Shalom, shalom, Vay en shalom?

Earlier this week, Israel announced its intentions on building 3500 new homes for settlers on disputed land in the occupied West Bank. This continues a pattern of behavior that has been going on for some time. The United States Secretary of State, John Kerry said something yesterday that took courage and which I happen to agree with.

"Let me emphasize that the position of the United States is that we consider now, and have always considered, the settlements to be illegitimate."

Good for Kerry. Count me in as one who feels that the Netanyahu government has long played a duplicitous game, paying lip service to a two state solution, while working like hell to ensure that whatever is left for the Palestinians is neither contiguous, workable or acceptable.

Abbas is the best chance the Israelis will ever have at achieving a real and lasting peace with their neighbors and it looks like the Israelis are going to squander the opportunity with their gamesmanship and deceitful antics.

The West Bank is not Gaza and the Palestinians that live there are human beings and not animals. While the interests of Israel and the United States often do overlap, there are times that they do not. I for one, resent the Israeli Prime Minister trying to manipulate our government and political process while engaging in dishonest behavior in regards to the settlements that is subverting any real hopes for an eventual lasting peace.