Palestinian Statehood at Last ( Archived) (841)

Al old friend, I can't converse with you directly because I've been warned that I will be banned if I go tit for tat with you as far as insults go. I did report you for you latest, most vicious insults but there seems to be a double standard in place. So good luck.

U.K. Commander Tells UN Council: 'IDF Took More Precautions Than Any Military in History of Warfare'


GENEVA, October 16, 2009 — The former commander of British forces in Afghanistan just finished addressing the U.N. special session on the Goldstone Report, speaking on behalf of UN Watch, an independent Geneva human rights group. See speech as delivered below.

UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer issued the following comment on today's extraordinary meeting of the UN Human Rights Council:

"Today's meeting has nothing to do with human rights, and there's no emergency, other than Palestinian President Abbas' precarious political predicament. The Arab-sponsored draft resolution is entirely one-sided, condemning Israel while saying nothing about Hamas and its rocket attacks."

"UN Watch calls on all council members to vote against the imbalanced resolution, and to deny Hamas terrorists the political victory they desperately crave, but which the world will only grant at its peril. We urge council members like Pakistan, China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia to end their strategy of focusing on Israel in order to hide the world's real abuses, especially their own. With this being the council's 6th special session on Israel -- versus only 4 for the whole world combined -- it's tragic that once again politics is trumping human rights."

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About half a million Israelis now live in 236 settlements: 124 authorized settlements, 100 unauthorized outposts, and 12 neighborhoods on land that Israel annexed to Jerusalem. The transfer of 43 percent of the area of the West Bank to control of the settlements has prevented the development of Palestinian communities, especially those in the Jordan Valley and in the southern Hebron hills. Israeli control of land, along with its control of the Israeli-Palestinian joint water sources prevents the development of Palestinian agriculture, the major sector in the Palestinian economy. Following the partial moratorium on building in settlements in the West Bank, in September, construction work was renewed in 63 settlements, in which 1,629 housing units are now being built, according to the figures of Peace Now. The establishment of settlements is prohibited under international law, and their continued existence and expansion in the West Bank severely violates Palestinians’ rights to property, freedom of movement, livelihood, self-determination, and other rights

This year, Israel continued its actions aimed at separating East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. These actions include placing restrictions on Palestinians from the West Bank wishing to enter the city. The Jerusalem Municipality has continued to advance plans to expand Israeli neighborhoods built in East Jerusalem, and settler organizations have been expanding settlement enclaves in Palestinian neighborhoods, among them Sheikh Jarrah, Ras al-‘Amud, and a-Tur. Construction of new sections of the Separation Barrier have led to the detachment of residents of the village Sheikh Sa’ed from the center of their life in Jerusalem, and is expected to sever the residents of the village al-Walaja from their farmland, which provides their primary income. Until 20 December, Israel demolished, or forced Palestinians to demolish, 17 houses of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, leaving 135 persons homeless, including 66 minors.

Ttom, my inspiration for posting here is to bring awareness to this horrible situation. You say your not Jewish, Al says he's not Jewish, Conrad says he's not Jewish. The only one of you that will admit to their being Jewish is Wow. Yet you argue with the commitment of Netanyahu's inner circle. Quite a paradox, don't you think. I will continue to post here. Ttom , I will answer your posts. (If you don't propose rediculous solutions that give Israel everything and the Palestine s nothing)

Is this a "cause" as you say, yes. Have I made any "friends" , yes. Is "making friends" a priorty? No.

Drop in number of fatalities: As of 30 November, Israeli security forces killed 67 Palestinians (12 in the West Bank and 55 in the Gaza Strip), eight of them minors. At least 24 of the persons killed were not participating in hostilities, 39 were killed while engaged in hostilities, and in the case of two fatalities, B'Tselem does not know if the person killed participated in hostilities. Two of the Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip were the object of a targeted killing. The number of Palestinians killed by security forces in the West Bank was lower than in previous years. In addition, Israeli civilians killed two Palestinians

Continuing construction of the Separation Barrier: Israel has completed 61.4 percent of the Barrier and 8.4 percent are currently under construction. The total length of the Barrier is 707 kilometers, more than twice the length of the Green Line. 85 percent of the route runs through the West Bank, causing harm to some 400,000 Palestinians

Increase in West Bank house demolitions (not including East Jerusalem): Israel restricts Palestinian construction in Area C, which constitutes 60 percent of the West Bank, leaving Palestinians living there with no option but to build without a permit. This year, up to 20 December, the army demolished 82 houses of Palestinians in the West Bank (compared to 28 houses in 2009), leaving 445 persons homeless, 204 of them minors. Most of the demolitions took place in the Jordan Valley, part of efforts to push Palestinians out of this area.