08-02-2014, 11:09 AM
I haven't touched on the Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank in this thread. IMO, that's one of the present day barriers to trusting Israel for Palestinians (not just Hamas), much of the Arab world, and many across the globe really.
Netanyahu is no fan of Obama and practically endorsed Romney in the 2012 elections. That's not only because Obama refused to support military action against Iran and Syria as Netanyahu would have liked, but also because Obama did not back up Netanyahu's justification for continuing to build Jewish settlements on Palestinian ground.
Netanyahu claims the settlements are legal and that he's simply allowing agreed-to existing settlements to expand as needed. However, many look at the map and the settlement and outpost expansions -- plus the Jewish regional birth rates -- and see it as Israel pushing Palestinians out of the desirable areas, in violation of international law.
It's an interesting contributing factor to today's tensions and one of the reasons that Palestinians in the West Bank have come out and shown some solidarity with the people of Gaza by protesting Israel in this latest escalating war between the IDF and Hamas.
Netanyahu is no fan of Obama and practically endorsed Romney in the 2012 elections. That's not only because Obama refused to support military action against Iran and Syria as Netanyahu would have liked, but also because Obama did not back up Netanyahu's justification for continuing to build Jewish settlements on Palestinian ground.
Netanyahu claims the settlements are legal and that he's simply allowing agreed-to existing settlements to expand as needed. However, many look at the map and the settlement and outpost expansions -- plus the Jewish regional birth rates -- and see it as Israel pushing Palestinians out of the desirable areas, in violation of international law.
It's an interesting contributing factor to today's tensions and one of the reasons that Palestinians in the West Bank have come out and shown some solidarity with the people of Gaza by protesting Israel in this latest escalating war between the IDF and Hamas.