The settlements are good for Israel
By Ted Belman
In my article The Real Tragedy in Israel I fisked a NYT article by Gershom Gorenberg in his Op-Ed in the New York Times, “Israel’s Tragedy Foretold,” on March 10, 2006, in which he opines that Israelis and their leaders have finally seen the light, namely that Israel should abandon the settlements.
To reach this conclusion he relies on an opinion by Legal Counsel to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, one Theodor Merion who wrote in 1967, “My conclusion is that civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
Mr Gorenberg laments that Israel, in disregard of this advice, started to build settlements with the “sadly mistaken confidence that the legal, ethical and diplomatic difficulties of settlement could somehow be avoided.” The tragedy, according to Mr. Gorenberg, is that Israel now has to untangle the mess at great human and financial cost.
Both my article above and Melanie Phillips’ The international community misrepresents international law set the record straight.
The INSS of Tel Aviv U just published A Strategic Assessment which included two instructive articles on the settlements.
Two states for Two Peoples: A Vision Rapidly Eroding
Zaki Shalom
From Territorial to Social Agendas: A Different Look at the Settlements
Aluf Benn
For an indepth understanding about the politics of the settlements I recommend a careful reading.
Bottom line for me is that Israel shouild continue to build including in E1 and probably will with a Likud government. Obama will have to decide whether to go public with real pressure to prevent it.
Thank you, Ted Belman for your article and providing other links to the settlement issue. As an interested American, I have often wondered what the fuss was all about. It seemed to me that Israel’s were building cities and villages in legitimate Israeli territories and should not been in dispute. Yet the very subject of settlements seemed to spark intense and passionate debate. These articles have helped clear up some of the confusion. Please feel free to add another articles to this one. I will read every one.
Sir Shimon Peres when asked about Israels illegal settlements on BBC Hardtalk , he asked the interviewer from whom did Israel conquer the West Bank and Gaza? Then he ans. his own question by informing the interviewer that Israel conquered WB from Jordan and Gaza from Egypt. The interviewer then abruptly changed the subject.
Lies become truth unless truth is vigorously pursued and lies vigorously challenged.