etc) with noble-eugenic tribal mafia (or party) lords and warlords, established religionism and perhaps the occasional limited "privilege" of a "parliament" is a stinking "democracy"

[citizenx]

OK, well I wasn't trying to defend "democracy" here per se.

I think it is fair to say, Israel is offically now (and, perhaps, it was already) not a "free country" founded upon "Republican Liberty" -- not a "free republic" as the citizens do not have the freedom of relgion, belief, worship etc...

That is definitely one of the cornerstones of a truly "free" republic IMO.

But surely, AB, you have heard countless commentators say that about Isarel, right?  That was what I was allduing to: the labelling of Isarel as the sole "democracy" in the Middle East and the attempt to use that to justify all of its excesses.

[agentbluescreen]

OK, well I wasn't trying to defend "democracy" here per se.

I think it is fair to say, Israel is offically now (and, perhaps, it was already) not a "free country" founded upon "Republican Liberty" -- not a "free republic" as the citizens do not have the freedom of relgion, belief, worship etc...

That is definitely one of the cornerstones of a truly "free" republic IMO.

But surely, AB, you have heard countless commentators say that about Isarel, right?  That was what I was allduing to: the labelling of Isarel as the sole "democracy" in the Middle East and the attempt to use that to justify all of its excesses.

The neo-communist right wing term "democracy" was coined as a deliberate false definition for their imperial hegemonies by the Tory Fascists after Truman's surrender to Churchill at Potsdam. This grossly false communist established-religious-fascist notion that "voting" (among choices they supply you) means "freedom" has thus crept into the language as a false description of Republicanism, which has always been the established corporatists (ANTI-DISestablishmentarians) most feared enemy.

EXACTLY like Germany under Hitler, Israel in Palestine is an established religious-fascist - "NAZI Country".

In fact almost every country in the middle east is a democracy (even Palestine) except Jordan, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia LOL

[citizenx]

Well I will certainly say: it is a much abused term, but one that our founding fathers (U.S.) did not shy away from entirely.  And I will leave it at that.

[agentbluescreen]

Well I will certainly say: it is a much abused term, but one that our founding fathers (U.S.) did not shy away from entirely.  And I will leave it at that.

It had a completely different meaning and intention under the tyranny of the old (old money/new money)
"loyalist" Tory/Whig Oligarchies. In those days, the corporatist Tories were the inbred Episcopalian-eugenicist RATS and the corporatist Whigs were the dirty non-Anglican foreigner MOBster-scum. It's all come full circle now as we see in our RepublicRATS and DeMOBlicans once again...

TO them "democracy" meant being able to vote for "anybody else" BUT THEM -as it now does, once again...

[citizenx]

So, Avigdor Lieberman has made it apparent he is the craziest of the craziest settlers and he has the ability as Foreign Minister to set Israel's foreign policy agenda despite what Netanyahu may really want (if it's really all that different!) Here's  a pretty apt piece  about Avigdor Lieberman and his "loyalty oath":


Avigdor Lieberman - A Profile In
Ultranationalist Extremism
By Stephen Lendman
10-10-10
 
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Lieberman represents the worst of Israel's lunatic fringe, sort of a combination Dick Cheney/John McCain/Joe Lieberman, too extremist to be entrusted with power, but he's got it.
 
On March 18, 2008 in the London Independent, Robert Fisk headlined, "Why Avigdor Lieberman is the worst thing that could happen to the Middle East," saying:
 
"....Israelis have exalted a man....who out-Sharons even Ariel Sharon. A few Palestinians (said) the West will see the 'true face' of Israel. (He's) talked of drowning Palestinians in the Dead Sea or executing Israeli Palestinians who talked to Hamas. (His) incendiary language (promotes) executions....drownings....hell and loyalty oaths," perfect for the role he's assumed, allied with Israel's most extremist ever Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who also out-Sharons Sharon, no easy feat by any means.
 
On September 20, Haaretz writer Akiva Eldar headlined, "Freeze Lieberman," referring to his opposition to a settlement freeze, telling Israeli Radio that his party (Yisrael Beiteinu) has enough power to stop it and much more, including obstructing meaningful peace talks.
 
Eldar's conclusion - "There is no excuse for Netanyahu to keep the man and his party" as part of his coalition government. He's an embarrassment, but for that matter, so is Netanyahu and Israel's most extremist ever Knesset, a topic earlier writing addressed.
 
On August 2, 2009, Haaretz writer Gideon Levy headlined, "Kahane won," referring to extremist Rabbi Meir Kanane and his racist Kach Party, banned by Israel in 1988 under a law passed to disqualify him and his zealots. Later in 1994, after the Cave of the Patriachs massacre (committed by Kach member Baruch Goldstein), it was the first Jewish organization in more than 40 years to be called a "threat to security" and outlawed.
 
Levy said he "can rest in peace." He's been resurrected. "His doctrine has won....Kahanism has become legitimate in public discourse....racism and nationalism (have been transformed) into accepted values."
 
If Kahane ran for office today, "not only would (he and others in his party) not be banned, (they'd) win many votes....the ostracized is now accepted, the detestable has become the talented - that's the slippery slope down which Israeli society has skidded over the past two decades."
 
In his youth, Lieberman was a Kach party member. He "was and is a Kahanist. The differences between Kach and Yisrael Beiteinu are miniscule, not fundamental and certainly not a matter of morality."
 
