Israeli police evict Jewish settlers from center of West Bank's Hebron

Sebastian Scheiner/AP

A Jewish settler is stopped at a checkpoint manned by Israeli border police near a house illegally occupied by settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron, Wednesday.

Israeli police evicted Jewish settlers Wednesday from a building they said they had bought from a Palestinian in the heart of the West Bank city of Hebron, a frequent flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The presence of the 15 settlers in the two-story structure had caused divisions within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's mainly right-wing cabinet, where Defense Minister Ehud Barak, leader of a centrist party, has pushed for eviction.


Netanyahu had asked Barak to give the settlers more time so they could present legal evidence of their claim to ownership of the building, which has been disputed by Palestinian authorities. But defense officials said they had entered without the approval of Israeli security authorities in a particularly sensitive area in the occupied West Bank.

A statement issued by Barak's office hours before the eviction said the government had a duty to "uphold the rule of law."

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, a member of the Palestinian Parliament and leader of the Palestinian non-violent protest movement, joins UP w/ Chris Hayes from the Occupied West Bank where he is leading a peaceful movement that is rarely seen in U.S. media coverage.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police and paramilitary border police carried out the eviction in accordance with a government decision.

Rosenfeld said security forces met no resistance during the operation.

The settlers had sought to expand a settlement of some 500 Israelis in the heart of Hebron, a biblical city that is home to about 250,000 Palestinians and where enmity between the two groups runs high.

Burial site of Abraham
The biblical city is home to the traditional burial site of Abraham, the shared patriarch of both Jews and Muslims, and the only place where Jews live in the heart of a West Bank city. It has been a focus of Israeli-Arab violence for decades.

Though politically strong, Netanyahu has faced questions within his Likud party and other right-wing coalition partners about his commitment to the settlers, many of whom see themselves as exercising a Jewish birthright to biblical land.

In an announcement issued just minutes before the settlers were removed from the building, Netanyahu said he would soon ask the government to grant formal status to three West Bank settler outposts built more than a decade ago without state permission.

Netanyahu's move to approve those outposts retroactively raised speculation he was trying to mollify settler leaders angered by the Hebron eviction.

About 500,000 Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas which, along with the Gaza Strip, were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

Most world powers deem the Jewish settlements illegal and Palestinians fear their presence will deny them a viable state. Israel disputes this and has vowed to keep major settlement blocs under any eventual peace accord with the Palestinians.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

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Discuss this post

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I wonder what is going to happen when Israelis start "settlements" in Egypt?

  • 9 votes
#1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 9:56 AM EDT

Bro, The Israelis did. In Sinai. And then they evacuated and destroyed the settlements as part of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty. You knew that, didn't you?

  • 12 votes
#1.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:44 AM EDT

Key note on the story i think you missed .

Israeli police evicted Jewish settlers Wednesday from a building they said they had BOUGHT from a Palestinian in the heart of the West Bank city of Hebron.

Same thing different day. They sell the land and then go back on the deal because to them the deal is not valid because its a jew. People do not understand the culture

  • 8 votes
#1.2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 11:19 AM EDT
Comment author avatarKaci-1919926Expand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

And if you believe that the Israeli's BOUGHT this building from the Palestinian's then you're a fool. The settlers don't BUY anything, they TAKE. And they won't be happy until they TAKE every bit of land from the Palestinians's. The Israeli's have many things in common with the Nazi's.

  • 23 votes
#1.3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:04 PM EDT

When will these God fearing people stop fighting? They may need to quit fear and embrace the planet and the rest of humanity instead of trying SO HARD to eliminate us all.

  • 3 votes
#1.4 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:11 PM EDT

@John, what about all the villages, all the farms that the Palistinians have been "evicted" from? Let's remember that the Israeli authorities DID NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING from them, they just forced them from their generational villages and farms. If you're going to look at one side of the picture may I suggest that you also look at the other side--never mind, it's probably too difficult for you to do.

@Kaci, you're damned right!

  • 17 votes
#1.5 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:19 PM EDT

My dream is Israeli's and Palestinians living together in peace.... May you all be blessed with friendship and peace.... amen.

  • 14 votes
#1.6 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:56 PM EDT

This smells more like there is some kind of deal in the works. Who is kidding who here ???? Israel would never do this on it's own . There must be something in it for Israel or this would never have happened.

  • 2 votes
#1.7 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:05 PM EDT

@Kaci & Allison, when studying for my degree in history, I must have missed the part where the Jews murdered 5 million nazis. Hmm, nope, I can't even find it on Google. Has it ever occured to you that the Israelis were evicted from their ancestral homeland by the palistinians/arabs/persians? Do you honestly think Nebacanezzar told the Hebrews, "Sorry guys! Now go back where you came from, and good luck!". What idiocy.

  • 2 votes
#1.8 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:06 PM EDT

The "settlers" do NOT buy but just take and kill. The sooner iran deals with israel the better and We cannot fight YET ANOTHER War for this little race who disrespects God and EVERYONE ELSE. We have been in the middle east wars for over 10 years for israel's convenience anf profit.

  • 5 votes
#1.9 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:39 PM EDT

@John and @Kaci - The Israelis may have "bought" the land, but the sale was illegal, making the sale invalid. Kinda like if someone tried to sell me a public school. Thank goodness I didn't fall for it! ;-)

  • 3 votes
#1.10 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:53 PM EDT

Hats off to these Israeli police for doing the right thing by removing these squatters... ooops, I mean "settlers" until legitimacy of ownership can be established.

  • 9 votes
#1.11 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:10 PM EDT

Some of you seem uncomfortable with actual facts, because they don't fit your politics. One mentioned that there must be something in this for the Israelis or they wouldn't do this. They've done it over and over. They uniliaterally evicted all the settlements in Gaza (look it up); unilaterally here means WITH NOTHING IN RETURN. They have evicted dozens of settlements set up without government sanction - it's not false, just because you don't want to believe it. Some mentioned "they" don't pay for anything, they just take. Look up actual history on the origins of zionism. Most of the land originally planned to be Israel was purchased from Arabs; it got so huge, that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (leader of the Arabs in Palestine at the time) had to issue an "order" to not sell any more land to Jews. Of course, they still consider ALL this land "Muslim" land and theirs, regardless of all the land sales. Someone here apparently had no knowledge of the entire Sinai history - where as soon as Egypt agreed to recognize Israel and signed a peace treaty THEY IMMEDIATELY GOT THE ENTIRE SINAI BACK AND ALL SETTLEMENTS FORCIBLY REMOVED BY THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT. Fact. Don't like that do you? It doesn't fit with your preconceptions due to your ignorance of history; it's long and complicated, but if you don't want to spend the time to learn ALL of it (or at least most) then your opinions will have exactly that much value (and, just like all opinions based on ignorance, potentially dangerous.)

