Israel must be brought
back to its original size
The latest
announcement of Israel to build 3000 new settlement homes on occupied land is a
slap on the face of international community that has just recognized Palestine
State, accepting the philosophy of two sovereign states, Israel and Palestine. The latest announcement once again proves that Israel is a usurper and also
responsible for any realization by Palestinians.
If the
international community, particularly United States wants Palestinians to
behave diligently, they must asked
Israel to stop construction of settlements of occupied land also bring Israel back
to its original boundaries demarcated at the time of creation of a state for
the Jews.
Israel's
moves serves as a harsh reminder to Palestinians that while they now have a
state on paper, most of it remains very much under Israeli control. "This
is a doomsday scenario," Daniel Seidemann of Ir Amim, a group that
promotes coexistence in Jerusalem, said of the building plans.
Israel's decision
also embarrasses the United States, which was among just nine countries in the
193-member General Assembly to vote against accepting Palestine as a non-member
observer state. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland criticized the
Israeli announcement. "These actions are counterproductive and make it
harder to resume direct negotiations or achieve a two-state solution," she
said.
Among the
projects is an expansion of Maaleh Adumim, known as E-1. Successive US administrations
have pressured Israel not to build in E-1 because it would effectively cut off
east Jerusalem from the West Bank, and split the northern part of the territory
from the southern part. "E-1 will be the death of the two-state
solution," said Seidemann, referring to the establishment of a state of
Palestine alongside Israel.
Tzipi Livni,
Israel's former foreign minister and chief negotiator with the Palestinians
warned that "The decision to build thousands of housing units as
punishment to the Palestinians only punishes Israel ... (and) only isolates
Israel further."
Following
Israel's decision to accelerate settlement building, however, Abbas aide Saeb
Erekat said the Palestinian leadership was studying its options. He would not
elaborate. Erekat accused Netanyahu of "defying the whole international
community and insisting on destroying the two-state solution."
The UN
endorsed a Palestinian state in territories Israel captured in 1967. Abbas has
said he is ready to negotiate the final borders with Israel, provided Netanyahu
drops his refusal to use the 1967 lines as a starting point. Abbas asserted
Friday that a Palestinian demand for a settlement freeze ahead of negotiations
still stands.
On the
Israeli side, compromise on settlements seemed unlikely. Netanyahu is seeking
re-election two months from now at the helm of a Likud party turned more
hawkish since primaries earlier this week and in an electoral alliance with an
ultra-nationalist pro-settler party.
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