12 mar 2014
Israeli Housing Ministry approved Tuesday construction permits for 387 settlement units in Ramat Shlomo settlement to the south of occupied Jerusalem. By this decision, occupation authorities aim to expand the settlement by adding 1500 units for the east side towards Ramot settlement.
The settlements of Ramat Shlomo and Ramot will form huge enclave on the northern border of Jerusalem to isolate and separate the western villages from the city, to cut geographically the connection between those villages and to encircle Jerusalem by bypass roads to serve settlements and settlers.
Member of the Executive Committee of the PLO and Head of the Jerusalem Affairs, Ahmed Qurei, stressed that the permits will swallow more lands in the town and deprive Palestinian citizens in Beit Hanina and Shuafat towns of their lands. They will not be able any more to invest those lands for their favor.
In the shadow of US efforts to make peace, Israeli occupation continues to violate all Palestinian legitimate rights, yet no one cares, Qurie said.
The settlements of Ramat Shlomo and Ramot will form huge enclave on the northern border of Jerusalem to isolate and separate the western villages from the city, to cut geographically the connection between those villages and to encircle Jerusalem by bypass roads to serve settlements and settlers.
Member of the Executive Committee of the PLO and Head of the Jerusalem Affairs, Ahmed Qurei, stressed that the permits will swallow more lands in the town and deprive Palestinian citizens in Beit Hanina and Shuafat towns of their lands. They will not be able any more to invest those lands for their favor.
In the shadow of US efforts to make peace, Israeli occupation continues to violate all Palestinian legitimate rights, yet no one cares, Qurie said.
11 mar 2014
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday ruled out any deal with the PLO unless they recognize Israel as a Jewish state and give up the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
And he said Israel and the Palestinians were getting further away from reaching a peace deal.
"They (Palestinians) say they will never recognize a Jewish state and that they will never give up on the right of return," Netanyahu said in remarks broadcast on Israeli public radio.
"I want to make clear that I will not accept an agreement that does not cancel the (refugees') right of return and which does not include Palestinian recognition of the Jewish state," he said in an address to the ruling right-wing Likud-Beitenu faction.
"These are basic conditions, which are justified and vital to the security of Israel."
The PLO reject that claim, underlining that they already recognized Israel in 1993 and saying that enshrining it as a "Jewish state" would jeopardize the rights of the around 20 percent of Israeli citizens who are of Palestinian descent, in addition to the Palestinian refugees' right to return home.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is facing an uphill struggle to get the two sides to agree on a framework which would guide the talks past an April 29 deadline and allow them to continue to the end of the year, with a clause relating to the issue of the Jewish state reportedly included in the proposal.
For the PLO, the issue is intimately entwined with the fate of their refugees who were forced out of their homes or fled in 1948 when Israel became a state.
At the time they numbered 760,000, but now, with their descendants, their numbers have increased to around five million.
They see Netanyahu's demand as a way to sidestep a negotiated solution to the refugee question.
Abbas has said he does not want "to flood Israel" with returning refugees.
But Israel fears that any flexibility on the issue would open the floodgates to millions of refugees, which would pose a demographic threat to the so-called "Jewish and democratic character" of the state.
And he said Israel and the Palestinians were getting further away from reaching a peace deal.
"They (Palestinians) say they will never recognize a Jewish state and that they will never give up on the right of return," Netanyahu said in remarks broadcast on Israeli public radio.
"I want to make clear that I will not accept an agreement that does not cancel the (refugees') right of return and which does not include Palestinian recognition of the Jewish state," he said in an address to the ruling right-wing Likud-Beitenu faction.
"These are basic conditions, which are justified and vital to the security of Israel."
The PLO reject that claim, underlining that they already recognized Israel in 1993 and saying that enshrining it as a "Jewish state" would jeopardize the rights of the around 20 percent of Israeli citizens who are of Palestinian descent, in addition to the Palestinian refugees' right to return home.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is facing an uphill struggle to get the two sides to agree on a framework which would guide the talks past an April 29 deadline and allow them to continue to the end of the year, with a clause relating to the issue of the Jewish state reportedly included in the proposal.
For the PLO, the issue is intimately entwined with the fate of their refugees who were forced out of their homes or fled in 1948 when Israel became a state.
At the time they numbered 760,000, but now, with their descendants, their numbers have increased to around five million.
They see Netanyahu's demand as a way to sidestep a negotiated solution to the refugee question.
Abbas has said he does not want "to flood Israel" with returning refugees.
But Israel fears that any flexibility on the issue would open the floodgates to millions of refugees, which would pose a demographic threat to the so-called "Jewish and democratic character" of the state.
The Palestinian Fatah movement has expressed support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ rejection of Israel’s demand for being recognized as a “Jewish state.”
On Monday, a senior Fatah official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the Revolutionary Council of Fatah has unanimously endorsed Abbas' rejection of Israel’s demand for being recognized as a “Jewish state,” AFP reported.
