“At times there seem to be two standards of adherence to the rule of law – one for Israelis and another for Palestinians”.
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Following the attack in the settlement of Otniel, south of the West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli troops sealed off the area and intensive intelligence work, using local contacts and electronic surveillance, led troops to the local Palestinian village of Yatta, some three kilometres from the attack.
The American ambassador claimed “too many attacks on Palestinians lack a vigorous investigation or response” by Israeli authorities.
“At a time when Israel and the worldwide community are taking practical steps to bolster the Palestinian economy and increase Palestinian employment, Israel is concerned with this one-sided, politicised report, which jeopardises the livelihoods of thousands of Palestinians and discourages rare examples of coexistence, coordination and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians”, it said.
Both the European Union and United States are becoming increasingly public in criticism of Israel’s settlement policies.
Israeli forces on Monday hunted for a Palestinian suspect accused of breaking into a West Bank home and stabbing a Jewish woman to death, further boosting tensions after months of violence.
Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked also critized Shapiro’s comments, telling Israel’s Army Radio on Tuesday that while “the U.S. ambassador said a lot of positive things in his speech, he uttered a sentence that was, to say the least, incorrect from a factual and a moral standpoint”.
The report by Human Rights Watch, titled “Occupation, Inc.: How Settlement Businesses Contribute to Israel’s Violations of Palestinian Rights” was handed to Abbas during a meeting with an NGO delegation in Ramallah.
Ministers reiterated the EU’s position that the lands Israel has occupied since the 1967 Middle East war – including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights – are not part of the internationally recognised borders of Israel. “Yet separation will become more and more hard if Israel plans to continue to expand the footprint of settlements”. A quick trip to CNN.com elaborated a bit, adding that two Palestinian men carrying knives attempted to board a bus full of children and, when forced off of the bus, stabbed an Israeli man at the bus stop before being shot by police.
US Ambassador to Israel Daniel B. Shapiro.
Israel contends that the violence is the result of a Palestinian campaign of lies and incitement.
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They also benefit from these violations, as well as Israel’s discriminatory policies that provide privileges to settlements at the expense of Palestinians, such as access to land and water, government subsidies, and permits for developing land.
