U.S. diplomat criticizes Israel on settlements

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N29229134.htm

DETROIT, Sept 29 (Reuters) - A senior U.S. diplomat said on Monday that Israel's refusal to stop building Jewish settlements in the West Bank threatened its future as a democratic Jewish state.

The warning came in a speech by William Burns, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, at the U.S.-Arab Economic Forum in Detroit, a conference exploring ways of fostering growth, development and trade between the United States and the Arab world.

"As Israeli settlements expand and their populations increase, it becomes increasingly difficult to see how the two peoples will be separated into two states," Burns said.

"The fact is that settlements continue to grow today, encouraged by specific government policies and at enormous expense to Israel's economy, and this persists even as it becomes clear that the logic of settlements and the reality of demographics could threaten the future of Israel as a Jewish democracy."
<snip>

Now that's something you don't hear every day.

And I'll bet Bush's phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from Likud, AIPAC, JINSA, and the JDL! Watch for a "correction" from the State Department soon....

nt

(except mine) ain't been nuthin' but shit.

You need something new, something with more zip.

How about "Ayyyyyyyyyyyyy"
or "Stop bitchin' and start fishin'"
or "I'm with stupid."

But they are concerned: the more settlements that make a two-state solution less possible, the greater the likelihood that an expanded Israel will be called upon in future to grant full citizenship rights to a Palestinian majority -- ending all prospects for a Jewish state. If they don't, it will be like the old South Africa, with no prospects for being considered a democratic state. And in the end, it could be a minor version of the new South Africa, with a Palestinian majority ruling.

Still, exceedingly modest criticism.