Will this increase or decrease the likelihood of terrorist actions in America, Europe and the rest of the world?

If you were a member of a family murdered in this conflict, would you be seeking revenge?

Should Tzipi Livni and Ehud Olmert, be tried for war crimes if or when this conflict comes to an end?

What will the price of oil be in 4 weeks time?

From CIA NEWS TODAY

Under European Commission’s 2013 guidelines member states cannot lend to Israeli entities operating in Palestinian territories

JERUSALEM — THE European Union (EU) agreed this week to push ahead with labelling Israeli goods made in settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move that has alarmed the Israeli government; but now there are proposals to go much further, including targeting banks in Israel.

In a paper to be published next Wednesday, the European Council on Foreign Relations, whose proposals frequently inform EU policy making, argues that the EU is in breach of its own laws and must move much more firmly to distinguish its dealings with Israel from Israel’s activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which it has occupied since 1967.

European diplomats have said that labelling goods is only the first in a series of steps the EU could take against Israel over its settlements policy, one that in financial terms is expected to have a relatively minor effect on the country’s economy.

However, the new proposals would go much deeper and further, reaching into banking, loans and mortgages, qualifications earned in settlement institutions and the tax-exempt status of European charities that deal with Israeli settlements. "Under its own regulations and principles, Europe cannot legally escape from its duty to differentiate between Israel and its activities in the occupied Palestinian territories," says the report, titled EU Differentiation and Israeli Settlements.

The authors argue that by pushing much further to separate the EU’s dealings with Israel from the settlements, it will force Israel to decide what sort of relationship it wants with Europe and, in turn, encourage it to return to talks with the Palestinians on a two-state solution to the conflict.

The most significant proposal is on banking, where Israeli institutions have daily dealings with major European banks, while also providing loans and financing to Israeli businesses and individuals based in the settlements.

Under European Commission guidelines from 2013, EU and member state-funded lending cannot be provided to Israeli entities operating in the Palestinian territories.

With the British government holding a controlling stake in some banks following the financial crisis, that would in theory prevent those banks providing financing to Israeli counterparts that have dealings in the settlements.

"Do day-to-day dealings between European and Israeli banks comply with the EU requirement not to provide material support to the occupation?" the report asks, saying it is an issue that EU member states have yet to resolve.

The issue extends into loans and mortgages. An Israeli with dual European citizenship should, in theory, not be able to use a settlement property as collateral for a European loan since Israeli-issued property deeds are not recognised. Another area in which the EU may be in violation of its own rules relates to European charities that are tax exempt while using funds to support activities in the settlements, which the EU regards as illegal under international law.

And the report questions whether Europe should accept qualifications from academic, medical and other Israeli institutions based in the West Bank given that it does not recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the territory.

Likewise, there is a question mark over whether the EU should be dealing with Israeli institutions — such as the ministry of justice and the national police headquarters — which are based in East Jerusalem.

The Israeli government has described Europe’s steps on labelling as discriminatory and wrong-headed, suggesting that they are akin to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which Israel regards as anti-Semitic. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised his concerns about labelling in a meeting with the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, in May. She raised the issue of the EU further differentiating its dealing with Israel.

Mattia Toaldo, one of the authors of the European Council on Foreign Relations paper, said the EU needed to explain more clearly the legal obligation the EU faces when it comes to differentiation, making a sharp distinction with the BDS campaign.

And the ultimate aim, Mr Toaldo said, should be to urge Israel towards a two-state solution.

"Differentiation is a legal prerequisite for the EU in order to avoid violating its own laws," he said.

"You have to do it legally and by the book, but it is also beneficial to the peace process because it changes the calculations by the Israelis."

Reuters

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.679129

Palestinians Are Fighting for Their Lives; Israel Is Fighting for the Occupation

That we notice there’s a war on only when Jews are murdered does not cancel out the fact that Palestinians are being killed all the time.

Hay

You really are so naive as to buy into this horseshit?

