Israel to lift marketing freeze of 454 settler homes in East Jerusalem

To the editor: If 83% of Palestinians believe that the state of Israel itself is occupying Palestinian lands, then the prospects for peace are indeed bleak.

Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan sought to link Tuesday’s decision to the attacks in Paris, saying Israel should lead the “struggle against radical Islam, whose emissaries we saw massacring innocent people in Paris”. The labeling measures will apply to regional goods like produce, wine, honey, olive oil, and cosmetics – an estimated $50 million worth of goods produced in the settlements a year.

News of the decision came a week after Netanyahu held talks in the White House with President Barack Obama in which the right-wing Israeli leader publicly reaffirmed his commitment to a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians. “The European Union has chose to label only Israel, and we are not prepared to accept the fact that Europe is labelling the side that is being attacked by terrorism”. The president did not mention the far more considerable violence on behalf of Israel against the Palestinians.

The Commission, meanwhile, maintains that the mandate is purely “technical, not political”, and that the distinction is not meant as a punishment.

“We requested that he be jailed for seven months”, she said, adding that she was unable to elaborate on the sentencing.

We would have the opportunity to respond to the religious and community leaders in Israel and Palestine who are asking us to open new chapters in their cities and areas. The Palestinians never even participated in the 1967 war and were never sovereign, so the widespread pejorative of Israeli “occupation” of Palestinian lands is subject to serious dispute.

Palestinian attacks, mainly stabbings, have killed 14 Israelis, and at least 83 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, including 51 Israel alleges were involved in assaults.

He also allegedly said Muslims’ “finest moment” would be to become “martyrs” protecting the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. They know that investing in genuine dialogue among young Israelis and Palestinians is much more effective, and much less expensive, than investing in military power.

Other measures Israel has pursued in recent days have included controversial demolitions of homes of suspected attackers, which have sparked clashes, such as on Monday when Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians in the West Bank.

“The Islamic Movement will remain and continue its mission and protect Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque”, the statement said, “I am honoured to be the head of this movement”. The site is also revered by Jews as the home of the biblical Jewish Temples.

The leader of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement called the Israeli government “fascist”.

Salah has alleged in speeches and annual rallies that Israel plans to expand its control there. Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray there to avoid provoking tensions. Police at times have blocked busloads of Islamic Movement supporters from Jerusalem.

Salah has had repeated run-ins with authorities and was previously imprisoned for funneling money to Hamas, which rules Gaza.

Speaking to Reuters, he played down the prospect of a backlash from Israeli Arabs, saying the government planned to increase investment in their communities and that a few charities linked to the northern Islamic Movement might be spared closure.

In the Netherlands, Jan Marijnissen, the chairman of the Dutch Socialist Party, thinks the ISIS terrorists who carried out the murderous attacks in Paris were frustrated about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Israel has beefed up security across the country, sending soldiers to back up police, and setting up checkpoints and concrete barriers in Arab neighbourhoods of east Jerusalem, where numerous attackers have come from.