Secret? Not Really. Wikileak Drip

Reported:-

Defense Minister Ehud Barak told French officials in Paris on June 15, 2009 that Israel has a "secret accord" with the US government to maintain the "natural growth" of settlements in the West Bank, revealed a WikiLeaks cable released on Sunday which quoted Middle East Director at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Patrice Paoli.

"Secret"?

Oh, please.

Here's from the Bush letter to Sharon

...The United States understands that after Israel withdraws from Gaza and/or parts of the West Bank, and pending agreements on other arrangements...The United States is strongly committed to Israel's security and well-being as a Jewish state...In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli populations centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949, and all previous efforts to negotiate a two-state solution have reached the same conclusion.

It is realistic to expect that any final status agreement will only be achieved on the basis of mutually agreed changes that reflect these realities...

I think that continued Jewish presence in the territories is a principle.  Elliot Abrams has made that quite clear.:-

...most settlement activity is in those major blocs that it is widely understood Israel will keep. For another, those settlements are becoming more populated, not geographically larger. Most settlement expansion occurs in ways that do not much affect Palestinian life. While the physical expansion of settlements may take land that Palestinians own or use, and may interfere with Palestinian mobility or agricultural activity, population growth inside settlements does not have that effect. For the past five years, Israel's government has largely adhered to guidelines that were discussed with the United States but never formally adopted: that there would be no new settlements, no financial incentives for Israelis to move to settlements and no new construction except in already built-up areas. The clear purpose of the guidelines? To allow for settlement growth in ways that minimized the impact on Palestinians.

Sharon responded, in that connection:-

In this regard, we are fully aware of the responsibilities facing the State of Israel. These include limitations on the growth of settlements; removal of unauthorized outposts;...

"Limitation", yes. Banning, no. "Unauthorized" removed, authorized to stay.

It's clearer in Dov Weisglass' letter to Sec'y of State Rice:-

Dear Dr. Rice,

On behalf of the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Mr. Ariel Sharon, I wish to reconfirm the following understanding, which had been reached between us:

1. Restrictions on settlement growth: within the agreed principles of settlement activities, an effort will be made in the next few days to have a better definition of the construction line of settlements in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]. An Israeli team, in conjunction with Ambassador Kurtzer, will review aerial photos of settlements and will jointly define the construction line of each of the settlements.

'Construction line' means continued growth within one area and not in another.  Nothing more.

Are those French fools to believe that?

Is Barak less-than-smart to pander that?


^

Hillary Hails Growth Glowingly

The following are the words of US Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton as per the transcript.

As is my wont, I have simply absented identifying words and names and you have to guess the real subject:

Remarks at The 8th Forum of the __________ Growth and Opportunity Act, August 5, 2009

Good morning. Let me...tell you what a privilege it is for me to join you here today. I am very grateful to the people and Government of _______ for hosting this ____ Forum, and particularly to the president, the prime minister, and the entire ______ Government.

...So, let me begin with greetings and good wishes from President Obama to the people of ________ ancestral homeland – (applause) – and with a message from the President and from his Administration: We believe in ______’s promise. We are committed to ______’s future. And we will be partners with ________’s people.

...You know that too often, the story of _______ is told in stereotypes and clichés about poverty, disease, and conflict...

...Now, the United States has responsibilities, too. We will enhance ongoing efforts to build trade capacity across _______. We want to provide assistance to help new industries take advantage of access to our markets. We will pursue public-private partnerships, leveraging the efforts of our export-import bank and OPEC and organizations like _______________ that identify and invest in young entrepreneurs with innovative ideas. We will work to expand the number of bilateral investment treaties with __________...

We'll stop here.

No, not Israel.

Not the growth of Jewish communities.

No. It's Africa to which she is referring.

Source

The "Obama - Let My People Grow" Poster

Getting a bit scary now, isn't he?



