Israel seals off West Bank as tensions rise

Israel seals off West Bank as tensions rise

www.telegraph.co.uk

Israel sealed off the West Bank on Friday as tensions mounted in Jerusalem over controversial plans to build new homes for Jewish settlers.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the army to cut off the area until midnight on Saturday, citing a heightened risk of attacks.

Israel has sealed off the West Bank ahead of major holidays in the past, but only rarely on other occasions.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of trying "to ignite a religious war in the region."

(visit the link for the full news article)

Not sure if this was posted earlier with an Israeli news source, but I didn't see it on the firehose page.

Anyway what's going to happen next is the question, and is another muslim uprising inevitable in the west bank, and the spark to cause another war in the north and south-west of israel simultaneously this time?

More trouble is expected next week with a planned march by right-wing Israelis through the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem.

Why can't Israel control it's own extremists?

www.telegraph.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 12-3-2010 by john124]

the road to war

zionists are doing this on purpose, they're boiling things up around the whole world... doesnt stuff likfe this happen before every world war...

we can all see it coming, the question is when...

From your source:

Hopes of negotiations collapsed when Israel announced 1,600 new settler homes would be built in predominantly-Arab east Jerusalem.

This would anger me too if I were Palestinian. In particular, note the orange area around Eastern Jerusalem.

The yellow/sand colored areas = controlled exclusively by Israel
The light green colored areas = controlled exclusively by Palestine
The dark green colored areas = controlled exclusively by Palestine
The orange colored areas = Israeli annexed colonies
The orange triangles = Israeli settlements



source + enlarged version

Divide and conquer is what fits well to this. Uprisings are futile. All of these settlements are inter-related and often strictly forbidden for Palestinians to access - note this is the West Bank, a Palestinian territory.

Palestinians are giving two options:
A - leave voluntarily abroad
B - stay in a living hell without freedom of movement

I hate to say it, but to me this seems like a gradual extermination of Palestinians. Making their lives so miserable that many families see no other option than to refuge. Those who stay either get killed when Hamas terrorists once again decide to poke the ''prison guard'' or are sentenced live imprisonment.



[edit on 12-3-2010 by Mdv2]

Luke 21:20 - When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.

I wonder since the temple is located there if we won't see it destroyed in time.

Jerusalem and West Bank tense after day of turmoil

At least 12 arrested and 15 injured as leftists and Palestinians clash with security forces.

An uneasy calm returned to Jerusalem on Friday evening after a day of turmoil that saw Palestinians and leftwing protestors clash with security forces across the city.

In East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrakh neighborhood police arrested eight leftwing activists demonstrating against Jewish construction there.

The detentions sparked fury among protesters, some of whom told Haaretz that the arrests were unlawful. Police has discriminated against the 100-odd leftists who took part in the march, at the same time allowing a rightwing counter-demonstration to continue unimpeded, they claimed.

Arab MK: U.S. beginning to question Israeli policy on Palestinians

Knesset Member Ahmed Tibi has lashed out over the treatment of American lawmakers brought to Israel by the J Street organization, warning that unconditional U.S. support for Israel is on the wane.

U.S. gave Israel green light for East Jerusalem construction

The apology offered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Eli Yishai recalls the joke about the servant who pinched the king's bottom. En route to the gallows, the servant apologized: He thought it was the queen's bottom.

Now the Americans are certain no one is in charge here

One day last November, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was surprised to discover that his government was energetically building in Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood, beyond the pre-1967 Green Line. This was right in the middle of a very delicate and tense period vis-a-vis the American administration. As it happened, a local planning and building committee had casually approved the construction in Gilo of 900 housing units. Netanyahu was subjected to a barrage of condemnations from around the world, the most resounding one from U.S. President Barack Obama.

I'm not well versed on Israeli politics, but this last one especially looks extremely desperate to confuse the entire issue. And I thought British politics was messy.

Clinton slams Israel on housing announcement

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday delivered a stinging rebuke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his government's announcement this week of new Jewish housing in East Jerusalem.

The State Department said Clinton spoke to Netanyahu by phone to express U.S. frustration with Tuesday's announcement that cast a pall over a visit to Israel by Vice President Joe Biden. A State spokesman said the Israeli move has endangered indirect peace talks with the Palestinians that the Obama administration had announced just a day earlier.

Clinton called "to make clear that the United States considered the announcement to be a deeply negative signal about Israel's approach to the bilateral relationship and counter to the spirit of the vice president's trip," department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters.

The harsh criticism of America's closest Mideast ally and questions about its commitment to the U.S.-Israeli relationship followed equally blunt condemnation of the housing announcement from the White House and Biden himself.

It also comes ahead of a trip to the region by U.S. Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell and a meeting in Moscow next week of senior officials from the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers.

The Israeli announcement took the U.S. by surprise and enraged Palestinians and Arab states, jeopardizing indirect peace talks Mitchell is to mediate
"The secretary said she could not understand how this happened, particularly in light of the United States' strong commitment to Israel's security and she made clear that the Israeli government needed to demonstrate not just through words but through specific actions that they are committed to this relationship and to the peace process," he said.

