UN disappointment ineffective on Israeli policies: Pundit

Press TV has interviewed Paul Larudee, with the Free Palestine Movement from Berkeley, about condemnation made by the United Nations on expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Israel’s announcement of new settler units on occupied Palestinian land and the expression of disappointment by Ban Ki-moon have become almost a daily occurrence now haven’t they?

Larudee: They have indeed and daily occurrence that goes back way before Ban Ki-moon. It goes back decades of expressing disappointment, which gives you an idea of how much the disappointment of the UN secretary general means to Israel. It essentially provokes a yawn from Israeli officials.

Press TV: I like to get your opinion on this policy of settlement expansion on Palestinian land. What does Israel hope to achieve from it? Why is it so persistent in carrying on with it despite the international condemnation that does come with it?

Larudee: Settlements are not the usual kinds of housing developments that we see in normal countries where developers are meeting a demand for housing or anything like that. It’s been decades even before the existence of Israel, the settlements were considered strategic. They were laid out in such a way that it would facilitate the conquest of territories, the expulsion of the existing population and so forth. That’s what this is all about.

It’s not that there are people who are trying to live in Jerusalem and such a demand they have to create more housing there. No, they create housing first in the West Bank and in Jerusalem and wherever it is that they want to put pressure on the Palestinian population and this is what they’re doing here. This is like military strategy. They’re in places where they want to cause trouble for the Palestinians.

Press TV: Well, speaking of causing trouble and putting pressure on the Palestinians, let’s not forget, we’ve discussed this time and again how since October 2015 tensions have been extremely high on occupied Palestinian territories specifically the West Bank. When we look at how house demolitions are taking place almost on a daily basis, mass evacuations, mass arrests. And now we have hawkish Israeli ministers who are calling for, for example, 2000 more settler units. How is that going to affect the atmosphere?

Larudee: Well, it’s hard to say that it’s going to affect it at all. It seems like the international community could see 10,000 to 100,000 new units set up by Israel and they still wouldn’t react. So, I mean obviously it’s placing enormous pressure on the Palestinian population and this is the idea that’s the purpose of it to make it impossible for them to live there and for them to disappear or be totally marginalized. It’s meant to discourage and it’s a process of ethnic cleansing that’s all part of the same thing.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir