Category: Israel
Abbas: Peace talks to go on despite end of building freeze
msnbc.com | 9/26/2010 | 6:15:12 AM ET
Palestinians would not immediately end peace talks with Israel if it did not extend a 10-month limited settlement moratorium expiring on Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was quoted as saying. In another sign that a way could be found out of a crisis threatening negotiations that began less than a month ago, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said there was more than an even chance the peace process would continue.
Abbas has said repeatedly he would walk out of direct negotiations with Israel unless the partial halt to building remained in place. Palestinians view Israel’s settlements as a formidable obstacle to statehood. But asked in an interview conducted on Friday with pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat whether he would declare an end to the negotiations if the partial construction freeze did not continue, Abbas said, "No, we will go back to the Palestinian institutions, to the Arab (League) follow-up committee."
He was referring to an Arab League forum that gave permission to proceed to pursue direct peace talks with Israel that began on Sept. 2. The 10-month settlement moratorium expires at midnight (2200 GMT) on Sunday.
Obama has urged Israel to continue the freeze, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose coalition is packed with pro-settler parties, has offered only to limit the scope of renewed building rather than order a moratorium extension. Israeli and Palestinian officials met U.S. diplomats in New York over the weekend to try to find a solution and to prevent the much-heralded negotiations from falling at the first hurdle.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who held talks over the past several days in New York on the issue, said there was a better than even chance the peace negotiations would continue even without a moratorium. "I think that the chance of achieving a mutually agreed understanding about (a) moratorium is 50-50. I think that the chances of having a peace process are much higher," he said in a BBC interview.
Clinton meets Abbas amid Middle East peace moves
Israeli settlements on occupied land
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More than 430,000 settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, alongside 2.5 million Palestinians
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20,000 settlers live in the Golan Heights
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Settlements and the area they take up cover 40% of the West Bank
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There are about 100 settlements not authorised by the Israeli govt in the West Bank
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to conclude three days of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. With no sign of a deal on settlement building in the West Bank, Mr Abbas said there was no choice but to continue negotiating. President Mubarak of Egypt has urged Israel to extend the partial ban on construction for three months. Mrs Clinton repeated her confidence that all core issues could be resolved.
‘No alternative’
As Mrs Clinton arrived in Ramallah in the West Bank, Mr Abbas said everyone knew there was no alternative to peace through negotiations. "So we have no alternative other than to continue these efforts," he said. The Palestinian leader acknowledged that conditions were difficult, and a senior Palestinian official was quoted as saying that broad gaps remained on the question of settlements. Neither Mrs Clinton nor Mr Abbas spoke after the meeting. The US secretary of state then travelled to Jordan for a meeting with King Abdullah II. Jordan already has a peace treaty with Israel, and King Abdullah took part in
Israeli academics boycott West Bank settlements
BBC News | 31 August 2010 | 13:51 GMT
More than 150 Israeli academics say they will no longer lecture or work in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. In a letter, they said they supported the recent decision by a group of actors and others not to take part in cultural activity there. The academics said that acceptance of the settlements caused "critical" damage to Israel’s chances of achieving peace with the Palestinians. The actors were criticised for refusing to perform at a new cultural centre. On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the last thing Israel needed as it resumed direct peace talks, was a boycott from within.
In a letter published on Sunday, the academics said they would no longer take part in any kind of cultural activity, or lecture in any kind of academic setting, in settlements built on land occupied following the Middle East war – demarcated by what is commonly known as the "Green Line". They explained that they wanted to show support and solidarity for the 53 actors, writers and directors who last week said they would not take part in performances at the new cultural centre built in Ariel. "We’d like to remind the Israeli public that, like all settlements, Ariel is also in occupied territory," the academics said. "If a future peace agreement with the Palestinian authorities puts Ariel within Israel’s borders, then it will be treated like any other Israeli town." "Legitimatisation and acceptance of the settler enterprise cause critical damage to Israel’s chances of achieving a peace accord with its Palestinian neighbours."
EU rebukes Israel for convicting Palestinian protester
BBC News | 26 August 2010 | 14:10 GMT
The European Union has criticised Israel for convicting an organiser of weekly Palestinian protests against the West Bank separation barrier. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was "deeply concerned" about Abdullah Abu Rahmeh, who now faces several years in prison. She said he was a "human rights defender" committed to non-violent protest. Israel’s foreign ministry described her statement as highly improper.
