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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

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Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#401

Post by tome »

mmustapic wrote: post #380
tome wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Israel claims the Golan Heights as part of its sovereign territory. It captured the Golan Heights during a defensive war in 1967, when it also captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. It gave back the Sinai Peninsula for a peace agreement with Egypt in 1979. The capture of all that territory happened under a left-wing Labor government led by Levi Eshkol. The return of the Sinai happened under a…

The West Bank was occupied and colonised, which is a war crime. The peace deal involves leaving only a fraction of the territory to the Palestinians, and leaves Israeli citizens in the colonies.

Occupied from whom? Who was the previous government of that land? The fact is, there has never been an independent modern state in that land. Before 1967 it was occupied by Jordan. Before 1948 it was occupied by the British Mandate, and before that it was occupied by the Ottoman Empire.

The peace deal offered by Olmert to Abu Mazen was for 95% of the West Bank, plus land from Israel itself to make it up to 100%. Abu Mazen declined. I suspect that in a post-Oct 7th world, the Palestinians will never get an offer like that again.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#402

Post by tome »

aprilthird2021 wrote: post #385
tome wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Israel claims the Golan Heights as part of its sovereign territory. It captured the Golan Heights during a defensive war in 1967, when it also captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. It gave back the Sinai Peninsula for a peace agreement with Egypt in 1979. The capture of all that territory happened under a left-wing Labor government led by Levi Eshkol. The return of the Sinai happened under a…

The right of conquest, which you are invoking, was ended after WWII, due to the disastrous consequences of its implementation by a group Israel claims to be so against. None of what you said changes the fact that there are no non-authoritarian, left-wing countries which annex land in war. Russia does it. Azerbaijan does it. Can you give some examples that contradict this? That's what I asked. I didn't ask for a flims…

If you read my post closely you will see I am not invoking any right, nor justifying Israel's occupation of those lands (although I do believe they were justified). I'm merely pointing out that occupation of those lands was carried out under a left-wing non-authoritarian government. If you're saying that occupation of land makes the occupying government by definition right-wing authoritarian then I don't think that's a very useful definition and can't help you further.

I personally don't see why Israel should be required to give influence over its government to a belligerent enemy population who have supported wars of annihilation against it many times. However, many Israelis disagree with me, including past prime ministers. That was why Olmert offered 95% of the West Bank plus Israeli land making it up to 100% to Abu Mazen in 2008. Abu Mazen declined the offer.

Before 1967 the Arab occupants of the West Bank were Jordanian citizens. After 1967 Jordan stripped them of citizenship. Perhaps Jordan is the one denying them democracy? (For what it's worth, the pre-1948 Jewish residents of the West Bank had already been expelled at best and murdered at worst).

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#403

Post by tome »

Calavar wrote: post #399
tome wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that's my point. Any plausible Israeli government, left, right or centre, would have conducted the war in roughly the same way, including the historical left governments of Ben Gurion, Meir, Rabin, Peres or Barak. Thus attempts to paint Israel as "right wing" due to its conduct of the war are fallacious. I'm just pointing out that painting falsehoods about Israel and its people (as you have continued to do in yo…

> Any plausible Israeli government, left, right or centre, would have conducted the war in roughly the same way So why did Benny Gantz leave the unity government and say publicly that it was because of irreconcilable differences over how the war was being conducted? "Roughly the same way" is a vague term that leaves a thousand miles of leeway of interpretation. Of course Benny Gantz also supported a military response…

No plausible alternative government would have conducted the war in a way that would have avoided the slander of "genocide" and "murdering children". People will accuse Israel of that regardless.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#404

Post by jkaplowitz »

spaceguillotine wrote: post #324
blast wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It cuts both ways. Many American friends have told me that they were treated aggressively at the Canadian border as well.

They gotta keep the criminals out somehow. I know quite a few well to do white men with DUIs that kept them out of Canada and I can't blame Canada for it. I think any Felony will keep them from letting you in. Which is why Trump should be banned from entering as he is a convicted felon.

It’s a bit more complicated than just “any felony” - among other factors, Canadian immigration law considers how Canadian criminal law would treat the offence, as well as how long it’s been since the sentence was completed. And there are discretionary provisions to allow ministerial overrides, as I’m sure they’d do for Trump during his presidency if he would otherwise be covered.

But you’re right, it’s absolutely true that Canadian immigration law treats DUIs by foreign nationals far more harshly than US immigration law does (assuming simple DUI in each case and not something with complications like someone getting hurt or killed).

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#405

Post by mmustapic »

tome wrote: post #401
mmustapic wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The West Bank was occupied and colonised, which is a war crime. The peace deal involves leaving only a fraction of the territory to the Palestinians, and leaves Israeli citizens in the colonies.

