Thursday, January 10, 2013

Washington Post Supports Israeli Settlements

Post editors are contemptuous of fundamental human rights. They spurn democratic values. They consider rule of law principles quaint and out-of-date. Wealth, power, privilege, and dominance alone matter.

When America goes to war or plans one, they march supportively in lockstep. They ignore the worst of imperial crimes. They endorse Israeli occupation harshness.

Jewish rights alone matter, they believe. Settlement construction is legitimate, they suggest. It's no obstacle to peace, they claim. Further construction won't prevent a two-state solution.

Instead of telling readers what’s important to know, they defile responsible journalism. They turn truth on its head. They support wrong over right.

They believe might is right. They endorse Jewish supremacy and specialness. They're comfortable with belligerence, persecution and land theft.

Israel has a divine right to settlements, they suggest. On January 1, their editorial headlined "Overheated rhetoric on Israeli settlements," saying:

The reaction to recent settlement construction plans is "counterproductive" and overheated. It "reinforces two mistaken but widely held notions: that the settlements are the principle obstacle to (peace), and that further construction will make a Palestinian state impossible."

Fact check

On November 15, 1988, Palestine achieved statehood. Most UN Member States recognize it.

Israel spurns peace. Netanyahu calls negotiating it "a waste of time." Decades of good faith Palestinian initiatives were spurned.

Conflict resolution is impossible without a reliable partner. Palestinians never had one. They don't now. Post editors understand. Instead of explaining, they conceal what what readers need to know.

They compound bad commentary with lies. Settlement policy changed after Oslo, they claim.

"Mr. Netanyahu's government, like several before it, has limited building almost entirely to areas that both sides expect Israel to annex through territorial swaps in an eventual settlement."

Fact check

Diana Buttu spent six years as Palestine's legal advisor. She "attended countless negotiations sessions." She "examined scores of proposals." She "devised numerous counterproposals."

She learned the futility of negotiating with Israel. It demands. It yields nothing. It imposes its will forcefully. Official policy is do things our way or else.

Oslo reflected betrayal. Rather than withdrawing to pre-1967 borders and "removing all illegal Israeli settlements, Israeli leaders decided to colonize more and annex more Palestinian territory."

"Every Israeli proposal….sought to accommodate" lawless behavior.

Two-state solution supporters "evoke the (notion) of 'land swaps.' In effect they're saying, 'The larcenist has succeeded. Let's respond to his bad behavior on his terms."

Conflict resolution is more distant today than 20 years ago.

Settler population "tripled from 200,000 in 1993 to almost 600,000" in February 2012. Currently it's greater. It's growing exponentially. It's on stolen Palestinian land. More