  • 7 votes
#1.12 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:14 PM EDT

Tura:

If I steal your wallet and gave all your IDs back and still keep the wallet , money and ask nothing is return, you will rejoice and thank me for that. Won't you?

  • 4 votes
#1.13 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:30 PM EDT

What a fairy tale you tell, Tura. Here are some truths, from the lips of Zionist leaders. It appears you have no knowledge of the Sinai history. The claim of Russian and other Eastern European Jews having the right to live in Arab lands and claim them as their own, is a travesty.

"If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel.
It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us,
but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti -
Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault ? They see but
one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept
that?"
David Ben Gurion (first Israeli PM, quoted by Nahum Goldmann
in Le Paraddoxe Juif (The Jewish Paradox), pp121.

"We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, and
the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab
population."

Israel Koenig, "The Koenig Memorandum"

"It is the duty of Israeli leaders to explain to public opinion,
clearly and courageously, a certain number of facts that are forgotten with
time. The first of these is that there is no Zionism, colonialization or Jewish
State without the eviction of the Arabs and the expropriation of their
lands."

Yoram Bar Porath, Yediot Aahronot, of 14 July 1972.

  • 5 votes
#1.14 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:30 PM EDT

To Raj and Ralph: I notice neither of you were able to refute anything of a factual nature from my post. Additionally, it is easy to pull quotes out of context and I could do the same. Like the Ben-Gurion quote, where if you know the whole thing, he is referring to how the Palestinians see things, not how he believes things are in reality. Instead of pulling individual quotes out of context, you should try reading MANY books, old and contemporary, by three groups of people: Those with a Palestinian point of view, those with an Israeli point of view, and those with an (ostensibly) neutral point of view. They will be not just be coming from different points of view, but will be concerned with different issues, and they'll be asking different questions. Unless you are very familiar with ALL THREE of these categories, and have studied all three, your opinions on these matters (even though you are entitled to them) don't have much value - this is such a complicated history, that this kind of knowledge is critical to forming valuable opinions. That doesn't mean you will come to the same conclusions I have; just that you've done the requisite work to become informed. If you leave any of these points of view out, or give any of them short shrift compared to the others, you are fooling yourself. No one but you will necessarily know how ignorant you really are if you dont' do this, but YOU WILL KNOW. Edward Said is one place of many to start from the Palestinian point of view (their hundreds, if not thousands to choose from, so choose well), Howard Sachar is one starting point (of equally many) for an Israeli point of view, and I will leave you to find the few objective ones. There are actually are some objective ones, because their authors are not necessarily interested in the political conflict itself, but in documenting particular results having to do with education, propoganda, health, human rights, legal representation, etc. and don't have a 'dog' in the fight so to speak. If you don't care enough about the issue to have studied for a thousand hours (at least), that's fine. But don't pretend your opinions are based on an educated awareness of this complicated situation.

  • 6 votes
#1.15 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 4:29 PM EDT

Ralph, Didn't we decide months ago that your so-called quotes are fake or taken out of context. Tell me more about "Chairman Heilbrun".

  • 4 votes
#1.16 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 4:36 PM EDT

No yudl2, we decided nothing of the kind. Thanks to the internet, Americans can see the true character of Israeli leaders. They are monsters, thieves and terrorists.

To Tura - You provided no facts. How can anyone prove a negative. Prove to me you didn't purchase some land. It is your burden to provide proof Jews bought all the Arab land comprising Israel. Let us see the deeds. I am sure some land was purchased, but certainly not entire towns.

"The first of these is that there is no Zionism, colonialization or Jewish
State without the eviction of the Arabs and the expropriation of their
lands."

"Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not
even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you because
geography books no longer exist. Not only do the books not exist, the Arab
villages are not there either. Nahlal arose in the place of Mahlul; Kibbutz
Gvat in the place of Jibta; Kibbutz Sarid in the place of Huneifis; and Kefar
Yehushua in the place of Tal al-Shuman. There is not a single place built in
this country that did not have a former Arab population."

Moshe Dayan, address to the Technion, Haifa, reported in
Haaretz, April 4, 1969.

On the 6th of February 1948, during a Mapai Party Council, Ben-Gurion responded to a remark
from a member of the audience that “we have no land there” [in the hills and
mountains west of Jerusalem] by saying: “The war will give us the land. The
concepts of “ours” and “not ours” are peace concepts, only, and in war they
lose their whole meaning”
By: Ben-Gurion

Source: Ben-Gurion's War Diary, Vol. 1,
entry dated 6 February 1948. p.211

It sure doesn't sound like Ben-Gurion was out to purchase the land, does it? Is the quote out of context? If so, give us the full quote. I have noticed that there are now new Jewish websites devoted to putting a new spin on old quotes.

  • 3 votes
#1.17 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 9:07 PM EDT

And Ralphie, don't forget to tell us once again that the Jews killed Jesus...and never mind those two recent Popes who said the Jews must not be blamed.

  • 4 votes
#1.18 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 9:34 PM EDT

yep, the jew-haters are out in full force. full of lies and short of facts, as usual

  • 4 votes
#1.19 - Thu Apr 5, 2012 3:17 AM EDT

Tura:

If I steal your wallet and gave all your IDs back and still keep the wallet , money and ask nothing is return, you will rejoice and thank me for that. Won't you?

hey raj, you mean after you already tried to murder me three times? ( and got your ass handed to you each time)

might as well tell the whole story

  • 3 votes
#1.20 - Thu Apr 5, 2012 3:25 AM EDT

The following is gleaned from a comprehensive article. "Legal Chaos" by
Akiva Bigman published in the 18 May edition of Makor Rishon.
Contact IMRA@NETVISISION.NET.IL for the article as a pdf.

Makor Rishon has developed into a quality publication rivaling and at times
exceeding the depth of the Hebrew print edition of Haaretz.

Section 1 - How a Jewish owned home in Hebron blocked from use by Jews.

Joseph Ezra's father owned a home in Hebron. When the Jordanian Legion
captured the city in 1948 all the assets of Jews were put under the control
of the National Custodian, under the title 'Enemy Property'. There are
dozens of such buildings in Hebron. The properties were leased out to Arabs.
In this case as stores.

In 1967 when Hebron came under Israeli rule the leases to the Arabs were
continued by the Israeli authorities.

The Israeli authorities approved erection of a large apartment house above
the stores called "House of Nahum and Yehuda" . In 2001 it was decided for
security reasons to close the Arab market place and move it - with full
compensation to the store owners - to the Arab part of town.

The property remained empty. After repeated requests of the Jewish
community to use the assets were not answered, a few families entered the
empty property and renovated it, turning the property into proper homes.In
2007 an eviction order was issued. The eviction was appealed to the military
appeals committee, which functions as a kind of court of appeals with regard
to decisions of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria. The
committee observed that it was the obligation of the authorities, as
custodian for the property, to insure that beneficial use comes from it and
that in contrast to the abandoned buildings near it that were in disrepair,
the property in question had been improved and under the circumstances "the
correct and effective use of the property is to allow families to live in
the shops ... ".

