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Israeli Oppression Continues While Talking Peace - by Stephen Lendman
Palestinian rights are violated daily.
No wonder Palestinians want and deserve statehood, as well as full UN membership to be able to seek World Court redress, and be able to sue under Genocide Convention provisions, and why not.
Israel's lawless hypocrisy is shameless given what goes on daily - bombings, killings, mass arrests, settlement expansions, dispossessions, and other civil and human rights abuses on an ongoing basis. More on that below.
On September 5, ahead of the September General Assembly meeting, Netanuyahu predictably said he wants peace talks restarted with no chance whatever of succeeding like all previous attempts for decades because Israeli violence is official policy.
Nonetheless, after meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Yyves Leterme, he said:
Abbas "can come to Jerusalem. I could go to Ramallah, or we could both go to Brussels." In fact, the proper response to a man spurning peace is go to hell, in diplomatic language, of course.
Netanyahu's gambit is another attempt to pressure Abbas to back off from seeking statehood and full UN membership.
Plans to petition the General Assembly still stand, though perhaps with less resolve than earlier based on recent comments and a new "strategy."
Instead of seeking recognition within 1967 borders, 22% of sovereign Palestine, a new proposal seeks statehood with permanent borders to be determined in later negotiations with Israel. It still wants them as originally drafted, but with more flexibility.
In other words, with enough wiggle room for Israel to maneuver Palestine into an unacceptable position it can't refuse, the way Oslo turned out. It left Palestinian rights entirely out of the final agreement at the same time Israeli terror attacks continued then and now.
Overnight Monday, Israeli planes raided an area west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. No injuries were reported. In recent weeks, numerous others killed or wounded scores of Gazans.
The same day, Israeli forces detained 20 West Bank "wanted Palestinians," for the crime perhaps of wanting freedom.
Palestinian lawmaker Mohammed Abu Teir was also arrested and his home ransacked. Former PA Jerusalem affairs minister Khalid Abu Arafa expressed concern after Israel earlier revoked his city ID card.
Then in December an Israeli court expelled him to Ramallah for the second time after imprisoning him for four months for ignoring a previous ban. At issue is his Hamas affiliation, Palestine's legitimate government, wrongfully designated a terrorist organization.
An August 30 B'Tselem report discussed earlier in the month incidents. On August 19, an Israeli missile killed Gaza City's Mu'ataz Kreqa', his two-year old son and brother Munzar. Others nearby were wounded.
