Israel Ignores Roadmap (The Independant)

Israel ignores road-map over illegal outposts
By Justin Huggler in Jerusalem
28 October 2003


The Middle East peace process faced another setback yesterday when the Israeli government admitted it is to provide new services to illegal settlement outposts which it pledged to dismantle under the "road-map" peace plan.

At the Aqaba summit in June,Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, promised to take down the outposts built since he came to power. Yesterday's move, in direct contravention of the peace plan, has strengthened the impression that Israel is now openly ignoring the road-map, which was personally backed by President Bush.

The Israeli Defence Ministry yesterday confirmed reports that it is to provide eight of the outposts with new services including lighting, school buses and tougher security from the Israeli army. Many believe this is the first step towards legalising the outposts and giving them official status, despite claims from the ministry that it does not amount to official recognition.

Jewish settlements in the occupied territories remain one of the biggest obstacles to peace. They occupy large parts of the remaining 22 per cent of British-mandate Palestine, where the Palestinians want to set up the independent state they were promised by President Bush and in the road-map.

The settlements, which are built on occupied land in contravention of international law, were originally founded to claim the land as Israeli, and many were deliberately built in locations close to or between Palestinian population centres, to break up the occupied territories and make Palestinian entity there impossible.

Full article here:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=457995

You know, I really like Justin Huggler, but the reason Israel has decided to brazenly ignore the Roadmap in the last few weeks is because they know for a fact that the US doesn't give a damn until Nov 2004.

Hence, they've got a Green Light to do anything they want as long as it doesn't "heat up" the situation too much (to quote an oft-used Shabak term).

It is a bit churlish to blame Israel for a policy which it could not possibly carry out if Washington did not approve of it.

Only in the 2nd to last graf does this article tell the reader any of that - i.e. blame the organ grinder, not the monkey.

The parts describing the settlement policy are however, excellent (as per usual for Mr Huggler).

if more of our Democrats had the guts to stand up to Sharon.

Hey Democrats, there is such thing as right and wrong, you know. ... Eh, you do know don't you?

I assume?

By adding $80 million to the Arrow aid programme. Bush asked for $64.8 million, they gave $144m.

:shrug:

"It is a bit churlish to blame Israel for a policy which it could not possibly carry out if Washington did not approve of it."

Why is it "churlish" to blame Israel for its own policy?

While it is true that Washington enables this policy, nobody is twisting Israel's arm to adopt it.

I blame Israel and secondarily the Bush administration, for which the "roadmap" was really just a PR move to gain support for the Iraq invasion.

I give you a gun, inform you that I will supply as many bullets as you need, and then say that if you murder somebody I won't mind too much.

After you murder somebody, I send extra bullets.

Repeat until you've wiped out the population equivalent of, oh, Arizona.....

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....Now, assume I'm the only policeman in town.

So why is it "churlish" to blame the murderer for committing murder?

It is churlish to blame the murderer for committing murder without also mentioning the one engaged in conspiracy to murder.

It isn't wrong to blame Israel for her actions. Rather, it is a requirement.

However, it is a pretty unedifying sight to blame her soley for them. Doubly so when they could be easily prevented by the conspirator.

Israel is a rational actor in the state system. If you tell her to do whatever she wants with no consequences, she quite naturally will do whatever she wants. There isn't much a mystery about that. Any other state would do the same thing.