On March 4, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that Tel Aviv wants an accord to resolve the conflict with Palestinians, but they must first recognize Israel as a “Jewish state.” Abbas has rejected the demand.
Arab foreign ministers also said in a statement issued on Sunday in the Egyptian capital Cairo that the council of the Arab League “confirms its support for the Palestinian leadership in its effort to end the Israeli occupation over Palestinian lands, and emphasizes its rejection of recognizing Israel as a 'Jewish state.'”
The Arab League also said Tel Aviv settlement construction on the Palestinian lands is illegal and against international law.
The United States wants Abbas to make the concession as part of efforts to reach a "framework agreement" and extend the talks between Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Authority, which are set to end in April.
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators began a fresh round of talks in July 2013. Since the resumption of the direct talks, Palestinians have objected to a number of issues, including the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks broke down in 2010 after Tel Aviv refused to halt its settlement construction, a move that remains one of the main obstacles to the regional peace.
Abbas Refuses to Recognise Israel as a 'Jewish' State
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, thereby rejecting the demands of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. According to Abbas; "They are pressing and saying, 'No peace without the Jewish state,'" but the reply remains; "There is no way. We will not accept."
Backed by The Arab League, Abbas stands with renewed international support heading into the coming peace talks the following months. "The council of the Arab League confirms its support for the Palestinian leadership in its effort to end the Israeli occupation over Palestinian lands, and emphasizes its rejection of recognizing Israel as a 'Jewish state'," Arab foreign ministers said in a statement in Cairo.
Distracted by the uprisings in the Arab region since 2011, little support were directed towards the isolated Palestinian Government, but now it seems, the joined Arab states have again aimed their focus on the conflict. In the conclusion statement of the 141st meeting of the Arab Ministers of Foreign Affairs it was stated that, there will be no peace unless East Jerusalem is made capital of Palestine and unless an independent Palestinian state is established based on the 1967 borders in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab peace initiative. Further, it stated that construction and expansion of Israeli settlements inside the 1967 territories is illegal according to international law, and it rejected all Israeli policies aimed at a Judaization of Jerusalem and attempts to alter the historical, cultural and religions character of the city, referring again to international law.
On Saturday, the U.S. State Departments spokeswoman Jen Psaki was more indistinct in her comments on the issue, clearly stating The secretary of States' position, but not fully addressing the implications of Abbas' diametrically opposite point of view: "if you look at the issue of a Jewish state and whether Israel will be called a Jewish state, that's been our position [...] for a long time, but that doesn't reflect what the parties will agree to". Though later she adds that; "it's not about what's important to the United States. It's about what's important to both parties." A solution to this specific point in the negotiations, seems to be paramount, yet elusive.
In the negotiations of the preliminary framework, the issue of the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state by the Palestinian Government has been one of the big talking points, but at the same time it has, at least for the moment, halted the negotiations and shifted focus from the more urgent matters, according to Mohammad Ishtayeh, Member of Fatah Central Committee. According to him, Israel's refusal to speak about issues like settlements, refugees, the borders and Jerusalem is creating obstacles in the process of negotiating a successful solution for both parties; "focusing on non-essential issues such as recognizing Israel as a Jewish state while ignoring core issues, is what is dooming negotiations to fail." Ishtayeh calls for support from the European states to support constructive negotiations, ass he stresses that a two-state solution is still possible, despite Israeli attempts to foil the efforts of John Kerry and the U.S. State Department.
On the opposite side stands Israels Benjamin Netanyahu, unwaveringly insisting on the Palestinian recognition as an essential precondition in the framework for further discussion; "[the Palestinian Government] needs to recognize the state of the Jews just like they are demanding from us that we recognize the state of the Palestinians." He is the first prime minister of Israel to make this condition a requirement for peace, claiming that it recognizes Jewish history and rights on the land.
On the Palestinian side, the fear is that such a label would lead to discrimination against the Arab minority in Israel, and the seven-page Arab Resolution on the Palestinian issue said it rejects "the demand by Israel and some international parties to identify Israel as a Jewish state, which aims to annul the right of return and compensation for Palestinian refugees". Abbas noted this Saturday, that he was now being demanded something that no other country had been demanded, to sign a peace treaty with Israel; "We recognized Israel in mutual recognition in the (1993) Oslo agreement - why do they now ask us to recognize the Jewishness of the state?" He further added: "Why didn't they present this demand to Jordan or Egypt when they signed a peace agreement with them?"
Israel took the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem by means of war in 1967. Palestinians want this land for a future state, and want gone the Israeli soldiers and over 500.000 settlers, as Abbas expressed it last Monday: "In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli – civilian or soldier – on our lands," and added: "An international, multinational presence like in Sinai, Lebanon and Syria – we are with that."