For example, Lieberman demands Israeli Arabs declare loyalty to a "Jewish, Zionist, and democratic state," its emblems and values, and to perform military or equivalent service as a condition for a national identity card signifying citizenship. Kahana wanted unconditional annulment. Lieberman wants them transfered to a "Palestinian state." Kahane wanted them deported. 

contiunued:


http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/

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Zieg heil!  Oy, veh!

[citizenx]

More about Avigdor -- not "Joe" (he's our problem -- U.S.):

• Gilad Atzmon: Lieberman and the Jewish Political Continuum

Sunday, October 10, 2010 at 9:29AM Gilad Atzmon
Following Israeli FM Avigdor Lieberman’s address at the UN last week, Aluf Benn wrote (1)  in Haaretz:

“During the past few weeks, Netanyahu invested a great deal of effort in trying to convince the leaders of the world that he is serious about peace with the Palestinians. He asked them to ignore the resumption of settlement construction, and convinced Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas not to quit the negotiations.

Now comes Lieberman, Israel’s most senior diplomat, and tells all those leaders that… Netanyahu is faking. Even worse: the foreign minister is implying that Netanyahu’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state is merely cover for the expulsion of Arab citizens.”

Netanyahu, Barak and many other Israelis are often  ‘outraged’ by  FM Lieberman. I guess that Israelis grasp that their senior diplomat  exposes the Israeli ploy: when Israelis talk peace -- what they really mean is war with no end.  When Israeli government spokesmen insist that Lieberman “misrepresents Israeli Government’s policies” -- what they really mean is that he fails to repeat the Israeli official lies.  As it stands, Lieberman’s UN speech few days ago, conveys not only Israeli cabinet vision, it is also a devastating glimpse into the Israeli mindset, worldview and spirit. Lieberman is a transparent image of the Israeli desire for racial and cultural homogeneity. Many Israelis claim to detest him and his ideas: but my guess is that they grasp that Lieberman is actually their true mirror. Otto Weininger wrote in “Sex & Character” that people hate in others that which they detest in themselves. Many Israelis ostensibly oppose Lieberman because he reminds them of the bigot whom they can’t stand in themselves. Some people do not like to look in the mirror; others are devastated when the mirror gazes back at them with pity.

continued:

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/gilad-atzmon-lieberman-and-the-jewish-political-continuum.html

[citizenx]

Video: Israeli settler leader runs over Palestinian children
By: PoliticalTheatrics
Tags: HIDDEN HISTORY ISRAEL MIDDLE EAST PALESTINE POLITICS/ELECTIONS/CORRUPTION PROTESTS/REVOLUTION TORTURE/WAR CRIMES WAR/DRAFT/VETERAN AFFAIRS WHITE HOUSE WMD
Israeli settler deliberately ran down two Palestinian children on a road in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Friday.

video link:

http://whatreallyhappened.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Video shows settler leader run over Palestinian children
Published yesterday (updated) 09/10/2010 02:36
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- An Israeli car ran down two Palestinian children on a road in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Friday.

A video of the incident from the Al Jazeera news network shows an Israeli-plated car swerve towards the children, one of whom is thrown over the windscreen. The car then drives off.

Jawad Seyam, director of the Wadi Helwa information centre, said the driver was a local settler leader in the flashpoint neighborhood, and that the children had just left noon prayers at a local mosque. He said the children were moderately injured.

The Israeli news site Ynet identified the driver as David Be'eri, who heads settler organization Elad, an organization which collects donations to "discreetly purchase property for Jews in Silwan," the site said.

Be'eri was questioned by police and released on bail, the report added.

An Israeli police spokesman was not immediately available to comment.

Associates of Be'eri were quoted in Ynet, saying he had tried to escape an ambush of stone-throwers. The sources told Ynet "He tried to escape, first by driving in reverse, but the vehicle behind him blocked his path."

continued (again, with video link):

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322140
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looks like it's time to look into Be'eri and Elad!

Who's funding Elad?:

(excerpt)

Among the leaders of the Bukharan Community Trust there are several familiar faces. The tycoon Lev Leviev, for example. In the state’s 2008 budget, Leviev is mentioned as the person who donated NIS one million for the renovation of the old Jewish cemetery on Mount Olives. Leviev had been seen in the past at several events of Elad, which also invests much efforts on Mount Olives and in other projects aimed at strengthening Jewish holdings in East Jerusalem.

Among the leaders of the trust is also the Ben David family, which once owned the large hotel in Gush Katif. This family is also linked to Elad. One of the brothers, Eitan Ben David, was one of Elad’s founders. Another brother, Rami Ben David, purchased one of the houses in Silwan for Elad in 1996, with the commencement of the Jewish settlement effort in the village (Elad’s flagship operation, as is noted in its name, an abbreviation for the City of David—an excavation and large tourist site in Silwan). With all this in mind, one can understand the roots of Elad’s involvement in the construction project in the E-1 area.


for the entire article:

http://coteret.com/2010/01/22/yediot-expose-settler-orgs-fund-police-infrastructure-in-east-jerusalem/

[citizenx]

