Peace Talks: Reality Check!

There is no end of commentary on the so-called Mid-East peace talks, but this piece on Australia's ABC The Drum Unleashed by author and journalist Antony Loewenstein is a sober assessment of the realities of the situation:

"One of the greatest reasons for global scepticism is Israel's insistence on continuing to build illegal colonies in the West Bank. Despite the oft-repeated and false claims that Israel is currently having a "settlement freeze", there is vast evidence that building has continued across the West Bank and even accelerated in some places. More than 1000 new homes are being constructed. Israel's Netanyahu government initiated a "settlement freeze" as a political tool to fool America and it's worked comprehensively (though it's likely many in the Obama administration were very happy to play along with the fraud)."

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"An ever-deepening occupation makes a viable Palestinian state impossible and alternative ideas are inevitably gaining traction. Documents proving a covert Israeli plan to permanently divide the West Bank and Gaza recently emerged as well as serious discussion within Israel about what kind of Palestinian entity is imagined by the Israeli elites (a nation with no army, borders, control over airspace or communications)."

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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