On Monday, a senior Fatah official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the Revolutionary Council of Fatah has unanimously endorsed Abbas' rejection of Israel’s demand for being recognized as a “Jewish state,” AFP reported.
On March 4, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that Tel Aviv wants an accord to resolve the conflict with Palestinians, but they must first recognize Israel as a “Jewish state.” Abbas has rejected the demand.
Arab foreign ministers also said in a statement issued on Sunday in the Egyptian capital Cairo that the council of the Arab League “confirms its support for the Palestinian leadership in its effort to end the Israeli occupation over Palestinian lands, and emphasizes its rejection of recognizing Israel as a 'Jewish state.'”
The Arab League also said Tel Aviv settlement construction on the Palestinian lands is illegal and against international law.
The United States wants Abbas to make the concession as part of efforts to reach a "framework agreement" and extend the talks between Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Authority, which are set to end in April.
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators began a fresh round of talks in July 2013. Since the resumption of the direct talks, Palestinians have objected to a number of issues, including the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks broke down in 2010 after Tel Aviv refused to halt its settlement construction, a move that remains one of the main obstacles to the regional peace.
Abbas Refuses to Recognise Israel as a 'Jewish' State
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, thereby rejecting the demands of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. According to Abbas; "They are pressing and saying, 'No peace without the Jewish state,'" but the reply remains; "There is no way. We will not accept."
Backed by The Arab League, Abbas stands with renewed international support heading into the coming peace talks the following months. "The council of the Arab League confirms its support for the Palestinian leadership in its effort to end the Israeli occupation over Palestinian lands, and emphasizes its rejection of recognizing Israel as a 'Jewish state'," Arab foreign ministers said in a statement in Cairo.
Distracted by the uprisings in the Arab region since 2011, little support were directed towards the isolated Palestinian Government, but now it seems, the joined Arab states have again aimed their focus on the conflict. In the conclusion statement of the 141st meeting of the Arab Ministers of Foreign Affairs it was stated that, there will be no peace unless East Jerusalem is made capital of Palestine and unless an independent Palestinian state is established based on the 1967 borders in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab peace initiative. Further, it stated that construction and expansion of Israeli settlements inside the 1967 territories is illegal according to international law, and it rejected all Israeli policies aimed at a Judaization of Jerusalem and attempts to alter the historical, cultural and religions character of the city, referring again to international law.
On Saturday, the U.S. State Departments spokeswoman Jen Psaki was more indistinct in her comments on the issue, clearly stating The secretary of States' position, but not fully addressing the implications of Abbas' diametrically opposite point of view: "if you look at the issue of a Jewish state and whether Israel will be called a Jewish state, that's been our position [...] for a long time, but that doesn't reflect what the parties will agree to". Though later she adds that; "it's not about what's important to the United States. It's about what's important to both parties." A solution to this specific point in the negotiations, seems to be paramount, yet elusive.
In the negotiations of the preliminary framework, the issue of the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state by the Palestinian Government has been one of the big talking points, but at the same time it has, at least for the moment, halted the negotiations and shifted focus from the more urgent matters, according to Mohammad Ishtayeh, Member of Fatah Central Committee. According to him, Israel's refusal to speak about issues like settlements, refugees, the borders and Jerusalem is creating obstacles in the process of negotiating a successful solution for both parties; "focusing on non-essential issues such as recognizing Israel as a Jewish state while ignoring core issues, is what is dooming negotiations to fail." Ishtayeh calls for support from the European states to support constructive negotiations, ass he stresses that a two-state solution is still possible, despite Israeli attempts to foil the efforts of John Kerry and the U.S. State Department.
On the opposite side stands Israels Benjamin Netanyahu, unwaveringly insisting on the Palestinian recognition as an essential precondition in the framework for further discussion; "[the Palestinian Government] needs to recognize the state of the Jews just like they are demanding from us that we recognize the state of the Palestinians." He is the first prime minister of Israel to make this condition a requirement for peace, claiming that it recognizes Jewish history and rights on the land.
On the Palestinian side, the fear is that such a label would lead to discrimination against the Arab minority in Israel, and the seven-page Arab Resolution on the Palestinian issue said it rejects "the demand by Israel and some international parties to identify Israel as a Jewish state, which aims to annul the right of return and compensation for Palestinian refugees". Abbas noted this Saturday, that he was now being demanded something that no other country had been demanded, to sign a peace treaty with Israel; "We recognized Israel in mutual recognition in the (1993) Oslo agreement - why do they now ask us to recognize the Jewishness of the state?" He further added: "Why didn't they present this demand to Jordan or Egypt when they signed a peace agreement with them?"
Israel took the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem by means of war in 1967. Palestinians want this land for a future state, and want gone the Israeli soldiers and over 500.000 settlers, as Abbas expressed it last Monday: "In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli – civilian or soldier – on our lands," and added: "An international, multinational presence like in Sinai, Lebanon and Syria – we are with that."
