- Moderator
- #1
I came across this article and basically, it seems pretty disheartening for any sort of just peace.
I think it is very clear that the current Israeli government has had no little interest and no real intention of working towards a 2-state solution. It has been buying time creating new settlements, legalizing illegal settlements and quietly (or not so quietly) moving Palestinians out of prime areas.
Now, after the UN vote, it has decided to punish them which goes hand in hand with their tradition of collectively punishing the Palestinians when the world body goes against Israel or, when Palestinian terrorists act.
I think this is not good...polls are increasingly showing the Palestinians no longer have any hope for a 2-state solution, and more are thinking of armed resistance again. And this is the West Bank, not Gaza.
It's easy to blame the Palestinians, and I know what the arguments are: the Israeli's have no negotiating partner, the Palestinians are still committing terrorism, etc. - but what of Israel's role in perpetrating and excacerbating it, as in this? The Palestinians are damned whichever way they go - peace, to the UN or violence.
In doleful West Bank, UN vote brings little cheer to Palestinians
The passage of a UN Security Council Resolution condemning Israeli settlements on Friday has not seen masses of Palestinians taking to the streets in the West Bank to celebrate Israel’s diplomatic failure.Not even handfuls of Palestinians have come out to show their support.
While senior Palestinian leaders have talked up the passage of the UN measure as a historic achievement — an unprecedented Palestinian victory — they know that the resolution is toothless and limited in scope.
In theory, the lack of enthusiasm shown by most Palestinians should bring a sense of relief to the Israeli government: The UN’s bark has no bite and in a few weeks, a president who appears to be cut from the same cloth as the Israeli right will enter the White House, enabling Israel to do whatever it pleases.
The great threat of “two states for two peoples” has essentially disappeared, while the possibility of the annexation of portions of the West Bank has become more and more of a reality.
But the Israeli right should not count its chickens yet, for as Palestinian despair grows, so too does the possibility of a fresh outbreak of violence in the West Bank.
According to opinion polls recently carried out in the West Bank, the majority of Palestinians no longer believe in the two-state solution (65 percent said such a solution is not relevant) and many Palestinians support a return to armed struggle against Israel.
...As if all this were not enough, Army Radio reported Sunday morning that Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman ordered the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories to end all meetings with civilian and political officials from the Palestinian Authority, though security coordination will continue.
Liberman, who until now had sat on the sidelines while the rest of Israel’s ministers fell over themselves calling for the most incendiary form of retaliation to be taken following the Security Council resolution, outdid the rest of them instantly.
In contrast to Friday’s passage of the resolution in New York, Liberman’s order has implications on the day-to-day life of every Palestinian in the West Bank.
While the cessation of political contacts has no relevance to COGAT — since it does not deal with political issues — it will have an effect on civilian matters, including on projects such as electricity, water, sewage, environmental protection, trash collection, currency, work permits and numerous other fields, where coordination with Israel is needed.
I think it is very clear that the current Israeli government has had no little interest and no real intention of working towards a 2-state solution. It has been buying time creating new settlements, legalizing illegal settlements and quietly (or not so quietly) moving Palestinians out of prime areas.
Now, after the UN vote, it has decided to punish them which goes hand in hand with their tradition of collectively punishing the Palestinians when the world body goes against Israel or, when Palestinian terrorists act.
I think this is not good...polls are increasingly showing the Palestinians no longer have any hope for a 2-state solution, and more are thinking of armed resistance again. And this is the West Bank, not Gaza.
It's easy to blame the Palestinians, and I know what the arguments are: the Israeli's have no negotiating partner, the Palestinians are still committing terrorism, etc. - but what of Israel's role in perpetrating and excacerbating it, as in this? The Palestinians are damned whichever way they go - peace, to the UN or violence.
In doleful West Bank, UN vote brings little cheer to Palestinians
The passage of a UN Security Council Resolution condemning Israeli settlements on Friday has not seen masses of Palestinians taking to the streets in the West Bank to celebrate Israel’s diplomatic failure.Not even handfuls of Palestinians have come out to show their support.
While senior Palestinian leaders have talked up the passage of the UN measure as a historic achievement — an unprecedented Palestinian victory — they know that the resolution is toothless and limited in scope.
In theory, the lack of enthusiasm shown by most Palestinians should bring a sense of relief to the Israeli government: The UN’s bark has no bite and in a few weeks, a president who appears to be cut from the same cloth as the Israeli right will enter the White House, enabling Israel to do whatever it pleases.
The great threat of “two states for two peoples” has essentially disappeared, while the possibility of the annexation of portions of the West Bank has become more and more of a reality.
But the Israeli right should not count its chickens yet, for as Palestinian despair grows, so too does the possibility of a fresh outbreak of violence in the West Bank.
According to opinion polls recently carried out in the West Bank, the majority of Palestinians no longer believe in the two-state solution (65 percent said such a solution is not relevant) and many Palestinians support a return to armed struggle against Israel.
...As if all this were not enough, Army Radio reported Sunday morning that Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman ordered the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories to end all meetings with civilian and political officials from the Palestinian Authority, though security coordination will continue.
Liberman, who until now had sat on the sidelines while the rest of Israel’s ministers fell over themselves calling for the most incendiary form of retaliation to be taken following the Security Council resolution, outdid the rest of them instantly.
In contrast to Friday’s passage of the resolution in New York, Liberman’s order has implications on the day-to-day life of every Palestinian in the West Bank.
While the cessation of political contacts has no relevance to COGAT — since it does not deal with political issues — it will have an effect on civilian matters, including on projects such as electricity, water, sewage, environmental protection, trash collection, currency, work permits and numerous other fields, where coordination with Israel is needed.
