U.S Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Israel, and wrote in a guestbook at President Shimon Peres' residence that “the bond between our two nations has been and will remain unshakable. Only together can we achieve lasting peace in the region.” In a conversation with the reporters after that, Mr. Biden stressed the significance of Israel's security, and denied the existence of any differences with Israel in what pertains to the security issue. Israel's answer to this was a slap in Biden's face; he had barely finished his statement when the Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee announced that it was approving the construction of 1600 housing units in the city. The Interior Minister and the Shas religious party's leader Eli Yishai claimed that this decision's timing was a coincidence and that it was not intended [to coincide with Biden's visit], and that instead, it has been under study for three years. By the way, this is the same Yishai accused of corruption, and his party is a Sephardic racist religious party that is as vile and as fanatic as its spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. According to an official in Netanyahu's office, the prime minister's position is that there is no difference in the construction [of settlements] between Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Kfar Saba. I say that this is of course true, because all these areas are stolen Palestinian lands, and Netanyahu is a thief and a terrorist. Recall that he had announced last November that he will freeze settlements for a period of ten months, with the exception of Jerusalem, and with the exception of three thousand units under the pretext that construction work on them had already begun. As usual, the Israelis were divided between those who supported the continued construction in Jerusalem and those opposed it. I hope that the readers will understand here that I am attacking the Israeli government and the fascistic extremist racists in the cabinet or around it, but not all the Israelis or the Jews. While I consider the land from the sea to the river to be Palestine, I accept the Two State Solution, and I have worked towards its implementation with the late Yasser Arafat and supported it under Mahmoud Abbas. The Nazism of the Israeli government should not overshadow the fact that many Jews around the world and many Israelis protest in solidarity with the Palestinians. In fact, they were a majority among the demonstrators last Saturday against the settlements, including rabbis and the known writer David Grossman. The Israeli government struck a blow to its most important ally in the U.S administration, as it trusts Biden but not Barack Obama. The Americans responded by denouncing the decision approving the construction of settlements. Biden himself said that the decision undermines trust between the two countries, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon criticized the decision, and said that it violates international law. The Arab countries must have also denounced it; however, in the calculations of international politics, Arabs do not have any weight. I had also denounced the decision, but this probably had the same effect as the position of the Arab countries. All the above took place against the backdrop of Biden's five day visit to the region, aimed at providing support for the mission of the Middle East Peace Envoy George Mitchell. The latter arrived at the same time in order to launch the proximity talks which are supposed to last four months, and which are endorsed by the Arab Follow-up Committee. The negotiations are an absurdist play and will lead to nothing at all. While I am an advocate of peace and while I am against war even in the absence of any hope for peace, the only peace I accept is the one that results in the establishment of a Palestinian state over the territories occupied in 1967. If any [land] swap is to take place, it is only acceptable within the range of 3 percent or less, while noting that a hectare in Jerusalem cannot be swapped for a hectare in the Negev; instead, the land value must be factored in. For instance, a building in Manhattan over one acre is ten times more valuable than my brother's 400 acre ranch in Illinois (an acre is an American unit of measurement and is the equivalent of approximately 4.068 metres). In any case, the only thing that matters in the above is that the Israeli criminal government seems to have lived up to its name, as it continues to commit crimes while the Palestinians are divided and the Arabs are helpless. Also, President Obama will achieve nothing of his promises or desires, as long as the U.S Congress is more pro-Israeli than the Israeli Knesset. Meanwhile, I read some American analysis combining official leaks with press commentaries, about a possible change in the Middle East, and about the possibility of establishing new alliances and allegiances that might help the United States in pushing the peace process forward. I read in this regard that Syria has changed as it became wary of its sole alliance with Iran, and that it hence engaged Qatar, Turkey and France, and is attempting to build better relations with the United States. But this is incorrect because the Syrian regime did not go to anyone; rather, Syria always had good relations with Qatar, while the Turkish government that has an Islamist background wants a fair solution. As for France, it itself took the initiative in rebuilding the bridges with Damascus, in the hope of steering it away from Tehran, and is still attempting to do so. I want to say once again that there is nothing new under the sun in the Middle East, and there can be no solution with the current government in Israel. [email protected]