Occupied from whom? Who was the previous government of that land? The fact is, there has never been an independent modern state in that land. Before 1967 it was occupied by Jordan. Before 1948 it was occupied by the British Mandate, and before that it was occupied by the Ottoman Empire. The peace deal offered by Olmert to Abu Mazen was for 95% of the West Bank, plus land from Israel itself to make it up to 100%. Abu…

It's either not occupied, it's part of Israel and Israel subjugates the Palestinians to an apartheid rule (with a big part of their lives controlled by Israel, included where they can move, work, live, and different laws applied to them), and harassed by colonists. Or it's Palestine and Israel is occupying it.

In any case the UN and the ICJ think it's occupied territory, and the colonies are a war crime.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#406

Post by trollbridge »

berdario wrote: post #391
nobodywillobsrv wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is insane to travel without a passport. How is it even possible! Americans are living in some weird timeline.

It's pretty common around the world. EU citizens don't need a passport to travel across the EU (even outside the Schengen area, where you have to go through a border check), they just need an identity card. (most) EU citizens could also travel to Turkey with their identity card. EU citizens could travel to the UK with their identity card, for a few years after Brexit, as long as they got UK (pre-)settled status. Russ…

Circa 2018, I was travelling from Greece to Germany. For whatever reason, the Bundespolizie decided to check everyone’s passports. In particular everyone from Ireland was demanded to have a passport - their identity card wasn’t good enough.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#407

Post by CivBase »

berdario wrote: post #391
nobodywillobsrv wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is insane to travel without a passport. How is it even possible! Americans are living in some weird timeline.

It's pretty common around the world. EU citizens don't need a passport to travel across the EU (even outside the Schengen area, where you have to go through a border check), they just need an identity card. (most) EU citizens could also travel to Turkey with their identity card. EU citizens could travel to the UK with their identity card, for a few years after Brexit, as long as they got UK (pre-)settled status. Russ…

> Of course, something in common with all the examples above, and with US citizens travelling to Mexico, is that you're travelling to neighbouring countries with friendly relations.

Militarily speaking, yes. But unlike the other examples, there is a huge economic difference between the US and Mexico, meaning migration flows exclusively one way. Illegal crossings are extremely common and the US has strong incentives to prevent them. It's hard to compare the US-Mexico border to any other border in the world.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#408

Post by trollbridge »

pyuser583 wrote: post #353
walrus01 wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And can only be used when laws are broken, treason is committed, or terrorism is waged. CBP/ICE has a pretty detailed explanation on their website that you can lose permanent resident status by remaining outside of the country for more than one year and failing to retain a bona fide residence and presence in the USA (US job with annual 1040 tax filings, residence, identity documents, etc). I would wager that a scen…

In the distant past the US government claimed US Citizens who lived abroad too long lost their citizenship. The courts said, “no.” But the US State Department would still refuse to provide consular services.

Some expat US citizens tried to claim this to avoid paying taxes for the U.S. on foreign income.

The courts enthusiastically said “no”.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#409

Post by aprilthird2021 »

tome wrote: post #400
aprilthird2021 wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is actually the policy though. There are tons of documented stories of physical and sexual abuse in Israeli prisons, which hold many people without formal charges or a right to any kind of due process. That being said, lots of countries do this. Iran, for example.

Israeli prisons are not run by the military. Holding people without formal charges is called "administrative detention" and also happens in Australia, Brazil, the UK and the US. Perhaps some abuses happen during that process. I wouldn't be surprised. But it's not the policy of Israel to abuse prisoners.

Okay maybe I can say it's an extremely common occurrence the government doesn't sanction

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#410

Post by tome »

mmustapic wrote: post #405
tome wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Occupied from whom? Who was the previous government of that land? The fact is, there has never been an independent modern state in that land. Before 1967 it was occupied by Jordan. Before 1948 it was occupied by the British Mandate, and before that it was occupied by the Ottoman Empire. The peace deal offered by Olmert to Abu Mazen was for 95% of the West Bank, plus land from Israel itself to make it up to 100%. Abu…

It's either not occupied, it's part of Israel and Israel subjugates the Palestinians to an apartheid rule (with a big part of their lives controlled by Israel, included where they can move, work, live, and different laws applied to them), and harassed by colonists. Or it's Palestine and Israel is occupying it. In any case the UN and the ICJ think it's occupied territory, and the colonies are a war crime.

Israel is in administrative control over that part of the land. It's not clear to me exactly how much it owes the people who reside there, who used to be Jordanian citizens and who had their citizenship stripped by Jordan.

That part of the world has never been part of a modern state. Jordan doesn't want it. The Ottoman Empire doesn't exist. There is and has never been a state of Palestine. Abu Mazen turned down an from Olmert to make it into a Palestinian state. Arafat turned down an offer from Barak.

When Jordan took control of that that territory, including East Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, they expelled or murdered all Jewish citizens living there. After the second world war ethnic Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia and Poland. Israel _didn't_ expel residents of the West Bank, after capturing it in a defensive war, and somehow that makes Israel not a democracy?

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