Settlement freeze dispute threatens direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks

Jerusalem - An Israeli settlement freeze is emerging as the biggest obstacle to resuming direct talks aimed at ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to announce as early as Monday his willingness to enter such negotiations, but with preconditions Israel has said it is not prepared to accept.

"The Palestinians are looking for either an Israeli commitment to a settlement freeze, or a Quartet [European Union, United States, United Nations, and Russia] statement that would be accepted by both sides as a basis for negotiations," says Ghassan Khatib, director of the Palestinian Authority government's media center. "We are looking for a settlement freeze according to the definition of Quartet ... road map - adopted by the United Nations Security Council - which called for a settlement freeze in all occupied areas including East Jerusalem."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100816/wl_csm/319892

But now we have Obama using blackmail to force the Palestinians into direct negotiations ala Netanyahu, i.e., without preconditions. That would allow the Israelis to say no to everything, and prolong and stall the negotiations for years while the ethnic cleansing and settlement building continues.

Say no to Obama.

Another Palestinian village faces total demolition order

For the third time in less than a month, Israeli occupation forces have handed house demolition orders to all the inhabitants of the village of Farseya in occupied Palestine. The head of the municipal council of Al Maleh and Madareb Bedouin area, Aref Daraghma, said that the notices were given to all of the village's inhabitants. Just under a month ago, the Israeli authorities demolished 120 buildings before returning two weeks ago to demolish another six Palestinian homes, as well as those that were rebuilt after the first round of demolitions.

Mr. Daraghema urged international human rights organizations to intervene to prevent "the village of Farseya being wiped off the face of the earth" by the Israeli authorities, which aim to move the Palestinian population from the area prior to seizing their land. This is not the first time that the Israeli occupation authorities have demolished a whole village. Five days ago, they demolished Al-Arakib village in the Negev Desert, even destroying the tents set up by the villagers on the rubble of their houses.

http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/1423-another-palestinian-village-faces-total-de molition-order

Netanyahu wants to continue crap like this while negotiating peace? Is this believable? Let Obama withdraw funding to the Palestinians because as things stands, it is nothing less than blackmail. When the Palestinians join Obama in becoming Netanyahu's poodles, peace will never come.

For the umpteenth time, please respect ET's site guidelines when quoting off-site material. This time you failed to

Identify your source - if it is on the web, you should link to it

...and

Last but not least: try to keep your quote as short and concise as possible, ideally 3 paragraphs per blockquote or less. If readers want to read the full article you quote from, they can do so by following your link. A quote should only incite interest, or show claims you react to/follow up with comments in your own words. The reason you quote a passage can be further emphasized by bolding key words or half-sentences.

the latest news

Halper's recent article, that features in a number of places but first, one would expect, at ICAHD.org, formed the body of your long quote, but what about this?

TVE's Earth Report

For generations, Kayed Jaber's family has farmed a valley near Hebron. Kayed and his brother Ismael grow fruit and vegetables for market - an activity made possible in the parched desert by the ancient technique of storing rainwater in underground reservoirs.

But there is a serious water shortage and the brothers are building two new reservoirs to catch and store rainwater.

Urban invasion

Less than one mile away, Israeli settlers are moving in ever greater numbers onto Palestinian farmland. The hills around Ismael and Kayed's lands now form a water-greedy Israeli settlement called Kyriat Arbat where the settlers enjoy lush green parkland and swimming in the local pool.

...

Now, Kayed and Ismael's water problem has turned into a battle with the Israeli Civil Administration - the military government of the West Bank that decides all aspects of Palestinian life.

The Civil Administration believe that Kayed and Ismael's reservoirs haven't been built to catch rainwater but to store water illegally diverted from pipelines destined for Israeli settlements. Even though there is no proof of water-stealing, the reservoirs are destroyed anyway.

That quote is lifted from Earth Report dated January 2001. It essentially and often verbatim forms the opening of your quote. It is not attributed to any author. This is Jeff Halper giving us "the latest news", or shergald cobbling stuff together?

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The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman