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Not only does Israel continue to build settlements in what it might agree to allow to become a Palestinian area. Israel insists that Palestinians' "state" would have to be UNARMED.
NO state is really a state if it has to be unarmed.
That's like the mare that my grandfather said belonged to me when I was three years old.

Make no mistake that God's right hand protects Israel, but that will not justify those who do wrong in his sight. You can not force peace, that can only come from what God allows. Why rush? The Lord still has much saving to do, are you ready?

Did withdrawal from gaza bring peace, no it brought rockets. The fact of the matter is Israel has been pressured for concessions to get to the peace table. It has given some concessions and that hasn't limited attacks. It seems pretty fruitless to me for Israel to give anything else without a committment to peace from the Palestinians, the same ones who don't recognize Israels right to exist. It seems to me it's time for Palestine to demonstrate that they want peace.

Ssrael`s Strategy:

Take Palestinian land by force, put civilians on it then accuse them of targeting civilians when they fight back to take their land.

Since when do Palestinians care about what's right and what's wrong? Is this some kind of sick joke?

Any attack ever issued by Israel in it's short history have been either (A) a strike for defense purposes to cease incoming attacks, or (B) a precise attack on a military target.

Arab people think they can hide their rockets in schools and hospitals and then scream outrage when civilians become casualties. Stupid, stupid people with no logic and no business existing in the modern world.

Israeli settlements have KILLED the peace process. Emmanuel is an idiot.

If the Israelis want perpetual war, they should keep building settlements. If not, they should negotiate in good faith.

Rahm just looks evil. He is only missing the horns and tail, or maybe they just aren't visible yet. The Israeli's should bomb the muslims out of existence. That would solve the problem.

You know those old gangster movies where there's this smart-but-not-too-big, Jimmy Cagney, kind of gangster boss with a couple of huge, dumb, goons backing him up? That's the US and Israel–and we're the big, dumb, goons.

Israel is not our ally!

They're a constant embarrassment to us and our outrageously one-sided defence of every bit of aggression, incitement, terrorism, and oppression they inflict on their neighbours has ruined, probably for generations to come, our relationship with the world's Muslims.

Far from "reaffirming our commitment to Israel," we should be cutting the country loose to live, or die, by its own efforts.

Of course, even a cursory read of Rahm Emanuel's bio suggests that his allegiance to Israel is stronger than his allegiance to the US...

As if the Israelis are going to trust anything coming from this administration, at least they didn't drink the same obama Kool-Aid as the lemmings here did.

Talk about Israel and the anti-semites come out of the woodwork...

How can there be a settlement with continued Israeli settlements on Arab lands?

If we could run this movie projector backwards we would no doubt see that Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, 9/11, marines barracks bombing in Beirut, collapse of our economy, etc., could all be traced back to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

What a price to pay! And for what??!!

Rookie administration mistake signals in Obama's lecture to the Muslim world that Israel must stop settlements– a condition that never stopped past peace negotiations. This was a signal that Israel will be pushed by the USA and guess what... the "peace loving" Arab leaders use this to avoid entering into negotiations.
Where was a bigger misunderstanding than this in US foreign policy? Since when a state senator turned campaigner knows world affairs to have the audacity to by himself start a new tone with no understanding of consequences and ignoring the intentions of sides (namely, the Arabs wanting to eliminate Israel with the help of the UN, USA, the world's well-intended left, the world anti semitic forces, and so on...).
What a rookie mistake!!!!!!!!!

Israel has been stealing Palestinian land for well over 40 years, and all with a wink from the US government

SETTLEMENTS CERTAINLY ARE AN ISSUE

Israel is a terrorist nation with Americas help

Absolutely Shameful !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What? You mean Arabs and Israelis still don't get along? But Rahm–HOPE...CHANGE...I thought all we had to do was elect The Chosen One and magically peace would reign all over the world. Guess we were all duped.

The U.S. which SEND BILLIONS to Israel, has to reign them in. They can not continue to make war, and disenfranchise the Palestinians.

TAKING LAND AWAY from Palestinians is not the right of Israel.

The GOP refuses to side on the side of sanity and peace.

The ONLY way Israel will have peace, and security is to stop taking Palestinian land, stop building settlements.

There is a growing peace movement in Israel, I pray, that the reasonable, sane voices of the Peacemakers in Israel will prevail.

Giving the Palestinians a homeland, will help us fight more terrorist than killing in wars.

I respectfully disagree with Emanuel and the White House on this. I am a white Scandinavian living in the US – no relation to any one side in this thousands-years-matter. But how on earth can two parties sit down to talk on how to 'split the cake,' if one party refuses up-front to keep stealing from the other?

why would isreal want peace the USA pays for there war,s

You people know you don't want peace. That is unless Irsael folds up and fades away. Praise OBAMA praise ALLAH. He's the kiss ,,,!!!

Israel is not perfect but is truly a society that grants full rights to women, minorities and homosexuals... and yet some people in the states wonder why they're our allies?

