Our Wednesday News Analysis | America is 'deeply troubled', so what?

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price answers the questions of the press during the daily press briefing at the State Department in Washington D.C., United States, January 9, 2023. [ Celal Güneş - Anadolu Agency]

Source: Middle East Monitor
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230220-america-is-deeply-troubled-so-what/

By Dr Mohammad Makram Balawi
Published February 20, 2023

Ned Price, the spokesman for the United States Department of State, said his country is "deeply troubled" over Israel's intentions to legalise more illegal Israeli Jews-only settlements in the occupied West Bank.

When raising the option of self-defence, Price stands with Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip, the world's biggest open-air-prison, but against the rockets fired back from Gaza. In his opinion these rockets target only civilians.

When reporters asked him if he believes Palestinians have a right to self-defence, he declined to answer. Then the same reporter asked him if he condemns the killing of Palestinian children? He simply said he does not have enough information on this issue.

Yet, if the United State is deeply troubled, these days, obviously, it is not because justice is not delivered to the Palestinians after almost a century of Western hegemony. It is because the pillars of Israel are shaking. Opposition leaders are warning of civil war, investors have started withdrawing their investments from Israel, the chiefs of the army, the police and the intelligence are warning against giving free-hand to lunatic ministers, the same ministers who are building militias in the West Bank under the pretext of self-defence, the judiciary and the opposition are opposing "judicial reform" which they called a "judicial coup" and every weekend more than hundred thousand people demonstrate against the current far-right government.

Antony Blinken, the United States secretary of state, visited Israel for the fourth time at the end of January. Each time he came to restore calm between Israel and the Palestinians. This time his mission seems to be fundamentally different. This time he is also worried about Israel's attitude on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and the possibilities of taking the region into a war with Iran. He also seems to be worried that the current Israeli government might make things even more difficult with Saudi Arabia, if its reckless policies lead to a new Palestinian uprising...

Read more: America is 'deeply troubled', so what?

ISRAELI GOVERNMENTAL MAP OF WEST BANK ERASES PALESTINIAN VILLAGES AND CITIES

Israeli governmental map of West Bank erases Palestinian villages and cities (ILLUSTRATION: MONDOWEISS)

Source: Mondoweiss
https://mondoweiss.net/2023/02/israeli-governmental-map-of-west-bank-erases-palestinian-villages-and-cities/

By Philip Weiss
Published February 17, 2023

An Israeli government body that represents 72,000 Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank has published a map of its jurisdiction that shows only Jewish settlements– simply removing scores of Palestinian villages and the cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh.

The map was published by the Binyamin Regional Council on a webpage in English titled “Build Your Future With Us” aimed at attracting American Jews to move to “northern Jerusalem suburbs.” The page lists 17 illegal Jewish settlements, some deep in the West Bank, that Binyamin says are “located in the center of Israel.”

Binyamin towns have become one of the most desirable locations in Israel for newcomers, thanks to the centeral location, breathtaking historical views, and above all – the communities: warm and friendly, excellent education systems, diverse population and lively community life.

The map reflects the thinking of recent Israeli governments– beholden to the rightwing settler movement or dominated by them– that have repeatedly threatened to annex West Bank lands and push Palestinians off them.

Binyamin Regional Council is an official local Israeli government body, the late Yossi Gurvitz explained to me in an email two weeks ago: “The Binyamin Regional Council is a regional council, a statuary-recognized form of local government, responsible for 46 settlements. It’s supported by government funds and local taxes. It’s the largest regional council (Regional Councils often gather villages and peripheral towns), with 72,000 residents (=settlers).”...

Read more: Israeli governmental map of West Bank erases Palestinian villages and cities

ISRAEL IS DESTROYING THE FANTASIES OF LIBERAL ZIONISM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to attend the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, on February 12, 2023. (Ohad Zwigenberg / POOL / AFP)

Source: The Nation
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-liberal-zionism/?custno=&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%202.20.2023&utm_term=daily

By Saree Makdisi
Published February 20, 2023

Israeli apartheid is more obvious than ever, and liberal supporters of Zionism are being confronted with a reality that they have tried for so long to deny.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Jerusalem in late January came during a period of notable violence and political upheaval throughout Palestine. But most of the anodyne comments Blinken made during his trip could have been made at just about any time in the past 30 years.

“I underscored the ironclad U.S.-Israeli relationship, our commitment to Israeli democracy & security,” Blinken tweeted with total banality after meeting with Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid. He was equally hollow after his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, praising the two-state solution and adding, “Anything that moves us away from that vision is—in our judgment—detrimental to Israel’s long-term security and its long-term identity as a Jewish and democratic state.”

It’s business as usual, in other words. The situation on the ground, however, is anything but.

To begin with, Israel has recently intensified its assault on Palestinian life. It has stepped up its demolition of Palestinian homes, its deliberately terrifying midnight raids on Palestinian families, and its brutalization of Palestinians at checkpoints, in schoolyards, in olive groves, and on pastoral hillsides. And the soldiers of its occupation army have been shooting to kill Palestinian men, women, and children at a rate of more than one every single day so far this year. A recent update by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, covering the period from December 20, 2022, to January 9, 2023, documents the killing or wounding of 399 Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces; the demolition of 69 Palestinian-owned structures (and the resulting displacement of 70 Palestinians); 31 attacks on unarmed Palestinians by heavily armed Jewish settlers; and 202 Israeli raids into the West Bank. All this in just three weeks—and not counting the recent incursion into Jenin, in which Israeli troops killed nine more Palestinians (a 10th victim later succumbed to injuries) and inflicted massive damage to homes and infrastructure; or a later raid into Jericho in which Israeli soldiers killed another five Palestinians...

Read more: Israel Is Destroying the Fantasies of Liberal Zionism