Pompeo slams Democrats’ settlement fixation, calls claims foolish

[toomuchtime_]

alling their arguments “foolish,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a harsh letter on Monday to 106 Democratic members of the House saying that while they are “free to fixate on settlements as a barrier to peace,” they are simply wrong.

The secretary of state sent the letter to Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, who was behind the letter sent to Pompeo last month in which 106 representatives denounced the Trump administration for softening its position on the legality of West Bank settlements. In it, he slammed the Obama administration’s position on Israel and the settlements, writing: “The Obama-Kerry departure from America’s historical support of Israel has done nothing to make peace more attainable.”

In the November letter, the House Democrats urged Pompeo to “immediately” reverse his decision. The letter was signed by 12 committee chairpersons including veteran members such as Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Maxine Waters, alongside other high-profile representatives, such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.



Pompeo slammed the congressmen in his letter on Monday. He mentioned Levin’s arguments – first, that the announcement contradicts decades of bipartisan US policy, and second, that such an announcement “blatantly disregards Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

“While I appreciate your interest in this important issue, I couldn’t disagree more with those two foolish positions,” Pompeo wrote in his answer to Levin, according to a copy obtained by The Jerusalem Post.

“The State Department’s determination did not reverse any policy with regard to Israeli settlements,” he added. “Rather, the State Department reversed a legal determination by secretary Kerry made during the waning days of the Obama administration, that the establishment of settlements was categorically inconsistent with international law.

“That determination was made in a failed attempt to justify the Obama administration’s betrayal of Israel in allowing UNSCR 2334 – whose foundation was the purported illegality of the settlements and which referred to them as ‘a flagrant violation of international law’ – to pass the Security Council on December 23, 2016,” Pompeo’s letter stated.

Pompeo slams Democrats’ settlement fixation, calls claims foolish

The Trump administration following the Obama administration is like waking from a bad dream. After eight years of politicians who never understood the difference between a policy and a political slogan we now have smart, principled people implementing clear policies. If Pompeo ever runs for president, I will vote for him.

 

[ForeverYoung436]

alling their arguments “foolish,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a harsh letter on Monday to 106 Democratic members of the House saying that while they are “free to fixate on settlements as a barrier to peace,” they are simply wrong.

The secretary of state sent the letter to Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, who was behind the letter sent to Pompeo last month in which 106 representatives denounced the Trump administration for softening its position on the legality of West Bank settlements. In it, he slammed the Obama administration’s position on Israel and the settlements, writing: “The Obama-Kerry departure from America’s historical support of Israel has done nothing to make peace more attainable.”

In the November letter, the House Democrats urged Pompeo to “immediately” reverse his decision. The letter was signed by 12 committee chairpersons including veteran members such as Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Maxine Waters, alongside other high-profile representatives, such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.



Pompeo slammed the congressmen in his letter on Monday. He mentioned Levin’s arguments – first, that the announcement contradicts decades of bipartisan US policy, and second, that such an announcement “blatantly disregards Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

“While I appreciate your interest in this important issue, I couldn’t disagree more with those two foolish positions,” Pompeo wrote in his answer to Levin, according to a copy obtained by The Jerusalem Post.

“The State Department’s determination did not reverse any policy with regard to Israeli settlements,” he added. “Rather, the State Department reversed a legal determination by secretary Kerry made during the waning days of the Obama administration, that the establishment of settlements was categorically inconsistent with international law.

“That determination was made in a failed attempt to justify the Obama administration’s betrayal of Israel in allowing UNSCR 2334 – whose foundation was the purported illegality of the settlements and which referred to them as ‘a flagrant violation of international law’ – to pass the Security Council on December 23, 2016,” Pompeo’s letter stated.

Pompeo slams Democrats’ settlement fixation, calls claims foolish

The Trump administration following the Obama administration is like waking from a bad dream. After eight years of politicians who never understood the difference between a policy and a political slogan we now have smart, principled people implementing clear policies. If Pompeo ever runs for president, I will vote for him.

toomuchtime, you keep on saying that Israel has no credible partner for peace, and I agree with you there. But if you support settling the West Bank, I'd say that maybe the Palestinians don't have one either.

