Three days after the U.S. administration criticized the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to authorize the construction of hundreds of new housing units in settlements, the Israel Lands Administration published tenders for the construction of 486 apartments in the neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev in East Jerusalem. The new construction project is designated for the outer edge of the northeastern municipal boundary of Jerusalem, and will narrow the distance between the homes on the edge of the neighborhood and the nearby Palestinian communities. Read more »
Thus the absurdity: In Beitar Ilit, which will stay under Israeli control, construction will cease. But in Mitzpeh Yitzhar and the agricultural lands nearby, business will go on as usual, even though the settlers’ success there will mean a death blow to the two-state solution… The Americans will know what is happening; they don’t miss much between the satellites and CNN. What they do miss will be filled in by Peace Now and its associate organizations.
IOA Editor: “The Americans” will surely know, but will they really care enough to do something about it? Doubtful. Why now? Read more »
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said… that Israel’s decision to construct nearly 500 new housing units in the West Bank prior to declaration of a settlement freeze further undermined any belief that it is a credible partner for peace… An Israeli government source told Haaretz on Monday that U.S. Mideast Envoy George Mitchell and the Obama administration have been updated on the new housing permits. The same source also said that the new permits were approved with the understanding that in return, Israel would enact a freeze on other settlement projects.
IOA Editor: Approved by the Obama administration with an “understanding…” In other words, business as usual: the Occupation goes on, settlement expansion continues, and US support which makes this colonial venture possible continues as it has in the past 42 years. Mr. Obama is saying No to Change. Read more »
National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau on Monday lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for a partial construction freeze in the West Bank, deeming the Palestinians “occupiers” and declaring any bounds on settlements a “violation of human rights.” Read more »
Israel is known throughout the world as a center for innovation and technology, particularly in Aerospace and Defense. Israel is a global leader in the development and manufacture of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), as well as a broad range of systems and technologies used in these unique aircraft.
IOA Editor: Israel’s leading export, by far, is weapons and advanced military systems which it markets and sells all over the world, from the US to the worst third world dictatorships.
It is unfortunate that the good people of Ohio – the City of Dayton and Montgomery County – are collaborating with such profoundly immoral business ventures. We hope the BDS campaign will soon become aware of this new development. Read more »
The Israel Defense Forces has canceled a number of planned arrest operations in the West Bank fearing soldiers will be seen by American diplomats touring the territories. Read more »
If there is any truth in the reports that came out of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Europe – that the United States agreed Israel can go on building in East Jerusalem – the headlines should have read “Obama has pulled out of the Middle East peace process.” Read more »
Members of the Los Angeles Jewish community have threatened to withhold donations to an Israeli university in protest of an op-ed published by a prominent Israeli academic in the Los Angeles Times on Friday, in which he called to boycott Israel economically, culturally and politically. Dr. Neve Gordon of Ben-Gurion University in Be’er Sheva, a veteran peace activist, branded Israel as an apartheid state and said that a boycott was “the only way to save it from itself.”
IOA Editor: Haaretz leaves out the “unless” part of the threat to withhold donations: the firing of Prof. Neve Gordon from his BG University position. Is the “Only Democracy in the Middle East” about to start yet another round of harassment against a professor who dares to stare the Emperor in the eye?
See Neve Gordon: Boycott Israel on the IOA website. Read more »
The blatant attack that Ya’alon has been waging ever since he slammed the door by leaving the Israel Defense Forces has shown acute anti-democratic symptoms. Ya’alon has lashed out at the High Court of Justice in particular and the justice system in general, while expressing scandalous support for illegal settlements, making irresponsible accusations against his colleagues and superiors and stating views that are considered illegitimate even in the right wing.
IOA Editor: We continue focusing on Ya’alon because he is a central figure of Israel’s government and, as described by Haaretz, in many ways he is the government. Read more »
August 21, 2009 | Posted in
Israel,
Others |
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Peace Now secretary general Yariv Oppenheimer said yesterday that Ya’alon’s clarifications were “lip service only.”
IOA Editor: Indeed. Unlike some other Israeli leaders, General Ya’alon is highly educated, analytical, and measured. He is the opposite of a “hot-headed Israeli” who lets his tongue run ahead of himself. His violent language reflects cold and calculated thinking. He also must know that past comments from fellow members of the Israeli extreme-right were followed by violence, including the assassination of PM Rabin. If there was a mistake here, it was in considering that his comments, made in a closed meeting, would be leaked. That he may regret. Or not. Read more »
August 21, 2009 | Posted in
Israel |
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