Lev Leviev
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Lev Leviev
Born July 30, 1956 (1956-07-30) (age 54)
Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
Residence London, England, UK [1]
Occupation Businessperson
Net worth $1,500,000,000
Spouse Olga
Children Nine
Notes
[citation needed]
Lev Avnerovich Leviev (born July 30, 1956) is a Bukharian-Israeli[2] billionaire businessman, with a net worth of roughly $1.5 billion following the 2008 global financial crisis.[3] Leviev has been described as one of the wealthiest Jewish individuals in the world [4] and has been a major philanthropist for Jewish causes in Eastern Europe and Israel.[5] His diamond mining investments in Angola and his investments in Israeli settlements have been the target of protests.[6]

Contents [hide]
1 Personal life
2 Business interests
2.1 Angolan diamonds
2.2 Israeli settlements
3 Philanthropy
4 References
5 External links
 

[edit] Personal life
Leviev was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR in 1956, and today lives in England. His parents, Avner and Chana Leviev, were prominent members of the Bukharian Jewish community, and Leviev is a Chabad Orthodox Jew. In 1971, when he was fifteen, his family immigrated from Uzbekistan to Israel. Shortly afterwards, Leviev began to work as an apprentice in a diamond polishing plant, learning the 11 steps of the diamond cutting process. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces, he established his own diamond polishing plant.

With the fall of Communism in the early 1990s, Leviev expanded his business endeavors into Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He received the blessings for success in business and personal support of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson for his philanthropic activities, which include "an army of some 10,000 Jewish functionaries from Ukraine to Azerbaijan, including 300 rabbis. Most of the 300 rabbis are Chabadniks" - adherents of the Brooklyn-based Chabad Hasidic group. In particular he sponsors many of the activities of the Jewish Learning Initiative.

Leviev moved to Hampstead, London, with his wife Olga and their daughter, Ruthie, in 2007. However, as a keen follower of golf, Leviev maintains a house in the beach resort of Ponte Vedra, Florida [1]

[edit] Business interests
Leviev is an investor in the diamond industry, real estate and chemicals. Recently Leviev hoped to get into the incarceration business, as a concessionaire for the first private prison in Israel. However, the Israeli High Court of Justice declared private prison unconstitutional in Israel[7].

Leviev is currently controlling shareholder and chairman of Africa-Israel. Controlled by Leviev, Africa-Israel is on the verge of insolvency, asking to restructure NIS 21 billion of debt.[8]. Trying to save the company from bankruptcy, justice Varda Alshech has confirmed the debt restructuring arragement between Africa-Israel and its creditors. However, the justice experssed her disapproval: "The arrangement is far from being the best," Alshech said, because the company "is passing on the damage of its investments to its investors."[9]. Additionally he is an international investor in residential real estate, shopping malls, energy, fashion, telecom, and media, which attained a market value of $8 billion in 2007.[10] The value of the company plunged with the onset of the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, with company debt reportedly totalling $5.5 billion in September 2009.[10] Leviev had purchased 60% of the company in 1996 for $400 million.[10]

Leviev owns diamond mines in Russia and Africa, and is a major competitor to the De Beers international diamond cartel.

In 2005, Africa-Israel completed a $230 million 5,800 apartment project in Modi'in Illit, an ultra-Orthodox settlement in the West Bank. In early 2007 Africa-Israel opened a luxury jewelry store on Old Bond Street in London and was considering plans to invest billions in the Far East, Argentina, Brazil and Russia.[11] Soon thereafter the global suprime mortgage crisis broke, and the value of Africa-Israel's real estate investments plummeted, particularly in New York, where it had invested heavily.[12]

[edit] Angolan diamonds
As De Beers came under fire during the blood diamonds furor, Leviev increasingly came to dominate the legal Angola diamond market. Leviev says he presented Angola with a plan to reduce smuggling and increase revenue by funneling diamonds through only one source, while others claim the deal was clinched through Leviev’s connections with obscure Russian businessmen and his friendship with the president’s daughter, Isabel dos Santos. Leviev focuses on the benefits his company brings Angola, arguing that before his involvement in 1998, Angola’s tax revenue from diamonds was under $10 million but raised to $49 million by 2001: “The government of Angola has obviously profited from this venture.” When critics query how his company benefits not just the government but the people of Angola, he answers that the Leviev Group's heavy investments in Angolan diamonds "will change the informal way of doing business into a more formalized, educated system that helps individual families... We want to help people who work with their hands. We want Angolans to develop many different new skills.”[13] New York Magazine reported in 2007 that a security company hired by Leviev had been accused by a local human rights group that year "of participating in practices of 'humiliation, whipping, torture, sexual abuse, and, in some cases, assassinations.'[14] Leviev did not directly respond to the charges, but noted his charitable activities in Angola.[14]

[edit] Israeli settlements
Leviev is involved in the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Leviev’s Danya Cebus company, a subsidiary of Africa-Israel, subcontracted the construction of Mattityahu East to Shaya Boymelgreen. Danya Cebus is also building part of Har Homa and Maale Adumim .[15] In 1999, Leviev's company Danya Cebus announced plans to build new homes in the settlement of Ariel[16] Through another subsidiary, LIDAR, Leviev appears to be the sole realtor/developer of the settlement of Zufim.[17]

Leviev's devotion to settlement construction have drawn protest from outside the Old Bond Street store in his London home, to the Leviev-owned jewelry store in New York City, and has impelled Oxfam to make it clear that Leviev has not donated to the charity.[18][19] UNICEF has also advised Leviev that they will not partner with or accept any contributions from him due to the controversy.[20] In a press release, a spokesperson for Leviev described the protests as "politically motivated" and accused protesters of "deliberately neglect[ing]... extensive humanitarian and philanthropic work, which includes building schools, orphanages, and fostering economic development in communities around the world."[citation needed] Anti-Defamation League head Abraham Foxman condemned UNICEF's decision as "selective political discrimination" that "only gives legitimacy to those who would seek to promote a boycott of the State of Israel and its supporters." [21]

In April 2009, following public pressure for a boycott, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced that it would not be renting its Tel Aviv embassy from Leviev's Africa-Israel company.[22]

[edit] Philanthropy
Leviev is a major supporter of Jewish philanthropic causes and president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS (FJC), an umbrella body representing Jewish communities across the former Soviet Union. He is the founder of the Ohr Avner Foundation (named for Leviev's father).


