A long read summing up how Trump has helped cementing Israel's illegal occupation and creeping annexation of Palestinan land. The piece is written in terms that seem to come right from Frank Luntz's handbook 'The Israel Project's 2009 Global Language Dictionary'. This book was aptly discussed by Patrick Cockburn in an op-ed in the 27 July 2014 issue of the British quality newspaper 'The Independent' under the title "The secret report that helps Israel hide facts. The slickness of Israel's spokesmen is rooted in directions set down by the pollster Frank Luntz".
It would lead too far to discuss all flaws and misrepresentations in the autor's piece. Suffice it to mention just a handful:
"To Israel, the Iran nuclear weapons programme represents the principal security threat, not the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."
1. Iran has no record of offensive military activity. It fought a defensive war against Iraq. It never had a nuclear weapons programme. It was enrichting uranium for civilian purposes, which has a theoretical break-out option which it would only apply if under threat.
2. A 'Palestinian-Israeli conflict' implies a conflict between equal partizes on a level playing field, quod non.
"In response to Trump's withdrawal, Iran violated the agreement and began uranium enrichment beyond the deal's permitted level."
With the US having withdrawn from the agreement, how can Iran violate an agreement if it dioes not exist anymore?
"Following the atrocious civil war in Syria ..."
There was no civil war in Syria. Foreign powers fought a proxy war in Syria. There is no proof Iran attempted to build another front against Israel. It was in Syria at the express request of Syria's president, as were Hezbollah and the Russians. Occuping the Golan was illegal, annexing it is against international law.
"Several Arab countries urged the Palestinians to accept the plan as a basis for negotiations."
The reality is that heads of state of some Arab dictatorships did so, against the wishes of their oppressed populations, as documented by polls.
The Israeli Human Rights non-profit Yesh Din just published a legal opinion. It says the crime against humanity of apartheid is being committed in the West Bank, with Israelis as perpetrators and Palestinians as victims. The Israeli occupation is no “ordinary” occupation regime, but one that comes with a gargantuan colonization project that has created a community of citizens of the occupying power in the occupied territory. The occupying power has gone to great lengths to cement its domination over the occupied residents and ensure their inferior status. The Israeli authorities implement policies and practices that constitute inhuman acts as the term is defined in international law: Denial of rights from a national group, denial of resources from one group and their transfer to another, physical and legal separation between the two groups and the institution of a different legal system for each of them. This is an inexhaustive list of the inhuman acts. The government of Israel is carrying out a process of “gradual annexation” in the West Bank. From an administrative perspective, annexation means the revocation of military rule in the annexed area and the territorial extension of powers held by Israeli authorities deep into the West Bank. The crime of Apartheid is not committed only in the West Bank. In the legal opinion, the Israeli regime in its entirety is an apartheid regime and Israel is an Apartheid state.
A long read summing up how Trump has helped cementing Israel's illegal occupation and creeping annexation of Palestinan land. The piece is written in terms that seem to come right from Frank Luntz's handbook 'The Israel Project's 2009 Global Language Dictionary'. This book was aptly discussed by Patrick Cockburn in an op-ed in the 27 July 2014 issue of the British quality newspaper 'The Independent' under the title "The secret report that helps Israel hide facts. The slickness of Israel's spokesmen is rooted in directions set down by the pollster Frank Luntz".
It would lead too far to discuss all flaws and misrepresentations in the autor's piece. Suffice it to mention just a handful:
"To Israel, the Iran nuclear weapons programme represents the principal security threat, not the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."
1. Iran has no record of offensive military activity. It fought a defensive war against Iraq. It never had a nuclear weapons programme. It was enrichting uranium for civilian purposes, which has a theoretical break-out option which it would only apply if under threat.
2. A 'Palestinian-Israeli conflict' implies a conflict between equal partizes on a level playing field, quod non.
"In response to Trump's withdrawal, Iran violated the agreement and began uranium enrichment beyond the deal's permitted level."
With the US having withdrawn from the agreement, how can Iran violate an agreement if it dioes not exist anymore?
"Following the atrocious civil war in Syria ..."
There was no civil war in Syria. Foreign powers fought a proxy war in Syria. There is no proof Iran attempted to build another front against Israel. It was in Syria at the express request of Syria's president, as were Hezbollah and the Russians. Occuping the Golan was illegal, annexing it is against international law.
"Several Arab countries urged the Palestinians to accept the plan as a basis for negotiations."
The reality is that heads of state of some Arab dictatorships did so, against the wishes of their oppressed populations, as documented by polls.
The Israeli Human Rights non-profit Yesh Din just published a legal opinion. It says the crime against humanity of apartheid is being committed in the West Bank, with Israelis as perpetrators and Palestinians as victims. The Israeli occupation is no “ordinary” occupation regime, but one that comes with a gargantuan colonization project that has created a community of citizens of the occupying power in the occupied territory. The occupying power has gone to great lengths to cement its domination over the occupied residents and ensure their inferior status. The Israeli authorities implement policies and practices that constitute inhuman acts as the term is defined in international law: Denial of rights from a national group, denial of resources from one group and their transfer to another, physical and legal separation between the two groups and the institution of a different legal system for each of them. This is an inexhaustive list of the inhuman acts. The government of Israel is carrying out a process of “gradual annexation” in the West Bank. From an administrative perspective, annexation means the revocation of military rule in the annexed area and the territorial extension of powers held by Israeli authorities deep into the West Bank. The crime of Apartheid is not committed only in the West Bank. In the legal opinion, the Israeli regime in its entirety is an apartheid regime and Israel is an Apartheid state.