The latest UN statement that Israel has accelerated its settlement expansion in Palestinian territories in the two months since the diplomatic quartet called for a halt to such construction is a matter of grave concern. The Quartet – the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations – had appealed to Tel Aviv to stop building Jewish outposts on Palestinian land and called on Palestinians to cease incitement to violence. But in a damning indictment of the Jewish state, Nickolay Mladenov, the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process, says the Quartet request has fallen on deaf ears and not only did Israel fail to slow down its aggressive expansion, but even accelerated the process in the face of international protests. “Its (Quartet’s) recommendations continue to be ignored, including by a surge in Israeli settlement-related announcements and continuing demolitions,” Mladenov told the UN Security Council.
Palestinians and most of the international community oppose Israeli settlement construction on the ground that it will kill off the prospects of a future peace deal because Israel is confiscating land meant for a future Palestinian state. But killing the peace process – which is already comatose - is exactly what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is aiming at. The peace process is fighting for breath as the Arab world and the international community choose to look away, being preoccupied with more urgent and dangerous conflicts and crises. Netanyahu has exploited this vacuum to further his extremist agenda and deny Palestinians a future state and rights.
According to reports, since July 1, Israeli has been working on plans for over 1,000 housing units in occupied east Jerusalem and 735 units in the West Bank. Tel Aviv is also seeking tenders for 323 units to expand east Jerusalem settlements and for 42 units in Kiryat Arba near Hebron, for which it has allocated $13m in new funding. Demolitions of Palestinian homes and buildings and settlement construction are being undertaken on a war footing in several other areas.
The silence and inaction of the West and the rest of the international community are responsible for Netanyahu’s aggression. The Israeli prime minister knows that his land confiscation carries no cost, and the international protests are too feeble to be noticed.
In the current world order of changed priorities and shifting foreign policies, where terrorism, deadly conflicts and hostilities on home soil and abroad are taking all the time of countries, the Palestinian issue needs a completely new approach. Palestinians have traditionally relied on foreign support for their cause, but in the shifting landscape, they will need to fight the battle on their own.
The latest UN statement that Israel has accelerated its settlement expansion in Palestinian territories in the two months since the diplomatic quartet called for a halt to such construction is a matter of grave concern. The Quartet – the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations – had appealed to Tel Aviv to stop building Jewish outposts on Palestinian land and called on Palestinians to cease incitement to violence. But in a damning indictment of the Jewish state, Nickolay Mladenov, the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process, says the Quartet request has fallen on deaf ears and not only did Israel fail to slow down its aggressive expansion, but even accelerated the process in the face of international protests. “Its (Quartet’s) recommendations continue to be ignored, including by a surge in Israeli settlement-related announcements and continuing demolitions,” Mladenov told the UN Security Council.
Palestinians and most of the international community oppose Israeli settlement construction on the ground that it will kill off the prospects of a future peace deal because Israel is confiscating land meant for a future Palestinian state. But killing the peace process – which is already comatose - is exactly what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is aiming at. The peace process is fighting for breath as the Arab world and the international community choose to look away, being preoccupied with more urgent and dangerous conflicts and crises. Netanyahu has exploited this vacuum to further his extremist agenda and deny Palestinians a future state and rights.
According to reports, since July 1, Israeli has been working on plans for over 1,000 housing units in occupied east Jerusalem and 735 units in the West Bank. Tel Aviv is also seeking tenders for 323 units to expand east Jerusalem settlements and for 42 units in Kiryat Arba near Hebron, for which it has allocated $13m in new funding. Demolitions of Palestinian homes and buildings and settlement construction are being undertaken on a war footing in several other areas.
The silence and inaction of the West and the rest of the international community are responsible for Netanyahu’s aggression. The Israeli prime minister knows that his land confiscation carries no cost, and the international protests are too feeble to be noticed.
In the current world order of changed priorities and shifting foreign policies, where terrorism, deadly conflicts and hostilities on home soil and abroad are taking all the time of countries, the Palestinian issue needs a completely new approach. Palestinians have traditionally relied on foreign support for their cause, but in the shifting landscape, they will need to fight the battle on their own.
