Israel Weighs Major West Bank Expansion

[Classical_Liberal]

Israel Weighs Major West Bank Expansion
Israel Considers Building Thousands More Homes in West Bank Settlements As Part of Sharon Plan

The Associated Press



JERUSALEM June 15, 2004 — Israel is considering building thousands more homes in West Bank settlements, in line with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to keep large chunks of the territory but give up the Gaza Strip, security officials said Tuesday.

In a possible boost for Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan, Israel's attorney general was expected to announce later Tuesday that he is closing a corruption investigation against the prime minister, officials close to the case said.




The opposition Labor Party, which supports a Gaza pullback, has said it would only consider joining Sharon's coalition if he is cleared of corruption suspicions.

Sharon needs Labor to restore his parliamentary majority. Several coalition hardliners defected over the Gaza plan, leaving him with a minority government...............

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040615_566.html

[Classical_Liberal]

1. Why the hell do so many dems think this is anything

but a diversion from a REAL peace process. This is nowhere near the fucking roadmap.

[punpirate]

2. I'm a bit perturbed at why they apparently...

... can't figure out the modus operandi. If Israel wanted to replace the housing destroyed in Gaza during this very long intifada, they could do it in Gaza.

But, they want to build in the West Bank (which they really want the most of, for the sake of water). After building, they enclose the area with the fence, cutting off the Palistinians there from access to Gaza, where their families and friends are. Given the choice to leave, they leave, and there's an instant new series of settlements and even more land taken. There's also no unhindered movement between Gaza and the West Bank, making the rest of it possible.

Watch it happen.

[Scurrilous]

3. "If you keep 10 percent of the land...

...you keep 100 percent of the conflict." Shimon Peres