As long as the Palestinians engage in barbaric rockets attacks on civilians, kidnappings and suicide bombings there will be no peace.

No sympathy for terrorists!

Saying settlements shouldn't stand in the way of peace is kind of like saying we shouldn't let all of this gunfire and rocket explosions stand in the way of peace.

Oh my gosh the Hammas in Palestine shoot rockets in to Israel and after month of this them try to stop it the it's Israels fault. So let me get this straight If someone shoots at me and I decide to shoot back its all my fault. It sounds like rational thinking to me.

This President see Israel only with his muslim world view. They should not listen to his planted political mouth piece who wants his leader to win. Disgraceful and shame on Emanuel, if you blink then President Obama will be held up as the peace negotiator. Political shame on America, first Sec Clinton and now the White House Hit Man twist Israel in the wind. Please, do not give money to Obama and the democrats.

If the US stopped sending money/aid to these countries in the Middle East, then I think they could be "persuaded" to sit down at a table and negotiate. I, for one, am tired of flushing our tax dollars down the drain for non-Americans!

I hate to say, but the statement is typical jewish. I don't think the Palestinians have any chances to get any land back from Israel when you have such character in the White House.

This is the absolute truth:

If Palestinians laid down their weapons, so would the Israelis.

If Israelis laid down their weapons, the Palestinians would attack.

Does this photo makes Emanuel look sinister or is it just me?

Settlements are just an excuse. Learn the history.

As it was so perfectly put "There will be peace when Palestinian mothers love their children more than they hate Israel."

Israel will not stop till they own all the land in Palestine. They will continue to provoke the Palestinians until they reach their goal. Claiming they wanted peace the whole time. It's no wonder that their agent (Rahm) is defending their actions again. Until Obama cuts funding to Israeli terrorists this will never end. Money has always been how you get their attention.

"Where was this sentiment back when Obama was highly critical of Israelis for building new settlements? Up until now, Obama has publicly berated Israel for simply defending its sovereign homeland."

I'm sorry, did you just contradict yourself from one sentence to the next? You must realize that the settlements are being built on land that doesn't belong to Israel, don't you? That Israel is, in fact, a state given to people after it was taken from others (it was a British protectorate). That the palestinian people have been in that region since time immemorial? I should thank you though for highlighting just how ignorant your average American is about the history of that region. Israel exists because Europe didn't want them anymore after WWII...plain and simple. They could just as easily have been given their own state in Europe, but the rest of the world figured it was far more beneficial to destabilize the Middle East for the next couple centuries to make it easier to control the oil.

This guy looks like the Grinch–but, is much less likable.

Great photo...he is as evil as The Joker and twice as cunning.

There will be no peace in the Middle East as long as Zionism (israel)and Imperialism (usa) are allies sharing the same advocated goal. i.e. extracting the Arab's natural resources for their own declared self interest, being Palestinian land for Israel or oil for USA.

This guy is the poster child of democratic corruption

No war crimes. You fire rockets at our civilians, we're gonna bomb and shell your Palestinian villages. Pretty simple and approved by the last administration.

...you can add Genocide the the list of Israeli war crims, too.

mmm... no chage that we voted for on this issue ...

The Israeli government is guilty of war crimes...try those responsible NOW.

settlements will prohibit a peace agreement.....

Not that they are important but that the Palestinians will use any excuse to reach their ultimate goal--wiping Israel off the face of the earth....

Oh for goodness sake. Let's not allow Israel's violations of UN resolutions stop us from being really really good buddies.

We don't care the Israelis have their own genocide going on against the Palestinians. After all, they're only Arabs. Right?

Sorry Rahm, the settlements are the single largest issue and, trust me, Bibi's not going to stop expansion. It's time to call the Ambassador home for consultation and send a clear message to Jerusalem that the time for stalling is over.

No more smokescreens, no more excuses as there will never be peace until these settlements stop. Bibi's here to raise funds period and why Obama wasted time on him again send a strong signal that AIPAC still runs this issue. Too bad.

Isreal doesn't want peace, otherwise they would not elect someone who has worked against it so long. The settlements must GO before any solution can work, for Palestinians to have their own country, and there cannot be pockets of Isreal in that area. I'm afraid the only future for that area is a mushroom cloud, and only because both sides are too pig headed (every pun intended) to put aside their pride and work for the greater good. I hope to goodness reason and goodwill will prevail, but I don't hold much hope for it, and with the federal government in the pocket of Isreal, we cannot be a real broker for peace.

Typical.

When this administration speaks to the "conference of the Jewish Federations of North America", suddenly everything is pro-Israel and all about the "unbreakable bond between us".

Where was this sentiment back when Obama was highly critical of Israelis for building new settlements? Up until now, Obama has publicly berated Israel for simply defending its sovereign homeland.

Oh that's right, he's pandering to the crowd in attendance. Must be an election or a big vote coming up.