Somewhere down there on the list of the 1,231,967 ways Israel punishes the Palestinians for the sin of living in the wrong place is the creation of "enterprise zones" in the Occupied Territories, which allow Israeli corporations to take advantage of a population that's been pushed into poverty and desperation through years of total Israeli control over nearly every aspect of their lives. The latest example of this is Benjamin Netanyahu's push for "economic peace" through the creation of an industrial park in the Jenin district.
Unfortunately the Bloomberg article I saw about this was almost incomprehensible due to the standard obfuscations. So I've gone through and corrected some of the more offensively obsequious phrasing for you:
Netanyahu, who will announce his government today following the Feb. 10 elections, is betting that improving the Palestinian economy...
"is eager to take advantage of cheap Palestinian labor"
...will create conditions for more favorable negotiations toward a Palestinian state.
"and determined to focus on anything other than negotiations toward a Palestinian state."
Critics say that without political progress, his economic initiative...
"delaying tactic"
...faces obstacles as formidable as the 723-kilometer (450-mile) fence...
"wall"
...Israel is building to keep out potential terrorists.
"to steal Palestinian land."
The park, destined to employ 14,000 Palestinians...
"exploit"
Hey, always happy to help.
ALSO: Whitewash completed! Result? White:
Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit on Monday instructed the Military Police Investigation unit to close the inquiry into soldiers' accounts of alleged misconduct and serious violations of the army's rules of engagement during Operation Cast Lead.
He said it was unfortunate that the soldiers, who discussed their Gaza experiences in private on Feb. 13 at a military academy session which was later leaked verbatim to the media, had been careless about accuracy.
"It will be difficult to evaluate the damage done to the image and morals [of the armed forces] in Israel and the world", his statement said.
Yes, the "image" of Israel's armed forces has been quite seriously damaged by these allegations. Heretofore, they had enjoyed a reputation as a force that scrupulously upholds moral principles and human rights. One only hopes they can recover.
Posted by: SteveB | Wednesday, April 01, 2009 at 05:02 AM
If your name were Mendelblit, wouldn't you change it?
Posted by: Catherine | Thursday, April 02, 2009 at 03:54 PM