Calls for the annexation of the Occupied West Bank are gaining momentum in both Tel Aviv and Washington. But Israel and its American allies should be careful what they wish for. Annexing the Occupied Palestinian Territories will only reinforce the current rethink of the Palestinian strategy, as opposed to solving Israel’s self-induced problems.
United States Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference in Tel Aviv January 18,2016. Credit: Chen Galili
UK Methodists sidestepped a proposal to “strengthen the Church’s commitment to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) as a peaceful and effective method to persuade the State of Israel to end its military occupation of the Palestinian territories… by applying BDS to Israel in addition to the illegal settlements”. And they did so on a day when Israelis were ramping up their wildly disproportionate murder spree and collective punishment against Palestinians
JAMAL KANJ
AT a March 19 UN Security Council discussion, US Ambassador Samantha Powers was quoted as saying, “A thief can steal property, but that does not confer the right of ownership on the thief.”
An American rabbi has censured Israel’s apartheid expansionist policies in the occupied Palestinian territories, saying such measures run counter to Judaism, Press TV reports.
“Judaism does not permit us to oppress other people, steal their land, or in any manner being uncompassionate to the people,” Yisroel Dovid Weiss, a New York-based activist and spokesman for anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta, said in an exclusive interview with Press TV on Saturday.