Following the instruction of the military appeals committee, the Jewish
community in Hebron- together with Joseph Ezra - submitted a request for an
orderly take over the property. The Civil Administration in Judea and
Samaria ruled that while the military appeals committee was indeed the
format for appealing their decisions that the rulings of the committee were
not binding and could be overruled by the Civil Administration and the
request was denied.

In November 2010 Peace Now petitioned along with the Arab merchants to
remove the Jews from the property.

Section 2 - How rules for agricultural land ownership changed

One common way to to register the ownership of land in Judea and Samaria is
by applying the provision of Ottoman law, that if someone held land for ten
consecutive years without opposition he owns the property. In fact, the
ownership of much of the privately held land inside the Green Line was
established this way.

This method of property transfer is especially useful in the case of
Palestinians who face the death penalty for selling land to Jews. This way
money crosses between the parties and all the Palestinian has to do is keep
quiet for ten years.

In a move to undermine this procedure, Mr. Mike Blass, who serves as Deputy
Attorney General, filed with the Supreme Court that "at present ... the
seizure of land ... is seen as a forbidden and immoral, and as a basis for
anarchy." Blass asked the court to not only bar the future use of the ten
consecutive year provision to record future property ownership but to void
the ownership registrations made to date in Judea and Samaria (by Jews) on
this basis.

At the same time, Captain Ronit Levin, acting as the legal advisor to the
West Bank Military Prosecutor's Office, issued a series of orders and
directives to strip the ten year rule. She ruled that the ten year count
begins again each time a farmer changes the type of crop that he grows on
the land.

Two months ago the Supreme Court upheld this position.

Ronit Levin also came up with an additional legal innovation, called a
"disturbing use" order. It allows the Civil Administration to rule that a
person's possession of property is illegitimate because it may raise
political or security issues. The Civil Administration is not required to
provide any documentation to support the "disturbing use" order.

This order was first issued by the Civil Administration against residents of
the "House of Contention" in Hebron four years ago.

According to lawyer Bezalel Smotritz of the Regavim movement this order has
been used this order twenty time.

The combination of these innovations is a pincer movement which threatens
almost every Jewish farmer in the West Bank.

    #1.21 - Wed Jun 6, 2012 11:37 AM EDT
    Reply

    Just more extremist polluting the world. It really is toxic to humanity and will most definitely lead us to WW3.

    • 8 votes
    Reply#2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:20 AM EDT

    A peaceful removal of settlers, no one hurt.

    The Arabs should try to behave the same way.

    • 5 votes
    #3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:28 AM EDT

    It's unfair to compare 15 people given time to move with hundreds of people given no warning before their homes were bulldozed.

    • 12 votes
    #3.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 11:30 AM EDT

    A peaceful removal of settlers. The settlers shouldn't have to be removed at all because they shouldn't be there in the first place. Read a history book or two instead of getting all your information through online snippets or the pro-Israeli lies that your government tells you.

    • 12 votes
    #3.2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:09 PM EDT

    suggest you look up history. especially anything related to conquered land... Show me one time in history where an attacked nation won a war and was made to give back land? your hate is showing..

    • 6 votes
    #3.3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:17 PM EDT

    Show me in history where a people were given a country by a world body. Israel only exists because the world allowed it.

    • 8 votes
    #3.4 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:27 PM EDT

    Conquered land? Again, I suggest that you read a history book because I don't believe you have any idea how Israel became a state, Israels relationship with the Palestinian's prior to 1948, or what is happening in Israel today. And I do hate; I hate stupid.

    • 6 votes
    #3.5 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:50 PM EDT

    Jeffrey - It is you who needs a history lesson. Think WW1, WWII, even Iraq and Afghanistan. It is against ALL international law, as decided at the Geneva conventions which both the US and Israel have signed on to, that it is illegal to access land acquired in a war. That is why not a single country, not one including the US, sees the settlements as anything other than illegal.

    • 5 votes
    #3.6 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:38 PM EDT

    As well as wasting "goyim", Fine Young Christian American Men's lives fighting israel's wars for them, israel's henchman, aipac, has our Politicos on crapital hill pass legislation making US, We American Taxpayers, pay for everything for those B@$T@ARDS. We HAVE to pay for israel's UniversalHealthCareSystem, amongst the best in the world including Medical and meds and psychiatric plus meds and Full dental implants, meds and all! While We are thrown to the "mercy" of the "health" Insurance industry which the RepublicanCrimeCartelSoldiers like MittTaxPittanceRommel, The Vomitorium, THE Gangrene, THE BONER , M!tchTh'B!tchMcConMan and Many Many More. We Americans are living Under the Fist of The zionist police state which israel has Put On Us. Time to be Free From solomon's seal.

    • 6 votes
    #3.7 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:54 PM EDT
    Comment author avatarlatekateExpand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

    Screw the over-breeders in Palestine they expect everyone else in the world to pay for their children's shoes. They can't even give their mini-Hitlers a proper education, Kaci-Fatima is a perfect example of their ignorance. People that practice honor killing and Polygyny will get no sympathy or support from me.

    MICKEY MOUSE TEACHES KIDS TO COMMIT TERRORISM IN PALESTINE

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzlFPm7bymY

    • 3 votes
    #3.8 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:03 PM EDT

    People that practice honor killing and Polygyny will get no sympathy or support from me.

    Sheesh.

    • 1 vote
    #3.9 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:41 PM EDT

    Is that all you have to say?

    The Palestinian Authority, using a clause in the Jordanian penal code still in effect in the West Bank, exempts men from punishment for killing a female relative if she has brought dishonor to the family.[66]Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, promised to change the discriminatory law, but no action has been taken. According to UNICEF, in 2000 two-thirds of all killings in the Palestinian territories were honor killings.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honour_killing

    Marriage law for Muslims in the Palestinian territories is governed by customary law, of the Hanafi school, which explicitly permits polygyny, which is the practice of a husband being permitted to have more than one wife.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_in_the_Palestinian_territories

    • 1 vote
    #3.10 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 3:21 PM EDT

    They can't even give their mini-Hitlers a proper education, Kaci-Fatima is a perfect example of their ignorance.

    latekate, don't compare fellow Viners to Hitler. You know the rules. You're suspended for a month for violating #1 of the Code of Honor.

    Above all else, respect others. Address issues and arguments and refrain from making personal attacks.

    • 4 votes
    #3.11 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 5:50 PM EDT

    Yup. Your screed about "over-breeders" and "mini-hitlers" completely invalidates any point you might wish to make. Half the murders of spouses in the U.S. could be perceived to be "honor killing" if the reason for the act was infidelity, and we've got a man running for President who's grandparents fled the country in order to continue following their pro-polygamy religion.