A series of unprovoked suicide attacks mainly on unarmed israeli civilians, including mothers, children, and babies carried out by crazed radicalised islamists?

They're not fighting for their lives, they're fighting for their Mullahs and their prophet. They're fighting for their deaths and their martyrdoms.

That article was from an Israeli newspaper.

Many Israelis have the view that the occupation of Palestine and settlement building is the cause of the violence. Don't forget the violence by settlers inflicted on unarmed Palestinians on a daily basis that is apart from Palestinians killed by settlers. Don't forget the Palestinians shot by Israeli soldiers jus for approaching the Gaza fence too closely. Don't forget the shooting of Gaza fishermen shot by soldiers while fishing offshore. Don't forget the shoot to kill policy of Israel soldiers in demonstrations and Gaza which are fully documented by ex Israeli soldiers. Don't forget the illegal occupation of Palestine and constant stealing of their land. And who are the settlers instructed to harass and kill Palestinians but the extremest Rabbis while the government and soldiers look the other way.

Oh, so it's not fundamentalist Islamists looking for virgins then?

As somebody posted earlier.

What goes round, comes round!

Just fundamentalist Zionists looking to steal land.

Hays - post 6851: Just fundamentalist Zionists looking to steal land.

Fundamentalist Zionists? That's not a term I'm familiar with.

Islamic fundamentalists take their fundamentals from the q'uran. Christian fundamentalists take their fundamentals from the holy bible. Where do you suggest fundamentalist Zionists take their fundamentals from?

There are huge numbers of references to fundamental Zionists. Here is one from the Guardian

Both Palestinians and Jews are to blame, but the Israelis are not helping the cause with their constant building on occupied land while thumbing their nose at the international community and countless UN resolutions. Being the ones that could get the peace process rolling again, they are hijacked by their fundamental Zionists who believe that GOD has given the Jewish people that land, and to no-one else.

With the recent Gaza blockade the Jews have resorted to tactics worthy of the worst kind, persecuting the poor and helpless Palestinians just like they were persecuted in the past.

It's an awful shame and this from the people of the bible. I am disgusted by the Zionist fundamentalists amongst them that are at the root of this evil (these guys look and act so much like those Iranian ayatollahs) It's almost as if these fundamentalists want to make the Palestinians pay for what they the Jews had endured when they were persecuted in Europe as some sort of vengeance, Those fundamentalist Zionists are all European (Russian etc.) in nature, not like the more affable Arab Jews who have learned to get along with their Arab cousins.

Just look at the patent racism of Israelis. An Eritrean asylum seeker was shot and then lynched by an Israeli mob because of his appearance. The Israelis were shouting "death to Arabs" while they beat him to death.

'As the young man lay on the floor, a mob cursed him, kicked him and hit him with objects. Security camera video showed Zerhom in a pool of blood as he was rammed with a bench and kicked in the head by passers-by, while an Israeli officer and a few bystanders tried to protect him. Zerhom later died at a hospital.'

I understand now.

You're anti-fundamentalist Zionists. And fundamentalist zionists means to you Jews who believe in their bible - ie jews who take their religion seriously.

I'm a lot clearer on your position now. Glad you cleared it up. And I'm not entirely surprised by your admission. I'll bet some of your best friends are jewish .....

It really depends on whether you believe the bible. It is just a bunch of fairy stories for people to follow. It is certainly not the legal basis to claim someone else's land. I suppose you are just as happy to accept anything that Muslims do when they use the Quoran as a justification. If you go down that route you have to accept any behaviour if is written in a book and there are people who believe it.

It is not possible for the world to be peaceful if people can justify their actions by religion. ISIL is a good example by itself. Certainly, the majority of the world don't care what is in the bible.

Hay

Keep digging pal. Read your posts above again. Your so called anti-zionism mask has slipped and you've exposed the very real and ugly anti-semitism face that lies beneath.