 

[rylah]

alling their arguments “foolish,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a harsh letter on Monday to 106 Democratic members of the House saying that while they are “free to fixate on settlements as a barrier to peace,” they are simply wrong.

The secretary of state sent the letter to Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, who was behind the letter sent to Pompeo last month in which 106 representatives denounced the Trump administration for softening its position on the legality of West Bank settlements. In it, he slammed the Obama administration’s position on Israel and the settlements, writing: “The Obama-Kerry departure from America’s historical support of Israel has done nothing to make peace more attainable.”

In the November letter, the House Democrats urged Pompeo to “immediately” reverse his decision. The letter was signed by 12 committee chairpersons including veteran members such as Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Maxine Waters, alongside other high-profile representatives, such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.



Pompeo slammed the congressmen in his letter on Monday. He mentioned Levin’s arguments – first, that the announcement contradicts decades of bipartisan US policy, and second, that such an announcement “blatantly disregards Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

“While I appreciate your interest in this important issue, I couldn’t disagree more with those two foolish positions,” Pompeo wrote in his answer to Levin, according to a copy obtained by The Jerusalem Post.

“The State Department’s determination did not reverse any policy with regard to Israeli settlements,” he added. “Rather, the State Department reversed a legal determination by secretary Kerry made during the waning days of the Obama administration, that the establishment of settlements was categorically inconsistent with international law.

“That determination was made in a failed attempt to justify the Obama administration’s betrayal of Israel in allowing UNSCR 2334 – whose foundation was the purported illegality of the settlements and which referred to them as ‘a flagrant violation of international law’ – to pass the Security Council on December 23, 2016,” Pompeo’s letter stated.

Pompeo slams Democrats’ settlement fixation, calls claims foolish

The Trump administration following the Obama administration is like waking from a bad dream. After eight years of politicians who never understood the difference between a policy and a political slogan we now have smart, principled people implementing clear policies. If Pompeo ever runs for president, I will vote for him.

Ahlah Pomepeo

 

[rylah]

alling their arguments “foolish,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a harsh letter on Monday to 106 Democratic members of the House saying that while they are “free to fixate on settlements as a barrier to peace,” they are simply wrong.

The secretary of state sent the letter to Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, who was behind the letter sent to Pompeo last month in which 106 representatives denounced the Trump administration for softening its position on the legality of West Bank settlements. In it, he slammed the Obama administration’s position on Israel and the settlements, writing: “The Obama-Kerry departure from America’s historical support of Israel has done nothing to make peace more attainable.”

In the November letter, the House Democrats urged Pompeo to “immediately” reverse his decision. The letter was signed by 12 committee chairpersons including veteran members such as Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Maxine Waters, alongside other high-profile representatives, such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.



Pompeo slammed the congressmen in his letter on Monday. He mentioned Levin’s arguments – first, that the announcement contradicts decades of bipartisan US policy, and second, that such an announcement “blatantly disregards Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

“While I appreciate your interest in this important issue, I couldn’t disagree more with those two foolish positions,” Pompeo wrote in his answer to Levin, according to a copy obtained by The Jerusalem Post.

“The State Department’s determination did not reverse any policy with regard to Israeli settlements,” he added. “Rather, the State Department reversed a legal determination by secretary Kerry made during the waning days of the Obama administration, that the establishment of settlements was categorically inconsistent with international law.

“That determination was made in a failed attempt to justify the Obama administration’s betrayal of Israel in allowing UNSCR 2334 – whose foundation was the purported illegality of the settlements and which referred to them as ‘a flagrant violation of international law’ – to pass the Security Council on December 23, 2016,” Pompeo’s letter stated.

Pompeo slams Democrats’ settlement fixation, calls claims foolish

The Trump administration following the Obama administration is like waking from a bad dream. After eight years of politicians who never understood the difference between a policy and a political slogan we now have smart, principled people implementing clear policies. If Pompeo ever runs for president, I will vote for him.

toomuchtime, you keep on saying that Israel has no credible partner for peace, and I agree with you there. But if you support settling the West Bank, I'd say that maybe the Palestinians don't have one either.