      #3.12 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 5:57 PM EDT

      Ped,the point was the honor killings are LEGAL in Palestinian territories. They are capital CRIMES. in America. There really IS a difference.

      • 2 votes
      #3.13 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 9:42 PM EDT

      actually the comment about "over-breeders" is dead on too

      the average number of kids in a palestinian family is 6.5, we can be as green as we want, and with numbers like that , none of our efforts will mean jack spit. they're almost as bad as the duggars

      • 1 vote
      #3.14 - Thu Apr 5, 2012 3:35 AM EDT

      Cassandra, until we stop demonizing the radicalized element in places like Palestine and Afghanistan, we get nowhere. Education and a higher standard of living would curtail some of these antiquated belief systems in many cases. It's like saying that the cities of Iran are the same as the mountain villages.

      Dan - they're not "over-breeding" for the fun of it - they perceive it to be a survival thing. When you couple that with lack of education and family planning, you've got 6.5 kids as an average.

        #3.15 - Thu Apr 5, 2012 12:31 PM EDT

        tyler

        They can't even give their mini-Hitlers a proper education, Kaci-Fatima is a perfect example of their ignorance.

        latekate, don't compare fellow Viners to Hitler. You know the rules. You're suspended for a month for violating #1 of the Code of Honor.

        Above all else, respect others. Address issues and arguments and refrain from making personal attacks.

        • 3

        • !

        #3.11 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:50 PM PDT

        Fine, but here is Proof of Newsvine's constistant non-consistant moderation.
        Check out the posts of HughClass++ .....post's following the article "Israel asks Arabs visiting to open emails for search"subject to this one is linked to.

          #3.16 - Wed Jun 6, 2012 11:48 AM EDT

          Hugh Class+-+

          Casaandra = a lying, two faced bigot jew.....

          Cassandar = an israeli firster and a first class American traitor.....

          • !

          #106.1 - Wed Jun 6, 2012 6:17 AM PDT

          Cassandra-854239

          In other words, Hugh No Class does not have an answer for my rather obvious question: What would the United States do in a similar situation?

          • 2

          • !

          #106.2 - Wed Jun 6, 2012 6:57 AM PDT

          Hugh Class+-+

          Im not debating airport security...Im just bashing jews...

          • !

          #106.3 - Wed Jun 6, 2012 7:22 AM PDT

          thiis is one of his tame posts. This dude's been running rampant scot-free for days.

            #3.17 - Wed Jun 6, 2012 11:57 AM EDT

            Shekel Trader = re-reg of Hugh++

              #3.18 - Thu Jun 7, 2012 10:15 PM EDT
              Reply

              Unfortunately, only a token display of any kind of control over settlement misbehavior. Until the Israeli government truly stops settlement actions and treats the Palestinians the way the Israelis insist on being treated will there be progress on peace.

              • 16 votes
              Reply#4 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:31 AM EDT

              Sick, When do you think the Palestinians will treat the Israelis the way the Palestinians insist on being treated?

              • 5 votes
              #4.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:47 AM EDT

              When the Israeli's give back the land they stole. Until then the Israeli's will always have to watch their back.

              • 12 votes
              #4.2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:52 AM EDT

              When the Israeli's give back the land they stole.

              Israel didn't steal anything.

              • 12 votes
              #4.3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 11:14 AM EDT

              It doesn't matter what Israel cedes to the Palestinians. They will never accept any sort of Israeli state in that area. Both sides are literally battling for survival and the Palestinians are losing.

              A two-state solution would be best, but it won't happen because of the generational hatred bred on both sides.

              • 8 votes
              #4.4 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 11:21 AM EDT

              Steven, what do you mean? Israel keeps stealing land from the Palestinians and forcing them off it. They've been doing it for over 50 years!

              • 12 votes
              #4.5 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 11:31 AM EDT

              To quote The Fifth Element, "evil begets evil... Until both sides take a little soma, have a group hug and stop listening to the far right (one of the worst causes of disharmony in the world today), evil will be done unto one another.

              • 3 votes
              #4.6 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:08 PM EDT
              Reply

              I am so sick of hearing about jewish settlements encroaching everywhere, yet Israel claims they want to live in peace. Go back to your original borders (pre 67) and broker a peace deal to create the Palestinian state and be done with it. It seems like the jewish government has taken a page out of Hitler's playbook and envoked "Lebensraum" I use to be on the side of Israel but now I am just disgusted with them, either get with the program and do what it takes to make an agreement or just kill each other, either way the world is sick of hearing about your endless bickering.

              • 22 votes
              Reply#5 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:31 AM EDT

              John, How about brokering a peace, and then go back to the pre-67 armistice lines if necessary.

              • 6 votes
              #5.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:50 AM EDT

              Of course, lines in the sand are just that lines. It matters not. What is important is the fact that both Israel and Palestine have a right to exist as all people do. I take no sides in regards to who is right or wrong on borders, just that both governments have a duty to find a solution to peacefully coexist. Neither side is going anywhere so either deal with it or destroy each other, these are the only true options, anything else is just delaying the inevitable.

              • 8 votes
              #5.2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 11:08 AM EDT

              What is important is the fact that both Israel and Palestine have a right to exist as all people do.

              Inaccurate.

              The West Bank formerly belonged to Jordan. Gaza was Egypt.

              Neither wants the land (or their inhabitants) returned.

              Ever wonder why?

              • 8 votes
              #5.3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 11:15 AM EDT

              Religion is the irons that stoke the fires of war. A smart goverment would not want anything to do with land considered holy and coveted by religious fanatics otherwise they envite unrest and turmoil. It is in their best interests to not want it.

              • 6 votes
              #5.4 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 11:31 AM EDT

              Inaccurate. by your logic Israel has no legitimate right to exist as it was part of the Ottoman empire. The Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Babylonians. Israel exists and today Gaza and the West bank and east Jerusalem belong to Palestine.

              • 1 vote
              #5.5 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:25 PM EDT

              Barrett, minor correction - Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians, Kingdom of Judea was destroyed by the Babylonians. When the Persians conquered Babylonia, they permitted the Jews to return and rebuild the Land of Israel.

              • 4 votes
              #5.6 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:49 PM EDT

              Steven, your post is inaccurate. Gaza and the West Bank were to be Palestinian land under the British Mandate and UN resolution. It did not "belong" to Egypt and Jordan.

              • 1 vote
              #5.7 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:22 PM EDT

              raddave, But no one complained about the illegal Egyptian or Jordanian military occupation, and the suppression of Palestinian rights from 1948 to 1967.

              • 3 votes
              #5.8 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 4:40 PM EDT

              But no one complained about the illegal Egyptian or Jordanian military occupation, and the suppression of Palestinian rights from 1948 to 1967.

              that's because the arabs don't actually give a spit about the palestinians, they just want them as pawns to exterminate Israel. ever wonder why the UN refugee authority never has attempted to relocate palestinian refugees, yet has attempted to relocate refugees from nearly every other conflict and dispute in the world?