10 mar 2014
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has flatly refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Such recognition is a key condition that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded for reaching an acceptable peace agreement on a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
Prime Minister Netanyahu explained the importance of such Palestinian recognition, which would amount to an expression of the Palestinians’ good faith intention to truly end the conflict by accepting Israel’s right of self-determination to once and for all live in peace as the Jewish state its founders envisioned:
“The central question at the end is of course ‘Are you willing to recognize that the state of Israel is the nation state of the Jewish nation?’. If you don’t have the brunt of the agreement, then why turn to the leftovers. Concentrate on the central and difficult questions that they need to provide an answer for, but they don’t provide an answer. If they do give an answer — its negative. They say that they will not recognize a Jewish state in order to leave the right of return on the table. So then what are we even talking about here? That a Palestinian state will be established but it will continue its conflict against the state of Israel with more preferential borders? We are a lot of things, but we are definitely not fools.”
Incredibly, the U.S. State Department backs Abbas’ position. The spokeswoman for the State Department, Jen Psaki, stated in an interview Saturday with the “Al-Quds” newspaper that “[T]here is no need for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The American stance is clear in that it recognizes Israel as a Jewish state, but there is no need for the Palestinians to recognize it as such in a final agreement.”
Psaki is ignoring the Palestinians’ intent to throw out any Israelis still living in an independent Palestinian state. Abbas, for example, declared that “If we want an independent state, I will not accept any single Israeli in our territories.” He denied that he was against the Jews per se, but such antipathy is precisely what animates the xenophobic, anti-Jewish Palestinian ideology. This ideology starts with the Palestinian Authority’s attempt to falsely re-write the history of the Jewish homeland, denying that Jews have any historic connection to the land at all. Official Palestinian Authority outlets broadcast this lie over and over again. For example, in a documentary appearing last December on an official Palestinian Authority TV station, a woman proclaimed: “I’m not against Jews. They can live. They can live on Mars, Allah willing, but they cannot take over places that are not their places, or land that is not their land and a homeland that is not their homeland.”
On January 7, 2014, the official spokesperson for President Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeina, accused the Israeli government of “falsifying history.”
Then there is the provocative statement by Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash in a sermon delivered in the presence of Abbas and broadcast on official Palestinian Authority TV. Al-Habbash said that any peace agreement reached with Israel is just the first step towards defeating Israel, citing as the “model” Mohammed’s conquest of Mecca just two years after he had signed a treaty that gave his forces time to gain enough strength to carry out the conquest.
Recognizing Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state would be contrary to the Palestinians’ goal of returning millions of the descendants of the original refugees to pre-1967 Israel. In other words, while insisting that Israel withdraw to the pre-1967 lines to make way for an independent Palestinian state devoid of any Israeli Jews, the Palestinians still demand the right to undermine the Jewish character of Israel, even as it existed pre-1967, by flooding Israel with so-called “refugees” (actually many descendants several generations removed from the original refugees) rather than giving them real homes in an independent Palestinian state.
Thus, Psaki’s dismissal of the importance that Israel attaches to the Palestinians’ recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, as part of any viable peace agreement, enables the Palestinians to continue to pursue their xenophobic, anti-Jewish agenda. However, Psaki is simply reflecting the Obama administration’s willingness to turn a blind eye to Israel’s core concern to maintain its Jewish identity. The Obama administration is willing to bend over backwards to accommodate Palestinian prejudices in pursuit of a vacuous peace. President Obama displayed this callousness during the course of an interview he conducted late last month with Jeffrey Goldberg, a columnist for Bloomberg View. Obama issued a veiled threat of diminished U.S. support for the Jewish state if Israel does not succumb to his demand for more concessions: “If you see no peace deal and continued aggressive settlement construction — and we have seen more aggressive settlement construction over the last couple years than we’ve seen in a very long time,” Obama said. “If Palestinians come to believe that the possibility of a contiguous sovereign Palestinian state is no longer within reach, then our ability to manage the international fallout is going to be limited.”
Obama made no mention of the Palestinian demand for the “right of return,” which could allow potentially millions of refugee descendants to descend on a land they did not come from in the first place. Why doesn’t he publicly upbraid Abbas for refusing to concede on this unreasonable destabilizing demand?
This brings us back to the issue of the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state as part of a final peace agreement. Perhaps there is an alternative solution which might be difficult for the Palestinians to refuse. They should at least be willing to explicitly acknowledge in the final agreement their support of the two-state principle declared in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 recommending the partition of Palestine into independent Arab and Jewish states. The Palestinian Authority would have a hard time refusing this proposal since the General Assembly resolution according it observer state status at the UN contains in its preamble the words “The General Assembly…Recalling its resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947.”