Ahi, there're 2 false premises with this statement:

1. That Arabs in Judea and Gaza ever wanted peace
2. That Jews settling Judea is an obstacle to peace

Peace in the middle east is given to the strong,
we are not here to appease anyone, quiet the opposite - Your position is of the weak,
an invitation to attack by racketeers who smell weakness from afar.

And the correct question,
rather why do they even deserve peace and what can they offer Israel in return?

Israel owes them nothing.

 

[toomuchtime_]

alling their arguments “foolish,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a harsh letter on Monday to 106 Democratic members of the House saying that while they are “free to fixate on settlements as a barrier to peace,” they are simply wrong.

The secretary of state sent the letter to Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, who was behind the letter sent to Pompeo last month in which 106 representatives denounced the Trump administration for softening its position on the legality of West Bank settlements. In it, he slammed the Obama administration’s position on Israel and the settlements, writing: “The Obama-Kerry departure from America’s historical support of Israel has done nothing to make peace more attainable.”

In the November letter, the House Democrats urged Pompeo to “immediately” reverse his decision. The letter was signed by 12 committee chairpersons including veteran members such as Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Maxine Waters, alongside other high-profile representatives, such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.



Pompeo slammed the congressmen in his letter on Monday. He mentioned Levin’s arguments – first, that the announcement contradicts decades of bipartisan US policy, and second, that such an announcement “blatantly disregards Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

“While I appreciate your interest in this important issue, I couldn’t disagree more with those two foolish positions,” Pompeo wrote in his answer to Levin, according to a copy obtained by The Jerusalem Post.

“The State Department’s determination did not reverse any policy with regard to Israeli settlements,” he added. “Rather, the State Department reversed a legal determination by secretary Kerry made during the waning days of the Obama administration, that the establishment of settlements was categorically inconsistent with international law.

“That determination was made in a failed attempt to justify the Obama administration’s betrayal of Israel in allowing UNSCR 2334 – whose foundation was the purported illegality of the settlements and which referred to them as ‘a flagrant violation of international law’ – to pass the Security Council on December 23, 2016,” Pompeo’s letter stated.

Pompeo slams Democrats’ settlement fixation, calls claims foolish

The Trump administration following the Obama administration is like waking from a bad dream. After eight years of politicians who never understood the difference between a policy and a political slogan we now have smart, principled people implementing clear policies. If Pompeo ever runs for president, I will vote for him.

toomuchtime, you keep on saying that Israel has no credible partner for peace, and I agree with you there. But if you support settling the West Bank, I'd say that maybe the Palestinians don't have one either.

That's just silly. Israel did not make peace with the Egyptians, it make peace with the Egyptian government despite the fact that many Egyptians were opposed to the treaty because the Egyptian government was capable of maintaining the peace. The same is true of the peace with Jordan. The fact is there is no political entity among the Palestinians that is competent to offer peace to Israel so there can be no negotiated peace whether Israel continues to develop Judea and Samaria or not.

But the fact that there can be no negotiated peace between the Israeli government and the Palestinian leaderships doesn't mean there can't be peace between Israelis and Palestinians. In fact, peace between Israelis and Palestinians is growing everyday, despite the efforts of the Palestinian leaderships to prevent it, in - brace yourself - the very Israeli settlements you want to get rid of. Each day, tens of thousands of Palestinians go to work in Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria earning several times what they could otherwise earn, and only rarely are there any problems between these Palestinian workers and the Israelis. Similarly, Israelis living in these settlements often shop in Palestinian villages. These people, both Israelis and Palestinians are establishing peace with these mutually beneficial transactions and both parties would be poorer if they were to end.

There are no speeches, no banners, no demonstrations, no grandstanding politicians or pompous diplomats spinning theories about peace, just real people making peace with each other because they both benefit from it. If there is ever to be peace between Israelis and Palestinians it will be established this way, and that is why both Hamas and the PA do their best to discourage these interactions between Israelis and Palestinians because both of these benefit from endless conflict and gain nothing from peace.

