{"id":260,"date":"2009-01-28T23:32:54","date_gmt":"2009-01-28T18:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iqsoft.co.in\/wordpress\/?p=260"},"modified":"2009-01-28T23:32:54","modified_gmt":"2009-01-28T18:02:54","slug":"israeli-settlers-steal-land-distort-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2009\/01\/28\/israeli-settlers-steal-land-distort-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli settlers steal land, distort truth"},"content":{"rendered":"<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"3\" width=\"100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"subject\" style=\"font-size:18px;\" height=\"50\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td height=\"1\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"newsource\" width=\"100%\">17\/11\/2008 04:00:00 PM GMT<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/templates\/aljazeera\/images\/comments.gif\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/newsfull.php?newid=183623#comments\">Comments (show_art_comments_count(&#8216;183623&#8217;);<span>51<\/span>)<\/a><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/templates\/aljazeera\/images\/addcomment.gif\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/newsfull.php?newid=183623#\"><strong>Add a comment<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/templates\/aljazeera\/images\/print.gif\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/print.php?newid=183623\" target=\"_blank\">Print<\/a><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/templates\/aljazeera\/images\/email.gif\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/><\/td>\n<td><a title=\"Email to a friend\" href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/newsfull.php?newid=183623#\">E-mail to friend <\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td height=\"1\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"content\" align=\"left\" valign=\"top\">\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"300\" align=\"right\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.islamicmediacity.com\/cms_files\/news_images\/1226908496.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#ffffcc\">(electronicintifada.net) The establishment of Israeli settlements on the West Bank violates international humanitarian law.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>&lt;!&#8211;<br \/>\n   if (!document.phpAds_used) document.phpAds_used = &#8216;,&#8217;;<br \/>\n   phpAds_random = new String (Math.random()); phpAds_random = phpAds_random.substring(2,11);<\/p>\n<p>   document.write (&#8220;&lt;&#8221; + &#8220;script language=&#8217;JavaScript&#8217; type=&#8217;text\/javascript&#8217; src='&#8221;);<br \/>\n   document.write (&#8220;http:\/\/admin.alclick.com\/adjs.php?n=&#8221; + phpAds_random);<br \/>\n   document.write (&#8220;&amp;amp;what=zone:2141&#8221;);<br \/>\n   document.write (&#8220;&amp;amp;exclude=&#8221; + document.phpAds_used);<br \/>\n   if (document.referrer)<br \/>\n      document.write (&#8220;&amp;amp;referer=&#8221; + escape(document.referrer));<br \/>\n   document.write (&#8220;&#8216;&gt;&lt;&#8221; + &#8220;\/script&gt;&#8221;);<br \/>\n\/\/&#8211;&gt;<\/p>\n<p>&lt;a target=&#8217;_blank&#8217; href=&#8221;http:\/\/admin.alclick.com\/adclick.php?bannerid=1725&amp;amp;zoneid=2141&amp;amp;source=&amp;amp;dest=http%3A%2F%2Fclk.atdmt.com%2FWGR%2Fgo%2F129342649%2Fdirect%2F01%2F&amp;amp;ismap=&#8221; &gt;&lt;img border=&#8221;0&#8243; src=&#8221;http:\/\/view.atdmt.com\/WGR\/view\/129342649\/direct\/01\/&#8221; \/&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;<\/p>\n<div id=\"beacon_1725\" style=\"position:absolute;left:0;top:0;visibility:hidden;\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:0;height:0;\" src=\"http:\/\/admin.alclick.com\/adlog.php?bannerid=1725&amp;clientid=1191&amp;zoneid=2141&amp;source=&amp;block=0&amp;capping=0&amp;cb=208176b0d5e949721e7cbbbf79ea2923\" alt=\"\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&lt;a href=&#8217;http:\/\/admin.alclick.com\/adclick.php?n=a290519d&#8217; target=&#8217;_blank&#8217;&gt;&lt;img src=&#8217;http:\/\/admin.alclick.com\/adview.php?what=zone:2141&amp;amp;n=a290519d&#8217; border=&#8217;0&#8242; alt=&#8221;&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&lt;!&#8211;<b>The establishment of Israeli settlements on the West Bank violates international humanitarian law.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;&gt;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:x-small;\"><em><span style=\"color:#333333;\">By Paul J. Balles<\/span><\/em> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:x-small;\"><strong>In April 2008, Jeremy Ben-Ami wrote in Forward about Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine:<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:x-small;\"><em>Somehow, for American politicians or activists to express opposition to settlement expansion \u2013 or support for active American diplomacy, dialogue with Syria or engagement with Iran \u2013 has become subversive and radical, inviting vile, hateful emails and a place on public lists of Israel-haters and anti-Semites. For the particularly unlucky, it leads to public, personal attacks on one\u2019s family and heritage.<\/em> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:x-small;\">My own experience bore out Jeremy\u2019s. In one article, I had referred to the settlers as \u201cland thieves\u201d. A reader complained, saying the label was \u201ca racial slur, and textbook anti-Semitic\u201d. While it was a slur against illegal settlers in Palestine, and critical of Israeli occupation and settlement behaviour, it could not qualify as anti-Semitic, textbook or otherwise. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:x-small;\">In 2005, Stephanie Khoury observed: <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:x-small;\"><em>From the outset of its occupation, the government of Israel has deliberately settled its citizens in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip despite the clear prohibition of this action under the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a party. Israel has constructed a legal shroud to shield its settlement policy from criticism by maintaining that these territories are not occupied but were &#8220;liberated&#8221; or are &#8220;disputed,&#8221; despite international consensus and decisions by Israel&#8217;s High Court to the contrary.<\/em> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:x-small;\">Does this mean that \u201cinternational consensus\u201d and Israel\u2019s High Court have been anti-Semitic? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:x-small;\">B\u2019tselem, an Israeli organization, has noted that the establishment of settlements on the West Bank violates international humanitarian law, which establishes the principles applying during war and occupation. Moreover, the settlements lead to the infringement of international human rights law. Could that make B\u2019tselem guilty of racial slurs? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:x-small;\">On 1 November 2008, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported: &#8220;Israel will reduce government services to illegal outposts in the West Bank in a bid to combat settler violence, the government decided on Wednesday during a meeting headed by Defence Minister Ehud Barak and attended by the country&#8217;s top military and legal brass.&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:x-small;\">The British foreign minister, David Miliband, said: &#8220;Britain considers that Israeli settlement building anywhere in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal under international law. This includes settlements in both East Jerusalem and the West Bank.&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:x-small;\">Reporting in Britain\u2019s <em>Guardian<\/em> newspaper (29 October 2008), Josh Freedman Berthoud writes: \u201cOscillating between covert support and active encouragement, left- and right wing- governments alike have looked the settlers in one eye and told them to sit still, while, with a wink of the other, they have facilitated their expansion.\u201d Admittedly, \u201csettlers\u2019 expansion\u201d sounds friendlier than \u201cland thieves\u201d but it\u2019s somewhat less accurate. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:x-small;\">Finally, from Al-Haq, an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organization: <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size:x-small;\"><em>The settlements in the OPT [occupied Palestinian territories] violate a number of international legal norms, and their illegality has been recognized by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and several United Nations (UN) resolutions. They are a flagrant violation of Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring parts of its civilian population into occupied territory.<\/em> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:x-small;\">Now, if my use of a phrase like \u201cland thieves\u201d is \u201cvery close to being a racial slur, and textbook anti-Semitic&#8221;, then I&#8217;m in good company. The accolade should also be accorded to other Semites \u2013 both Arab and Israeli \u2013 to the International Court of Justice, to B&#8217;tselem and several other organizations and prominent Israelis who have testified to the illegality of the settlements. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:x-small;\">What is it that makes the settlements illegal? They have been built on stolen land. Who else steals land but land thieves? Be careful of mistaking legitimate criticism of Israel for racial slurs or anti-Semitism. It&#8217;s not only counter-productive, it\u2019s nasty. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:#333333;font-size:x-small;\">&#8212; Paul J. Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for many years. For more information, see <\/span><\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pballes.com\/\"><em><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:#333333;font-size:x-small;\">pballes.com<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:#333333;font-size:x-small;\">. This article appeared in <\/span><\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.redress.cc\/\"><em><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:#333333;font-size:x-small;\">Redress Information &amp; Analysis<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span style=\"font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:#333333;font-size:x-small;\">.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<p><em class=\"newsource\">Source: Middle East Online<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>17\/11\/2008 04:00:00 PM GMT Comments (show_art_comments_count(&#8216;183623&#8217;);51) Add a comment Print E-mail to friend (electronicintifada.net) The establishment of Israeli settlements on the West Bank violates international humanitarian law. &lt;!&#8211; if (!document.phpAds_used) document.phpAds_used = &#8216;,&#8217;; phpAds_random = new String (Math.random()); phpAds_random = phpAds_random.substring(2,11); document.write (&#8220;&lt;&#8221; + &#8220;script language=&#8217;JavaScript&#8217; type=&#8217;text\/javascript&#8217; src=&#8217;&#8221;); document.write (&#8220;http:\/\/admin.alclick.com\/adjs.php?n=&#8221; + phpAds_random); document.write (&#8220;&amp;amp;what=zone:2141&#8221;); document.write&hellip; <br \/> <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2009\/01\/28\/israeli-settlers-steal-land-distort-truth\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}