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Leviev

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Settlements, billionaires and "blood diamonds" -- oh my!

[citizenx]

Israel minister warns of 'fascism' before oath vote
October 10, 2010 by legitgovShareThis
Israel minister warns of 'fascism' before oath vote 10 Oct 2010 A left-leaning Israeli minister on Sunday warned of a "whiff of fascism" as the country's right wing-led government appeared set to approve a bill requiring a loyalty oath from new citizens. The cabinet was to vote on the bill to make all new citizens swear an oath of loyalty to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state," legislation that has been slammed as inflammatory and racist by the country's Arab minority. "There is a whiff of fascism on the margins of Israeli society," Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog of the left-leaning Labour party told army radio. ['Whiff?' It's a f*cking bakery in there.]

http://www.legitgov.org/Israel-minister-warns-fascism-oath-vote

[citizenx]

Netanyahu would extend settlement freeze in return for recognition

From Kevin Flower, CNN
October 11, 2010 -- Updated 2023 GMT (0423 HKT)

Netanyahu offers to extend freeze

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A Palestinian negotiator says the offer should not be made with conditions
Netanyahu made the remarks at opening of Knesset session
The Palestinians have refused to recognize Israel as the Jewish state
Settlement construction has been a major sticking point in peace talks

RELATED TOPICS
Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu
West Bank

 
Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he would renew a temporary halt of settlement construction in the West Bank in exchange for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

Netanyahu made the remark at the opening of the Knesset's winter session.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas had threatened to abandon Mideast peace talks without an extension of the settlement moratorium, which expired last month.

"I will say this publicly now," Netanyahu said. "If the Palestinian leadership would say to its people that they recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, I would be willing to gather my government and ask for an additional suspension."

continued:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/10/11/israel.settlement.freeze/index.html?hpt=T2

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Well, it's a clever move, bound to solicit sympathy for Israel and an attempt to make the Palestinans and Arabs look unreasonable, but he is only offering a temprary freeze extension (again) for a permanent recognition of Israel -- after Israel has offically decalred itself a relgious state with its new "oath" in which Arabs and other minorities have no civil rights, equality. recognition etc.

It would be a sucker move byt he Palestinians and Arba league to accept it, but (of course) they won't. They will see this as another slap in the face, which it is.

[citizenx]

Israel's other Peace plan: arm-twisting Obama
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By  Jonathan Cook in Nazareth

12 October 2010

Jonathan Cook argues that by rejecting Obama’s reckless and extravagant incentives to Israel in return for a temporary freeze on settlement-building, Netanyahu hopes to persuade the White House “to reaffirm a promise made in a 2004 letter from … George W. Bush that Israel will not be required to withdraw to the pre-1967 borders in a peace deal”.

A ghost haunted the meeting of the Arab League in Libya at the weekend, as its foreign ministers decided to give a little more time to the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Ghost of Camp David
That ghost was the Camp David talks of summer 2000, when US President Bill Clinton publicly held Yasser Arafat, the then-Palestinian leader, responsible for the breakdown of the negotiations, despite an earlier promise to blame neither side if they failed.
 
Mr Clinton's finger-pointing breathed life into the accusation from Ehud Barak, Israel's prime minister, that there was "no Palestinian partner for peace"; brought about the collapse of the Israeli peace movement, and ultimately sanctioned the decision of Mr Barak's successor, Ariel Sharon, to invade the Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank.
 
A decade later, the Arab League ministers did not want to expose Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, to a similar charge from Barack Obama.
 
They therefore played the safest hand possible: they offered Washington another month's breathing space to persuade Israel to renew a freeze on settlement building, while also supporting Mr Abbas's decision to break off direct talks until the freeze was back in place.
 
The decision's dual purpose was to throw the spotlight squarely back on Israel as the recalcitrant party, and allow the White House to continue to pretend the talks are still on track.

continued:

http://www.redress.cc/palestine/jcook20101011

[citizenx]

ZIONISMS NEW SONG ~~ SAME OLD LIES
October 11, 2010 at 19:05 (Chutzpah, Corrupt Politics, Deception, Illegal Settlements, Israel, Palestine)


Less than a month ago Israel exercised its chutzpah by offering a settlement freeze extension for the release of Jonathan Pollard… it obviously didn’t go over too well with Washington.
Israel is seeking the release of an American jailed for life for spying for the Jewish state in return for concessions in the renewed peace process with the Palestinians, including the extension of a partial freeze on the expansion of settlements in the occupied territories.