Well:-




Sent to me by Aaron Shevo

Shiloh's Entrance Undergoing a Facelift

Looking out:
a)
b)
Looking in:
a)
b)
Where'd the bus stop go?
One tree for shade



Does this count for unfreezing? Expansion? Natural growth?

Natural Growth Expansion

Extending the Ramat Shmuel Synagogue at Shiloh:

Natural Life, Normal Growth

Update from Shiloh, my home village.

The new traffic circle is about finished. As we are enlarging our primary school, the former circle where the buses used to turn around was obliterated and other parking places lost so there's a new arrangement:

A closer view:
And then I spotted those vineyards across Highway 60:
And decided to check out our own grapes but I don't think they are doing that well this summer. My wife thinks they were trimmed back too late in the season earlier this year:

Now, That's a "Natural Growth" Problem

As the Shasta County teen pregnancy rate rises to the highest level in four years, proposed cuts to teen parenting programs couldn't have come at a worse time.

In 2007, 271 babies were born to teenage mothers in Shasta County at a rate of 37.9 per 1,000 women ages 15 to 19, an increase from 32.3 the year before, according to Shasta County Public Health records. California's teen birth rate increased from 2005 to 2006 but fell slightly in 2007 to a rate of 37.1.

Until 2005, the teen pregnancy rate had been on a steady decline nationwide since the early '90s. The U.S. teen birth rate for 2007 was 42.5 births per 1,000, the highest rate since 2002, according to National Vital Statistics. While no one is sure why the teen birth rate is on the rise, many are concerned about where the increasing number of pregnant and parenting teenage girls will turn for help as their options are whittled away.

Source

It's All About Births

An excerpt from a

Briefing by Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell Special Envoy for Middle East Peace on His Recent Travel to the Region and Efforts Toward Achieving A Comprehensive Peace

held in Washington, DC on June 16, 2009

...QUESTION: Senator --

QUESTION: Sorry.

QUESTION: -- you’ve now said twice that there should be a stop to settlements.

MR. MITCHELL: Right.

QUESTION: But you didn’t say the phrase “natural growth.”

MR. MITCHELL: Right.

QUESTION: And I just want to confirm that that is – it’s still what the Administration is asking for, a stop to settlements --

MR. MITCHELL: Yes.

QUESTION: -- including natural growth. And secondly, can you give us just a definition of what the United States considers natural growth? What does that phrase mean in your mind?

MR. MITCHELL: There’s been no change in our policy. And there have been – there have been discussions on every aspect of the issue.

QUESTION: Well, what does natural growth mean? I mean, can you just use it in --

MR. MITCHELL: I’m constantly asked by editors, you know, please give a plain explanation of what natural growth is.

QUESTION: If it’s for your editor. (Laughter.)

MR. MITCHELL: Well, of course, one of the issues is that there is no universally used and accepted definition. The most common definition is by the number of births, but there are many variations of that. I’ve had numerous discussions with many Israeli and other officials, and there are almost as many definitions as there are people speaking. But I think the most commonly used measure is the number of births.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) that number, please?

MR. MITCHELL: Yes. Yeah.

QUESTION: There seems to be a lot of focus on the talk about settlements, settlements.

MR. MITCHELL: Yeah.

[but there's got to be a smart-ass in the bunch. read on]

QUESTION: But it seems like (inaudible) of the world, and many people and many governments are forgetting that the real issue is the withdrawal of Israel from all the occupied land according to UN Resolutions 242, 338, that this is an issue that, as a country, Israel cannot annex the lands of other countries to it by force. So why are you not triggering the talk about implementing the UN resolutions as much as the United States talks about the need to implement these resolutions on other countries? Why not Israel also?

MR. MITCHELL: We’ve discussed the full range of issues. And our hope, of course, as I’ve stated previously, is that the parties will resume meaningful negotiation on all issues as soon as possible in an effort to reach a rapid conclusion on all issues.

