Netanyahu went into his meeting with Obama believing he has time on his side. But he's wrong: the clock is ticking
"Israel is surrounded by evidence that it is, in the words of one Ha'aretz columnist, "hurtling down the slippery slope of pariahdom". The Gaza flotilla episode exposed that fact most starkly, as Israel found itself isolated diplomatically, chastised by those it normally relies on as friends"
Read more-The Guardian
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/charlie-hardy/2010/09/venezuela-s-elections-september-26
ReplyDeleteNot much of a freeze.
ReplyDeleteIsraeli campaigners say that Elazar, with a population of 1,700 settlers, exemplifies what the freeze looks like on the ground. "On the one hand they didn't build 58 units that they planned to, which shows that the freeze stopped some construction," says Hagit Ofran, director of the settlement watch project at the campaign group Peace Now. "But on the other hand, it didn't stop them going ahead with 22 units for which they managed to pour the concrete foundations on the eve of the freeze."
Construction that began before the freeze took effect was exempted from the moratorium, as was work on public buildings such as schools or synagogues. Meanwhile, some settlements that did not slip through these loopholes simply ignored the freeze. Peace Now reports that during the freeze, work continued on 600 housing units, of which 492 were in violation of the moratorium. Work has continued on some 2,000 homes, in many cases because builders rushed to start projects before the freeze took effect.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/23/west-bank-settlements
<span>Not much of a freeze.
ReplyDeleteIsraeli campaigners say that Elazar, with a population of 1,700 settlers, exemplifies what the freeze looks like on the ground. "On the one hand they didn't build 58 units that they planned to, which shows that the freeze stopped some construction," says Hagit Ofran, director of the settlement watch project at the campaign group Peace Now. "But on the other hand, it didn't stop them going ahead with 22 units for which they managed to pour the concrete foundations on the eve of the freeze."
Construction that began before the freeze took effect was exempted from the moratorium, as was work on public buildings such as schools or synagogues. Meanwhile, some settlements that did not slip through these loopholes simply ignored the freeze. Peace Now reports that during the freeze, work continued on 600 housing units, of which 492 were in violation of the moratorium. Work has continued on some 2,000 homes, in many cases because builders rushed to start projects before the freeze took effect.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/23/west-bank-settlements</span>