              • 1 vote
              #5.9 - Thu Apr 5, 2012 3:44 AM EDT
              Reply

              I find it hard to have much sympathy for the ever encroaching settlements. Does it come down to some peace or some piece of more land?

              • 8 votes
              Reply#6 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:32 AM EDT

              Land is all that matters to the Israeli's and winning. They won't be happy until they've eliminated every Palestinian from the region. Perhaps the Israeli's should set up concentration camps and round up all the Palestinian's and put them in these concentration camps. Although I guess that would be too obvious and they already have the Palestinian's pretty much bottled up anyway. It didn't take long at all for the oppressed to become the oppressors.

              • 8 votes
              #6.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:19 PM EDT

              Kaci, that's basically what Israel has been doing and wishes to continue, stealing land. Meanwhile our government gives them our tax dollar.

              • 6 votes
              #6.2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:30 PM EDT

              Kaci, so you would prefer if the Israelis lost?

              • 1 vote
              #6.3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:51 PM EDT

              Lost? No, merely abide by international law.

              • 4 votes
              #6.4 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:23 PM EDT

              The main culprits are the people of Isreal. It's like this: the left hand kill people to push the people off the land so a jewish settlement can be build. Meanwhile, the right hand make nice with the people and buys some land to have jewish settlement. In both of cases, the left hand and the right hand are representative of the jewish settlers. I find that odd that such a reality can be proven. Why fight when you can buy? Is this some kind of political trap to continue the fighting?

                #6.5 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:39 PM EDT

                Land is all that matters to the Israeli's

                Then why did they abandon Gaza?

                • 1 vote
                #6.6 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 5:52 PM EDT

                Then why did they abandon Gaza?

                or the entire Sinai peninsula for that matter.

                but the jew-haters can't accept little facts like that, it must be entirely Israels fault to fit their propaganda and agenda of destroying Israel.

                • 1 vote
                #6.7 - Thu Apr 5, 2012 7:51 PM EDT
                Reply

                very unlikely these settlers have any legal claim to the land. This is more of their encroachment and selfish behavior in infringing on other people.

                • 7 votes
                Reply#7 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:41 AM EDT

                While i agree that Israel will have to give up the settlements to have a chance at peace( not sure that anything will actually appease the Palestinians and or Hamas) I do wonder at the attitude that Israel is wrong here? Through out history countries have annexed lands that they won in war, and let's not forget that the war in 67 was not started by Israel but rather by several nations bonding together in an effort to extinguish the State of Israel.

                • 8 votes
                Reply#8 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:43 AM EDT

                Well for one thing the war 67 years ago has been OVER a loooong time. You don't get to keep taking and taking. And in case you forgot, civilized people don't have wars to expand their borders for a long time.

                • 4 votes
                #8.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 11:34 AM EDT

                Through out history countries have annexed lands that they won in war, and let's not forget that the war in 67 was not started by Israel but rather by several nations bonding together in an effort to extinguish the State of Israel.

                Incorrect.

                Israel preemptively struck at the forces massing near their borders; however, they were not attacked first. So, technically, they did start the war.

                • 4 votes
                #8.2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:20 PM EDT

                Alverant, your right 67 was a long time ago, yet the arab nations continue to attack on a constant basis. and the land your talking about was won in that war. I do agree that for any peace to happen Israel will have to be the first country in history to give back land. I truly doubt that there will ever be peace because the Arab nations don't want it. every attempt by Israel to achieve peace has been thwarted. No matter what the Jew's have agreed to the Arab's have come back and said not enough.. try and explain to me why in a negotiations only one group of people are being required to capitulate? I always thought negotiations were a two way street

                • 6 votes
                #8.3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:25 PM EDT

                Jersey, come back to now. Jewish people were just evicted for taking something that didn't belong to them are you with us?

                • 4 votes
                #8.4 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:33 PM EDT

                I've got an idea...who cares?

                Let these animals wipe themselves off the face of this earth. Or maybe let them figure out how to be peaceful. Maybe even try to butt the hell out of everyone else's affairs. Hey that's an idea.

                • 1 vote
                #8.5 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:49 PM EDT

                Jersey, since the UN was founded, it has been illegal for one country to annex territory from another, even if won in combat. The Six Day War was started by Israel, who "preemptively" attacked its neighbors.

                • 4 votes
                #8.6 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:26 PM EDT
                Reply

                There are extremists in every government and they are the ones responsible for most hostilities between nations.

                May Israel remain the most technologically advanced country in the Middle East with the most advanced military and may Jerusalem remain the undivided capital forever. All of Jerusalem is rightfully theirs.

                One must not forget that the Arabs had the option of creating a Palestinian state at the time Israel was formed and recognized as a state. They declined. One must also not forget that Muslims have forced Jews out of their countries and confiscated their land and dwellings. Anyone with common sense will come to the conclusion that Israel needs settlements in the West Bank if Israel is going to be able to defend itself from the Muslim terror that originates in the West Bank.

                The Jewish citizens of Israel simply want to live in peace within secure borders. Most Muslims in the Middle East have no tolerance for Jews and would prefer that they all be exterminated.

                • 9 votes
                Reply#9 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:46 AM EDT

                Jerusalem is not rightfully Israel's. It is occupied land, just like parts of Gaza, the West Bank and Golan Heights.

                • 2 votes
                #9.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:33 PM EDT

                Also, your point about Most Muslims having no tolerance for Jews, is a lie. They might not have tolerance for Israel, the country. But, not for Jews. You have to separate the two.

                • 1 vote
                #9.2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 3:47 PM EDT

                if the Israeli and Palestinian are not there. who's next to be the victim of bully? The years of fighting spirit has created a presence of a dummy to be kick-ed around. The aggression is part of social evolution of the region. Did anyone saw to ask? an Imam? a Pope? a humble farmer with a lot of time before harvest?

                whomever will ask, the answer is: b for business.

                  #9.3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 7:38 PM EDT
                  Reply

                  Screw the Jewish "birthright" to any land. Their dogma is no better than any other skanky anti-social religion.

                  • 6 votes
                  Reply#10 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:46 AM EDT

                  And screw your right to the land you live on. It belonged to someone else long ago.

                  • 11 votes
                  #10.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 10:52 AM EDT

                  Anyone who claims a birthright to land is crazy. If you pay for it, it is yours. I could jot down some crap in a book that makes the world mine. That doesnt make it so or true. Their best argument is spoils of war, but even most countries return conquered territory, or we would have japan, italy, and germany as additional states or territories. Occupations have to end sometime.

                  • 6 votes
                  #10.2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 11:16 AM EDT

                  If Israel continues to allow for "expansion" then of course they must accept the consequences that come with it. They are just this side of becoming Nazi's, hell let's face it most of those people came from Europe after WWII and currently quite a few are coming from this country...then claiming Palestine lands? Give me a break already.