 

[ForeverYoung436]

alling their arguments “foolish,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a harsh letter on Monday to 106 Democratic members of the House saying that while they are “free to fixate on settlements as a barrier to peace,” they are simply wrong.

The secretary of state sent the letter to Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, who was behind the letter sent to Pompeo last month in which 106 representatives denounced the Trump administration for softening its position on the legality of West Bank settlements. In it, he slammed the Obama administration’s position on Israel and the settlements, writing: “The Obama-Kerry departure from America’s historical support of Israel has done nothing to make peace more attainable.”

In the November letter, the House Democrats urged Pompeo to “immediately” reverse his decision. The letter was signed by 12 committee chairpersons including veteran members such as Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Maxine Waters, alongside other high-profile representatives, such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.



Pompeo slammed the congressmen in his letter on Monday. He mentioned Levin’s arguments – first, that the announcement contradicts decades of bipartisan US policy, and second, that such an announcement “blatantly disregards Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

“While I appreciate your interest in this important issue, I couldn’t disagree more with those two foolish positions,” Pompeo wrote in his answer to Levin, according to a copy obtained by The Jerusalem Post.

“The State Department’s determination did not reverse any policy with regard to Israeli settlements,” he added. “Rather, the State Department reversed a legal determination by secretary Kerry made during the waning days of the Obama administration, that the establishment of settlements was categorically inconsistent with international law.

“That determination was made in a failed attempt to justify the Obama administration’s betrayal of Israel in allowing UNSCR 2334 – whose foundation was the purported illegality of the settlements and which referred to them as ‘a flagrant violation of international law’ – to pass the Security Council on December 23, 2016,” Pompeo’s letter stated.

Pompeo slams Democrats’ settlement fixation, calls claims foolish

The Trump administration following the Obama administration is like waking from a bad dream. After eight years of politicians who never understood the difference between a policy and a political slogan we now have smart, principled people implementing clear policies. If Pompeo ever runs for president, I will vote for him.

toomuchtime, you keep on saying that Israel has no credible partner for peace, and I agree with you there. But if you support settling the West Bank, I'd say that maybe the Palestinians don't have one either.

That's just silly. Israel did not make peace with the Egyptians, it make peace with the Egyptian government despite the fact that many Egyptians were opposed to the treaty because the Egyptian government was capable of maintaining the peace. The same is true of the peace with Jordan. The fact is there is no political entity among the Palestinians that is competent to offer peace to Israel so there can be no negotiated peace whether Israel continues to develop Judea and Samaria or not.

But the fact that there can be no negotiated peace between the Israeli government and the Palestinian leaderships doesn't mean there can't be peace between Israelis and Palestinians. In fact, peace between Israelis and Palestinians is growing everyday, despite the efforts of the Palestinian leaderships to prevent it, in - brace yourself - the very Israeli settlements you want to get rid of. Each day, tens of thousands of Palestinians go to work in Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria earning several times what they could otherwise earn, and only rarely are there any problems between these Palestinian workers and the Israelis. Similarly, Israelis living in these settlements often shop in Palestinian villages. These people, both Israelis and Palestinians are establishing peace with these mutually beneficial transactions and both parties would be poorer if they were to end.

There are no speeches, no banners, no demonstrations, no grandstanding politicians or pompous diplomats spinning theories about peace, just real people making peace with each other because they both benefit from it. If there is ever to be peace between Israelis and Palestinians it will be established this way, and that is why both Hamas and the PA do their best to discourage these interactions between Israelis and Palestinians because both of these benefit from endless conflict and gain nothing from peace.

I don't want to "get rid of" existing settlements or uproot any Jews from their homes. Please don't presume.

 

[rightwinger]

Israel settling that region is an insult to any attempt at peace

Trump supporting them puts us in the middle

 

[toomuchtime_]

alling their arguments “foolish,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a harsh letter on Monday to 106 Democratic members of the House saying that while they are “free to fixate on settlements as a barrier to peace,” they are simply wrong.

The secretary of state sent the letter to Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, who was behind the letter sent to Pompeo last month in which 106 representatives denounced the Trump administration for softening its position on the legality of West Bank settlements. In it, he slammed the Obama administration’s position on Israel and the settlements, writing: “The Obama-Kerry departure from America’s historical support of Israel has done nothing to make peace more attainable.”

