For people interested in Middle East peace, i should share a fascinating news source. For the most part it supports Israeli positions and anti-Muslim hysteria (for example, it will feature articles by Rightist Extremists like Daniel Pipes, who supported arming Saddam Hussein so he would be able to kill more Iranians back during the Iraqi war on Iran). It comes from the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and is called the Daily Alert. You can subscribe to it here. All members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations serve on AIPAC's Executive Committee. So you get the definite pro-Occupation slant.

This daily news alert is helpful to understand what those who support continuing the Israeli occupation of Palestine are up to, what propaganda they are currently catapulting to the masses. If you want to hear the voice of the other side, i would suggest the Jewish Peace News, which is not daily, but very helpful, and supportive of actual working toward peace with justice in the Middle East.

Today's missive from the pro-settlement side featured an article from Politico. Democrats pressure Barack Obama on Israel

"My concern is that we are applying pressure to the wrong party in this dispute," said Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.). "I think it would serve America’s interest better if we were pressuring the Iranians to eliminate the potential of a nuclear threat from Iran, and less time pressuring our allies and the only democracy in the Middle East to stop the natural growth of their settlements." "When Congress gets back into session the administration is going to hear from many more members than just me," she said.

..... But even a key defender of Obama’s Mideast policy, Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), is seeking to narrow the administration’s definition of "settlement" to take pressure off Obama. And the unusual criticism by congressional Democrats of the popular president is a sign that it may take more than a transformative presidential election to change the domestic politics of Israel.

Wexler, who is usually a progressive on many issues, has been quick to support AIPAC. Too quick. For example, last year when AIPAC supported a resolution essentially supporting an embargo on Iran, Wexler was one of the first to support it, though he backed off after massive opposition from antiwar groups. You can see he is willing to help AIPAC/pro-settlement side here. If Wexler is successful in "redefining" settlements, then what is not defined as a settlement will be able to expand, and take more land from a future Palestinian state.

There is a problem. Because the definition of settlements is crystal-clear. All land in the West Bank, settled by Israeli citizens, and who are claiming that land for Israel, is a settlement.

Article 49 of the Geneva Convention is also quite clear:

The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

What is international law, what is human rights to a US Congress? We have seen time and time again that it hardly ever part of their considerations.

Nearly 300,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements among 2.4 million Palestinians. Another 180,000 live in Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem. The Palestinians claim both areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war as parts of a future independent state.

What Wexler and AIPAC will attempt to do is redefine "not expanding the settlements" to a few isolated "outposts" that Israel itself has defined as illegal.. by removing them it hopes to claim to achieve the goal of not "expanding the settlements". Despite the fact, that on the ground, overall more land will be taken for Israel, more Palestinian homes demolished. Palestinians will soon be left with next to nothing with such a "peace process".

Despite the tough talk from Obama, for its part the administration has laid out no consequences for Israel if it continues to expand the settlements. Theoretically, there is much Obama can do, even without the support of Congress. Yet we have seen no evidence that it is willing to risk a real confrontation with Congress and the anti-Palestine Lobby.

This week Obama is in the Middle East, where he will be attempting to convince Arab leaders, and the Arab people, that he is serious about peace. The latter group will be a hard sell, as they want more than words. We can see that the US Congress is on the side of keeping the status quo.

Unless we see massive pressure from the grassroots to support an end to settlement expansion, then i think the pro-settlement sides will again win the day.

You can help end the settlements by going here.

If the United States wants to see Israel stop the expansion of settlements, then it should cut off or, at the very minimum, condition its military aid to Israel until this and other policy goals are met.



This is the grassroots uprising that we need to pressure congress so that they will be less willing to stick to the status quo. It will be a long fight. Join it.

You can join the fight against aipac by going here. We can stop aipac, like any other anti-peace/human rights lobby. With people-power. We won't deny others their right to organize according to their political convictions. We will not hesitate to protest gatherings that support war, occupation, and the denial of human rights.