I don’t think there is anything to support the idea that by adding American disapproval of the timing of an announcement of construction in occupied east Jerusalem to the number of Israeli Jews who are opposed to the construction you get an unsustainable project.

Netanyahu’s noisy Likudnik chauvinism could have harmed the project, but the project itself wasn’t problematic for the American administration or for the majority of Israeli Jews.

While you’re on Dave, can you explain the moderation on this site? Some comments of mine seem to go straight through while earlier ones “await moderation”.

Ta

Mark

My source is Bernard Wasserstein’s 2003 book, ‘Israel and Palestine’. Your opinion poll evidence, being more recent, trumps the claim. But opinion polls are notoriously volatile, of course.

My source is Bernard Wasserstein’s 2003 book, ‘Israel and Palestine’. Your opinion poll evidence, being more recent, trumps the claim. But opinion polls are notoriously volatile, of course.

While I’m correcting, I’ll resubmit the links that I posted in the last two comments.

These two deal with the Americans’ pre-approval of settlement construction in east Jerusalem
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155895.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155646.html
I’m worried that my comment containing those two links has been lost in moderation.

This one deals with an Israeli poll in which 68% support the retention of east Jerusalem:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3457830,00.html

All three are an over-indulgent response to this dishonest and time-wasting “challenge” from “Modernity”

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3457830,00.html

Check out the headline – Poll: 37% of Israelis willing to cede sovereignty in Jerusalem’s holy sites

Wowee! considerably less than half of Israelis polled think it’s ok for Palestinians to run their own mosques and churches. But what’s this?

As for the handing over of Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority, 68% of the poll’s participants were against the idea, 20% agreed with it and 11% said they would agree should a referendum support the idea.

But what of the holy places in Jerusalem? When asked who should remain sovereign of the Western Wall and Temple Mount, 61% believed Israel should be named sovereign, 16% voted for joint Israeli-Palestinian sovereignty, 21% said the holy places should be under international rule and 1% said Jordan should be named the holy places’ sovereign.

The poll was back in 2007 when the moderate Kadima was in power. Since then Israel has elected a government led by Likud governing with support from parties to the right of itself.

Over to David Osler to back up his claims.

Do us a favour now Moddy. Could you butt out to allow for a serious discussion?

Thanks

Following the logic of Mr Osler’s post, he doesn’t know that Obama had already ok’d Israeli settlement construction in east Jerusalem and that most Israeli Jews do not consider east Jerusalem to be occupied Palestinian territory. Why should a commenter on a post be held to a higher standard on this than the poster of the post?

What I would like David Osler to do is to cite his source for the idea that most Israelis don’t want settlements built in east Jerusalem and the idea that Obama’s objection to the announcement of settlement construction in east Jerusalem is more to do with the construction than with the announcement. Failing that, he might consider admitting that he has missed something here.

Ok ok, since it’s so recent and there’s not much time involved, I will provide two links for what David Osler and you (Moddy) must have known already, that the yanks approved the settlement construction that David Osler is claiming or at least implying they don’t approve of.
Here – http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155895.html
and here – http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155646.html

The first link has the giveaway headline, “U.S. gave Israel green light for East Jerusalem construction”. David Osler seems not to know that.

Now we know that the Americans don’t disapprove of the settlement construction, just the “insulting” timing of the announcement, perhaps David Osler could provide some evidence for his assertion that most Israelis don’t want settlements constructed in east Jerusalem.

Thank you

Exactly, your points are mere assertion, not evidence based reasoning, thus not of much use.

Plus, if *you* can’t be troubled to engage with Dave’s arguments and counter them with evidence not assertions then *why* should he take the time and effort on your points, if you are not going to on his?

I am not going to take up time finding sources for my assertions in comments when the author of a post is not held to the same standard.

David Osler has indicated that he didn’t know that the US, that is Obama, has already permitted the continued colonisation of Jerusalem. He has also implied that most Israelis want Israel out of east Jerusalem. It is for him to justify his position. The onus isn’t on me to find sources to refute the assertions of someone who provides no sources for assertions he cannot have investigated single-handedly.

Modernity – if you want a serious invective-free discussion here, stay out of it. That will help. Ok, one last contribution from you please. Ask David Osler for his sources. He doesn’t reply to a seeker after truth like me; perhaps he’ll answer to your voice of intellectual authority.

Of course, if you choose to believe the worst of people without reason or facts then you’re in the territory of the Far Right and where prejudice is uppermost.

If, however, you consider yourself a socialist then it’s probably not the territory that you should be venturing into…unless you wish to eventually become a bigot.