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Us audacity of hope falters

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By Ramzy Baroud

(source:Palestine Chronicle)

demolished_house_man

Peace negotiations can resume while Israeli bulldozers demolish Palestinian homes.

 
The US has decided to be ‘flexible’ regarding its once touted call for a total Israeli freeze on the expansion of its occupied territories’ settlements, all illegal under international law.

 A senior official spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity on August 27. “It was more important that the scope of a settlement freeze was acceptable to the Israelis and the Palestinians than to the United States,” Reuters reported, citing the senior official. This means that peace negotiations can resume while Israeli bulldozers are carving up Palestinian land, demolishing homes and cutting down trees.

It also means that the Israeli rejection of the only US demand, which has thus far defined President Barack Obama’s relations to the Middle East conflict, has prevailed over the supposed American persistence. In other words, the US has officially succumbed to Israeli and pro-Israeli pressures, in Tel Aviv and Washington.

Those not familiar with the connotation of certain terminology in this conflict may not appreciate what it truly means that the US will no longer demand an Israeli halt of the ‘natural growth’ of its settlements, especially in the occupied Jerusalem area where tens of thousands of Palestinians are vulnerable to Israeli ethnic cleansing. Families like the Hanoun and Ghawi family have been evicted from their homes and thrown out on the street before sunrise. “The police came for them at dawn on a Sunday, heavily armed, wearing helmets and riot shields as they broke down the metal doors of the houses and dragged the two Palestinian families out onto the streets,” reported the Guardian on August 24.

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International criminal court faces big test with Isarael

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8. International Criminal Court Faces Big Test With Israel
 
by Amitabh Pal

Amitabh Pal is managing editor of The Progressive  
 
It should look into the allegations, not the least to refute the assertion that the court is an instrument of the West.
 
The International Criminal Court soon faces a big test-a test that could reveal whether it is truly an independent institution.
 

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Most arabs know this speech will make little difference

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Most Arabs Know This Speech Will Make Little Difference

I suspect that what the Arab world wants to hear is that Obama will take his soldiers out of Muslim lands

By Robert Fisk

June 02, 2009 "The Independent" — More and more, it looks like the same old melody that Bush’s lads used to sing. We’re not against the Muslim world. In fact, we are positively for it. We want you to have democracy, up to a point. We love Arab "moderates" and we want to reach out to you and be your friends. Sorry about Iraq. And sorry – again, up to a point – about Afghanistan and we do hope that you understand why we’ve got to have a little "surge" in Helmand among all those Muslim villages with their paper-thin walls. And yes, we’ve made mistakes.

Everyone in the world, or so it seems, is waiting to see if this is what Barack Obama sings. I’m not sure, though, that the Arabs are waiting with such enthusiasm as the rest of the world.

 

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