Today Netanyahu sang a new song …. but the lyrics were the same lies as usual;
Netanyahu offers settlement freeze in return for recognition as Jewish state, Palestinians say no
Prime minister says Israel will extend settlement freeze if the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Abbas spokesman says ‘issue of Jewishness of the state has nothing to do with the matter.’

continued:

http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/zionisms-new-song-same-old-lies/

[citizenx]

ISRAELI PRESS SHOWING DISLOYALTY TO LOYALTY OATH
October 11, 2010 at 13:16 (Democracy, DesertPeace Editorial, From The Media, Hasbara, Israel)


Between the lines of Ashton Kutcher’s ‘love’ visit to Israel and an ‘impending civil war’ in Lebanon, a few articles have been appearing in the Israeli press about the new Citizenship Law. Most display negative feelings towards the law, but one has to ask what they (the press) tried to do to discourage it from passing yesterday…. Aside from a handful of reporters, there was silence on the issue until now, when it’s too late.


It would have been nice to have seen Israelis stand up to their government in opposition to this fascist legislation …. but we must also remember that in Israel, as well as in other ‘democracies’, what the people want and what the government does are rarely the same thing.

continued:

http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/israeli-press-showing-disloyalty-to-loyaly-oath/

[citizenx]

PUTTING LIES IN A HISTORY BOOK DOESN’T MAKE THEM TRUE
October 11, 2010 at 10:58 (Associate Post, Cover Up, Deception, History, Israel, Palestine)


 
I had a history professor that repeatedly displayed his arrogance by saying “if you doubt what I just said just look it up in the book that I just wrote, it’s there in black and white’.
So it is with zioinist ‘historians’ like Benny Morris, ‘it’s in his book so it must be true’.


Zionists often strive to prove that Zionism didn’t mean to conquer and displace the Palestinians. However, this argument is as cheap and as mendacious as having a hopelessly promiscuous whore claiming that throughout her life she exemplified a life of chastity and moral purity, or a notoriously vile murderer claiming that he has always observed the virtue of justice and fairness in dealing with others.



continued:

http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/putting-lies-in-a-history-book-doesnt-make-them-true/

[citizenx]

Netanyahu’s Moves Spark Debate on IntentionsBy ETHAN BRONNER
Published: October 11, 2010

       
JERUSALEM — An offer on Monday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to freeze West Bank Jewish settlements in exchange for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state — instantly rejected by the Palestinians — was the latest complex maneuver engendering debate about his intentions.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered the Palestinians a new freeze on building in settlements if they recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

The offer, made in a speech at the opening of the fall session of Parliament, was aimed either at keeping talks with the Palestinians alive and his right-wing coalition partners in check, or at seeking to shift the burden of failure to the Palestinians and escape blame should the talks wither and die.

As part of a flurry of initiatives favored by Israel’s right that began Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu backed a measure that requires non-Jewish immigrants to take a loyalty oath to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state before they can become citizens. On Monday his government supported a bill that would require a national referendum before any territory could be yielded in a peace deal.

continued:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/world/middleeast/12mideast.html?hpw

[agentbluescreen]

ZIONISMS NEW SONG ~~ SAME OLD LIES
October 11, 2010 at 19:05 (Chutzpah, Corrupt Politics, Deception, Illegal Settlements, Israel, Palestine)


Less than a month ago Israel exercised its chutzpah by offering a settlement freeze extension for the release of Jonathan Pollard… it obviously didn’t go over too well with Washington.
Israel is seeking the release of an American jailed for life for spying for the Jewish state in return for concessions in the renewed peace process with the Palestinians, including the extension of a partial freeze on the expansion of settlements in the occupied territories.

Today Netanyahu sang a new song …. but the lyrics were the same lies as usual;
Netanyahu offers settlement freeze in return for recognition as Jewish state, Palestinians say no
Prime minister says Israel will extend settlement freeze if the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Abbas spokesman says ‘issue of Jewishness of the state has nothing to do with the matter.’

continued:

http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/zionisms-new-song-same-old-lies/

Well no negotiating with terrorists takes on a whole new meaning now doesn't it?

Does the United States recognize England as an "Anglican Fascist State",  the Peoples Republic of China as a "Marxist Fascist State" or Saudi Arabia as an "Islamic Fascist State"? The United States does not even recognize Rome as a Catholic Fascist State. 

In international affairs, the recognition of another country is not an endorsement of it's political parties or the constitutionality of it's system of government, otherwise the American government wouldn't be able to officially recognize half the nations of the planet under the "establishment clause" of the 1st Amendment

[citizenx]

Ok, well I am certainly not for cutting off diplomatic relations with Israel -- just for calling a spade a spade. Whether it is Israel or the U.S., in terms of being a fascist state, if the shoe fits...

[citizenx]

Wednesday, October 13, 2010
PLO Will Recognize Israel as "Jewish state" or "Chinese state" or Any Other Kind of State Within its 1967 Borders


PLO chief: We will recognize Israel in return for 1967 borders

Yasser Abed Rabbo says that in exchange for accepting Palestinian territorial claims, it will recognize Israel as 'whatever it wants.'

By Avi Issacharoff

Senior Palestine Liberation Organization official Yasser Abed Rabbo said on Wednesday that the Palestinians will be willing to recognize the State of Israel in any way that it desires, if the Americans would only present a map of the future Palestinian state that includes all of the territories captured in 1967, including East Jerusalem.