Yes, I’ll come back to you. Go ahead. Did you --

[now we come back to life]

QUESTION: When you say the most common definition is births, are you saying –

MR. MITCHELL: The one that – the most commonly used in conversations with me.

QUESTION: I see. So when the U.S. say no natural growth –

MR. MITCHELL: Right.


QUESTION: -- is that what it’s saying is the definition?


MR. MITCHELL: We’re engaged in discussions on a wide range of issues. And different people have different interpretations of different phrases. And we listen to all points of view. We listen to every aspect of every discussion, and we’re trying to reach an agreement and understanding that helps us move the process forward. And I think I wouldn’t want to get beyond that.

QUESTION: Lachlan Carmichael from AFP. Does the Obama Administration endorse Prime Minister Netanyahu’s request that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state?

MR. MITCHELL: The prime minister stated a number of objectives that Israel is seeking in the negotiations. The Palestinians have in the past, and no doubt will continue, to state their objectives. Our effort is to begin meaningful negotiations in which those objectives will be part of the discussion, and ultimately to reach an agreement satisfactory to both sides.

[so, if "settlers" do not give birth to Jewish babies, is that a way to get around this "natural growth problem? just kidding]

So our view is that it’s best to get into negotiations. That’s what negotiations are about. Different parties have different objectives in the negotiations. The important thing about the prime minister’s speech is that he set forth his – included in his objective a Palestinian state. So there now is a common objective, which was not the case until that speech was made. And the President rightly noted and welcomed that comment, because now we have both sides moving toward the same objective with different points of view on how best to get there. And what we want is to get into a negotiation on that.

QUESTION: So you’re not asking Abbas right now to recognize Israel as a Jewish state?

MR. MITCHELL: What we are saying – the prime minister made very clear that is not a precondition, that’s something that he would require for an ultimate agreement. So our objective is not to try to prejudge every issue before there’s even been a first meeting of the parties. I’ve never heard of a negotiation that succeeded through – in that fashion. What you want to do is to get the parties moving toward a common objective and to start talking about their differences in a way that will enable us to reach an early resolution in a manner that’s ultimately acceptable to both.

So, a "stop to settlements" means no births? Or does a "settlements freeze" mean no births?

Does "a stop to births" mean enforced infanticide?

I trust some people reading this know their Scripture, Gospel of Matthew 2:16-18.

And why do I mention that?

Well, back in 2001,

...the BBC's chief Jerusalem correspondent, Hillary Anderson, began a recent report on the deaths of Palestinian children thus: "Deep underground in Bethlehem are the remnants of an atrocity so vile, so far back in history, King Herod's slaughter of the innocents…" (The camera meanwhile showed a pile of skulls.) Then she moved on to the deaths of Palestinian children, evoking Herod's massacre of the innocents, to remind the viewer that Jews, who tried to kill the infant Christ, are busy killing innocent children once again.

Anderson's reports, it should be added, appear not only on the British domestic BBC channels (the example above was on BBC 2's influential Newsnight) but on BBC World — "The BBC's 24 Hour Global TV News Channel."

Natural Growth Means More Schoolchildren

A practical example of natural growth:





The buses at Shiloh Primary School waiting to take the pupils home to Shvut Rachel, Maaleh Levona and Eli. Construction for school's expanison continues apace.

Mrs. Clinton, Meet Daniel Kurtzer

More on the the ridiculous "we-can't-find-the record" over at the State Dept. story on Israel's right to continue natural growth

Here, at IMRA:

Interview with Israel Television Channel Ten
American Embassy Tel Aviv - Press Section
U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer Interview with Israel Television Channel Ten
March 25, 2005

AMBASSADOR KURTZER: ...the President said to the Prime Minister at the time and then committed in writing that the reality is that there are Israeli population centers in the territories that are going to have to be taken into account in any final status negotiations and the outcome that the United States would support means that we are not going back to the 1967 lines. It is very clearly written in a letter that has been made public. That hasn't changed whatsoever.

