US Audacity of Hope Falters: Settlement Freeze No Longer Required (Ramzy Baroud)

[Tace]

Ramzy Baroud -- World News Trust

Sept. 2, 2009 -- The United States 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 Aug. 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 U.S. 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 Unites States 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 United States 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 Aug. 24.

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http://www.worldnewstrust.com/commentary/3639-us-audacity-of-hope-falters-settlement-freeze-no-longer-required-ramzy-baroud

[IndianaGreen]

1. No settlement freeze, no public option, rendition continues, the wars continue to rage

I am just overwhelmed by all of these changes we were promised.

:crazy:

[FiveGoodMen]

2. We've been had.

No decent choice for President was allowed on the ballot. In fact, no decent choice even made it very far in the primaries.