Israel must abide by the rule of law

Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem in 1967 and began to colonize this part of the city along with the rest of the West Bank. These Israeli actions were not recognized as being legitimate by the world community, including the United States.

The Fourth Geneva Convention specifically prohibits any nation from transferring its own civilian population onto occupied territory. However, politicians like President Clinton, who acquiesced to the construction of the fictitious 'neighborhood' of Har Homa in East Jerusalem, have been enablers of Israel's illegal settlement enterprise, undermining 43 years of America's official position against their establishment.

Reactionaries like Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee and the anti-Catholic bigot Rev. John Hagee go much further by openly opposing restricting the expansion of Israeli settlements and by promoting the fabrication that Israel has sovereignty over all Jerusalem and the West Bank.

These fanatics are livid that President Obama even attempted to 'pressure Israel' to abide by the rule of law regarding settlements.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu predictably rejected continuation of his own fraudulent 'settlement freeze' in favor of stealing ever more Palestinian territory. Netanyahu's policies, particularly the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes which also involves dispossessing Israel's Bedouins, combined with the collapse of the peace process will invariably lead to a third intifada.

In the Holy Land Zionism is the moral equivalent of racism and epitomizes as well other evils of injustice, imperialism, militarism, terrorism and the oppression of an interminable occupation.

JOHN S. HANCOCK

Concord

(The writer is district coordinator for the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.)