his plans for the West Bank are coming next week
I think there's an expected US statement on recognising the West Banks sovereignty in the next 4 weeks.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4z32y12jpo
Asked whether he agreed the US should recognise Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, Trump said he had yet to take a position but that he would have an announcement to make in four weeks' time.
That remark has caused alarm among Palestinians, for whom such an announcement would inevitably be seen as another nail in the coffin for a two-state solution
Posted : 05/02/2025 8:09 pm
the notion that Biden somehow reigned in the Israeli government
Which if you bothered to read anyone else's posts instead of swamping the thread with your own posts, you'd realise nobody other than you has suggested such a thing. People have rightly pointed out that however bad Biden was for the Palestinians at least he wasn't openly calling for them to be forcibly removed from the rubble of their homes like Trump is. I'm pretty sure it was you alluding to Trump being no worse for the Palestinians than Biden some pages back. I think Trumps recent comments proves this is not the case. Whether there is any chance of Trump following through (in my opinion that chance is zero) the very fact he is openly suggesting relocation of the Palestinians will just embolden the headbangers in Isreal.
Posted : 05/02/2025 10:03 pm
the notion that Biden somehow reigned in the Israeli government
.
you’d realise nobody other than you has suggested such a thing
Well if Joe Biden wasn't reigning in Netanyahu, and I can't see how anyone can claim that he was, how is the situation any worse now?
I’m pretty sure it was you alluding to Trump being no worse for the Palestinians than Biden some pages back.
I think some people might not have fully grasped just how bad things have been for the Palestinians in Gaza. If they had then perhaps they would realise that it really couldn't get much worse. Plenty of Middle East analysts, and US Muslim voters, came to that conclusion.
It is a perfectly reasonable conclusion given the situation, even if it doesn't receive the unanimous approval of STW. It is also based on Trump's known priorities which at the top of the list includes the expansion of the Abraham Accords.
No one can really know what made Netanyahu agree to the ceasefire deal but some believe that it was pressure from Trump who knows that there was is zero chance of Saudi Arabia coming onboard without a ceasefire. Personally I am more sceptical and suspect that it had more to do with the fact that the "war" wasn't achieving anything other than damaging Israel generally and the Likud party in particular.
But whatever the reasons the reality is that today the situation in Gaza is a tad better for the Palestinians than it was a couple of months ago. There is a ceasefire, Hamas have negotiated not as a defeated entity, and people by all accounts are extremely happy to have returned to northern Gaza after 15 months.
Like everyone else I have no idea how things will pan out for the Palestinians in Gaza over the next 4 years but right now the situation appears to be no worse than it has been over the past year.
I suspect that professor Muhannad Ayyash. :
https://www.aljazeera.com/author/mark_muhannad_ayyash_200706132625995
knows a bit more than me, and everyone else on this thread, about the situation in Palestine. And certainly Al Jazeera, which knows a bit more about the situation in Palestine than me and everyone else on this thread, believes that his opinion is credible and is worthy of attention:
Obviously he could be wrong though. We will see.
Posted : 05/02/2025 11:23 pm
Blimey, I have just reread that opinion piece by Pro. Muhannad Ayyash and his predictions of could possibly happen appear to be uncannily near the mark in the short period that Trump has been reinstalled.
Although there may be surprises and unexpected developments, the second Trump administration will continue in the same direction it set back in 2017 and Biden decided to maintain in 2021.
What the Trump administration offered to the Palestinians was some economic support in exchange for giving up their political rights and self-determination aspirations.
Based on Trump’s proclamations during the campaign and the advisers, donors and supporters whom he is surrounded with, there is every reason to believe his second administration will continue to push further down this bipartisan path to eliminate the “Palestinian Question” once and for all.
The Trump administration will try to deal with this resistance by buying people off with economic incentives and the threat of violence and repression. But this approach will have – as it always has had – limited impact.
There has definitely been surprises and unexpected developments, and Trump clearly wants to eliminate the “Palestinian Question” once and for all, plus of course he is offering economic incentives.
Posted : 05/02/2025 11:56 pm
It is a perfectly reasonable conclusion given the situation
The conversation is better off without such assumptions.