‘Legitimate right’
Jailed since December, Abdullah Abu Rahmeh was convicted by a military court on Tuesday of inciting protests in the West Bank village of Bilin and of participating in the protests without a legal permit. Lady Ashton expressed deep concern "that the possible imprisonment of Mr Abu Rahmeh is intended to prevent him and other Palestinians from exercising their legitimate right to protest against the existence of the separation barriers in a non-violent manner," her office said. "The EU considers the route of the barrier where it is built on Palestinian land to be illegal," it quoted her as saying in a statement. Her statement drew a sharp rebuke from Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor, who said that any "interference with a transparent legal procedure is highly improper". Sentencing is scheduled for next month, after which Abu Rahmeh – a 39-year-old schoolteacher – will appeal the conviction, his lawyer has said.
Tensions rise between Hamas and other Gaza groups
Reuters |
Tensions among radical Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip burst into the open on Wednesday after Hamas, which controls the enclave, detained four members of the rival Islamic Jihad. Ehab al-Ghsain, spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said Hamas’s security force had been on a mission to free a Gazan believed to have been abducted by the Islamic Jihad men, and that all five were under interrogation. He denied Islamic Jihad’s assertion that Hamas men had confiscated equipment from the scene, the offices of a charity belonging to Islamic Jihad in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
Hamas has been trying to keep other Islamist movements in line in the Gaza Strip, which it has run since 2007. Islamic Jihad and other more radical factions including al Qaeda-inspired groups complain that Hamas security forces have repeatedly blocked them from firing rockets into Israel, and have sometimes seized weapons. Continue reading
Israel and the Palestinians to resume direct talks
BBC News | 20 August 2010 | 18:11 GMT
Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resume direct negotiations for the first time in 20 months, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have been invited to Washington on 2 September to start the talks. They have agreed to place a one-year time limit on the direct negotiations. But correspondents say prospects of a comprehensive deal are slim, as serious disagreements exist on the core issues. Sensitive areas – including the construction of Jewish settlements on occupied territory, the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a future Palestinian state and the right of return – will be difficult to overcome.
Speaking at the state department, Mrs Clinton said President Barack Obama had been encouraged by the leadership of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas, and had invited them to Washington to “relaunch direct negotiations to resolve all final status issues, which we believe can be completed within one year”. “President Obama has invited President Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan to attend, in view of their critical role in
this effort. Their continued leadership and commitment to peace will be essential to our success,” she added. Mr Obama will hold meetings with the four leaders, followed by a dinner with them, on 1 September. Tony Blair, the special representative of the Middle East Quartet – which comprises the US, the UN, the EU and Russia – has also been invited.
A trilateral meeting at the state department between Mrs Clinton, Mr Abbas and Mr Netanyahu will formally relaunch the direct peace talks the following day. “As we move forward, it is important that actions by all sides help to advance our effort, not hinder it. There have been difficulties in the past, there will be difficulties ahead. Without a doubt, we will hit more obstacles,” Mrs Clinton said. “But I ask the parties to persevere, to keep moving forward even through difficult times and to continue working to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region,” she added. “These negotiations should take place without preconditions and be characterised by good faith and a commitment to their success, which will bring a better future to all of the people of the region.” Continue reading
UN urges Israel to loosen Gaza restrictions
BBC News | 19 August 2010 | 17:27 GMT
A UN report says the Israeli military has increasingly restricted Palestinian access to farmland in the Gaza Strip and fishing zones along its shore. The Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Gazans were never informed of the exact nature of such restrictions, and the Israeli army used live ammunition to enforce them. The policy has led to tens of thousand of people losing their livelihoods. Israel says the restrictions are necessary to prevent militant attacks. “What is foremost in our minds is protection of our civilians who live within range of the border,” Israeli military spokeswoman Lt Col Avital Leibovich told the New York Times. “If your choice is to operate terror, you have to bear the consequences.”
The UN report found that over the past 10 years, the Israeli military had gradually unilaterally expanded restrictions on access to farmland on the Gaza side of the 1949 Green Line, and to fishing areas along the territory’s coastline. Since late 2008, Palestinians had been totally or partially prevented from accessing land located up to 1.5km (0.9 miles) from the border and the Mediterranean Sea beyond 5.5km (3 nautical miles) from Gaza’s shore, the report said. Overall, it was estimated by the UN that access to 17% of the total land mass of the Gaza Strip and 35% of its agricultural land was restricted. Meanwhile, fishermen were totally prevented from accessing 85% of the maritime areas they were entitled to access according to the 1993 Oslo Accords. An estimated 178,000 people – 12% of the population – were directly affected by the access regime implemented by the Israeli military, the report added. Continue reading
Are Muslims Terrorists?
nvs | 18/08/2010
Article first published as Are Muslims Terrorists? on Technorati.
