Freies Politikforum für Demokraten und Anarchisten

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

A senior political officer at the Israeli Embassy in London has been secretly filmed talking about how he would like to "take down" UK foreign office minister Alan Duncan, a vocal opponent of illegal Israeli settlement building in the West Bank.

He said Duncan, who is one of the few Conservative ministers to speak out over settlements, was causing "a lot of problems". He also called Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, "an idiot".

In a separate conversation with the embassy staffer, Crispin Blunt, the chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, was described as being "on the hit list" for his views which were "strongly pro-Arab rather than pro-Israel".
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/revealed-secret-tapes-expose-israeli-influence-over-uk-conservative-party-662911554

Trump-Netanyahu Democrats come to Israel’s aid in Congress

The Trump-Netanyahu wing of the Democratic Party took aim Thursday at the Obama administration by helping pass a House resolution condemning the recent UN vote calling on Israel to stop building settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

The measure in Congress labeled UN Security Council Resolution 2334 “an obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace.”

For this wing of the party, Palestinians are expendable.

This has long been the case for the majority of US lawmakers, but this early bipartisan initiative signals that despite alarm-ringing about Trump, many Democrats will fail to stand up for human rights once the president-elect takes office.

The overall vote for the House resolution was 342-80. A majority of Democrats (109) joined with all but a handful of Republicans to back the measure, while 76 Democrats voted against it.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/michael-f-brown/trump-netanyahu-democrats-come-israels-aid-congress

Partners in delusion?

Two slaps, one more resounding than the other, hit Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of 2016: the first was the abstention of the US in a UN Security Council vote on a resolution denouncing West Bank settlements. This is the first such abstention on the issue of Israeli settlements since 1983, as the United States has consistently exercised its right of veto to crush initiatives critical of Israeli policy. The second slap was the statement by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who criticized the Israeli policy of colonial occupation and warned of its long-term implications for the future of Israel.
http://alternativenews.org/index.php/comment/316-partners-in-delusion

Kerry’s Speech: America Lost in Two-State Ether, Israel Spied on Nations Supporting UN Vote

Today, Secretary of State John Kerry gave a valedictory address on the Obama administration’s efforts to achieve Israel-Palestine peace. There were several strange aspects of the speech serving as background.

First, he gave the speech at the State Department. An odd choice if you want your words to have a special impact in the world. Giving it in the hermetically sealed environment of Foggy Bottom gives the impression that you’ve already given up on the possibility they will go forth and have an impact outside its walls.
https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2016/12/29/kerrys-speech-america-lost-middle-east-ether/

Palestinians: Kerry speech too little, too late

Palestinians generally welcomed the speech delivered by US Secretary of State John Kerry Dec. 28, although they also felt it was more geared toward defending the anti-settlement vote on Dec. 23 at the UN Security Council than presenting a bold, new initiative. A short, seven-minute excerpt, temporarily posted on the State Department website, features the highlights of the speech in terms of why the United States abstained on Resolution 2334, affirming the illegality of Israeli settlements. The 73-minute speech, delivered in the State Department’s Dean Acheson Auditorium, appeared particularly aimed at saving Israel from itself in making a last ditch effort to save the two-state solution.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/01/kerry-speech-palestinians-israel-settlements.html

Palestine 2017: Time to bid farewell to Washington and embrace the globe

There is no doubt that the UN Security Council condemnation of Israel on Friday, December 23, was an important and noteworthy event.

True, the United Nations’ main chambers (the Security Council and the General Assembly) and its various institutions, ranging from the International Court of Justice to the UN cultural agency, UNESCO, have repeatedly condemned the Israeli occupation, illegal Jewish settlements and mistreatment of Palestinians.

In fact, unlike the Dec. 23 resolution 2334, the past UN condemnations were far stronger -- for some resolutions did not just demand an immediate halt of illegal Jewish settlement construction, but the removal of existing settlements as well.

There are up to 196 illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land, in addition to hundreds of settler outposts. These settlements host up to 600,000 Jewish settlers, who were moved there in violation of international law and, in particular, the Fourth Geneva Convention.

But what makes this particular resolution important?
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774664