Palestinians slam U.S. 'vicious blackmail' as their Washington office is shuttered

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post



By Loveday Morris
September 10 at 1:10 PM

JERUSALEM — Palestinian officials on Monday vowed not to bend to what they called the Trump administration’s bullying tactics after being notified that their office in Washington would be shut down as part of an effort to block cases against Israel at the International Criminal Court.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he was officially notified of the decision, which the State Department formally announced Monday morning, charging that the Palestine Liberation Organization “has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel.” The announcement also cited U.S. “concerns with Palestinian attempts to prompt an investigation of Israel by the International Criminal Court.”

Erekat decried the move as a continuation of a policy of “collective punishment” by the Trump administration.

“These people have decided to stand on the wrong side of history by protecting war criminals and destroying the two state solution,” he said. “I told them if you are worried about courts, you should stop aiding and abetting crimes.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinians-slam-usvicious-blackmail-as-their-washington-office-is-closed-down/2018/09/10/b49f613e-b4d1-11e8-94eb-3bd52dfe917b_story.html

[Cary]

1. Just out of curiosity,

what would happen if the Palestinians cracked down on Hamas, stopped the rocket and missile attacks, and made an all out eefort towards peace and a two state solution?

[4139]

2. What would happen? Pigs would fly of course!

[Cary]

3. My Israeli friends have given up

Given what the Palestinians do it is hard to argue with them.

[BuddhaGirl]

7. My new neighbor

a lovely Israeli woman, has renounced her Israeli citizenship in response to Israel's oppression of the Palestinians.

[Cary]

9. What does that have to do with my question?

[BuddhaGirl]

11. Your question appeared to me as

one-sided. Blaming Palestinians without speaking to Israel's part in the problem.

[Cary]

12. It was my question.

I am allowed ro make it one sided.

I am sick and tired of deflection and whataboutism. You don't answer a question by changing the subject. Also two wrongs don't make a right.

[wellst0nev0ter]

4. Likud has its roots in a terrorist organization

No, really.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Likud

[Cary]

5. I get enough whataboutism from Unindicted Co-Conspirator and his cult followers

Please don't do that.

[Cary]

14. So which of the 22 Arab nations would you prefer over Israel?

There are 1.2 million Arab Israeli citizens who live in peace and who live much better than Arabs, generally, in any of the 22 Arab nations. How is that possible? And lets not forget how those Arab nations treat Coptic Christians.

So I repeat: what would happen if Palestinians stopped the rocket attacks and booted out Hamas? Maybe it would give Bibi fewer excuses for being a piece of shit?

[wellst0nev0ter]

17. Funny, the previous poster moaned "whataboutism"

Yet here we are, saying "whatabout the Arabs"?

Quit making tyrannical regimes your moral standard.

[Cary]

18. How is that whataboutism?

Care to refute my facts? Or you can answer my original queation, if those facts don't suit you.

[wellst0nev0ter]

19. Stop sealioning

And face the facts that you tried to compare Israel to repressive Arab regimes, as if that is supposed to help your argument.

[Cary]

20. So yiu can't refute the facts.

And you won't answer the question.

I understand.

[JonLP24]

21. Europeans and Americans had a lot to do with who is in charge

I'd probably would pick Iran before the CIA launched a coup. Also. US agreed to militarily defend Saudi Arabia for oil for WW2. Which the money was used to spread Wahabbism which was very unpopular at the time which the House of Saud knew they were weak. There is also backing of the King of Morocco over the Western Sahara even though they are liberal there.

[Cary]

22. That doesn't change present facts

I'm well aware of "The Peace to End All Peace" and "Paris 1919." This is 2018. Noble attempts to solve the Arab crises have failed, but the moving finger writes and having writ moves on. My question had nothing to do with that.

What would happen if the Palestinians stopped firing rockets and missiles and did all they could do to sue for peace? It is quite telling, to me, that no one is willing to answer that question and even more telling that I get personally attacked just for having the gall to ask.

I, personally, have nothing whatsoever to do with the present realities. Attacking me for asking is pathetic.

[Cary]

23. If it's any comfort my Israeli friends are the same

Their reality, in my opinion, is that 5 million Jews are being out bred by 1.2 million Arab Israeli citizens. I get the exact same obfuscation and ad hominem attacks from them when I ask them how they plan to deal with that fact.

Of course tribal extremism runs much deeper in the Arab world.

I am not sure whether they have no answer and don't want to face this issue, or whether their plan is something they won't talk about. I.suspect the latter. I find Israelis to be extremely reasonable but not the kind of people younwant to cross.

[Fred Sanders]

6. The canard of "those mean Palestinians may want an investigation by ICC of hundreds of civilians

killed in protests by you know who already" so we will eliminate funding and close their consulate is....pathetic. And any Americans involved??

Like tariffs on Canada on aluminum because of "national security"...all mambo jumbo fill in the blanks with words.

[Jake Stern]

8. The Israelis offer the kind of "peace" the US Government offered the Native Americans

Which is to say only on their terms.

[leftynyc]

13. Really?

Let's as Egypt or Jordan how well the Israelis keep their peace treaties. Lay down your arms, you get peace. It's actually very simple. Take up your objections with terrorist hamas.

[Igel]

10. They're the provisions in the law.

What the Palestinians did is exactly what the law says must trigger certain consequences. The law preceded their actions; either they didn't know the laws were there or they simply believed that the US wouldn't bother to uphold the law. (We do have a rather spotty record in that regard. Some laws we piously uphold in the name of the Constitutional oath to uphold the laws, and some we piously disregard.)

[Rustyeye77]

15. Boo Hoo

[ripcord]

16. Palestinians hate Americans

But they love the dollars.