Posted : 06/02/2025 7:44 am
kimbers reacted
The conversation is better off without such assumptions
What “assumptions” are you actually talking about?
Posted : 06/02/2025 2:01 pm
so after his spokesperson and republicans were rowing back on his plans....
Trump is now doubling down
SNAFU
Posted : 06/02/2025 2:24 pm
raleighimpact reacted
I am sure that that I posted a link to Jeremy Bowen's article yesterday but I can't see it here now.
It is both interesting and plausible imo particularly his comments concerning Trump's overture to Iran, a development which to say surprised me would be an understatement.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2pwjgp59do
Obviously the usual suspects will dismiss it because it suggests that Trump has a plan, and we all know that politics is very simple...... "Trump is stupid and so are his supporters" 😉
Posted : 06/02/2025 3:41 pm
The inhabitants are 100% right not wanting to leave, given it appears to be Israeli policy not to let people back in who do leave.
But something has to be done in order to rebuild. Perhaps the idea of Israel ceding more territory on the boundaries to expand the Gaza strip to make it more accommodating to the inhabitants.
Watched a prog on AlJazera a bit back of a young newly married couple looking to build their first home together, and all they could go for was to add a floor to an existing building.
Posted : 06/02/2025 10:08 pm
kimbers reacted
It can always get worse. History has taught us that.
History has also taught us that when people have a shitty deal they are often willing to gamble even if they think the odds of success are low.
Posted : 07/02/2025 11:01 pm
It is been claimed that Donald Trump has no sense of humour but it would appear that Benjamin Netanyahu thinks otherwise and has clearly decided to appeal to it
Israeli media reported that the Israeli prime minister, who is wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes, also gave the US president a regular pager.
The explosions killed at least 37 people, including children as young as nine years old, and left thousands wounded.
And in an example of the crass gloating that the racist apartheid regime in Tel Aviv is capable of it is claimed that the wood the golden pager is mounted on is a piece of olive tree from Lebanon.
Not only is the olive tree a symbol of peace but the Israeli authorities and colonial settlers have uprooted, burnt, and destroyed, at least 800,000 olive trees in the illegally occupied Palestinian lands.
Olive trees in Palestine are generally at least 1,000 old and in some cases 5,000 years old. It takes minutes for an IDF military bulldozer to uproot one and thereby destroying the livelihood of a Palestine farmer, an important tactic when driving Palestinians off their lands so that they can be replaced by Western colonial settlers.T
here is something quite sinister about a grinning Netanyahu celebrating the pager attack when Israel actually refuses to admit responsibility for it. It has a touch of the gangster boss or smirking nazi officer about it.
Posted : 07/02/2025 11:49 pm
Donald Trump: An unlikely harbinger of peace in West Asia?
A fairly long but interesting article written by a Indian diplomat, the first part detailing the historical background is particularly interesting imo. But he conclusion is probably the most important bit:
As of now, Trump—impulsive, inconsistent, egoistical that he is—seems to be the only one with the credentials and the capacity to deliver a lasting peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Although firmly placed on the populist right, with a long and credible record of backing Israel’s interests, he is not committed to any ideology, and given Israel’s total dependence on US political and military support, he can exercise an influence on Netanyahu that is unmatched. He is also said to be seeking a Nobel Peace Prize as the crowning glory of his presidency, which peace in West Asia will guarantee him.
The problem is that Trump has no moral core or intellectual ballast and is prone to impulsive actions largely to get attention, usually in response to wily and persuasive influencers like Netanyahu.
Posted : 08/02/2025 7:50 pm
At the moment Trump appears to be trying to out Netanyahu Netanyahu, doubling down and saying that unless all the hostages are released at the weekend the ceasefire is over, not even Netanyahu is explicitly saying that all the hostages must be released. But hey Biden was way worse for the Palestinians wasn't he...................
Posted : 12/02/2025 9:45 pm
TheFlyingOx and kelvin reacted
But hey Biden was way worse for the Palestinians wasn't he...................
