Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done it again. He has angered the United States, the United Nations, and most countries of the world by announcing yesterday (October 15, 2010) that Israel plans to build 328 Housing units in East Jerusalem.
Last March, Netanyahu announced plans for 1,600 units to be built in Jerusalem, thus infuriating President Obama. In fact, President Obama was so angry that he canceled a White House dinner he had planned for Netanyahu -- believed to be the first time in American history that a president has canceled a White House dinner because of his extreme anger toward a foreign chief of state.
Yesterday's Israeli announcement came as a shock and a disappointment to the international community, because peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders were progressing in a positive and harmonious course. It is now almost certain that the Palestinians will end the peace talks.
The fact is that Palestinians want East Jerusalem as their future capital. Moreover, almost all the nations of the world view it as land conquered by Israel -- land on which there should be no construction.
It seems to me that Netanyahu has in reality decided to sabotage the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as a ploy, so that Israel will not have to relinquish any land to Palestinians that it conquered in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. In other words, no peace talks will prevent the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian nation.
Netanyahu's decision to build housing units in East Jerusalem will undoubtedly have a critical negative impact on Israel's Arab neighbors. Once the Palestinians have left the peace talks, it would not surprise me one iota to see Arab rocket attacks on Israel and other aggressive actions taken by Arab nations. To be sure, the end of the peace talks will incite Palestinian militant groups -- which have been exceptionally dormant in recent months -- to increase their aggressive attacks against Israel.
This being the case, many Palestinians -- as well as Israelis -- will be killed and wounded in the ensuing months, and perhaps even years. Sadly, both sides will unnecessarily shed much blood.
For Netanyahu, then, maintaining more conquered land for Israel prevails over the loss of Israeli lives. Unfortunately, land is more important to him than human lives.
This attitude of Netanyahu conveys an arrogant, indifferent, and even inhumane individual who in the final analysis is really a detriment for a nation's people. Indeed -- for the benefit of the world as well as for Israel itself -- it would behoove Israelis to elect a more humane prime minister the next time they vote for one.
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in what other part of this world does another country dare tell a sovereign state where or when to build within their own boarders? It is not the west bank, it is not Palestinian, it is Judea and Summeria or have none of you read your own bible lately?
ReplyDeleteHow dare you?! Shame on you all.
I think Obama was 100 percent wrong to cancel the dinner. He is siding with the Arabs and is not supporting Israel at all.
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