Stephen Lendman

Last August, Netanyahu vowed Judea and Samaria (illegally occupied Palestinian West Bank land) belongs to Israel forever, blustering:

“This is the land of our fathers, this is our land. We are here to stay, forever. There will be no uprooting of communities in the Land of Israel,” adding:

Samaria is a “strategic asset. From these hills we can see the Land of Israel from one end to the other.”

“Imagine that radical Islamic forces were stationed on these hills. That would be a danger not only to us, but to all our neighbors.”

“It would endanger the whole region and the entire Middle East. Given everything that is happening around us, one could only imagine the consequences.”

Israel supports the most “radical” of “radical Islamic forces,” supplying ISIS and likeminded terrorists with weapons, treating their wounded in its field hospitals, terror-bombing Syrian targets to aid their campaign of murder and other atrocities, including use of CWs falsely blamed on Damascus.

On September 27, Netanyahu vowed never to relinquish an Israeli settlement - built on stolen Palestinian land, thundering:

“We have brought about magnificent settlements in Judea and Samaria that we are maintaining and strengthening responsibly, wisely and persistently.”

“I tell you clearly and before anything: There will be no more uprooting of communities in the Land of Israel!”

There’s no possibility of an equitable peace with long-suffering Palestinians because he and other Israeli hardliners reject it - no Palestinian self-determination, no acceptance of their fundamental rights, no prospect for their liberation as long as fascists, Zionist zealots and religious fundamentalists run Israel.

Believing otherwise reflects pure illusion. Israel intends permanent occupation, stealing all valued Judea and Samaria land for exclusive Jewish development and use, claiming Jerusalem as its exclusive capital - a prescription for endless conflict.

PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi blasted Netanyahu’s Wednesday remarks, saying:

His “speech in which he declared that the illegal settlements will not be removed attests to his intransigence and willful refusal to abide by international law and conventions, standing UN resolutions, and global consensus,” adding he “turn(ed) international norms into a mockery.”

“Israel is more committed to enhancing the extremist Jewish settler population at the expense of the indigenous Palestinians than to abiding by the basic requirements for peace and justice.”

His regime “is working to impose ‘Greater Israel’ on all of historic Palestine by annexing all of Jerusalem, erasing the history, narrative and physical presence of the Palestinian people, and destroying the territorial and demographic contiguity of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem).”

Israeli settlements are illegal, affirmed under international law. So is 50 years of brutal militarized occupation.

World community indifference lets Israel get away with cold-blooded murder, occupation harshness, apartheid viciousness and a whole lot more.

Since the 1917 Balfour Declaration, Palestinian rights haven’t mattered, the world community doing nothing to change things responsibly.

A Final Comment

Netanyahu reportedly urged Trump administration officials to close Palestine’s Washington diplomatic mission, wanting the PA punished for joining Interpol, requesting an International Criminal Court investigation of Israel’s illegal settlement activities, inspecting its nuclear facilities, along with providing protection for its occupied people.

He reportedly said “actions of the Palestinian leadership in recent days severely impairs the chances of achieving peace and added that the Palestinian diplomatic warfare would not go unanswered,” according to a readout of their meeting.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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