                  • 3 votes
                  #10.3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:38 PM EDT

                  "Anyone who claims a birthright to land is crazy. If you pay for it, it is yours." That sounds like it came right out of Andrew Jackson's playbook! Except for the paying for it part. You anglo's are funny, "if I have an important looking piece of paper saying this land is mine, then by God it is mine!", despite that fact that people have inhabited that land for thousands of years. @Allison, are you with Media Matters? Your hate sounds a lot like the dribble they espouse everyday. Hopefully you're not a Morman as well, because of my native heritage, it would make me a member of the "lost tribe of Israel"...

                    #10.4 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:21 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    All of the death and destruction in Palestine results from the racist belief that the jewish religion entitles those who profess it to a "birthright" to steal the homes and homeland of Palestinians. This is compounded by the actions of the U.S. government which arms and funds the brutal occupation and oppression in direct and deliberate violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Not another penny, not another bullet, not another drop of American blood for jewish rule of Palestine.

                    • 7 votes
                    Reply#11 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 11:16 AM EDT

                    Well @!$%#. Is that how it works?

                    Well, lets go on back to those original 13 colonies---oh, wait, hold on, technically that land was "stolen" from the British during the Revolutionary War.

                    You and your anti semetic birth right drivel seem to forget that that's how things work--you fight for land, you win, you keep the land. It's not Palestinian land to begin with. The land was Egypt's and Jordan's respectively. Per your logic, you have no right to the land you "own" so time to pack it up. Maybe move on over the Palestine and fight for their "worthy" cause. I'm sure they've got enough rocks so you can participate.

                    • 4 votes
                    #11.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:17 PM EDT

                    Preach it, girl. Ever heard of our American "manifest destiny" Bob? And citing the First Amendment as prohibiting aid to a foreign ally? Please tell me you're not a lawyer.

                    • 2 votes
                    #11.2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:31 PM EDT

                    Hopefully he's not, but I am :P

                    Our lovely little Constitution only applies to the USA. Nowhere else. Oops.

                    • 4 votes
                    #11.3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:38 PM EDT

                    @Emanuelle, when was the last time there was a war and the land was just "taken"? This is not 67 years ago, this is not even the 20th century.

                    • 1 vote
                    #11.4 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:41 PM EDT

                    Since when does the time it occurs have anything to do with it? So it was okay for Americans to take the land from the Native Americans, and it was okay for the British, Dutch, and French to take the land from the Africans, and it was perfectly okay for them to take the land from the Carribean people, becaues let's face it--awesome vacationing there. Who cares, it was before 1967 right? Perfectly legit. And lest we forget, the former USSR in it's Soviet Block did just take land and that was in the 20th century.

                    The argument lacks logic. Egypt and Jordan went to war with Israel, Israel won. It's not Egypt and Jordan crying to their UN mommy that they want the land back--they don't. Period. The timing of it is inconsequential.

                    • 5 votes
                    #11.5 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:57 PM EDT

                    @emanuelle, well said.

                    • 2 votes
                    #11.6 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:24 PM EDT

                    Emanuelle, how dare you call anyone who is not on Israel's side as "anti-Semitic." Arabs are also "Semitic" people. You reactionaries can't seem to separate Israel from Judaism.

                    • 2 votes
                    #11.7 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:35 PM EDT

                    Emanuelle

                    Since when does the time it occurs have anything to do with it? So it was okay for Americans to take the land from the Native Americans, and it was okay for the British, Dutch, and French to take the land from the Africans, and it was perfectly okay for them to take the land from the Carribean people, becaues let's face it--awesome vacationing there. Who cares, it was before 1967 right? Perfectly legit. And lest we forget, the former USSR in it's Soviet Block did just take land and that was in the 20th century.

                    The argument lacks logic. Egypt and Jordan went to war with Israel, Israel won. It's not Egypt and Jordan crying to their UN mommy that they want the land back--they don't. Period. The timing of it is inconsequential.

                    It matters in the fact that the UN charter forbids annexation of land. Israel agreed to those terms and have violated them. And you have it backwards. Israel went to war with Egypt and Jordan.

                    • 2 votes
                    #11.8 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:40 PM EDT

                    Dave, no need to be petulant. We all know that "anti-semitic" is euphemistically used to mean anti-Jewish. Most Jews in Isreal today are Ashkenazi anyway. And Isreal, Egypt, and Jordan all had a war-with each other-irrespective of sentence structure. If the farce of a UN thinks Israel violated their charter, then they can pass more symbolic resolutions condemning whatever they feel like. Without complaint from the actual aggrieved nations, who cares? For lawyer Bob up there, that's called not having "standing."

                    • 2 votes
                    #11.9 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 3:57 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    Big deal! I would not dare to say anything against the chossen people of G....!

                    • 2 votes
                    Reply#12 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:05 PM EDT

                    under any eventual peace accord with the Palestinians.

                    Something that is never going to take place because the "Palestinian " leadership refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and will not negotiate a security arrangement that assures Israel's continued existence.

                    • 3 votes
                    Reply#13 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:07 PM EDT

                    I think that you have cart before the horse. The Palestinian's recognizes Israel to exist it is Israel who refuses to acknowledge Palestine. Israel is a belligerent and bellicose country that has no interest in peace.

                    The argument that Gaza has is that you cannot ignore the Right of Return of the Palestinians. Palestinians must have their rights.

                    • 4 votes
                    #13.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:19 PM EDT

                    The land was never theirs, it was Egypt's and Jordan s... and upon the creation of Israel, the Palestinians were offered a home land- they refused. Every attempt by the US, Israel and the PLO was scuttled by Arafat's refusal to negotiate. He made demands, the Israel's capitulated and then he asked for more. Over and over..

                    • 5 votes
                    #13.2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:31 PM EDT

                    Jersey, I don't mean to be rude but how long has Arafat been dead? When did Israel honestly sit down to negotiate? They continue to take and take, why else was this group just evicted?? Any guesses that have to do with now and not a dead man?

                    • 5 votes
                    #13.3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:44 PM EDT

                    I'm sorry, and what were the Palestinian concessions and negotiations? I must have missed that.

                    • 5 votes
                    #13.4 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:04 PM EDT

                    It was NOT Egypt's and Jordan's land. It was British land, after they took it over from the Ottoman empire. Arafat wanted all the land returned. Israel only wanted to return part of it, and the deal fell apart. Don't blame Arafat for wanting what is rightfully the Palestinian peoples.

                    • 1 vote
                    #13.5 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:37 PM EDT

                    Emanuell, why should the Palestinians concede any of their land?

                    • 1 vote
                    #13.6 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:38 PM EDT

                    raddave, precisely. that is why many people believe Tel Aviv is occupied Palestinian land.