Ever since the WTC twin towers were brought down by suspected al-Qaida attackers the whole world began to believe Muslim is another name of terrorist. Actually it was the media – print, audio and visual – which are mostly in the hands of imperialist syndicates that broadly convinced the people around the world with their effectively ‘manufactured consent’. The media now is a factory spreading its tentacles every nook and corner of the world that manufactures consent of the people what it wants them to believe. It is famously called ‘manufacturing consent’. ‘Clash of Civilizations’ thesis might be the ideological mother for manufacturing consent.
Aggressive activism of Muslim fundamentalism can be traced back to the installation of ‘Jewish State’ amid oil-rich Arab countries of the Middle-East. Jewish state was placed on Palestinians’ land by the British imperialists and their western friends with a view to ‘divide and rule. It was done so on the pretext that Jews were abandoned and hunted down during WW-II by Hitler and his likes. If that should be the case, Jews must have been placed in Europe or North America. Why Palestine? Because it is the most important strategic point from where all oil rich Arab countries can be monitored. It was and ‘imperialist design’.
Latter in 1967 Arab war, Israel occupied much of the remaining Palestinians’ land and further distanced them from their mother land making them permanent refugees in neighbouring countries. This has been the historic source for the Muslim fundamentalist activism. Now Palestinians are denied their fundamental rights in their own land. They have no right on their water resources. They are dependent on the mercy of Jews to get even drinking water. Mineral rich land is under Jews. Water sources are controlled by Jews. Historical places are controlled by Jews. And Palestinians are refugees on their own land. How pathetic?
Israeli soldiers wounded in Gaza border attack
ABC News | 17/08/2010 | 5:08 pm IST
Two Israeli soldiers have been wounded in a mortar attack by militants in Gaza. The Israeli military says both soldiers were taken to hospital but neither was seriously injured. A group affiliated with Hamas, called the Popular Resistance Committees, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
It comes a day after Israeli troops killed a Palestinian who Israel says was planting explosives along the border fence. Hamas officials said after the incident, six Israeli tanks crossed into the Palestinian territory and fired a shell at a house in Gaza’s south. No one was injured in that attack.
Israel demolishes security barrier at Gilo
BBC News | 16 August 2010 | 05:32 GMT
Israeli troops have begun demolishing a concrete wall erected nine years ago to protect a Jewish settlement on the outskirts of East Jerusalem at Gilo. The settlement, which Israel regards as a neighbourhood of Jerusalem, came under fire from the Palestinian village of Beit Jala in 2000. An Israeli military spokesman said the wall was no longer needed because security had improved. The wall was a precursor to the barrier built along the West Bank.
Israel says the barrier is necessary to stop suicide attacks, but rights groups have complained that it has made life for Palestinians very difficult. Israel built the settlement at Gilo on land it captured in 1967. The settlement lies across a narrow valley from Beit Jala, and so became a target for Palestinian militants during the second Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in 2000. The Israelis built the 3m-high (10ft) concrete wall to protect the settlement, but Israeli officials say security is no longer a problem.
Hamas, secular groups, oppose direct talks with Israel
Reuters |
Two secular Palestinian organisations joined Hamas on Sunday in calling on President Mahmoud Abbas not to bow to U.S. pressure to resume direct peace talks with Israel, which they described as dangerous. “Insisting on direct talk throws a life line to Israel as its isolation deepens,” Hamas said in a statement issued jointly after a meeting in the Syrian capital with other Palestinian organisations that included Islamic Jihad. “A return to direct talks serves the U.S. and Zionist aim to liquidate the national rights of the Palestinian people,” the statement said. The statement was read by Maher al-Taher, a senior official in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine that does not usually toe the Hamas line.
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an organisation which has long advocated negotiating with Israel and has a minister in the Palestinian Authority, also signed the statement. The DFLP said direct talks cannot resume without international supervision and an end to the Gaza siege. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said the meeting was “exceptional” because it brought together 11 groups that represent what he described as a majority of the Palestinians. The schism between Hamas, which is supported by Syria and Iran, and Abbas’s U.S.-backed Palestinian authority, has weakened the Palestinian cause. Hamas does not rule out peace talks with Israel if they realise what it considers Palestinian rights.
QUARTET
Israeli media reported that Israel has rejected a Palestinian proposal to begin face-to-face peace talks on the basis of a statement by the so called Quartet of Middle East mediators that could set a clear agenda for the negotiations. Abbas has indicated that he could go for face-to-face negotiations,
Poland extradites Israeli ‘agent’ to Germany
BBC News | 12 August 2010 | 16:29 GMT
Poland has extradited to Germany a suspected Israeli agent wanted in connection with the killing of a Hamas commander in Dubai, officials say. Uri Brodsky, an Israeli citizen, faces charges relating to the forging of a passport allegedly used in January by the killers of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. The UAE believes Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, was involved, though Israel insists there is no proof. Mr Brodsky was arrested in Poland in June on a warrant issued by Germany. The warrant accused him of espionage, though the court that granted the extradition said he could only be prosecuted for alleged forgery of a German passport believed to have been used by one of the assassins.