Way worse ? There is fundamentally no policy difference between Biden and Trump with regards to Palestine-Israel. Biden simply continued with Trump 1.0 Middle East policies, in fact he actually built on them and tried to extend the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia.
The only difference is firstly in style and secondly in genuine commitment to zionism. And it is the latter which presents a fairly serious challenge for Netanyahu. At the moment Netanyahu appears to enjoy Donald Trump's full support but that is certainly not an "ironclad" guarantee, to paraphrase Joe Biden.
explicitly saying
Other than because it suits their agenda why would anyone attach any sort of genuine value to the words that come out Trump's mouth?
Here's a question......did Mexico ever pay for that wall that Trump built and he explicitly said they would be paying for?
What wall? You may well ask.
In Trump's world this is called "The Art of the Deal". And what's more it can be very effective, as the usual reaction to what he says proves.
Posted : 13/02/2025 12:17 am
The author of this article is obviously an Israeli and a zionist but it is easily the best article that I have read with regards to the motives behind what Trump is saying concerning Gaza.
If you read one article on Trump's attitude to Gaza make it this one, it's well worth reading imo.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-840776
The article is a week old but already some of the expected reactions from the Arab states are starting to become apparent. Trump has put a rocket up their arses and it is feasible that he might achieve more than Biden, although to be fair Biden achieved absolutely bugger all, so that shouldn't be very difficult.
And by "achievement" I mean leave the region more stable to serve United States interests and with less need for direct US involvement, which is all that Biden would have wanted anyway...... Biden clearly didn't give a monkeys about the Palestinians.
Posted : 13/02/2025 12:39 am
May already have been posted, but ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has been sanctioned by the US
Posted : 13/02/2025 5:43 pm
Trump did this last time he was in office as well…
Posted : 13/02/2025 6:41 pm
From my earlier Jerusalem Post link :
TRUMP’S TRACK record in real estate and politics could suggest that his goal isn’t to occupy Gaza – it’s to force neighboring Arab nations, who have up until now dragged their feet, to take a more active role in solving the crisis. His assumption? That the shock of such a radical proposal will jolt Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf states into stepping up in ways they have so far refused to.
For decades, Arab nations have loudly supported the Palestinian cause, but they have done little to materially improve the situation in Gaza beyond funneling money to Hamas.
That was 10 days ago. Today, according to The Times of Israel :
Arab countries scramble to offer Trump an alternate proposal for post-war Gaza
Reuters spoke to 15 sources in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and elsewhere to build a picture of the hurried efforts by Arab states to pull together existing proposals into a new plan they can sell to the US president — even potentially calling it a “Trump plan” to win his approval.
It looks as if Trump's little tactic might be working precisely as it was intended to work. He's a bit of a wily ****er, and people are so dismissive.
Could Joe Biden have achieved something similar? Not a chance imo, everyone, including Israel and all the Arab states, simply ignored him.
Obviously it's early days and it's not a done deal until it's a done deal, but people are very quick to jump to conclusions and condemn Trump's tactics. This might prove to be a lesson in not being so quick to condemn and perhaps waiting to see how things pan out.
I am not celebrating btw, any plan hatched by the likes of Saudi Arabia and Egypt and backed by the United States will undoubtedly represent a stitch up for the Palestinians. But it will possibly represent a big win for the United States, Israel, and its other client states. So Trump will have achieved what you would expect a US president to achieve, whilst denying justice for Palestine.
Posted : 14/02/2025 10:28 pm
At the moment Trump appears to be trying to out Netanyahu Netanyahu, doubling down and saying that unless all the hostages are released at the weekend the ceasefire is over, not even Netanyahu is explicitly saying that all the hostages must be released. But hey Biden was way worse for the Palestinians wasn't he...................
So Hamas released just three prisoners today and the ceasefire is still in place.
I have seen TV footage of a great deal of extremely happy Palestinians today, is the situation currently much worse than it was when Joe Biden was US president? Well right now it doesn't appear to be.
To be honest so much destruction was caused to Gaza whilst Joe Biden was US president that there isn't much left to destroy......homes, schools, universities, hospitals, are all gone, so I am not sure how that could be much worse.