In the November letter, the House Democrats urged Pompeo to “immediately” reverse his decision. The letter was signed by 12 committee chairpersons including veteran members such as Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Maxine Waters, alongside other high-profile representatives, such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.



Pompeo slammed the congressmen in his letter on Monday. He mentioned Levin’s arguments – first, that the announcement contradicts decades of bipartisan US policy, and second, that such an announcement “blatantly disregards Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

“While I appreciate your interest in this important issue, I couldn’t disagree more with those two foolish positions,” Pompeo wrote in his answer to Levin, according to a copy obtained by The Jerusalem Post.

“The State Department’s determination did not reverse any policy with regard to Israeli settlements,” he added. “Rather, the State Department reversed a legal determination by secretary Kerry made during the waning days of the Obama administration, that the establishment of settlements was categorically inconsistent with international law.

“That determination was made in a failed attempt to justify the Obama administration’s betrayal of Israel in allowing UNSCR 2334 – whose foundation was the purported illegality of the settlements and which referred to them as ‘a flagrant violation of international law’ – to pass the Security Council on December 23, 2016,” Pompeo’s letter stated.

Pompeo slams Democrats’ settlement fixation, calls claims foolish

The Trump administration following the Obama administration is like waking from a bad dream. After eight years of politicians who never understood the difference between a policy and a political slogan we now have smart, principled people implementing clear policies. If Pompeo ever runs for president, I will vote for him.

toomuchtime, you keep on saying that Israel has no credible partner for peace, and I agree with you there. But if you support settling the West Bank, I'd say that maybe the Palestinians don't have one either.

That's just silly. Israel did not make peace with the Egyptians, it make peace with the Egyptian government despite the fact that many Egyptians were opposed to the treaty because the Egyptian government was capable of maintaining the peace. The same is true of the peace with Jordan. The fact is there is no political entity among the Palestinians that is competent to offer peace to Israel so there can be no negotiated peace whether Israel continues to develop Judea and Samaria or not.

But the fact that there can be no negotiated peace between the Israeli government and the Palestinian leaderships doesn't mean there can't be peace between Israelis and Palestinians. In fact, peace between Israelis and Palestinians is growing everyday, despite the efforts of the Palestinian leaderships to prevent it, in - brace yourself - the very Israeli settlements you want to get rid of. Each day, tens of thousands of Palestinians go to work in Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria earning several times what they could otherwise earn, and only rarely are there any problems between these Palestinian workers and the Israelis. Similarly, Israelis living in these settlements often shop in Palestinian villages. These people, both Israelis and Palestinians are establishing peace with these mutually beneficial transactions and both parties would be poorer if they were to end.

There are no speeches, no banners, no demonstrations, no grandstanding politicians or pompous diplomats spinning theories about peace, just real people making peace with each other because they both benefit from it. If there is ever to be peace between Israelis and Palestinians it will be established this way, and that is why both Hamas and the PA do their best to discourage these interactions between Israelis and Palestinians because both of these benefit from endless conflict and gain nothing from peace.

I don't want to "get rid of" existing settlements or uproot any Jews from their homes. Please don't presume.

My argument stands whether we are talking about existing settlements or new settlements or annexing the settlements, the net effect of the settlements is to produce more mutually beneficial peaceful interactions between Israelis and Palestinians since the Palestinian leadership is hopelessly fragmented that is the only possible road to peace.

 

[rylah]

Israel settling that region is an insult to any attempt at peace

Trump supporting them puts us in the middle

Jews building in Judea is an "insult to peace"?

 

[ForeverYoung436]

Israel settling that region is an insult to any attempt at peace

Trump supporting them puts us in the middle

Jews building Judea is an "insult to peace"?
Wonder what all those Arab pogroms were all about prior to that...

I don't know rightwinger at all, but if he's a Gentile, you have to understand that he doesn't feel the same connection to Judea that you and I do, as Jews. All he knows is that America has to referee in this wrestling match between the Jews and the Arabs, and maybe he doesn't want to be in that position.

