September 23 (24 Palestine time), it’s the middle of the night and Palestinians in the West Bank are going nuts over PLO President Mahmud Abbas UN speech. They are yelling that they will march on al Quds (Jerusalem) and take it back from the Israelis.
Palestinians say that U.S. President Obama’s speech the other day was totally against Palestine, and sounded almost as if Israelis had written the speech for him. Palestinians say this is proof that the United States is a puppet of Israel, and an enemy of Palestinians. Palestinians are burning U.S. flags.
“I have believed for a long time that Israel wants this al-Aqsa Mosque simply not to exist.”-Mark Dankof
August 11, Israel orders the construction of 1,200 illegal settlement homes around al Quds (Jerusalem). On top of that one Israeli official said they are about to authorize another 2,700 more homes in occupied Palestinian territory.
Some officials say they’re going ahead with the illegal settlement homes to address the bad economy that so many Israelis are protesting. Officials say the settlements will provide affordable housing.
The European Union says Israel’s continued illegal settlement construction guarantees there will be no peace: “Settlement activity threatens the viability of an agreed two state solution and undermines ongoing efforts to resume negotiations.”-Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Egyptian and Russian officials have stressed that the settlements are illegal. They violate UN resolution 452, which bans settlement construction in occupied Palestinian territory.
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