And we will have to wait and see whether Donald Trump helps Netanyahu to kill even more Palestinians than Joe Biden managed to help him kill.
Posted : 15/02/2025 7:15 pm
And we will have to wait and see whether Donald Trump helps Netanyahu to kill even more Palestinians than Joe Biden managed to help him kill.
He will, because he (US and the entire West) has become the tool for the puppet master. They have no more credible opposition in the Middle East soon apart from Iran. Hence the expansion plan of turning the place into zionist real estate.
The way the US President Trump spoke to the Jordanian King and the Egyptian govt, can only show how weak those political elites are in the Middle East.
Posted : 17/02/2025 12:57 am
Who do you believe to be the "puppet masters"?
Posted : 17/02/2025 1:42 pm
Blimey, I had no idea that Pope Francis has been phoning the Holy Family church in Gaza every evening since October 9 2023.
According to The Guardian he has been doing so even whilst quite seriously ill in hospital.
The Holy Family church in Gaza has been a target for Israeli forces (because of course Hamas uses Catholic churches!) In December 2023 IDF snipers shot and killed a mother and daughter in the grounds of the church and last July the Israeli air force bombed the church.
Posted : 17/02/2025 4:52 pm
Who do you believe to be the "puppet masters"?
The "puppet masters" are hidden in the Balfour Declaration
Posted : 21/02/2025 7:52 pm
This puppet master, wouldn't be Harry Corbett by any chance?
Posted : 21/02/2025 9:01 pm
kelvin reacted
Who do you believe to be the "puppet masters"?
The "puppet masters" are hidden in the Balfour Declaration
Do you have enough conviction in your beliefs to state who those puppet masters are, that you believe are hidden in the Balfour Declaration?
Posted : 22/02/2025 12:24 pm
https://resources.news.sky.com/iframe/amp/video/6839944#amp=
Posted on Truth Social apparently
Posted : 26/02/2025 11:02 am
Posted : 26/02/2025 11:09 am
I like the hula dancers.
I wonder what the real Elon Musk will think of the AI version of him sharing space with them?
🏳️⚧️
Posted : 27/02/2025 1:14 am
Do you have enough conviction in your beliefs to state who those puppet masters are, that you believe are hidden in the Balfour Declaration?
I believe that's the starting point (action, evidence of commitment etc) of the momentum (movement) solidifying.
It's quite something, isn't it? I like the hula dancers.
The real estate development and "protecting interest" come to mind.
Posted : 27/02/2025 6:35 pm
Who do you believe to be the "puppet masters"?
The "puppet masters" are hidden in the Balfour Declaration
That's actually the first time that I have read the original letter from Balfour to Rothschild. I found this bit particularly interesting. :
"it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine"
That really couldn't be any clearer. Although what isn't clear is what Balfour thought should be done with the existing non-Jewish communities whose civil and religious rights were to be protected.
Btw chewky I fail to see any "puppet masters" in the Balfour declaration. It all just sounds like typically fudged and contradictory colonial policy.
If there are any puppet masters at all as far as I am concerned they are in the Whitehouse, not in Israel. They are the ones pulling the strings, calling the shots, whatever you want to call it. And they are mostly neither Jewish nor Israelis.
Posted : 27/02/2025 7:09 pm
Interested in people's thoughts on this BBC documentary that was recently pulled, due to it turning out that one of kids featured in it is the son of a Hamas official (minister of agriculture).
My first thought was that that's clearly no good but also that it doesn't necessarily mean it's biased or that the main facts of the documentary are incorrect. Perhaps they can re-edit without him.
But then I saw this, which IMO is far more of a serious problem: https://archive.is/Qcx66
Showing the Palestinian side is one thing. Twisting the translations from "Jews" to "Israelis" and "Jihad" to "battle" is quite another, and very much hides the ingrained institutionalised hate and education of Palestinian youngsters against Jews. We can still feel sympathetic for their plight while realising these facts as well.
I think a documentary showing the plight of children in Gaza is important and harrowing enough without needlessly introducing unnecessary bias like this. Show what they really said. It doesn't lessen what happened.
(FWIW, I never saw the documentary. Don't have Iplayer.)