Moreover, the Application of the State of Palestine for admission to membership in the United Nations, which the Palestinians submitted to the UN Secretary General on September 23, 2011, states as follows:
“This application for membership is being submitted based on the Palestinian people’s natural, legal and historic rights and based on United Nations General Assembly resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947…”
Part II of Resolution 181 contains Section A, entitled “THE ARAB STATE,” and Section B, entitled “THE JEWISH STATE.” Why can’t Abbas at least be willing to repeat these headings in an acknowledgment of the rights accorded both sides in the two-state solution embodied in Resolution 181, the resolution he now relies on as a basis for an independent Palestinian state?
Finally, President Abbas himself said he realized that it was a mistake for the Arab states to have rejected the General Assembly Resolution 181 partition plan. In an interview in 2011 with the Israeli Channel Two, President Abbas said: “At that time, 1947, there was Resolution 181, the partition plan, Palestine and Israel. Israel existed. Palestine diminished. Why? […] I know, I know. It was our mistake. It was our mistake. It was an Arab mistake as a whole.”
What the Obama administration should be telling President Abbas in no uncertain terms is to correct the Palestinians’ historic mistake once and for all by explicitly embracing the principle of a Jewish state and an Arab state living side by side, as outlined in Resolution 181. It is time to call Abbas’ bluff rather than having the State Department run interference for him.
Source: FRONTPPAGE MAG
Prime Minister Netanyahu explained the importance of such Palestinian recognition, which would amount to an expression of the Palestinians’ good faith intention to truly end the conflict by accepting Israel’s right of self-determination to once and for all live in peace as the Jewish state its founders envisioned:
“The central question at the end is of course ‘Are you willing to recognize that the state of Israel is the nation state of the Jewish nation?’. If you don’t have the brunt of the agreement, then why turn to the leftovers. Concentrate on the central and difficult questions that they need to provide an answer for, but they don’t provide an answer. If they do give an answer — its negative. They say that they will not recognize a Jewish state in order to leave the right of return on the table. So then what are we even talking about here? That a Palestinian state will be established but it will continue its conflict against the state of Israel with more preferential borders? We are a lot of things, but we are definitely not fools.”
Incredibly, the U.S. State Department backs Abbas’ position. The spokeswoman for the State Department, Jen Psaki, stated in an interview Saturday with the “Al-Quds” newspaper that “[T]here is no need for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The American stance is clear in that it recognizes Israel as a Jewish state, but there is no need for the Palestinians to recognize it as such in a final agreement.”
Psaki is ignoring the Palestinians’ intent to throw out any Israelis still living in an independent Palestinian state. Abbas, for example, declared that “If we want an independent state, I will not accept any single Israeli in our territories.” He denied that he was against the Jews per se, but such antipathy is precisely what animates the xenophobic, anti-Jewish Palestinian ideology. This ideology starts with the Palestinian Authority’s attempt to falsely re-write the history of the Jewish homeland, denying that Jews have any historic connection to the land at all. Official Palestinian Authority outlets broadcast this lie over and over again. For example, in a documentary appearing last December on an official Palestinian Authority TV station, a woman proclaimed: “I’m not against Jews. They can live. They can live on Mars, Allah willing, but they cannot take over places that are not their places, or land that is not their land and a homeland that is not their homeland.”
On January 7, 2014, the official spokesperson for President Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeina, accused the Israeli government of “falsifying history.”
Then there is the provocative statement by Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash in a sermon delivered in the presence of Abbas and broadcast on official Palestinian Authority TV. Al-Habbash said that any peace agreement reached with Israel is just the first step towards defeating Israel, citing as the “model” Mohammed’s conquest of Mecca just two years after he had signed a treaty that gave his forces time to gain enough strength to carry out the conquest.
Recognizing Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state would be contrary to the Palestinians’ goal of returning millions of the descendants of the original refugees to pre-1967 Israel. In other words, while insisting that Israel withdraw to the pre-1967 lines to make way for an independent Palestinian state devoid of any Israeli Jews, the Palestinians still demand the right to undermine the Jewish character of Israel, even as it existed pre-1967, by flooding Israel with so-called “refugees” (actually many descendants several generations removed from the original refugees) rather than giving them real homes in an independent Palestinian state.
Thus, Psaki’s dismissal of the importance that Israel attaches to the Palestinians’ recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, as part of any viable peace agreement, enables the Palestinians to continue to pursue their xenophobic, anti-Jewish agenda. However, Psaki is simply reflecting the Obama administration’s willingness to turn a blind eye to Israel’s core concern to maintain its Jewish identity. The Obama administration is willing to bend over backwards to accommodate Palestinian prejudices in pursuit of a vacuous peace. President Obama displayed this callousness during the course of an interview he conducted late last month with Jeffrey Goldberg, a columnist for Bloomberg View. Obama issued a veiled threat of diminished U.S. support for the Jewish state if Israel does not succumb to his demand for more concessions: “If you see no peace deal and continued aggressive settlement construction — and we have seen more aggressive settlement construction over the last couple years than we’ve seen in a very long time,” Obama said. “If Palestinians come to believe that the possibility of a contiguous sovereign Palestinian state is no longer within reach, then our ability to manage the international fallout is going to be limited.”
