Michael
Nov 5th 2008, 06:54 PM
There is no shortage of news stories lately describing the increasing 'terrorism' being used by the Israeli 'settler' movement in the West Bank. Palestinians are the primary victim of this, but increasingly institutions and representatives of the Israeli state are being targetted as well.
This is the core issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - the fact that Israelis are illegally annexing (or squatting on) Palestinian land. It is to be noted here that the greatest increase in the development of NEW Israeli settlements on the West Bank have occured post-2001. The actions of this movement are the single greatest barrier to any potential resolution of the conflict.
And this is one of the best ideas I've seen in years for how to address this issue:
In a candid statement meant to be heard only by those attending a weekly meeting of the Israeli Cabinet, Shin Bet spy chief Yuval Diskin has acknowledged serious concern about violent Jewish settler extremists trying to assassinate Israeli political leaders and willing "to use firearms in order to halt diplomatic processes."
The assassin of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Yigal Amir, has acquired star status among many extremist settlers and security authorities in Israel are worried about attempts to generate violence linked to the November 4th anniversary of Rabin's murder.
This raises the question of why Israel and the United States don't work to classify factions of settler extremists -- organizing to propogate violence -- as terror organizations or terror-supporting individuals.
Such classification of these groups and/or individuals would allow the freezing of their financial assets in the United States and would create penalties for those who aided and abetted in their violence. Some very wealthy Americans are financing some of the expansionist settler activity in occupied Palestinian territories -- and creating penalties for this assistance could be one way of squelching the violent dimensions of settler activity.
Such classification of violent settler extremists in Israel as terrorists would give both the Israeli and U.S. governments tools that will help protect Israel's political leadership from tactics of intimidation and violence and would help to generate a new equilibrium in the region that satisfies both Israel's legitimate security needs and the imperative of a viable Palestinian state.
Source (http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/11/why_not_add_vio/)
What do you think? Should the Israeli 'settler' movement be declared a terrorist organization?
As an added note, stopping US citizens from claiming a US tax deduction for supporting this illegal 'settler' movement would also be a pretty good idea.
Source (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LK275621.htm)
As always, it is the USA that is central to the Israeli-Palestine issue and prevents any kind of resolution (indeed, US policy officially fosters further trouble on the West Bank).
This is the core issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - the fact that Israelis are illegally annexing (or squatting on) Palestinian land. It is to be noted here that the greatest increase in the development of NEW Israeli settlements on the West Bank have occured post-2001. The actions of this movement are the single greatest barrier to any potential resolution of the conflict.
And this is one of the best ideas I've seen in years for how to address this issue:
In a candid statement meant to be heard only by those attending a weekly meeting of the Israeli Cabinet, Shin Bet spy chief Yuval Diskin has acknowledged serious concern about violent Jewish settler extremists trying to assassinate Israeli political leaders and willing "to use firearms in order to halt diplomatic processes."
The assassin of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Yigal Amir, has acquired star status among many extremist settlers and security authorities in Israel are worried about attempts to generate violence linked to the November 4th anniversary of Rabin's murder.
This raises the question of why Israel and the United States don't work to classify factions of settler extremists -- organizing to propogate violence -- as terror organizations or terror-supporting individuals.
Such classification of these groups and/or individuals would allow the freezing of their financial assets in the United States and would create penalties for those who aided and abetted in their violence. Some very wealthy Americans are financing some of the expansionist settler activity in occupied Palestinian territories -- and creating penalties for this assistance could be one way of squelching the violent dimensions of settler activity.
Such classification of violent settler extremists in Israel as terrorists would give both the Israeli and U.S. governments tools that will help protect Israel's political leadership from tactics of intimidation and violence and would help to generate a new equilibrium in the region that satisfies both Israel's legitimate security needs and the imperative of a viable Palestinian state.
Source (http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/11/why_not_add_vio/)
What do you think? Should the Israeli 'settler' movement be declared a terrorist organization?
As an added note, stopping US citizens from claiming a US tax deduction for supporting this illegal 'settler' movement would also be a pretty good idea.
Source (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LK275621.htm)
As always, it is the USA that is central to the Israeli-Palestine issue and prevents any kind of resolution (indeed, US policy officially fosters further trouble on the West Bank).