QUESTION: You say they are going to be taken count and we are not going to go back to the 1967, but in this letter there is no - they don't say about Maale Adumim and Ariel. They just say it in general?

AMBASSADOR KURTZER: The letter is not specific on which place. But the President and the Prime Minister clearly understood that major Israeli population centers - which is the phrase that is used in the letter - includes major Israeli population centers. We know what they are; the people of Israel know what they are and that is going to remain American policy.

QUESTION: This is the American current view about the settlement blocs?

AMBASSADOR KURTZER: That's correct.

QUESTION: So President Bush is willing to leave settlement blocs in Israeli sovereignty in the future agreement just as Clinton was?

AMBASSADOR KURTZER: He said it clearly in the letter of last April - I can say it again to the people of Israel. The President remains committed to what he said in that letter: That in a negotiation on final status, the outcome is going to mean that Israeli major population areas in our view should remain within the State of Israel....

I believe there is full understanding between the Prime Minister and the President and between the Prime Minister's office and his advisors and the President's office and the President's advisors. Our discussions with the Prime Minister, with Dov Weissglas, Shalom Turgeman, with all of the officials who are associated with the Prime Minister's office have been very clear and quite specific and that is what allowed us last April to reach a very specific understanding that was then incorporated in a letter that the President signed and was able to make public. So, I do not believe there are any misunderstandings between us...

...the United States and Israel do not have misunderstandings with respect to U.S. commitments. Those commitments are very, very firm with respect to these Israeli major population centers, our expectation that Israel is not going to be going back to the 1967 lines. This is the President's policy. This President has been very determined in having consistent and sure policy throughout his time in office. That is the reality, that is the truth.

(Kippah tip: Carl)

Some More Natural Growth vs. "Settlement Freeze"

Adding on two rooms, a service area and a balcony:

Grwoing figs:

Goats:
That goat actually thought I might be Hillary Clinton:

Okay, It's Unnatural

You'll find this map over at a NYTimes story on "settlements" -



Now, first the map and then I'll deal with the story (and another one in Haaretz).

The map is quite graphically neat but, in drawing these rather large circles in three shades around Jewish communities, the impression being conveyed is some sort of fungus extending itself into "Palestinian territory". If the same device were to be used on Arab settlements (by the way, where are they on the map? I can see but four Arab-populated cities where Jews cannot live), the map would have to be doubled in size just to fit Arab growth inside.

In Ariel, for example, have the residential construction are apartment buildings rather than one family homes. They go up, not out.

In that story are certain claims, like this one:

The settlers’ annual population growth, at 5.6 percent, far outstrips the Israeli average of 1.8 percent. But official data from the Central Bureau of Statistics of Israel shows that while about two-thirds of that is a “natural” increase, as defined by settler births in relation to deaths, one-third stems from migration. There is also a disproportionately high level of state-supported building in the settlements compared with most regions of Israel.

And many critics of the settlement movement dispute the notion that settlers’ children have an absolute right to continue living in their parents’ settlement.

“A newborn does not need a house,” said Dror Etkes of Yesh Din, an Israeli group that fights for the rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories. “It is a game the Israeli government is playing” to justify construction, he said.

Growth is 5.6%.

But in Haaretz, I read

It doesn't take a demographer to deduce from Arieli's figures that "natural population growth" - even at a record 3.4 percent per annum (which is twice the national average among Jews)...

Growth is 3.4%.

Anybody explain?

Akiva Eldar asserts there in Haaretz that Jewish population figures across the Green Line are

the total: While 32 settlements (not including East Jerusalem) were established in the territories between 1967 and 1977, housing some 6,000 settlers, today 127 Jewish settlements can be found in the territories, alongside another 100 outposts, housing a total of 295,000 settlers

Isabel Kershner, also relying on Yesh Din's Dror Etkes reports in the NYTimes

The Israeli population of the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem, has tripled since the Israeli-Palestinian peace effort started in the early 1990s, and it now approaches 300,000. The settlers live among 2.5 million Palestinians in about 120 settlements...According to the newly disclosed data, about 58,800 housing units have been built with government approval in the West Bank settlements over the past 40 years. An additional 46,500 have already obtained Defense Ministry approval within the existing master plans, awaiting nothing more than a government decision to build...Under international pressure, construction in the settlements has slowed but never stopped, continuing at an annual rate of about 1,500 to 2,000 units over the past three years. If building continues at the 2008 rate, the 46,500 units already approved will be completed in about 20 years.

Mixed up?

Maybe all the growth is unnatural. Unnatural in the sense that despite all the difficulties, the obstacles, the opposition, the terror, the pressure and whatnot, Jews have returned as revenants to their homeland and are building and growing.

And that, maybe superficially is unnatural. But, for Jews, it's the most natural thing to do.



Cross-posted here

Natural Growth - Primary School Expansion

Settling in:

Israel will not agree to U.S. demands to freeze all settlement activity in the West Bank, the AFP reported an official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying. "I want to say in a crystal clear manner that the current Israeli government will not accept in any fashion that legal settlement activity in Judea and Samaria be frozen," Transport Minister Yisrael Katz said, using the Israeli term for the West Bank. "The government will defend the vital
interests of the state of Israel."

It was the first high-level reaction to President Obama's call Thursday during a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Israel stop settlement activity, a key hurdle in Mideast peace talks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said last Sunday Israel will continue to build homes in existing West Bank settlements, but would not allow any new settlements to be created. "We will not build new settlements," he said, according to remarks released by his office. "But it is not fair not to provide a solution to natural growth."

Naturally

Ynet:

Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the High Court he has decided to refrain from issuing demolition orders for nine houses that have been built in the West Bank settlement of Ofra.

A petition filed by the left-wing organizations Yesh Din and B'tselem claims the homes were built on Palestinian land. Barak responded that the homes were built within the settlement and were therefore not expanding it.

Another "Natural" Issue That Hillary Has

Following up my "natural growth" post, I spotted Bill Clinton getting all natural with Fran Drescher in Vienna this weekend:


Found here

I wonder what settlement the Clintons have agreed upon.

Natural Growth

Natural, as in "natural growth", is defined thus:

Main Entry:

nat·u·ral
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French naturel, from Latin naturalis of nature, from natura nature
Date: 14th century

1: based on an inherent sense of right and wrong

2 a: being in accordance with or determined by nature b: having or constituting a classification based on features existing in nature

3 a (1): begotten as distinguished from adopted ; also : legitimate (2): being a relation by actual consanguinity as distinguished from adoption b: illegitimate

4: having an essential relation with someone or something : following from the nature of the one in question

5: implanted or being as if implanted by nature : seemingly inborn

6: of or relating to nature as an object of study and research

7: having a specified character by nature

8 a: occurring in conformity with the ordinary course of nature : not marvelous or supernatural b: formulated by human reason alone rather than revelation c: having a normal or usual character

9: possessing or exhibiting the higher qualities (as kindliness and affection) of human nature

10 a: growing without human care ; also : not cultivated b: existing in or produced by nature : not artificial c: relating to or being natural food

11 a: being in a state of nature without spiritual enlightenment : unregenerate b: living in or as if in a state of nature untouched by the influences of civilization and society

12 a: having a physical or real existence as contrasted with one that is spiritual, intellectual, or fictitious b: of, relating to, or operating in the physical as opposed to the spiritual world

13 a: closely resembling an original : true to nature b: marked by easy simplicity and freedom from artificiality, affectation, or constraint c: having a form or appearance found in nature

And in an interview of Abderrahim Foukara [???] of Al Jazeera with Hillary Rodham Clinton,
Secretary of State, Washington, DC, May 19, 2009, Mrs. Clinton was asked and replied:

...QUESTION: Madame Secretary, when President Obama yesterday talked about the issue of settlements and he said that he wanted the Israelis to freeze the building on the West Bank, does that mean that he wants the settlements, the existing settlements, to be rolled back to the 1967 border, specifically?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, there are two pieces to that question. First, we want to see a stop to settlement construction, additions, natural growth – any kind of settlement activity. That is what the President has called for.