In response to U.S. State Department Spokesman Phillip Crowley's statement on Tuesday night that the Palestinians should respond to the Israeli demand, Abed Rabbo told Haaretz, "We want to receive a map of the State of Israel which Israel wants us to accept."

"If the map will be based on the 1967 borders and will not include our land, our houses and East Jerusalem, we will be willing to recognize Israel according to the formulation of the government within the hour," added Rabbo.

Abed Rabbo continued, "It is important for us to know where are the borders of Israel and where are the borders of Palestine. Any formulation the Americans present – even asking us to call Israel the 'Chinese State' – we will agree to it, as long as we receive the 1967 borders. We have recognized Israel in the past, but Israel has not recognized the Palestinian state."

Source: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/plo-chief-we-will-recognize-israel-in-return-for-1967-borders-1.318835

[citizenx]

Palestinians say they have other options if U.S. fails to convince Israel to halt settlement 
 
English.news.cn   2010-10-12 03:46:33 FeedbackPrintRSS

by Emad Drimly, Saud Abu Ramadan

RAMALLAH, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian officials said on Monday they hoped that the United States would convince Israel to halt settlement construction within the one-month time the Arab League committee had given before the direct peace talks can be resumed. But they threat to take other options if it fails.

Palestinian negotiator and member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah party's central committee Nabil Shaath told a news conference in Ramallah that the Palestinians agreed with the Arabs "to give the U.S. efforts a one-month period to convince Israel to completely halt settlement."

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday evening that he gives an offer to the Palestinians for resuming the peace talks. Netanyahu said he is willing to extend the moratorium on freezing talks for the Palestinians' recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

Spokesman of the Palestinian Presidency Nabil Abu Rdeneh told Xinhua in Ramallah that the Palestinian leadership rejected Netanyahu's offer. However, Shaath, who held the news conference before Netanyahu made his offer, told reporters that "the Palestinians have other options that they will study after the one- month period ends.

continued:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/12/c_13552201.htm

[citizenx]

More from Israel's most prominent settler:

Analysis: Israel's Mr. Un-diplomacy delivers a blunt message
By Kevin Flower, CNN
October 14, 2010 -- Updated 2049 GMT (0449 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Liberman is known for his combative style
He says Israel won't be pushed around
The diplomat claims other countries are trying to hide their own faults by focusing on a Palestinian deal


Jerusalem (CNN) -- Solve your own problems before you lecture us about ours.

That was the blunt message Israel's combative and controversial foreign minister, Avigdor Liberman, gave to counterparts visiting from France and Spain earlier this week in Jerusalem.

In comments widely publicized in the Israeli media Monday, Liberman told Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner that European countries needed to work on the conflicts in their own backyards before advising Israel on how to handle its decades-old dispute with Arab neighbors.

"I do expect you at least to solve problems in Europe before you come to teach us how to resolve conflicts. After you solve conflicts in the Caucasus, Cyprus, in Transnistria (a disputed region of Ukraine) or the ongoing fight between Serbia and Kosovo -- come to us and then I will be ready to accept your advice."

continued from CNN main page:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/10/14/israel.undiplomatic.diplomat/index.html?hpt=C2
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He is about one non-fu#%ing "diplomat".  WTF.

[citizenx]

Are the settlers and IDF planning a pogrom/massacre of Nablus?

Is a Jewish Holocaust Against the Palestinians in the Offing?
13. Oct, 2010

By Khalid Amayreh




Note: This piece was written as Israeli security forces were embarking on  a large-scale training exercise to carry out a possible “population exchange,” a euphemism for ethnic cleansing of non-Jews.

A few days ago, Dov Lior, the Rabbi of the Jewish colony of Kiryat Arba, called for the annihilation of the people of the city of Nablus. Speaking to fellow settler leaders, Lior addressed one settler leader, telling him “I am sure you can become the mayor of Shchem (Hebrew name of Nabslus) I am sure you will be able to do the job in one month, even one day.”

continued:

http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2010/10/is-a-jewish-holocaust-against-the-palestinians-in-the-offing/
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Looks like it is time to look into this Rabbi and Kiryat Arba!

[citizenx]

Re. Nablus:

Demographics
Year Population
1596 20,300[17]
1849 40,000[37]
1860 55,000[38]
1922 77,947[39]
1931 89,498[39]
1945 135,250[40]
1961 195,773[41]
1987 233,000[42]
1997 250,034[43]
2004 (Projected) 256,521[1]
2006 (Projected) 134,116[1]

In 1596, the population was counted as consisting of 806 Muslim households, 20 Samaritan households, 18 Christian households, and 15 Jewish households.[17] Local Ottoman authorities recorded a population of around 20,000 residents in Nablus in 1849.[37] In 1867 American visitors found the town to have a population of 4,000 'the chief part of whom are Mohammedans', with some Jews and Christians and 'about 150 Samaritans'.[44] In the 1922 British census of Palestine, there was a total of 15,947 inhabitants, rising to 17,498 at the 1931 census of Palestine.[39]

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Nablus had a population of 134,116 inhabitants in mid-year 2006.[1] In the PCBS's 1997 census, the city had a population of 100,034, including 23,397 refugees, accounting for about 24% of the city's residents.[45] Nablus' Old City had a population of 12,000 in 2006.[5] The population of Nablus city comprises 40% of its governorate's inhabitants.[1]

