Barely a day goes by without Israel being in the news. Nowadays it is mostly something
negative.
Today is no exception! A miscellany of today's news...
*** From The Jerusalem Post:
"As US emissary George Mitchell was making the rounds in Jerusalem Thursday and reaffirming President Barack Obama's commitment to Palestinian statehood, Israeli ministers were distancing themselves from a two-state solution.
"The preferable course of diplomatic action at this time is two economies for two peoples and not two states for two peoples," Interior Minister Eli Yishai said. "The American emissary also knows that forcing the region into virtual diplomatic discourse will only breed the opposite results."
*** From Agence France Presse [reproduced on CommonDreams]:
"Israel has informed the United Nations it will refuse to cooperate with a probe of war crimes allegedly committed during the military offensive in the Gaza Strip, a senior official said.
"Israel has informed the UN Human Rights Council it will not cooperate with an investigation based on a biased resolution," the official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
Palestinian children sit amid the rubble of destroyed houses at Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israel has informed the United Nations it will refuse to cooperate with a probe of war crimes allegedly committed during the military offensive in the Gaza Strip, a senior official has said. (AFP)
He said a letter to this effect was sent last week."
*** From Haaretz:
"The West Bank is returning to center stage amid expectations that the new U.S. administration will do more to push the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians forward. The United States faces the old vision of two states living side by side and enjoying independence, security and prosperity. Unfortunately, this vision relies on false assumptions about the West Bank's development potential.
Israel defines around 1.6 million dunams (some 4 million acres) in the West Bank as state lands and does not allow the Palestinians to develop them. Hundreds of thousands of dunams in the West Bank have been declared "closed military zones" or "engaged" - they are off-limits to the Palestinians. Also, World Bank data suggest that 68 percent of all West Bank communities have agricultural lands that are not being used or are not accessible, for reasons including water shortages and the withholding of land by Israel. For example, more than 10 percent of cultivated agricultural land in the West Bank (which produces 8 percent of all Palestinian agricultural produce), is directly affected by the physical obstacles that separate the land from its owners."
negative.
Today is no exception! A miscellany of today's news...
*** From The Jerusalem Post:
"As US emissary George Mitchell was making the rounds in Jerusalem Thursday and reaffirming President Barack Obama's commitment to Palestinian statehood, Israeli ministers were distancing themselves from a two-state solution.
"The preferable course of diplomatic action at this time is two economies for two peoples and not two states for two peoples," Interior Minister Eli Yishai said. "The American emissary also knows that forcing the region into virtual diplomatic discourse will only breed the opposite results."
*** From Agence France Presse [reproduced on CommonDreams]:
"Israel has informed the United Nations it will refuse to cooperate with a probe of war crimes allegedly committed during the military offensive in the Gaza Strip, a senior official said.
"Israel has informed the UN Human Rights Council it will not cooperate with an investigation based on a biased resolution," the official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
Palestinian children sit amid the rubble of destroyed houses at Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israel has informed the United Nations it will refuse to cooperate with a probe of war crimes allegedly committed during the military offensive in the Gaza Strip, a senior official has said. (AFP)
He said a letter to this effect was sent last week."
*** From Haaretz:
"The West Bank is returning to center stage amid expectations that the new U.S. administration will do more to push the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians forward. The United States faces the old vision of two states living side by side and enjoying independence, security and prosperity. Unfortunately, this vision relies on false assumptions about the West Bank's development potential.
Israel defines around 1.6 million dunams (some 4 million acres) in the West Bank as state lands and does not allow the Palestinians to develop them. Hundreds of thousands of dunams in the West Bank have been declared "closed military zones" or "engaged" - they are off-limits to the Palestinians. Also, World Bank data suggest that 68 percent of all West Bank communities have agricultural lands that are not being used or are not accessible, for reasons including water shortages and the withholding of land by Israel. For example, more than 10 percent of cultivated agricultural land in the West Bank (which produces 8 percent of all Palestinian agricultural produce), is directly affected by the physical obstacles that separate the land from its owners."
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