Nothing to do with antisemitism. I would be opposed to any group that was stealing land because a silly book said they could. What about the Israelis that are opposed to Zionism and stealing land. There are also secular Israelis who are opposed to the way Israel behaves in the West Bank and Gaza. The charge of antisemitism is the usual method to attempt to silence critics. If an Israeli is opposed to Israel's methods and behaviour, he is called a self hating Jew. The Jews that I know fall into two groups. There are the ones who support Israel no matter what they do and there are others who dislike Israel intensely. I don't particularly see Israel as a Jewish state. There is a substantial Arab and Christian population. It is not the people I am opposed to. It is the people governing them and the ones who have influence over the policies. If you want to see Israelis that are opposed to Israel's behaviour the listen to the left wing in Israel. They are totally opposed to Zionism.

o With the recent Gaza blockade the Jews have resorted to tactics worthy of the worst kind
o It's an awful shame and this from the people of the bible.
etc etc etc

Backpedal as much as you like. Your racist bigoted ass is exposed. You are beneath contempt.

That's very funny.

You may regard them as 'people of the bible', but I don't. Being a Jew has nothing to do with it. It is being a supporter of an Israeli government that is the trouble. People of the bible has the same importance as being people Noddy in Toyland. Switching the argument to racism is a common tactic used by Israel to divert attention from their apartheid treatment of the Palestinians. I have the same view of China in the way they treat Tibetans. Both are vicious governments occupying a foreign country. I view the whole of Israel as Palestine in the same way that Zionists view all of the land west of the Jordan as Israel. The difference is that it was the land of Palestinians in living memory. Israel should never have existed and hopefully that will be remedied one day.

If you want to find aracist then look at Netanyahu.

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.681525

Netanyahu: Hitler Didn't Want to Exterminate the Jews

Prime minister tells World Zionist Congress that Hitler only wanted to expel the Jews, but Jerusalem's Grand Mufti convinced him to exterminate them, a claim that was rejected by most accepted Holocaust scholars.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked public uproar when on Wednesday he claimed that the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, was the one who planted the idea of the extermination of European Jewry in Adolf Hitler's mind. The Nazi ruler, Netanyahu said, had no
intention of killing the Jews, but only to expel them.

In a speech before the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem, Netanyahu described a meeting between Husseini and Hitler in November, 1941: "Hitler didn't want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jew. And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said, 'If you expel them, they'll all come here (to Palestine).' According to Netanyahu, Hitler then asked: "What should I do with them?" and the mufti replied: "Burn them."

Netanyahu's remarks were quick to spark a social media storm, though Netanyahu made a similar claim during a Knesset speech in 2012, where he described the Husseini as "one of the leading architects" of the final solution.

Already found one.

U.S. Official on Netanyahu's Hitler Remarks: Israel, Palestinians Must Avoid Inflammatory Rhetoric

U.S. has stressed publicly and privately the importance of both avoiding actions that could feed violence, senior U.S. official says.

A senior U.S. official said Wednesday that the United States expects both Israel and the Palestinians to refrain from inflammatory statements that could escalate the situation, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments on Adolf Hitler and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.

From sky

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of absolving Hitler of responsibility for the Holocaust.

In a speech to the Zionist World Congress, Mr Netanyahu said the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Al Husseini, had played a "central role in fomenting the final solution" by trying to convince Hitler to destroy the Jews during a November 1941 meeting in Berlin.

"Hitler didn't want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jews," Mr Netanyahu told the group.

"Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said, 'If you expel them, they'll all come here.' 'So what should I do with them?' he asked. He said: 'Burn them.'"

The comments have sparked uproar, not just from Palestinians but also Israeli opposition figures and academics.

"It is a sad day in history when the leader of the Israeli government hates his neighbour so much so that he is willing to absolve the most notorious war criminal in history," he said.

In an interview with Sky News, Professor Dina Porat, chief historian for Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, said Mr Netanyahu should retract and clarify his statement.

Israel’s opposition leader Isaac Herzog added his voice to the criticisms, accusing Mr Netanyahu of a "dangerous historical distortion" that plays into the hands of Holocaust deniers.