Israel Announces 1,600 Settlements as VP Biden Lands in Tel Aviv

As the U.S. government is heralding as a supposed 'breakthrough' toward peace the agreement by both Israelis and Palestinians to hold indirect talks mediated by U.S. negotiators in Moscow, Israel is once again undermining peace and giving Obama the finger through the announcement of yet another illegal settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. During time of unprecedented Israeli ethnic cleansing of Arabs and colonization in the Holy City.

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The last year has seen two Israeli plans for settlements in East Jerusalem.

1) Silwan. A major Arab town in East Jerusalem which Israel wants to level by its bulldozers in order to build a park.

2) Gilo. An expansion of an Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem bordering the occupied West Bank.

The latter serves the purposes of furthering Israel’s grip on the city by building a chain of illegal settlements around the city that disconnect it from the West Bank so even if there is a Palestinian state in the West Bank it is divided from Jerusalem by a chain of Israeli settlements - thus Israeli sovereignty - and Israel will then claim that it is impractical that Palestinians should have isolated, island-like sovereignty over territory - a capital, no less - around what is now Israel ‘proper’. Israelis call this creating ‘facts on the ground’. And this year, today in fact, Israel has announced a new settlement in East Jerusalem all the while Israel claims that it wants to re-start peace talks:

Israeli authorities have approved a plan to build 549 new homes for settlers on land across the Green Line in south Jerusalem, an advocacy group said on Monday.

And this from The Economist:

EVEN as the Americans strive to jump-start fresh talks between Israelis and Palestinians, the Israeli government has been using the hiatus to intensify the refashioning of East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians see as their future capital. This week the city’s Israeli mayor, Nir Barkat, unveiled his latest plan to turn Palestinian districts into Jewish biblical heritage parks.

And, just this week, in a direct dismissal of Obama - whom is widely detested in Israel - the Israeli government announced a massive illegal settlement while the U.S. Vice President was visiting. These things are not random, and Israel purposely timed the announcement to send the message to the United States that Israel cannot be threatened into suspending settlements because its lobby in Washington is too powerful to stand against. A constructive 'Fuck You' to the nation that gives it billions of dollars in annual aid and uses its UNSC veto in its behalf yearly:

Israel on Tuesday revealed plans to build a further 1,600 housing units in a Jewish settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, a move Washington was quick to condemn for its impact on US-backed peace talks. The Israeli decision coincided with a visit by Joe Biden, the US vice-president and the country’s most senior official to travel to Israel since Barack Obama took office last year. It also came a day after the Palestinian Authority dropped opposition to a new round of indirect peace talks with Israel – a promise that may be in doubt.

“The substance and timing of the announcement ... is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now,” Mr Biden said in condemning Israel’s move. “We must build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them.”

But let us not say that the U.S. government does not take a stand against such arrogant Israeli behavior:

After the settlements announcement, Mr Biden arrived 90 minutes late for dinner with Mr Netanyahu.

That will show them!!!