                    • 1 vote
                    #13.7 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 4:45 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    Credit must be given no matter how small the action. Israel has done the right thing by evicting settlers ( who are religious extremists by default) from their illegal location. It would be much better if the adhered to a policy of evicting all settlers who misappropriate Palestinian land.

                    • 2 votes
                    Reply#14 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:14 PM EDT

                    It's nice to see the Jews are finally obeying their God and giving back the land Abraham promised to the Philistines and the other non-Jewish Semitic people in the area. Go read the bible, all of this stems back to their ancient history.

                    • 2 votes
                    Reply#15 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:22 PM EDT

                    Netanyahu wants deal to prevent 'binational state'

                    Tue Apr 3, 2012 1:11 PM EDT

                    , , , ,
                    Dan Perry, Associated Press

                    JERUSALEM — Israel's prime minister said Tuesday that he still hopes to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians, because the alternative would be absorbing them into Israel and destroying the Jewish character of the state.

                    "I want to solve the conflict with the Palestinians because I don't want a binational state," Netanyahu told a rare news conference. "For as long as it depends on me, we will ensure the Jewish and democratic character of Israel." ...

                    I guess the Israel bashers only read what agrees with them. Can anyone get more explicit that the goal is the Jewish State of Israel living in peace and reconciliation with the Arab State of Palestine? From yesterday's news.

                    • 5 votes
                    Reply#16 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:38 PM EDT

                    Too late,, Israel already has a "bi-national" state, people have moved there from many countries including Russia & the USA... they just have to recognize the everyone under their power needs rights

                    Not accepting those of other faiths & nationalities violates the the Jewish faith & Israel's own Constitution. A demand for a nation of nothing but Jews is Zionism & it will destroy Israel's own democracy & the Jewish religion

                    • 1 vote
                    #16.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:14 PM EDT

                    Bugs, the Arab citizens of Israel do have voting rights, and you don't know what you are talking about.

                    • 4 votes
                    #16.2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:22 PM EDT

                    Cassandra,,, Catch up, you don't know Jack Squat about the problems in Israel

                    Human Rights Watch issued a 90-page report in Febuary on Israeli occupation policies affecting Palestinian residency rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

                    Israel has arbitrarily denied thousands of Palestinians the ability to live in, and travel to and from, those areas, says the rights group.

                    http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen/human-rights-watch-israel-must-stop-tearing-palestinian-families-apart

                    • 3 votes
                    #16.3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:28 PM EDT

                    Jim, electronicintifada? now that's an unbiased objective source!

                    • 2 votes
                    #16.4 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:55 PM EDT

                    Then go to Human Rights Watch yourself --- It's their 90 page report

                    Don't get exicted about something that sounds Arabic,,, South Carolina has Arabic symbols on their state flag

                    • 2 votes
                    #16.5 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:06 PM EDT

                    Jim, was that before or after they solicited donations from the Saudis? HRW has a record as long as a roll of toilet paper, most of it bashing Israel.

                    • 2 votes
                    #16.6 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:17 PM EDT

                    Israel has deserved to be bashed.

                    • 1 vote
                    #16.7 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:43 PM EDT

                    Yes yudl, Israel wants a peace deal. All the Palestinians have to do is recognize Israel's right to exist on the land they have stolen from them. Such a deal! As long as the Palestinians agree to give up all the land that was stolen from them without a squawk, they can live in peace. That is, until Israel decides it wants more land, water or some other resource.

                    I guess if I drove you out of your house and took your land, you would be fine with that and agree that the house was now mine and no hard feelings would come between us.

                    • 4 votes
                    #16.8 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 9:20 PM EDT

                    Your scenario is flawed ralph. You always conveniently forget the Palestinians' "cousins" attacked and tried to destroy Israel and told them to move out before the assault. Much of what was lost was a result of that war. I'll let you figure out how to correctly adjust your analogy with driving off with someone's house.

                    The fact is, they must learn to accept some deal other than "throw all the Israel's out."

                    • 3 votes
                    #16.9 - Thu Apr 5, 2012 6:33 PM EDT

                    ralph,. if you think that all the israelis "deserve to be run into the sea" like the palistinians believe, then you need your head examined and to be put on the terrorist watch list.

                    • 1 vote
                    #16.10 - Thu Apr 5, 2012 7:46 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    It took over 60 years so they can evict some Jewish settlers from occupying this building....

                    I wonder how many Buildings Israelis occupied already in the pass 60 years!

                    Just dont blame Hamas again for Firing rockets at those illegally occupied buildings / Land and then, complain and take more land to justify the reason!

                    if Israel can stop and return whatever was taken illegally..I am sure both side will live in peace and security... as long as they are greedy and nothing is enough for them! which is something very known of Jews.. nothing will improve...

                    in one hand Israel have power..in the other hand Palestine have no power.. except some rockets here and there.. so it will be hard for a powerful country like Israel to give back anything! especially when you have power

                    • 6 votes
                    Reply#17 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 12:44 PM EDT

                    In the US night sticks, tasers, tear gas and pepper spray are used on non-violent protestors are the Israeli out of their minds forcing its citizens to move without assaulting them. I guess we need to send police officers from our major cities to show Israel how to move non-violent protestors. The Israeli government will get the full support of our government if they need to assault its non-violent citizens. This policy of assaulting our peaceful protestor has become law of the land in the US. Anything Israel is doing in the West Bank is smoke and mirrors for the rest of the world before stealing more land from the Palestinian all in the name national security. When Sadamn tried to steal land from Kuwait the US sent 500,000 tops to drive them out but remain silent on Israeli doing the same thing in the West Bank. The Israeli government knows that at any given time they can order the US military to war and they use this right as they please. Israel is one of the most dangerous nations in the world and their support for terrortist acts goes uncheck by any nation. The US has created a country thats love of war is unmatched anywhere in the world. When the government is not answerable to its citizens this is the results.

                    • 1 vote
                    Reply#18 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:09 PM EDT

                    Israel already has a "bi-national" state

                    People have moved there from many countries including Russia & the USA & even ran the government... they just have to recognize the everyone under their power needs rights

                    Not accepting those of other faiths & nationalities violates the the Jewish faith & Israel's own Constitution. A demand for a nation of nothing but Jews is Zionism & it will destroy Israel's own democracy & the Jewish religion

                    • 2 votes
                    Reply#19 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:19 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    Am I the only one who knows that Kaci's name means "@!$%#"? It suggests to me that he is not a native English speaker, or he would have chosen another alias.

