Quizzed about Israel’s crimes, US tries to change subject

‘John Kirby, US State Department spokesperson and self-described “lover of history,” knows “the media pivot.” He can ably transition from uncomfortable political terrain – Israeli wrongdoing – to the preferred territory of criticizing Palestinians living under military occupation.
Last week provided Kirby just such an opportunity. The spokesperson was asked by Said Arikat of the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds for his take on “a group of senior Israeli government officials, notably the Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely … pushing for the total annexation of Maale Adumim, one of the largest settlements in the West Bank.”
The question should have been an easy one for someone in Kirby’s position to answer. All of Israel’s settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law. Building colonies on territory acquired by force amounts to a war crime.’

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