We also are going to be pushing for a two-state solution which, by its very name, implies borders that have to be agreed to. And we expect to see two states living side by side, a state for the Palestinians that will be sovereign and within which the Palestinians will have the authorities that come with being in charge of a state with respect to such activities as settlements. So it’s really a two-step effort here. We want to see a stop now, and then, as part of this intensive engagement that Senator Mitchell is leading for us, we want to move toward a two-state solution with borders for the Palestinians.

and at 1:54, you can see her and hear her say it:



Well, I think what comes naturally will be a bit overwhelming for the Secretary of State and the President.

Psst! Wanna See Some "Natural Growth Settlement Development Expansion"?

Here, at a location that shall remain fairly incognito, although I do suspect too precious satellite picture-taking time of the United States is being used for tracking down housing construction out here rather than chasing down either terrorists or Iran's nuclear program of very unnatural growth, is a photographic record of ongoing natural growth development:





Is this the cause of a major international crisis and diplomatic rupture with the new US administration?

My Neighbor Is Interviewed

David Rubin, my neighbor here at Shiloh, was interviewed:

Obama Calls for Halt of Jewish Settlements

SHILOH, Israel - After meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, President Barack Obama called for a halt to Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank.

"Settlements have to be stopped in order for us to move forward. That's a difficult issue. I recognize that. But it's an important one, and it has to be addressed," Obama said.

One of them is Shiloh, located in the heart of the West Bank, or as others refer to it: the biblical land of Judea and Samaria. This is where the tabernacle of the Lord stood for 369 years and where the prophet Samuel grew up.

Jewish communities like Shiloh lie at the heart of the conflict between the U.S. and Israel. If the Obama administration gets its way, communities like this at the very least would not be able to expand or someday may not be here at all.

"We're building for the future. We're rebuilding the biblical heartland," David Rubin said.

Rubin is the former mayor of Shiloh. As a religious Jew, he's at odds with the Obama administration's call for the end of Jewish settlement expansion.

"To the Obama administration, I would say 'Hands off. This is God's land. You don't have a right.You don't have a right to stop people living here; (to stop people from) raising their families here; (to stop people from) building for the future here because this is God's land. This is the land God gave to the people of Israel,'" Rubin said.

Earlier this month, Vice President Joe Biden called for an end of both settlement construction and an end to natural growth.

"What does that mean, stop the natural growth in the settlements? Does that mean we not allowed to have children? That we have to have mandatory birth control? What is the Vice President of the United States mandating here?" Rubin said.

Rubin, like many other Jews in the West bank, fears a Palestinian state would mean the expulsion of tens of thousands of Jews. The Israeli government took a similar action in 2005. The Gaza disengagement evicted nearly 10,000 Jews from Gaza.

Since then, Gaza has become an Islamic stronghold, an Iranian outpost, and a threat to the state of Israel. Some warn another evacuation of Israeli settlements from the West Bank would produce a similar result and threaten Israel's existence.

In the meantime, construction will continue in the settlements; Jews like Rubin will hold to their passionate views on the biblical heartland and the Obama administration will likely continue its calls for a halt to settlements in the ancient land of the Bible.

There's a nice video clip with shots of Shiloh. Check it out.

One point of divergence:

I wouldn't assert, as David does, that "This is God's land". All the world is His land. This, though, is the Jewish land, the Jewish national homeland. His Presence is here, true, but God cares for all the peoples of the world, at least, that's the way I look at it.