Israel: Bush Officials Agreed To Settlement Building

nytimes.com:

JERUSALEM Senior Israeli officials expressed irritation on Wednesday that President Obama had declined to acknowledge what they called clear understandings with the Bush administration that allowed Israel to build West Bank settlement housing within certain guidelines while still publicly claiming to honor a settlement "freeze."

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[batguano]

08:30 PM on 06/04/2009

The consequences of secret deals and lots of fine print, double meanings, intentionally impossible demands & just plain old lies. The Israeli program to "put facts on the ground that will be hard to change" has finally run its course. ALL the settlements and occupation of Jerusalem are illegal under international law and are not recognized by any nation. Neither the US nor the rest of the world will allow that greedy Israeli extremist world view to bear more fruit. Israel cannot use past atrocities to justify their own atrocities against others any longer. To allow the settler terrorists to continue to thrive with their extremist abuses of Palestinians is tantamount to the "rewarding terrorism" that we heard so often from the Israelis to justify their evasion of negotiations with Palestinians.

This is a new day and there is finally a leader of integrity, vision and a sense of justice who will not tolerate (hopefully) any further intentional roadblocks by Israel to peace, or the subversion of our honor by Israeli stooges like AIPAC. Our honor has been dragged into the gutter by unrestricted support for any despicable action by Israel and our billions in annual "aid" that helped the settlements, the Occupation, The Apartheid Wall, and thousands of killings of Palestinian civilians and "militants"; who among us would not be a "militant" if we were put under the yoke of occupation and brutality by another?

[betz55]

08:53 PM on 06/04/2009

Well said ! Excellent points. I'm a fan !

[ReedYoung]

02:30 AM on 06/05/2009

You nailed it. Any secret "understandings" had with Cheney/Bush were outside the law in the first place, and whining about it now just calls attention to how disingenuous Israel's and the United States' foreign policies toward each other and toward the Middle East were from 20 January 2001 to 19 January 2009. On top of being obviously evil, it's politically klutzy of them to implicate themselves now. They might have cut their losses by behaving like adults.

quote:
who among us would not be a "militant" if we were put under the yoke of occupation and brutality by another?
/quote
Excellent question to put to Americans!

[CigarGod]

02:17 PM on 06/04/2009

Very funny!
Two shady characters do a deal in the dark and one of them complains when the new guy doesn't want to go along with the crooked deal.

[Samlas]

12:27 PM on 06/04/2009

So what does our Congress say about this now???

[sarabono]

10:53 AM on 06/04/2009

For years and years there have been selected areas for settlement. The "freeze" concept does not and has never applied to these areas.

If Obama wants to change this long term and well understood agreement, he has to sit down and negotiate with Israel. He can't beat them over the head in the press like he did to the Chrysler and GM Secured Bond Holders. That won't work with tiny little Israel when rockets continue to be lobbed into their territory.

[betz55]

06:58 PM on 06/04/2009

Rockets? Continued to be lobbed in ? In response to what ? The oppressive, racist, apartheid treatment of the Palestinians ? Not to mention the illegal settlements on their land.

The Israeli human rights organization B"Tselem,reports that the primitive rockets from Gaza,have taken thirteen Israeli lives in the past four years,while Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the occupied territories in the past two years alone.Almost half of them were civilians, including some 200 children. And that's not counting the latest massacre in Gaza.

You don't want rockets in Israel? Really? Then leave the West Bank. In violation of its commitment, Israel has issued construction bids for hundreds more homes in settlements. It has also failed to remove the outposts. The "Quartet" of Mideast mediators not to mention the US has demanded that Israel halt construction. By continuing to build in the Occupied Territories, Israel is in breach of the Geneva Convention and its own treaty obligations.

It has ignored hundreds of UN resolutions calling for it to withdraw from Palestine, a state mandated by the UN in 1947. It has no respect for the rights of Palestinians and has been using hypocrisy, double standards, evasive tactics, terms, and excuses to block and stall the international consensus on the two-state solution for decades.

Hamas is not occupying anyones land, Israel is.

[Keith52]

09:28 AM on 06/04/2009

"But daddy said I COULD!"

[NPA]

09:17 AM on 06/04/2009

Someone should have informed the Israelis that Obama won the election, he's not going to hide the fact that they are expanding in a "freeze".

[MajorKong]

08:44 AM on 06/04/2009

"allowed Israel to build West Bank settlement housing within certain guidelines while still publicly claiming to honor a settlement freeze."

That sound you just heard was George Orwell spinning in his grave so fast he hit the rev limiter.

[marykins123]

08:34 AM on 06/04/2009

Ot appears that Israel is having the same problem the GOP is having in this country - George W. Bush is no longer in our White House. Israel and the GOP have 8 more years of an Obama Administration - going to be alot of whinning over the next 8 years from those two areas - but - the rest of the world just may find PEACE!

[meede]

08:33 AM on 06/04/2009

"Not everything is written down" What a joke.

Note to Isreal -- You can check the site mapquest for directions to Crawford, Texas where Bush will greet you with open arms. There being enough land on his ranch, feel free to build your settlement being that the agreement was between yourself and Bush. Also be aware, any future U.S. monetary support is no longer available. Kindly look to Bush for anything further.

I'm sure I can speak for other citizens that as Texas is separating itself from the US, this would be acceptible.

[GunneraGirl]

08:25 AM on 06/04/2009

Nice try, Bibi, but you heard the man. And so did everyone else in the world.

America does not recognise the legitimacy of settlements.

Game. set. match.

[northstar11]

08:05 AM on 06/04/2009

israelis say the bushies allowed settlements --so they went ahead.

the bushies allowed torture

nether is acceptable even if bush permitted them .

now israel you have to do what is right

obama put an end to torture---- you must put an end to settlements.

[idisVA]

07:58 AM on 06/04/2009

That was the Bush Administration. This is the Obama Administration

[SonnyBono]

06:13 AM on 06/04/2009

Note to Bibi, Prime Minister, Israel - please forward your complaints to George W. Bush in Dallas, Texas. Suggestion - disguise the complaints as a "book" - he reads so darn many that he is sure to get to yours quickly - unless he thinks it a National Intelligence Estimate, then good luck he may never read it. By the way there is a new guy in the White House and for some unforeseen reason, he doesn't automatically buy your brand of kosher bologna.

[WhatDaBleep]

05:41 AM on 06/04/2009

WOW - Now that's something you don't see everyday from the Bush administration - Saying one thing and doing another! Hmmm, They both agreed to Lie to Everyone and yet do something they claim they would NEVER DO. Serves them Right. F Israel and F Bush's Administration - Those who live by Lies - dies by lies when someone of INTEGRITY comes along - something that Israel and the Bush Co. seemed to do all the time.

[ApolloSpeaks]

05:41 AM on 06/04/2009

THE SETTLEMENTS ARE PERMANENT

and nonnegotiable. Israel's policy is very simple but not understood by Obama: the settlements are here to stay whether they remain within the borders of Israel or as part of a new Palestinian state. If the Palis want a state where Israel returns to the 67 borders then they will have to welcome the "settlers" as equal citizens of their new state. If the Palis insist that the settlements be dismantled as part of the solution then they will never have a state. This was understood and wisely accepted by Bush but not by Obama who is demanding the impossible and making himself look weak and foolish.

[teron678]

07:51 AM on 06/04/2009

Keep bowing to them .... sooner than later .. you'll see them for what they are ...

[meede]

08:15 AM on 06/04/2009

And the Israelis will loose the support of the American people. Remember -- those elected to office are there at the pleasure of the people -- by votes. They can be removed as easily as they are voted in. Nov 4th, 2008 should give you a clue