In Netanyahu's new video, he claims that a Palestinian demand to dismantle Jewish settlements amounts to the "ethnic cleansing" of 650,000 Jews living illegally in the occupied territories. Netanyahu wants to place another obstacle in the way of Palestinian efforts to seek international backing for statehood, but this time has he scored an own goal?
Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman launched his new plan to retool the occupation. His "carrot and stick" approach is intended to sideline the Palestinian Authority in favour of new local leaders hand-picked by Israel. He will use a new website to speak in Arabic directly to ordinary Palestinians, who in turn will be colour-coded in green and red to denote whether they are "good" or "bad".
In a familiar muddying of the waters, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spent the past week talking up peace while fiercely criticising Friday’s summit in France – the only diplomatic initiative on the horizon. He dusted off the tired argument that any sign of diplomatic support for Palestinians would encourage from them “extreme demands". Netanyahu, it seems, is keen on any peace process, just so long as it’s not the current one launched in Paris.
21st Century Wire says…
The great debate continues.
Is the US really interested in ending the conflict in Syria?
In the following episode of CrossTalk, a panel debates this very question and asks why the US has been supporting ‘rebel’ forces and simultaneously saying that it wants Assad to go.
If carried to fruition, all this would do is create a power vacuum that will only become filled with conflict.
If revenge is a dish best served cold, then Meir Dagan must have relished his retribution on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu – it was delivered from beyond the grave. In damning posthumous remarks, the former Mossad chief described Netanyahu as a man trapped in self-delusion, and “the worst manager I knew". Their falling out centred on Netanyahu’s belligerent posturing over Iran.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has described his security forces’ cooperation with the Israeli military as “sacred”. But an armed attack on an Israeli checkpoint this week by a Palestinian security official, which left three Israeli soldiers injured, suggests that Abbas’ view may not be widely shared among Palestinians.
The article argues how Israel has normalised its disoriented concept of the “imagined enemy” to justify its apartheid regime and the on going oppression of the Palestinians.
by Parul VERMA 2016-01-30
Abbas is in a bind. If he ends coordination and goes on the offensive, why would Israel allow the PA to continue functioning? But if his security forces continue to collaborate with Israel, how can he retain credibility with his people?
Intense pressure from Israel and the US last week on members of the United Nations Security Council narrowly averted Washington’s embarrassment at being forced to veto a Palestinian resolution to end the occupation.
The Palestinian application to the ICC has set in motion a series of events with potentially dramatic consequences for both Israel and the Palestinians
(Al-Araby ) - At the weekend, Fatah posted an image on its Facebook page of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu next to a hangman’s noose, alongside the words ‘coming soon’ and the scales-of-justice logo of the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has said in January that “Israeli” settlements amount to “creeping annexation” of Palestinian territories by “Israel” and have taken a “heavy toll” on the rights and sovereignty of Palestinians.
The Israeli election’s one certain outcome is that, whoever wins, the next coalition will, actively or passively, allow more of the same: a slow, creeping annexation of what is left of a possible Palestinian state, as the US and Europe bicker.