Obama made no mention of the Palestinian demand for the “right of return,” which could allow potentially millions of refugee descendants to descend on a land they did not come from in the first place. Why doesn’t he publicly upbraid Abbas for refusing to concede on this unreasonable destabilizing demand?
This brings us back to the issue of the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state as part of a final peace agreement. Perhaps there is an alternative solution which might be difficult for the Palestinians to refuse. They should at least be willing to explicitly acknowledge in the final agreement their support of the two-state principle declared in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 recommending the partition of Palestine into independent Arab and Jewish states. The Palestinian Authority would have a hard time refusing this proposal since the General Assembly resolution according it observer state status at the UN contains in its preamble the words “The General Assembly…Recalling its resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947.”
Moreover, the Application of the State of Palestine for admission to membership in the United Nations, which the Palestinians submitted to the UN Secretary General on September 23, 2011, states as follows:
“This application for membership is being submitted based on the Palestinian people’s natural, legal and historic rights and based on United Nations General Assembly resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947…”
Part II of Resolution 181 contains Section A, entitled “THE ARAB STATE,” and Section B, entitled “THE JEWISH STATE.” Why can’t Abbas at least be willing to repeat these headings in an acknowledgment of the rights accorded both sides in the two-state solution embodied in Resolution 181, the resolution he now relies on as a basis for an independent Palestinian state?
Finally, President Abbas himself said he realized that it was a mistake for the Arab states to have rejected the General Assembly Resolution 181 partition plan. In an interview in 2011 with the Israeli Channel Two, President Abbas said: “At that time, 1947, there was Resolution 181, the partition plan, Palestine and Israel. Israel existed. Palestine diminished. Why? […] I know, I know. It was our mistake. It was our mistake. It was an Arab mistake as a whole.”
What the Obama administration should be telling President Abbas in no uncertain terms is to correct the Palestinians’ historic mistake once and for all by explicitly embracing the principle of a Jewish state and an Arab state living side by side, as outlined in Resolution 181. It is time to call Abbas’ bluff rather than having the State Department run interference for him.
Source: FRONTPPAGE MAG
In an Israel Radio interview broadcast on Sunday, Netanyahu reiterated that he regarded guidelines that US Secretary of State John Kerry is drafting for a future deal as an "American document of American positions". Such a definition could give Netanyahu leeway to register reservations that could discourage staunch supporters of Jewish settlement in occupied land where Palestinians want to make their state from bolting his coalition.
"I think (the Kerry document) ... is a possible path toward moving the talks forward. It will take us at least a year to exhaust these negotiations but I can't say that the Palestinians will accept this document, and I also have not seen it yet," he said. Netanyahu gave the interview on Thursday in Los Angeles, before flying back to Israel after a US visit that included White House talks with President Barack Obama. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to see Obama on March 17 to discuss the so-called "framework deal" aimed at salvaging the faltering negotiations, which began in July with a target date of April for a final agreement.
Rejecting two states
Abbas has rejected a core Netanyahu demand - recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Palestinians fear such a condition will deny Palestinian refugees, who fled or were forced to flee their homes in Arab-Israeli wars, any right of return. "The nature of Israel is something that should be defined by Israelis, not Palestinians," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Israeli Army Radio on Sunday.
Erekat said Palestinians expected Israel to complete on March 28 the release of the final batch of 104 Palestinian prisoners it agreed to free as part of peace efforts. "And then the negotiations are supposed to continue until April 29," he said, referring to the end of the nine-month negotiating period originally envisaged by Kerry. Reiterating another core Palestinian demand, Erekat said Israel must recognise a Palestinian state along the lines that existed before the 1967 Middle East war, in which Israeli forces captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip.
Israel has said a return to those boundaries would leave it with indefensible borders. But Netanyahu, in an interview broadcast on Friday on Israel's Channel Two television, said his government would give up "some settlements" in the occupied West Bank to help secure a peace agreement. He said, however, that he would limit as much as he could the number of enclaves removed. Palestinians say settlements that dot much of the West Bank landscape would bar them from establishing a contiguous state, a goal of the peace talks.
The settlements built on land Israel seized in 1967 are deemed illegal in international law and condemned by most governments.
Source: Reuters
"I think (the Kerry document) ... is a possible path toward moving the talks forward. It will take us at least a year to exhaust these negotiations but I can't say that the Palestinians will accept this document, and I also have not seen it yet," he said. Netanyahu gave the interview on Thursday in Los Angeles, before flying back to Israel after a US visit that included White House talks with President Barack Obama. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to see Obama on March 17 to discuss the so-called "framework deal" aimed at salvaging the faltering negotiations, which began in July with a target date of April for a final agreement.