Crowley stressed that the United States strongly objected to both the content and timing of the announcement and said Clinton had "reinforced that this action had undermined trust and confidence in the peace process and in America's interests."

What is happening to the Palestinians is not only a tragedy but it's also illegal. The US officials can speak against such actions all they want but talk is cheap. If they really cared they would threaten to stop dishing out billions a year to Israel. At the end of the day, Israel will continue its genocide of the Palestinians and the world will not only watch but some will actually support such actions and then speak about peace and human rights.

reply to post by endlessknowledge


What genocide???? Do you know what genocide means? A trick question - how many Arab Palestinians lived in Palestine in 1947 and how many Palestinians live in the same area now.... Reversed genocide,ha?
I do not say that situation is ok, there are a lot of bad things going on. But it is also wrong to twist one thing into totally different one for emotional/political reasons.

reply to post by ZeroKnowledge


lets say

its more of aparthide

abit like south africa white folk move in and treat the blacks like crap and second class citizens on their own land

Israelis move in and treat the palestinians like crap and second class citizens on their own land.

only diffrence south africans had more support from the international comunity
as Israel has a green light or doesnt give a crap

one thing i dont get from the Israeli sides if they need to build their homes why not stick within their International boarders insted of anaxing more land screwing the peace process up.

Israel reminds me of the kid who is scared of no one because so many have let him do as he wants. Unfortunatly the "Give an inch they take a mile" scenario is being played out yet again.

From the incursion into Gaza to the ignoring even the US only goes to prove we have a rabid dog on the lose. One that has no concern for anyone and gets more dangerous by the day.

I know that one day they will bite off more than they can chew and their downfall will be one to watch in all its glory. I will in the memory of the children murdered in Gaza.

Respects

My first double post......shoot me !


Respects

[edit on 12-3-2010 by captiva]

reply to post by ZeroKnowledge


Although you are right, you've got to admit that it has ever appearance that your government does everything to sabotage a peace agreement. It is no to strange that pretty much everyone perceives the announcement to build 1600 housing units in Eastern Jerusalem as a huge provocation. If your government would genuinely be interested in peace, they wouldn't have done that. And bad-timing my a**, I cannot believe that those who claimed that it was unfortunate timing, believe their own words.

My friend, you know my standpoint on Israel: I think you have every right to live there and defend your country, but frankly speaking I cannot believe any longer that your government really is interested in establishing a constructive relationship with the Palestinians, which would be the only solution to peace.



[edit on 12-3-2010 by Mdv2]

Of course the US will voice their disapproval at certain Israeli actions (they have many times in the past) but when it comes to any meaningful opposition, at the UN Security Council for example, they use their veto to protect Israel in the blink of an eye.

reply to post by Mdv2


Of course it was a provocation, hard to make a mistake about it. I know that there are people here who want things to go down the hill. Majority of members of government at least act as they are completely surprised. The decision was declared by Interior Ministry's Jerusalem district planning committee, not by cabinet. Thus it is hard to know for sure if it is Head of Government who stands behind this thing or some "lower" initiative.
One thing is certain - this cannot continue for long. There are those who want another armed conflict and they will succeed to pull others into it if no progress is made.

More clashes today:

Israeli troops, Palestinians clash near Jerusalem

Several dozen Palestinian women scuffled with Israeli troops on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Saturday amid rising religious and political tensions in the disputed city.

The confrontation erupted at the Qalandiya crossing between the West Bank and Jerusalem.

The women chanted "Jerusalem is Arab, our eternal capital," briefly planted a Palestinian flag on one of the crossing's metal gates and tried to push through it. Israeli troops scuffled with the women and dispersed them with tear gas. At one point, a firebomb hit a military jeep and soldiers rushed to extinguish the fire.

As the women withdrew, Palestinian teens threw stones at soldiers who closed the crossing to traffic.

The Israeli military said four protesters were detained but no one was hurt.
Saturday's protest came at a time of growing friction in Jerusalem.

The Palestinians want to establish a capital in the eastern sector of the city, captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War. Israel's hard-line leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, refuses to consider partition, insisting he will never relinquish control over any part of Jerusalem.

Earlier this week, Israel announced plans to build 1,600 more homes for Jews in east Jerusalem, setting off a bitter diplomatic row with the United States, Israel's closest ally.

Jerusalem also has seen several protests in recent weeks against Israel's decision to include two West Bank shrines on a list of national heritage sites. The move's practical implications are not clear, but the Palestinians see it as a provocation.

On Friday, Israel sealed the West Bank for at least two days, in an attempt to prevent more protests.

Even when a closure is not in effect, most West Bank Palestinians are barred by Israel from entering Jerusalem. The Qalandiya crossing is one of the main gateways for Palestinians who obtain special entry permits to the city.

Netanyahu's position is "perilous": U.S. official

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political standing is "perilous" because of divisions within his coalition over efforts to pursue peace with the Palestinians, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.