Moussa Abu Marzouk, a deputy of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal was interviewed this week for a Palestinian newspaper giving a major concession.:
"Now there is one team, one program, one united government ... so there is a big chance to reach the goal we agreed upon at this stage, which is a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem," he said.
Hamas was founded on a pledge to seek Israel's destruction, but some in the movement have softened their stance as part of coalition talks with the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority Chariman Mahmoud Abbas. The Hamas-Fatah government's platform calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the lands Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day War.
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.... in his interview, Abu Marzouk presented a state alongside Israel as an achievement for the Palestinians.
http://www.jpost.com/...
What is to be done as more Americans move into luxury homes in the West Bank?
Suburbia Sells Settlers on the West Bank
Neve Daniel, West Bank - The Kwalbrun family mansion stands four floors high and boasts five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a Jacuzzi, a fireplace and a manicured lawn. It’s just like the home the Kwalbruns left behind in Teaneck, N.J., except that this residence is in a Jewish settlement surrounded by Arab villages in the West Bank.
Enticed by the prospect of an affordable suburban lifestyle, the Kwalbruns and a growing number of religious American immigrants are settling down in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Concentrated in areas such as the region south of Jerusalem known as Gush Etzion, they have helped small settlements like Neve Daniel nearly double in size in only the past few years.
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Settlements near Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have become a suburban paradise for North American religious Jews. They offer large homes with yards, lawns and swimming pools, and prices are low compared with those of the cramped apartments not only of Israel’s main population centers but also of such smaller cities as Beit Shemesh and Modi’in.
http://www.forward.com/...
And what is the cost to Israel of the Occupation? It's not been cheap:
Cost of occupation – over $50 billion
According to experts' estimates, the total economic cost of the occupation has by now reached more than $50 billion, including security and civilian expenses (the construction and maintenance of the settlements), as well as the potential loss of gross domestic product.
The annual average of military expenses on maintaining control over the territory stands at about NIS 2.5 billion.
Furthermore, one of the most significant outcomes of the war was the establishment of the settlement movement in the West Bank and Gaza. Some 121 settlements have been built to this day in the West Bank (not including east Jerusalem), and are home to about 250,000 settlers.
http://www.ynetnews.com/...
The former chairman of the Jewish Agency, Avraham Burg, responsible for immigration to Israel, and former member of the parliament has written an explosive book, titled "Defeating Hitler" describing Israel as a 'Zionist ghetto'.
"People find this (Israel as a Jewish democratic state) very comfortable. It's lovely. It's schmaltzy. It's nostalgic. It's retro. It gives a sense of fullness. But 'Jewish-democratic' is nitroglycerine."
"The separation fence (built by Israel in the
West Bank) is a fence against paranoia ... There is something so xenophobic about it. So insane," he said.
He criticised targeted assassinations carried out by the Israeli army against Palestinian militants and compared "some of the certainly" to murder.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
There are signs this week that Israel might be willing to reopen Land for Peace. Both with Syria and Palestinians. In the week of the 40th anniversary of the Six Day War, worldwide pressure continues.
Former pilot turned peace activist tells of experience at UN Palestinian rights committee meeting, says onus on Israel to bring change
Shapira, in the past and now, claims his actions are motivated by love for his country. "I love my nation and my people. I told the committee my story, that through the suffering of the Israeli side, I discovered the suffering of the Palestinian side," he told Ynet.
According to Shapira, he spoke to the committee about the many Israeli social organizations working towards peace and against Israeli presence in the territories, saying such groups give him hope for a future solution.
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Regardless of these social groups, Shapira placed the burden to bring about a new reality on the Israeli government. "We need to hope that the Israeli government will bring about a change. It is the real 'refusenik' - of peace."
http://www.ynetnews.com/...
Slowly but surely, many Palestinians stories are being told, thanks to the internet.
The true cost of occupation is in lives destroyed.
And even Shin Bet, can't operate in secrecy anymore as Ynet exposes the torture of a 17 year old boy:
Palestinian youngster detained since March claims investigators put out cigarettes on his body. Petitions by two human rights groups to send physician granted only after Ynet query.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and The Public Committee against Torture in Israel petitioned the Tel Aviv Administrative Court on Wednesday, demanding an urgent court order allowing their physician to visit a minor Palestinian detainee at the Sharon Prison.
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'High Court permits torture of Palestinians' / Aviram Zino
Public Committee Against Torture in Israel says there is ‘no effective barrier – not legal and certainly not ethical – that stands in the way of using torture’; Shin Bet in response: Interrogations help prevent thwart terror attacks
http://www.ynetnews.com/...
I truly believe, as the true costs of this occupation are exposed, the only solution will be peace.