Summary: The response to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement that West Bank settlements are not illegal ran from positive to damning with notable delays and silences.
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Thanks for this comment. It confirms what we already thought, and is disappointingly predictable: without being ‘anti-semitic’ in any way, one can’t but feel uncomfortable about the way they treat the Palestinian people. This is not a religious or racist thing – it is mere humanitarianism to feel it is wrong.
Whether intended or not, the US move will give succour to other countries that have acquired territory by force and have moved their own ‘civilian’ nationals into it: the Russians in Crimea and the Donbas regions of the Ukraine; Morocco in the former Spanish Sahara; Turkey in the north Cyprus enclave. The US has given if not a green light then at least an orange light to irredentist claims.
Re “The UK, seemingly consumed by Brexit and the upcoming election, said nothing.” It is more likely that HMG’s failure to condemn US actions results from the current Cabinet being one of the most individually pro-Israel in UK history. (There is an interesting correlation between BREXITeers, Atlanticists and pro-Israelists.)
The Prime Minister “‘I am a passionate Zionist,’ declares Boris Johnson” (https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/boris-johnson-zionist/)
The Foreign Secretary is half-Jewish (although CofE) and wrote that “Peace must precede Palestinian statehood” (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/peace-must-precede-palestinian-statehood-k0mbp8zrtzr)
The Home Secretary “Priti Patel sought cash for Golan Heights hospital treating Syrian jihadists” (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/priti-patel-sought-cash-for-golan-heights-hospital-treating-syrian-jihadists-8x859ttp7)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer “Muslim Tory MP: After Britain, Israel is best ” (https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/muslim-tory-mp-after-britain-israel-is-best-1.39534)
The Secretary of State for Transport is Jewish and a former BBYO leader (https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/new-jewish-ministers-and-the-miliband-rivalry-1.15589)
The now Secretary of State for Health seems to have been responsible for “Israel boycott ban: Shunning Israeli goods to become criminal offence for public bodies and student unions” (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/israel-boycott-local-councils-public-bodies-and-student-unions-to-be-banned-from-shunning-israeli-a6874006.html)
The list goes on …