“Even if one believes the denial that US forces drew their weapons (and I don’t), they still aren’t denying the fact that US forces and Palis went into Jewish territory without coordinating with the government.”
Have you considered, you know, lying less? It might help your case. Just a friendly suggestion.
Note the above-mentioned story: “American consular officials Friday during a visit the officials made to the West Bank...”
That iss area under the legal and administrative control of the “Palis” as you put it; regardless of how one views the legitimacy of post-1967 borders or what you think of standing international agreements between the parties, trying to make it sound like the U.S. and various “Palis” were screaming around inside Israeli territory without permission is an outrageous lie. That’s the kind of lie apt to make one look like a fool, or a tool.
Further, the consular officials were invited by the legal authority of that territory to observe an area of international contention and hear the other side of the story, and like reasonable third parties the consulate officials took the diplomatic route and heard the locals out... until some other locals got pissy and started throwing rocks. Then, according to Israeli police (as opposed to the dickheads throwing rocks) the Americans scrupulously avoided conflict and let themselves get chased off.
There’s a settlement nearby, Adi Ad. But nearby isn’t “IN”. As a comparison, Juarez is situated nearby El Paso, but it certainly ain’t Texas. If some two-bit officials were walking around El Paso and suffered a stoning from some folks from Juarez, you wouldn’t claim that the politicos had invaded Mexico now would you?
Further, these are the same nutballs that like to throw rocks at ambulances, just for having the gall to be out on the roads saving lives during sabbath days. Islam doesn’t have a monopoly on crazy, and some of the weirdos out in the settlements really give mainstream Israelis the creeps.
Now, rather than bothering to touch on any of the very real details of the political, social, and diplomatic issues involving the West Bank at large, or the settlements in particular, or the conflicts between the religious fanatics from both the Jewish settlements and the Palestinian territory, you just bluff and bluster and claim that our diplomats invaded Israel and waved guns at people. Do you have no shame? Or just no brain?
Israel’s political system gives too much power to it’s religious parties.
If you come near my place with an M-16, and if you’ve not cleared your visit with my community nor my country’s defense and political leaders, and if you have no legitimate reason to be there in the first place, and if you offer a fake excuse like these guys did.... then we will know you’re an enemy agent, an armed one at that, and we will deal with you accordingly. Any questions we may have we will necessarily ask afterwards.
Got it?
Isarelis are smart enough to realize that while America remains a great ally of theirs, the current regime in WashDC is otherwise. To put it mildly. And unauthorized incursions of armed personnel only prove that point.
They’re damned lucky they didn’t meet with the standard defense response for the incursion or invasion of unauthorized foreign personnel carrying machine guns into or near civilian communities.
We Americans need to clean up “our” regime, before we start casting stones at others who are (as is well known) hard-pressed to defend themselves and their families from all sorts of attacks, bombings, incursions, and threats right now.
Just saying.
We must fix WashDC, then we can complain about other folks that, say, fail to roll out the red carpet when surprised by the approach of heavily-armed foreigners
The terrorist side appreciates you shilling for them. The fact is that they were in Israeli territory. They were from the US embassy in Israel. They should have coordinated with IDF and did not.
Lie much?
I think we need to ask YOU that, after that ridiculously anti-Israel rant, and false moral/legal equivalence you just attempted to set up. There are plenty of left-wing sites which will welcome such tripe. But not FR.