 

[toomuchtime_]

Israel settling that region is an insult to any attempt at peace

Trump supporting them puts us in the middle

Since there is no political entity among the Palestinians that can credibly offer peace to Israel, it is nonsense to call building settlements in Judea and Samaria an obstacle to peace.

 

[rylah]

Israel settling that region is an insult to any attempt at peace

Trump supporting them puts us in the middle

Jews building Judea is an "insult to peace"?
Wonder what all those Arab pogroms were all about prior to that...

I don't know rightwinger at all, but if he's a Gentile, you have to understand that he doesn't feel the same connection to Judea that you and I do, as Jews. All he knows is that America has to referee in this wrestling match between the Jews and the Arabs, and maybe he doesn't want to be in that position.

I'm not sure this has anything to do with my or Your feelings.
I can understand one not willing to get in the middle of a fight, but that was exactly the opposite of the position taken in the comment.

How can one take a side, then in the same breath critique his boss for taking back all claims of legal authority over the issue?

 

[toomuchtime_]

Israel settling that region is an insult to any attempt at peace

Trump supporting them puts us in the middle

Jews building Judea is an "insult to peace"?
Wonder what all those Arab pogroms were all about prior to that...

I don't know rightwinger at all, but if he's a Gentile, you have to understand that he doesn't feel the same connection to Judea that you and I do, as Jews. All he knows is that America has to referee in this wrestling match between the Jews and the Arabs, and maybe he doesn't want to be in that position.

Nuts. There are American and Israeli Jews who are adamantly opposed to building in Judea and Samaria, nearly all of whom consider themselves liberal, and there are Christians in both America and Israel who fully support building in Judea and Samaria. Those who oppose it foolishly believe a negotiated peace is possible and those who support building recognize it is not.

 

[ForeverYoung436]

Israel settling that region is an insult to any attempt at peace

Trump supporting them puts us in the middle

Jews building Judea is an "insult to peace"?
Wonder what all those Arab pogroms were all about prior to that...

I don't know rightwinger at all, but if he's a Gentile, you have to understand that he doesn't feel the same connection to Judea that you and I do, as Jews. All he knows is that America has to referee in this wrestling match between the Jews and the Arabs, and maybe he doesn't want to be in that position.

Nuts. There are American and Israeli Jews who are adamantly opposed to building in Judea and Samaria, nearly all of whom consider themselves liberal, and there are Christians in both America and Israel who fully support building in Judea and Samaria. Those who oppose it foolishly believe a negotiated peace is possible and those who support building recognize it is not.

I think even liberal Jews who don't support further building in Judea and Samaria, still feel a connection to Judea. And I don't know if rightwinger is Christian, Wiccan, Buddhist or atheist. I identified him as a possible Gentile, which includes all of these.

 

[toomuchtime_]

Israel settling that region is an insult to any attempt at peace

Trump supporting them puts us in the middle

Jews building Judea is an "insult to peace"?
Wonder what all those Arab pogroms were all about prior to that...

I don't know rightwinger at all, but if he's a Gentile, you have to understand that he doesn't feel the same connection to Judea that you and I do, as Jews. All he knows is that America has to referee in this wrestling match between the Jews and the Arabs, and maybe he doesn't want to be in that position.

Nuts. There are American and Israeli Jews who are adamantly opposed to building in Judea and Samaria, nearly all of whom consider themselves liberal, and there are Christians in both America and Israel who fully support building in Judea and Samaria. Those who oppose it foolishly believe a negotiated peace is possible and those who support building recognize it is not.

I think even liberal Jews who don't support further building in Judea and Samaria, still feel a connection to Judea. And I don't know if rightwinger is Christian, Wiccan, Buddhist or atheist. I identified him as a possible Gentile, which includes all of these.

Obama's legacy has been to separate liberal Jews from Israel. Whatever feelings they may have about Judea, when it comes to Israel, they are loyal Obama Democrats first and Jews only second; that's why despite the fact that there is no rational basis in fact or logic for opposing building in area C, they continue to parrot Obama's ridiculous opposition to it.