Rejecting two states
Abbas has rejected a core Netanyahu demand - recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Palestinians fear such a condition will deny Palestinian refugees, who fled or were forced to flee their homes in Arab-Israeli wars, any right of return. "The nature of Israel is something that should be defined by Israelis, not Palestinians," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Israeli Army Radio on Sunday.
Erekat said Palestinians expected Israel to complete on March 28 the release of the final batch of 104 Palestinian prisoners it agreed to free as part of peace efforts. "And then the negotiations are supposed to continue until April 29," he said, referring to the end of the nine-month negotiating period originally envisaged by Kerry. Reiterating another core Palestinian demand, Erekat said Israel must recognise a Palestinian state along the lines that existed before the 1967 Middle East war, in which Israeli forces captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip.
Israel has said a return to those boundaries would leave it with indefensible borders. But Netanyahu, in an interview broadcast on Friday on Israel's Channel Two television, said his government would give up "some settlements" in the occupied West Bank to help secure a peace agreement. He said, however, that he would limit as much as he could the number of enclaves removed. Palestinians say settlements that dot much of the West Bank landscape would bar them from establishing a contiguous state, a goal of the peace talks.
The settlements built on land Israel seized in 1967 are deemed illegal in international law and condemned by most governments.
Source: Reuters
A Jewish temple group intends to hold a conference in occupied Jerusalem on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of imposing Israel's sovereignty over the Aqsa Mosque and creating the atmosphere for such step. The group stated in a press release on Sunday that it would organize a conference on imposing Israel's sovereignty over the Aqsa Mosque.
It noted that several Knesset members led by deputy speaker Moshe Feiglin and a number of senior rabbis would attend the conference.
The conference will address what was tabled last month at the Knesset about revoking Jordan's sovereignty over the Aqsa Mosque and making it under Israel's authority, according to the fanatic group.
Recently, Jordan, regional groups at the UN, and the organization of Islamic cooperation condemned and expressed concerns over Israel's illegal practices at the Aqsa Mosque and its declared intents to impose its sovereignty over the Islamic holy sites in occupied Jerusalem.
It noted that several Knesset members led by deputy speaker Moshe Feiglin and a number of senior rabbis would attend the conference.
The conference will address what was tabled last month at the Knesset about revoking Jordan's sovereignty over the Aqsa Mosque and making it under Israel's authority, according to the fanatic group.
Recently, Jordan, regional groups at the UN, and the organization of Islamic cooperation condemned and expressed concerns over Israel's illegal practices at the Aqsa Mosque and its declared intents to impose its sovereignty over the Islamic holy sites in occupied Jerusalem.
9 mar 2014
Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi
Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby has urged Arab countries to take a "firm stand" against Israel's demand that the Palestinians recognize it as a Jewish state, calling it a deviation from an agreed-upon framework for peace talks.
Elaraby delivered his remarks Sunday at an Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in Cairo. Last week, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said publicly he will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
The Palestinians fear the demand is an attempt to restrict possible return options for Palestinian refugees and the rights of Israel's large Arab minority.
Israel says the recognition would signal the Palestinians are serious about peace.
Elaraby described the demand an Israeli attempt to foil the talks, calling for a reevaluation of the negotiation track.
Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby has urged Arab countries to take a "firm stand" against Israel's demand that the Palestinians recognize it as a Jewish state, calling it a deviation from an agreed-upon framework for peace talks.
Elaraby delivered his remarks Sunday at an Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in Cairo. Last week, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said publicly he will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
The Palestinians fear the demand is an attempt to restrict possible return options for Palestinian refugees and the rights of Israel's large Arab minority.
Israel says the recognition would signal the Palestinians are serious about peace.
Elaraby described the demand an Israeli attempt to foil the talks, calling for a reevaluation of the negotiation track.
The Islamic Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ISESCO expressed its rejection to the recent proposal introduced by the Israeli Knesset which gives the Israeli occupation a thorough sovereignty over al-Aqsa mosque. The organization confirmed in a statement that the legal status of al-Aqsa mosque and the occupied Palestinian territories proves the illegality of the Israeli occupation in Palestine. Therefore, any Israeli measure against al-Aqsa is rejected and illegal.
UN Security Council, UN General Assembly, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the necessity of preventing this bill quickly.
ISESCO appealed to the international community to take actions to stop the Israeli crimes and its frequent repressive practices against Jerusalem and Muslim and Christian holy places.
ISESCO was established by the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in May 1979. It is one of the largest international Islamic organizations and specializes in the fields of education, science, and culture. Its headquarters are in Rabat, Morocco.
Its goals concentrate on strengthening and promoting and consolidating cooperation among Member States (OIC) in the fields of education, science, culture and communication, developing applied sciences and use of advanced technology within the framework of Islamic values and ideals, consolidating understanding among Muslim peoples, and contributing to the achievement of world peace and security, particularly through education, science, culture and communication.