                    • 3 votes
                    Reply#20 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:23 PM EDT

                    Cassandra, not to be disrespecting you, but ,,, It would benefit your credibility greatly if you simply caught up on the problems in Israel, it really doesn't hurt to expand your information sources... In fact doing so would actually benefit Israel itself

                    http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen/human-rights-watch-israel-must-stop-tearing-palestinian-families-apart

                    • 2 votes
                    #20.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:31 PM EDT

                    Cassandra,,,, Get off the right wing nonsense. Lakota is a "native American language, so is Spanish,,, Both languages where spoken languages here long before English was spoken on our shores

                    • 2 votes
                    #20.2 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:40 PM EDT

                    Cassandra,,,,, Pilgrims from the Church of England merely landed on Plymouth Rock,,, they didn't invent it

                    • 3 votes
                    #20.3 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:45 PM EDT

                    This is the building inquestion. Some History:

                    The following is gleaned from a comprehensive article. "Legal Chaos" by
                    Akiva Bigman published in the 18 May edition of Makor Rishon.
                    Contact IMRA@NETVISISION.NET.IL for the article as a pdf.

                    Makor Rishon has developed into a quality publication rivaling and at times
                    exceeding the depth of the Hebrew print edition of Haaretz.

                    Section 1 - How a Jewish owned home in Hebron blocked from use by Jews.

                    Joseph Ezra's father owned a home in Hebron. When the Jordanian Legion
                    captured the city in 1948 all the assets of Jews were put under the control
                    of the National Custodian, under the title 'Enemy Property'. There are
                    dozens of such buildings in Hebron. The properties were leased out to Arabs.
                    In this case as stores.

                    In 1967 when Hebron came under Israeli rule the leases to the Arabs were
                    continued by the Israeli authorities.

                    The Israeli authorities approved erection of a large apartment house above
                    the stores called "House of Nahum and Yehuda" . In 2001 it was decided for
                    security reasons to close the Arab market place and move it - with full
                    compensation to the store owners - to the Arab part of town.

                    The property remained empty. After repeated requests of the Jewish
                    community to use the assets were not answered, a few families entered the
                    empty property and renovated it, turning the property into proper homes.In
                    2007 an eviction order was issued. The eviction was appealed to the military
                    appeals committee, which functions as a kind of court of appeals with regard
                    to decisions of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria. The
                    committee observed that it was the obligation of the authorities, as
                    custodian for the property, to insure that beneficial use comes from it and
                    that in contrast to the abandoned buildings near it that were in disrepair,
                    the property in question had been improved and under the circumstances "the
                    correct and effective use of the property is to allow families to live in
                    the shops ... ".

                    Following the instruction of the military appeals committee, the Jewish
                    community in Hebron- together with Joseph Ezra - submitted a request for an
                    orderly take over the property. The Civil Administration in Judea and
                    Samaria ruled that while the military appeals committee was indeed the
                    format for appealing their decisions that the rulings of the committee were
                    not binding and could be overruled by the Civil Administration and the
                    request was denied.

                    In November 2010 Peace Now petitioned along with the Arab merchants to
                    remove the Jews from the property.

                    Section 2 - How rules for agricultural land ownership changed

                    One common way to to register the ownership of land in Judea and Samaria is
                    by applying the provision of Ottoman law, that if someone held land for ten
                    consecutive years without opposition he owns the property. In fact, the
                    ownership of much of the privately held land inside the Green Line was
                    established this way.

                    This method of property transfer is especially useful in the case of
                    Palestinians who face the death penalty for selling land to Jews. This way
                    money crosses between the parties and all the Palestinian has to do is keep
                    quiet for ten years.

                    In a move to undermine this procedure, Mr. Mike Blass, who serves as Deputy
                    Attorney General, filed with the Supreme Court that "at present ... the
                    seizure of land ... is seen as a forbidden and immoral, and as a basis for
                    anarchy." Blass asked the court to not only bar the future use of the ten
                    consecutive year provision to record future property ownership but to void
                    the ownership registrations made to date in Judea and Samaria (by Jews) on
                    this basis.

                    At the same time, Captain Ronit Levin, acting as the legal advisor to the
                    West Bank Military Prosecutor's Office, issued a series of orders and
                    directives to strip the ten year rule. She ruled that the ten year count
                    begins again each time a farmer changes the type of crop that he grows on
                    the land.

                    Two months ago the Supreme Court upheld this position.

                    Ronit Levin also came up with an additional legal innovation, called a
                    "disturbing use" order. It allows the Civil Administration to rule that a
                    person's possession of property is illegitimate because it may raise
                    political or security issues. The Civil Administration is not required to
                    provide any documentation to support the "disturbing use" order.

                    This order was first issued by the Civil Administration against residents of
                    the "House of Contention" in Hebron four years ago.

                    According to lawyer Bezalel Smotritz of the Regavim movement this order has
                    been used this order twenty time.

                    The combination of these innovations is a pincer movement which threatens
                    almost every Jewish farmer in the West Bank.

                      #20.4 - Thu Jun 7, 2012 10:20 PM EDT
                      Reply

                      Kickig out "Couple people" where thousands need to be kicked out..

                      Just a show by israelis.. So that they can say they are working on removing settlements..

                      • 1 vote
                      Reply#21 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:48 PM EDT

                      As I said before many times, Israelis and settlers are not the same, most Israelis wants peace and are happy to give whatever it is needed for peace. Settlers on the other hand feel that the entire Palestine/Judea region is theirs and claimed they have biblical rights, the main issue is that most of the settlers are violent if they are forced to move and fought the government troops with the same weapons and tactics as IDF.

                        Reply#22 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:51 PM EDT

                        I think this case is more like settlers getting kicked out by their own government because when they bought the property from the legal owners they didn't follow the government's demands... Sad for the settlers, but they should have known this would happen in the 1st place

                        • 3 votes
                        #22.1 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 1:59 PM EDT
                        Reply

                        I have no sympathy for settlers at all. For that matters I haveno sympathy for any renegate group or any country that want to create its own interpretation and want to achieve goals that are in their own self interest. Such groups are affront to International lalw and order and humanity.

                        Religious interpretation cannot be priori to International norm.

                        If all Jews collectively want to go there and cut all the raltions with rest of the humanity, may be God's claim can considred. But then they have to live with their God and let them take carfe of them and we do nto have to hear from them.

                        In America evangelist selectively wants to impose their religious values on others throught the power of Government. In Indian Hindu nationalist want to do same. Muslim extremist wants to impose their values on all the muslims through power fo their government ignoring the wishes of those who beleive live and let live.

                        I think UN shoould pass a sense of humanity resolution that all countries may sign that religion is a personal issue and relgiious doctates or fatwa cannot be imposed on the citizens by Governments.

                        • 1 vote
                        Reply#23 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:21 PM EDT

                        Jews have exactly as much birthright to Palestine as scientologists do.

                        • 3 votes
                        Reply#24 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:24 PM EDT

                        Right, Jim, electronicintifada will be a wonderful source, I will go to it right away...NOT!!!

                        But here's the really sad part. Israel obviously was trying to break up those illegal settlements...and instead of encouragement, many of our protesters merely spouted the same old anti-Zionist venom. Short of mass suicide, Israel really can't do anything right, as far as these haters are concerned.

                        • 1 vote
                        Reply#25 - Wed Apr 4, 2012 2:32 PM EDT
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