 

[Augustine_]

alling their arguments “foolish,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a harsh letter on Monday to 106 Democratic members of the House saying that while they are “free to fixate on settlements as a barrier to peace,” they are simply wrong.

The secretary of state sent the letter to Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, who was behind the letter sent to Pompeo last month in which 106 representatives denounced the Trump administration for softening its position on the legality of West Bank settlements. In it, he slammed the Obama administration’s position on Israel and the settlements, writing: “The Obama-Kerry departure from America’s historical support of Israel has done nothing to make peace more attainable.”

In the November letter, the House Democrats urged Pompeo to “immediately” reverse his decision. The letter was signed by 12 committee chairpersons including veteran members such as Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Maxine Waters, alongside other high-profile representatives, such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.



Pompeo slammed the congressmen in his letter on Monday. He mentioned Levin’s arguments – first, that the announcement contradicts decades of bipartisan US policy, and second, that such an announcement “blatantly disregards Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

“While I appreciate your interest in this important issue, I couldn’t disagree more with those two foolish positions,” Pompeo wrote in his answer to Levin, according to a copy obtained by The Jerusalem Post.

“The State Department’s determination did not reverse any policy with regard to Israeli settlements,” he added. “Rather, the State Department reversed a legal determination by secretary Kerry made during the waning days of the Obama administration, that the establishment of settlements was categorically inconsistent with international law.

“That determination was made in a failed attempt to justify the Obama administration’s betrayal of Israel in allowing UNSCR 2334 – whose foundation was the purported illegality of the settlements and which referred to them as ‘a flagrant violation of international law’ – to pass the Security Council on December 23, 2016,” Pompeo’s letter stated.

Pompeo slams Democrats’ settlement fixation, calls claims foolish

The Trump administration following the Obama administration is like waking from a bad dream. After eight years of politicians who never understood the difference between a policy and a political slogan we now have smart, principled people implementing clear policies. If Pompeo ever runs for president, I will vote for him.

Pompeo knows there is profit in war, and Israel creates plenty of that for us.

 

[toomuchtime_]

alling their arguments “foolish,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a harsh letter on Monday to 106 Democratic members of the House saying that while they are “free to fixate on settlements as a barrier to peace,” they are simply wrong.

The secretary of state sent the letter to Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, who was behind the letter sent to Pompeo last month in which 106 representatives denounced the Trump administration for softening its position on the legality of West Bank settlements. In it, he slammed the Obama administration’s position on Israel and the settlements, writing: “The Obama-Kerry departure from America’s historical support of Israel has done nothing to make peace more attainable.”

In the November letter, the House Democrats urged Pompeo to “immediately” reverse his decision. The letter was signed by 12 committee chairpersons including veteran members such as Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Maxine Waters, alongside other high-profile representatives, such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.



Pompeo slammed the congressmen in his letter on Monday. He mentioned Levin’s arguments – first, that the announcement contradicts decades of bipartisan US policy, and second, that such an announcement “blatantly disregards Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

“While I appreciate your interest in this important issue, I couldn’t disagree more with those two foolish positions,” Pompeo wrote in his answer to Levin, according to a copy obtained by The Jerusalem Post.

“The State Department’s determination did not reverse any policy with regard to Israeli settlements,” he added. “Rather, the State Department reversed a legal determination by secretary Kerry made during the waning days of the Obama administration, that the establishment of settlements was categorically inconsistent with international law.

“That determination was made in a failed attempt to justify the Obama administration’s betrayal of Israel in allowing UNSCR 2334 – whose foundation was the purported illegality of the settlements and which referred to them as ‘a flagrant violation of international law’ – to pass the Security Council on December 23, 2016,” Pompeo’s letter stated.

Pompeo slams Democrats’ settlement fixation, calls claims foolish

The Trump administration following the Obama administration is like waking from a bad dream. After eight years of politicians who never understood the difference between a policy and a political slogan we now have smart, principled people implementing clear policies. If Pompeo ever runs for president, I will vote for him.

Pompeo knows there is profit in war, and Israel creates plenty of that for us.

This is what happens to a brain on crack.