May 28 2009
Why a Jewish Settlement Freeze Has Become the Defining Issue
The demand by the Obama administration for the Israelis to fully and completely freeze all settlement activities has become a point of contention between the US and Israel for a number of reasons.
Jewish settlements built on lands occupied by Israel in 1967 is considered by the international community to be totally illegal and in clear violation of the fourth Geneva convention which is aimed at regulating prolonged occupations. The International Court of Justice at the Hague ruled in July 9th 2004 at the Hague as much when considering an appeal against Israel for building a wall inside Palestinian territories. Successive US administrations have also repeated rejected settlement activities but have wavered from calling it “illegal,” to calling it an “obstacle to peace.” Continue Reading »