Mike Pompeo became the first US secretary of state to visit an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, making a strong show of support for Israel in the Trump administration’s final days. Pompeo also visited the Golan Heights, another unprecedented move for a top US diplomat.
The Trump administration recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019. The territory was seized from Syria in 1967 and formally annexed by Israel in 1981, although no other countries recognized the territory as Israeli until the US changed its policy.
“You can’t stand here and stare out at what’s across the border and deny the central thing that President Donald Trump recognized, what the previous presidents have refused to do,” Pompeo said from Golan. “This is a part of Israel.”
Pompeo took a shot at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the visit. “Imagine with Assad in control of this place, the risk of the harm to the West and to Israel,” he said. Assad’s government denounced Pompeo’s visit, calling it a “flagrant violation” of Syria’s sovereignty.
Another major policy change the Trump administration gave Israel was reversing the US stance on Jewish settlements in the West Bank. In 2019, the administration said the US no longer considers settlements illegal, breaking with the international community. At a press conference in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Pompeo said the US had historically taken “the wrong view of settlements.”
Pompeo announced two more pro-Israel policies on Thursday as a parting gift to Israel from the Trump administration. Pompeo said products made in Israeli settlements in the West Bank can be labeled as “Made in Israel,” and called the change “recognizing reality.”
Pompeo also announced that the State Department will designate the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as “anti-Semitic.” BDS is a Palestinian-led international campaign that calls on people to pressure Israel for its human rights abuses and occupation of Palestine through various boycotts. Under the new policy, the US will “identify organizations” that engage in BDS and “withdraw US government support for such groups.”
Just die and go back to hell, you treasonous SOB !
The Fat Man has found Jesus.
And Jesus is pissed…
Praise Jesus … and pass the pasta …
Let’s hope he gets raptured up soon!
So when the Republicans make comment about the Crimea, all the Russians have to do is point to the Golan Heights, and the West Bank.
Republicans, along with the democrats.
Indeed, including Senator Sanders.
At this point, any complaints made by the USA regarding another country’s behavior should be met with derision.
Does the word Pompeo mean slave ?
“Imagine with Assad in control of this place, the risk of the harm to the West and to Israel”
Yes, because Assad is going to amass his enormous military and stage an attack on the West from the Golan Heights.
Make that the “Trump Heights.”
That is merely repeating the reason the Israelis gave when they first seized the Heights, that Syria could rain artillery down on Israel so it was imperative that Israel hold that land. That’s absurd now, but sanctimonious end-times nitwits like Pompeo don’t care.
So, the US is admitting the previously denied: that the WB is in fact part of Israel. Ok, then do all the citizens of the WB, no matter what their religious affiliation, have democratic rights or is it apartheid?
Pompeo’s statement is an admission that two-state is done and there is only one state here. This has been true but obfuscated for too long.
The Rapture people believe that the land from the Nile in the South, to the Mediterranean on the West and to the Euphrates River in the North and East belongs to Israel as it was the land held by Israel under King Solomon. Pompeo was letting us know that he believes Israel should be able to reclaim all this land.
Trump not to long ago said something about how much his mother loved him “I could do no wrong in her eyes”, the end result is what we now see. Most of us discipline our kids when they do wrong, it’s called love, it’s called train up a child. His administration is a reflection of that early lack of training and his supporting the total abuse of the Palestinians, life , liberty and humanity by this current government in Israel is sending the wrong message to any and all who seek peace. We can’t really blame Trump, who was spoiled from the beginning but Pompeo knows better and I’m sure justice will prevail one day.
I don’t know about Pompeo’s childhood but I’d guess he was a spoiled little bastard also. I say little only as in the past tense.
Trump is in his 70s. He’s had plenty of time to reflect and change, but instead he just settles out of court or declares bankruptcy or keeps legal proceedings going on for long enough that the other party can’t afford the legal fees anymore. Why should he change? He’s never really had to face the consequences for anything. Of course, back then he was in the private sector, and all he was hurting was the Trump brand, and now he’s dragging the country down with him.
Edit: an ILLEGAL Jewish “settlement” in the WB.