Posted : 28/02/2025 12:43 pm
Don’t have an issue with it given the amount of Israeli propaganda bullshit we’ve heard over the previous 18 months, have the Israelis allowed independent journalists in to Gaza to report on the situation?.
Posted : 28/02/2025 4:16 pm
And they are mostly neither Jewish nor Israelis.
Yes, they are not.
They are not Banu Israeli nor origin from the land, they are the occupiers.
Posted : 01/03/2025 2:49 am
So now the Israelis are prepared to put it in writing that they are committing war crimes :
"Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided that, as of this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will cease. Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages,” it said in a statement.
Previously they just simply lied and claimed that they were not restricting humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. Now they are openly using starvation of civilians as a bargaining chip in brazen violation of the Geneva Convention and international law.
It is all very reminiscent of Nazi tactics in Occupied Europe during WW2
Posted : 03/03/2025 1:09 am
Predictable and expected. Disgusting behaviour but fits in perfectly with the actions over many years and Netanyahu aims of getting rid of the Palestinians
Posted : 03/03/2025 1:23 am
On tonight on Channel 4 at 11.15pm
Posted : 04/03/2025 10:52 pm
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/bbc-gaza-documentary-tim-davie-israel-b2708547.html
Impartiality has failed if its key method is to constantly balance “both sides” of a story as equally true. A news outlet that refuses to come to conclusions becomes a vehicle in informational warfare, where bad faith actors flood social media with unfounded claims, creating a post-truth “fog”. Only robust evidence-based conclusions can cut through this.
Posted : 07/03/2025 11:26 pm
gordimhor reacted
Live updates from the Guardian for the renewed attacks.
Posted : 18/03/2025 11:33 am
Netenyahu is off the scale nuts, Im assuming the reasoning for this is some kind of internal Israeli politicking, Dementia Don wonte be happy, will this jeopardise his nobel peace prize?
Posted : 18/03/2025 11:55 am
Im assuming the reasoning for this is some kind of internal Israeli politicking,
That's my understanding of it. In his pursuit of continued tenure as Prime Minister, he's had to rely on ever more hard-right coalition partners and meet their demands - because if he doesn't, they'll walk out of government and pave the way for an election - and more criminal investigation of his various alleged corrupt misdeeds.
Posted : 18/03/2025 12:02 pm
kelvin reacted
It would have been cleared by the Don before being executed.
Posted : 18/03/2025 1:16 pm
Like Putin, Netanyahu is keen to do as much damage as he can before any potential peace deal. ****ing animals, war crimes doesn't cover it.
Posted : 18/03/2025 3:15 pm
Starmer is either a ****ing coward or he is bought n’ paid for
Downing Street rejects Lammy’s claim Israel broke international law in Gaza
Posted : 18/03/2025 4:23 pm
Lammy's right to state his opinion... it's one I agree with... it's one any impartial observer would agree with as well. Will be interesting when someone asks the PM about that directly... it's be harder to play the "it's a matter of law, not opinion line" then.
Posted : 18/03/2025 4:41 pm
MoreCashThanDash reacted
It would have been cleared by the Don before being executed.
judging by this statement it would seem that it was and in line with latest US policy for the region
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Israel had notified the US about the attacks before they were launched.
“As President Trump has made it clear - Hamas, the Houthis, Iran and all those who seek to terrorise not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay. All hell will break loose,” she said.
Posted : 18/03/2025 4:45 pm
The exceptional Francesca Albanese lays it out for all to see and hear
Posted : 18/03/2025 5:41 pm
MoreCashThanDash reacted
Posted : 18/03/2025 6:32 pm
Israel saying more strikes on the way and they have America's backing
Is there even anywhere left for the populacr to flee to?
Posted : 18/03/2025 7:03 pm
Just caught an interview with an analyst in 5Live saying that if we don't stand firm and condemn war crimes in Gaza and Ukraine, those actions become normalised/accepted, the Geneva Convention etc will be worthless and next time it could be our troops and civilians on the receiving end.
Sobering thought, the way the world is going.
Posted : 18/03/2025 7:46 pm