UN Security Council, UN General Assembly, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the necessity of preventing this bill quickly.
ISESCO appealed to the international community to take actions to stop the Israeli crimes and its frequent repressive practices against Jerusalem and Muslim and Christian holy places.
ISESCO was established by the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in May 1979. It is one of the largest international Islamic organizations and specializes in the fields of education, science, and culture. Its headquarters are in Rabat, Morocco.
Its goals concentrate on strengthening and promoting and consolidating cooperation among Member States (OIC) in the fields of education, science, culture and communication, developing applied sciences and use of advanced technology within the framework of Islamic values and ideals, consolidating understanding among Muslim peoples, and contributing to the achievement of world peace and security, particularly through education, science, culture and communication.
Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu has said that peace with the Palestinians was still far away due to their refusal to recognize Israel as a “Jewish state”. Netanyahu told the Israeli TV 10th channel during a recent trip to the USA that the Palestinians were not ready yet to sign a peace agreement that would include a recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and would give up the right of return.
He stressed that he would not leave any Jewish settler in the West Bank without protection after signing a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu said that he would not bow to pressure and would not forsake security of “Israeli citizens” in any future agreement.
The premier clearly stated that he was against a one state solution because it would threaten the future of Israel as a country for the “Jewish people”.
He stressed that he would not leave any Jewish settler in the West Bank without protection after signing a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu said that he would not bow to pressure and would not forsake security of “Israeli citizens” in any future agreement.
The premier clearly stated that he was against a one state solution because it would threaten the future of Israel as a country for the “Jewish people”.
8 mar 2014
The chief Palestinian negotiator said on Saturday that the US administration has not yet delivered any written framework agreement to the Palestinian Authority nor to Israel, denouncing claims otherwise as "baseless."
Saeb Erekat also told Ma'an on Saturday morning that "the US administration has never suggested that Beit Hanina would be the capital of the future Palestinian state," referring to rumors that Palestinians would be offered a single suburb of Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem as their capital.
"We have not received any written framework agreement and we have never been told during any meeting with Israeli and US officials that Beit Hanina would be a capital of the state of Palestine. Everything that has been said in media outlets is baseless, he said.
Asked whether Israeli prime minister Netanyahu might have received a written agreement during his recent visit to Washington, Erekat said: "I am not Netanyahu's spokesman."
Erekat also told Ma'an that "neither side has been asked to postpone the deadline," reiterating that postponing an agreement is unacceptable to the Palestinians.
Erekat's statements come after Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas denied the validity of a report in the Palestinian newspaper Al Quds that claimed that US president Barack Obama had delivered a written copy of a suggested framework agreement to Israeli premier Netanyahu and Saeb Erekat.
The report also claimed that the draft agreement suggested that the Beit Hanina neighborhood in the northern part of East Jerusalem could be a capital of the future Palestinian state, despite the fact that Palestinians consider East Jerusalem in its entirety as their capital.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to arrive in Washington DC on March 17 for talks with US president Barack Obama.
Saeb Erekat has already visited Washington and held talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Direct negotiations began in July between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in a US-led attempt to restart the deadlocked peace process.
Israel has announced plans to build thousands of homes in illegal settlements across the West Bank over the course of the talks, inhibiting US efforts.
The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.
Saeb Erekat also told Ma'an on Saturday morning that "the US administration has never suggested that Beit Hanina would be the capital of the future Palestinian state," referring to rumors that Palestinians would be offered a single suburb of Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem as their capital.
"We have not received any written framework agreement and we have never been told during any meeting with Israeli and US officials that Beit Hanina would be a capital of the state of Palestine. Everything that has been said in media outlets is baseless, he said.
Asked whether Israeli prime minister Netanyahu might have received a written agreement during his recent visit to Washington, Erekat said: "I am not Netanyahu's spokesman."
Erekat also told Ma'an that "neither side has been asked to postpone the deadline," reiterating that postponing an agreement is unacceptable to the Palestinians.
Erekat's statements come after Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas denied the validity of a report in the Palestinian newspaper Al Quds that claimed that US president Barack Obama had delivered a written copy of a suggested framework agreement to Israeli premier Netanyahu and Saeb Erekat.
The report also claimed that the draft agreement suggested that the Beit Hanina neighborhood in the northern part of East Jerusalem could be a capital of the future Palestinian state, despite the fact that Palestinians consider East Jerusalem in its entirety as their capital.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to arrive in Washington DC on March 17 for talks with US president Barack Obama.
Saeb Erekat has already visited Washington and held talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Direct negotiations began in July between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in a US-led attempt to restart the deadlocked peace process.
Israel has announced plans to build thousands of homes in illegal settlements across the West Bank over the course of the talks, inhibiting US efforts.
The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.