Nablus has a very large number of youths, approximately half of population being under 20 years old. In 1997, the age distribution of the city's inhabitants was 28.4% under the age of 10, 20.8% from 10 to 19, 17.7% from 20-29, 18% from 30 to 44, 11.1% from 45 to 64 and 3.7% above the age of 65. The gender distribution was 50,945 males (50.92%) and 49,089 females (49.07%).[46]

[edit] Religion
In 891 CE, during the early centuries of Islamic rule, Nablus had a religiously diverse population of Samaritans, local Muslims and Christians. Arab geographer al-Dimashki, recorded that under the rule of the Mamluk Dynasty (Muslim Dynsaty based in Egypt), local Muslims, Samaritans, Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Jews populated the city.[12]

At the 1931 census, the population was counted as 16,483 Muslims, 533 Christians, 6 Jews, 7 Druses and 160 Samaritans.[47]

The majority of the city's inhabitants today are Muslim, but there are small Christian and Samaritan communities as well. Much of the local Palestinian Muslim population of Nablus is believed to be descended from Samaritans who converted to Islam. Certain Nabulsi family names are associated with Samaritan ancestry - Muslimani, Yaish, and Shakshir among others. According to the historian Fayyad Altif, large numbers of Samaritans converted due to persecution and because the monotheistic nature of Islam made it easy for them to accept it.[48]

In 1967, there were about 3,500 Christians of various denominations in Nablus, but that figure dwindled to about 650 in 2008.[49] Of the Christian populace, there are seventy Greek Orthodox families, about thirty Melkite Catholic families and thirty Anglican families. Most Christians used to live in the suburb of Rafidia in the western part of the city.[5]

There are seventeen Islamic monuments and eleven mosques in the Old City.[6][50] Nine of the mosques were established before the 15th century.[6] In addition to Muslim houses of worship, Nablus contains a Greek Orthodox church dedicated Saint Justin Martyr,[5] built in 1898 and the ancient Samaritan synagogue, which is still in use.[50]

source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nablus

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To make it clear, we are talking about the possible "ethnic cleansing" of tens of thousands of Palestinians -- perhaps more than one hundred thousand!

[citizenx]

Desertpeace

MAPLE SYRUP AND OLIVES
October 14, 2010 at 09:56 (Canada, Ethnic Cleansing, Hate crimes, Israel, Occupation, Palestine, Settler Violence, zionist harassment)


In Northern Ontario and Quebec, Autumn is the start of harvesting the syrup from the maple trees. It’s also the beginning of what is known as ‘deer season’…. a time when the guns come down from their showcase above the mantle and prepared to shoot some unsuspecting stag or doe… A hunting license is required which allows one kill per season…


In Palestine it’s the start of the olive harvest …. a signal to the illegal settlers to get their guns ready for their kill as well…. only in this case the targets are human…. Palestinians. In this case, no license is required, it’s ‘open season’…. no limit on the kills or destruction of the trees themselves.




Read about it here….
The Olive Harvest: Open Season for Settler Violence
By Yousef
There are somethings we can be certain of. The sun will come up tomorrow. What goes up, must come down. But it is safe to say we can add to these reliable astronomical and physical certainties the fact that Israeli settlers will attack Palestinian civilians and their olive groves during the annual fall olive harvest. Sadly, like clockwork, we are witnessing this again.

continued:

http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/maple-syrup-and-olives/
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That's why Israeli government can never find an olive branch -- the settlers have hacked down all the olive trees.



 

[citizenx]

Report: Israel wants to build more housing on disputed land
By Kevin Flower, CNN
October 15, 2010 -- Updated 1332 GMT (2132 HKT)
 
Housing construction in East Jerusalem and West Bank settlement building have been major issues during talks.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The new construction would be in the neighborhoods of Pisgat Ze'ev and Ramot
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed of the move
Palestinian negotiator says Israeli prime minister has chosen "settlements over peace"
Jerusalem (CNN) -- In a blow to efforts to keep direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians from faltering, the Israeli government announced its intention Friday to construct 238 new housing units in East Jerusalem, according to a report on Israeli Army radio.

The issues of housing construction in East Jerusalem and West Bank settlement building have been major sticking points in the newly revived direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

The Palestinians have said Israel must decide which it wants -- settlements or peace.

continued:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/10/15/israel.settlements/index.html?hpt=T2

[citizenx]

Is the world going to stand still while the IDF and settlers plan the massacre of Nablus?

[citizenx]

Israel’s Plan to Build in East Jerusalem Clouds Peace Talks
By ETHAN BRONNER
Published: October 15, 2010
 
JERUSALEM — Israel ended an unofficial construction freeze in Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem on Friday, announcing plans to build 238 housing units. The move comes as hard-won peace talks are on hold over the question of whether Israel will extend its broader construction moratorium in the West Bank.

The Housing Ministry’s announcement for a new set of construction tenders across the country included units in two Jewish neighborhoods built in areas of East Jerusalem conquered by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. A spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the plans for the neighborhoods, Ramot and Pisgat Ze’ev.

While East Jerusalem was not a part of the pivotal, 10-month construction moratorium in the West Bank, the Palestinians want it as their future capital and the world views it no differently from the West Bank — conquered territory which should not be built upon by the victor.

continued:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/world/middleeast/16mideast.html?hp

[citizenx]

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Israel Declares War On It's People
By Mya Guarnieri

You could easily miss the thin, gravel road that leads to Al Arakib, a Bedouin village in the north Negev. It is a bit ironic, given the enormity of the struggle there and its deep implications for the Jewish state.

