Obama and Israel

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YOUR TURN Obama and Israel Readers offered a variety of strong reactions to the U.S. abstention on a resolution condemning Israeli settlement building; here's a sample. Obama is at fault The last line of the article "Netanyahu summons U.S. ambassador" (Dec.

24) says basically that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's actions made it easy for President Barack Obama to do what he did in declining to veto a United Tations resolution condemning Israeli settlement buildins would argue that the Obama administration and the European countries created this mess with the settlements.

They have not put pressure on Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and others to come to the negotiating table as well as to stop teaching hate in their schools. Also where is the outrage that much of the aid money to Palestine goes to the pockets of Palestinian leaders and terrorists?

Why have the UN and other Arab countries not helped the Palestinians create a real economy with jobs instead of giving no hope? Why doesn't Your newspaper do an investigative story and report on those Linda Boteach, Reisterstown Who are we to complain about settlements?

President Barack Obama displays contemptible hypocrisy and arrogance in his ironic and continued actions to force Israel to stop building settlements in the lands from which it endured an unprovoked surprise attack by six Arab nations in 1967 ("Netanyahu blasts U.N., Obama over West Bank settlements resolution," Dec. 24).

Israel miraculously prevailed and understandably annexed those lands. Meanwhile our country enjoys the "settlements" it built on the lands it annexed from Mexico in a 19th century war of aggression and which now constitute the states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and California. Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S.

Grant said we were immoral in initiating that war, and Grant said it was "one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger nation against a weaker nation." Perhaps we should set an example for Israel and give those six states back to Mexico. Paul H.

Belz, Lutherville Obama's betrayal President Barack Obama's debacle regarding his red line comment in 2012 about Syria's use of chemical weapons is now trumped by his reneging on a statement made in 2011 that he would "not impose conditions for a final agreement on Israel at the UN Security Council." Resolution 2334 condemning Israeli settlement building represents his attempt to leave his mark on the Middle East peace process, but he should realize the obvious that a true peace will only be achieved by direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

This will only occur when Israel can be assured that Hamas, whose charter calls for the annihilation of Israel, will not take control of the West Bank from which rockets would then likely be hailed into Israel as they have been incessantly from Gaza since Israel unilaterally returned this territory to the Palestinians over 10 years ago.

President Obama's betrayal of Israel on the international stage via an organization which has repeatedly been anti-Israel in its actions over many years will only decrease the likelihood of forward movement of the Israeli/Palestinian peace process.

ANDREW HARNIK/AP In this 2015 file photo, President Barack Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office. Mr. Netanyahu claims to have "ironclad" information that Washington actively helped craft the U.N. resolution declaring Israeli settlements illegal. was much needed.

The world has long condemned Isracl's policy of settling the West Bank, but especially under Mr Netanyahu the settlements have become a sore issue with Palestinians. Yet Mr. Netanyahu persisted. President Obama did the only realistic thing, which was to "respect the decent opinion of mankind," to borrow a phrase from the Declaration of Independence.

If progress is to be made toward a peaceful settlement in the Holy Land, which embodies the heritage of Christians, Jews and Muslims, then a negotiation must involve the needs of all parties not just the Israeli government. When will the Israeli government learn that its own peace and security is also dependent on a just peace for all?

Hopefully our new incoming president will not have to re-learn some of these bitter lessons from the region. President Obama did the right thing despite Mr. Netanyahu's opposition.

Christopher Boardman What Israel's settlements really are There has been a lot of media coverage on the United Nations Security Council's resolution against Israeli settlements ("Oba- ma is at fault in Israel settlement mess," Dec. 27). But often these reports don't explain what settlements really are.

They are Jewish-only communities with Jewish-only roads built within Palestinian borders. In other words, they are segregated. They are built on lands that have been forcibly confiscated from Palestinians. Lands that once had homes, schools and farms on them. It is a form of ethic cleansing .

They are facts-on-the-ground evidence that Israel was never sincere about negotiations. How can you say you want to negotiate borders when all the while you are confiscating land? And they are in defiance of one of the most cherished international laws: the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The question isn't really why the U.S. abstained on this vote The question is why the U.S. didn't vote for it. And most of all, why it has taken us so long to see the damage that settlements have had to a just peace.

Susan Kerin, Rockville Marc Okun, Stevenson Obama is no friend of Israel Obama did the right thing on Regarding the article "Netanyahu summons U.S. ambassa- settlements dor" (Dec. 26), President Barack Obama has shown his true colors. Just giving money to Israel doesn't prove friendship. Part While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's re- of Mr.

Obama's legacy will be that he was worst American sponse to the U.S. abstention on the U.N. Security Council's presidential friend of Israel ever. resolution against further settlements on the West Bank was predictable, President Barack Obama's statesmanlike stance Alan Blank, Baltimore County

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"Obama and Israel," Baltimore Sun, 31 December 2016. Covering Palestine archive, CP-2016-008. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-2016-008