Middle East fertility wars

What does Hillary Rodham Clinton have against Jewish babies? Last week, the secretary of state issued a demarche to Tel Aviv stating that Washington "wants to see a stop to [West Bank] settlements - not some settlements, not outposts, not natural-growth exceptions."

The euphemism "natural growth" refers to children. About 9,600 babies were born in West Bank settlements in 2007, and the State Department views these bundles of joy as a threat to its precious peace process.

The new arrivals require larger houses, schools, playgrounds and other facilities, hence the need for the settlement growth that is upsetting Foggy Bottom. [despite no additional land being annexed - i.e., they're not to build housing additions as their families grow. Why is this important to Palestinians? ... ]

The no-baby declaration came as welcome news to Palestinians, who are rapidly losing their advantage in the breeding battle.

Aggressive international family-planning programs contributed to Palestinian fertility rates dropping almost 30 percent between 2003 and 2008, to 3.31 children born per woman. This compares to 2.77 births in Israel, which experienced a 10 percent increase over the same five-year time period. If these trends continue, Israelis will be outpacing Palestinians in a few years.

For this reason abortion is now a crime in the Palestinian Authority... [snip]

The State Department would do well to stay out of this issue.

The West Bank settlers will not respond well to finger-wagging from the United States over how many children they choose to have. Behind the euphemism "natural growth" are thousands of babies, girls and boys, who are objects of love and adoration of their doting parents.

Secretary Clinton's devotion to the peace process is a much less powerful force than the love of Israeli parents for their children....

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