Israeli forces have razed the village five times since late July, sparking cries of ethnic cleansing and leaving more than 300 Bedouin homeless. But the equally determined residents, along with a handful of Jewish activists, continue to rebuild.

The government claims that Al Arakib was abandoned and, as such, belongs to the state. Israel calls the Bedouin squatters who "infiltrate" the area and settle it illegally. According to the state, these people must be removed to make way for a forest to be planted by the Jewish National Fund.

Villagers, some of whom hold Ottoman-era deeds to the property, say that the Israeli army asked them to leave temporarily in 1951. Believing they would be able to move back, they left. It was then, they say, that the state declared Al Arakib abandoned and expropriated it.

continued:

http://poorrichards-blog.blogspot.com/2010/10/by-mya-guarnieri-you-could-easily-miss.html

[citizenx]

Israel settlers start fires amid West Bank harvest

By Philippe Agret (AFP) – 8 hours ago

FARATA'A, Palestinian Territories — Thick black smoke billows from the olive grove under the gaze of Israeli soldiers as Palestinian farmers use branches to try to beat out the fires lit by Jewish settlers.

It's olive harvest time in the occupied West Bank.

The firebombers swooped down from Havat Gilad, a wildcat Jewish settlement unauthorised even by the Israeli government.

Encircled by barbed wire, the makeshift dwellings glower down on the surrounding Palestinian olive plantations from a hilltop in the northern West Bank.

"We were gathering the olives when the settlers arrived. One of them started a fire," says olive grower Shaher Tawil.

He points to a bearded man wearing a T-shirt and a Jewish kippa or skullcap, now safely behind an Israeli military barrier.

"When we saw the flames, we called the fire service but the soldiers wouldn't let them come any closer to prevent clashes with the settlers," the old man says.

continued:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jYZV4qCSivAFlHTMeX9r6mpRWxPg?docId=CNG.fcd3ca22ebdbeb6aedf8bd96251aff7c.1c1

[citizenx]

Israel invites bids for settlement units

Fri Oct 15, 2010 6:21AM

Despite global opposition to Israel's settlement projects, Tel Aviv has invited tenders to build 238 new settlement units in the occupied Palestinian territories.


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved building of the new units in Pisgat Zeev and Ramot late on Thursday, Israeli media reported on Friday.

The move comes as the United States has failed to pressure Israel to extend its partial freeze on settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

The expiry of 10-month halt, which ended last month, has thrown the US-sponsored direct talks between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel into a deadlock.

Israel resumed expansion of its occupation through settlement construction just hours after the expiry of the freeze.

Acting PA Chief Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly called on Tel Aviv to help the continuation of the negotiations with the moratorium extension.

The latest round of the direct talks, which were re-launched on September 2 in Washington, ended without any progress.

continued:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/146766.html

[citizenx]

In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council


Posted By Colum Lynch  Wednesday, February 16, 2011 - 6:00 PM   Share

The U.S. informed Arab governments Friday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body "does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity," a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal.

But the Palestinian's rejected the American offer following a meeting late Wednesdy of Arab representativs and said it is planning to press for a vote on its resolution Friday, according officials familar with the issue.  The decision to reject the American offer raised the prospects that the Obama adminstration may cast its first ever veto in the U.N. Security Council. 

Still, the U.S. offer signaled a renewed willingness to seek a way out of the current impasse, even if it requires  breaking with its key ally and joining others in the council in sending a strong message to Israel to stop its construction of new settlements. The Palestinian delegation, along with the council's Arab member Lebanon, have asked the council's president this evening to schedule a meeting on Friday. But it remained unclear whether the Palestinian move today is simply a negotiating tactic aimed at extracting a better deal from the United States.

continued:

 
http://turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/16/in_major_reversal_us_to_rebuke_israel_in_security_council

[citizenx]

What a differene a day can make -- in a bad way, too:

Published 23:19 18.02.11 Latest update 23:19 18.02.11

U.S. veto thwarts UN resolution condemning settlements

Palestinian Authority leadership brought draft resolution against Israeli settlements to the UN security council, despite pressure from the U.S. to withdraw it.

By Shlomo Shamir, Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid and Haaretz Service


The United States on Friday voted against a United Nations Security Council draft resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlements as illegal. The veto by the U.S., a permanent council member, prevented the resolution from being adopted.

The other 14 Security Council members voted in favor of the draft resolution. But the U.S., as one of five permanent council members with the power to block any action by the Security Council, struck it down.

The resolution had nearly 120 co-sponsors, exclusively Arab and other non-aligned nations.

continued:

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-veto-thwarts-un-resolution-condemning-settlements-1.344333?localLinksEnabled=false
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US set to veto anti-Israeli settlements resolutionFri Feb 18, 2011 8:57PM


The United States is set to cast a veto when the U.N. Security Council votes on a motion declaring Israel's West Bank settlement construction illegal, analysts say.

U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., issued a statement saying Washington should not be "bullied" into abandoning its ally, Israel. Ros-Lehtinen said criticizing Israel at the United Nations "isn't leadership, it's unacceptable."

The journal Commonweal said in a blog on Thursday that the administration would likely veto the resolution if it came up, in "the first time the United States has used its veto power since Barack Obama assumed the presidency."

continued:

http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/165840.html
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I should have known it was too good to be true.