Dubai police have said they are 99% sure that members of Mossad were involved in the killing of Mabhouh, one of the founders of Hamas’s military wing, who was found dead in a Dubai hotel on 20 January. Forged passports from several Western countries were used by the 30 suspects identified, leading to a series of diplomatic rows with Israel. The UK, Irish Republic and Australia have all expelled Israeli diplomats.
Israeli military chief defends Gaza flotilla raid
BBC News | 11 August 2010 | 18:08 GMT
The head of Israel’s military has defended its troops’ use of live ammunition during a deadly raid on an aid flotilla sailing to Gaza in May. But Lt Gen Gabi Ashkenazi told an Israeli inquiry they underestimated the threat and should have used more force to subdue activists before boarding. Nine people were killed on board the Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara, as it tried to breach an Israeli naval blockade. Meanwhile, there is disagreement over a separate UN inquiry into the incident. Israel has agreed it will co-operate only if its soldiers do not have to give evidence to investigators, who have begun work in New York. However, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has denied making such a deal. There was widespread international criticism of Israel’s actions, which severely strained relations with its long-time Muslim ally, Turkey.
Testifying before the Turkel Commission in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Gen Ashkenazi said he took full responsibility for the army operation and was “proud” of the commandos who took part. He said they had not prepared to meet violent resistance on board the ships, and that live fire was used only after the troops were fired on by pro-Palestinian activists and attacked with knives, clubs and metal rods. But the general said “accurate weapons”, rather than stun grenades, should have been employed to incapacitate people on the deck of the ship before the commandos rappelled onto it. “We should have ensured sterile conditions in order to dispatch the forces in a minimum amount of time,” he said. “It would have lowered the risk to our soldiers but it would not have prevented the tension… Once the decision was made to stop the ship, the conflict was inevitable.”
Those on board the Mavi Marmara, where the activists were killed, say the commandos opened fire as soon as they boarded the vessel, which was in international waters at the time. The BBC’s Paul Wood in Jerusalem says Gen Ashkenazi’s remarks can be seen as part of the internal blame-game
Israeli defense chief tells panel aid flotilla was a ‘provocation’
Deutsche Welle | AFP | AP | 10/08/2010
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has told a special Israeli commission that a Gaza-bound aid flotilla seized in a bloody commando raid in May was a “planned provocation” and that Israel had expected a violent dispute weeks in advance. Barak said during discussions going back to April “the image that emerged… was that the organizations [behind the flotilla] were preparing for armed conflict to embarrass Israel.”
The former prime minister was the second of three top officials to give sworn testimony before an Israeli investigative panel established to examine the legality of the raid that left nine Turkish activists dead. “We regret any loss of life,” Barak told the panel. “But we would have lost more lives if we had behaved differently.” Skirmished erupted on the flotilla vessels on May 31 after Israeli commandos rappelled aboard in an attempt to stop the ships from breaking a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Activists on board the ships say the troops began firing immediately, whereas military personnel say they were retaliating after being attacked after boarding.
In ‘accordance with the law’
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu testified that Israel had done nothing wrong. “I am convinced that at the end of your investigation, it will become clear that the state of Israel and the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] acted in accordance with international law,” Continue reading
Signs of movement in Middle East peace talks
Reuters |
U.S. envoy George Mitchell resumed his push for direct Middle East peace talks on Tuesday with signs coming from Palestinian leaders that they might bow to pressure and agree to meet the Israelis face-to-face. Mitchell was due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address questions from both before returning home on Wednesday. The stalled peace process resumed in May after an 18-month hiatus, but only at the level of indirect “proximity talks”, in which Mitchell acts as a shuttling, third-party diplomat. U.S. President Barack Obama has said he wants direct talks to resume by September before a partial moratorium on Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank is set to expire, with possibly dire consequences for the process.
Abbas hinted on Monday that he might soon bow to international pressure, end the impasse and resume direct negotiations for the first time in almost two years. Netanyahu has said he is ready to begin immediately. “Until now, we did not agree,” Abbas said. “We may face other pressures that we cannot endure. If that happens, I will study this thing with the leadership … and take the appropriate decision,” he told reporters at his office.
DEMANDS
Abbas insists that direct talks tackle all territory Israel has occupied since capturing them in the 1967 Middle East war. He includes Arab East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state and the Jordan Valley, where Israel might insist on continuing to secure the Jordan border with its own forces. Abbas also wants a total halt to Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, and an agreed Continue reading
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