UNDISPUTED

Here's Benjamin Netanyahu doing damage control after the International Court of Justice's ruling against Israel's security barrier. Netanyahu deserves as much blame as anybody for the current sorry state of affairs, given that he made it his goal to undercut and frustrate the implementation of Oslo Accords, thus strengthening both the anti-peace settler movement within Israel, and the hardline Palestinian militants who claimed that negotiotation with Israel was pointless and that armed struggle was the only way to achieve a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu's claim that the West Bank is not occupied but "disputed" territory can be dismissed immediately, given that even Ariel Sharon, to say nothing of the rest of the civilized world, has recognized the fact of the occupation. The only people who "dispute" the Palestinian claim to the occupied land are hard-line Greater Israel types such as Netanyahu, and their useful idiots in the U.S.

Here's an equally egregious bit of nonsense from Dick Morris, of all people, who cannily draws this lesson from Israel's experience with terrorism:

The Israeli action also holds important lessons for the United States. In effect, Israel is saying that neither negotiation nor military raids can destroy the Palestinian terror organization. But technology, by putting Israeli civilians out of reach, can do so.

So, Dick, should we just build a wall around the United States? Even if we did, I think Mexico and Canada would have a legitimate gripe if we built our wall several miles over their borders, destroying homes and farmland and making thousands homeless in the process.

For those who prefer their analysis rational, here are Ghassan Khatib and Yossi Alpher over at Bitterlemons.