29 jan 2014
Israeli Haaretz daily newspaper uncovered on Tuesday a new settlement plan of establishing a new settlement in the occupied city of Jaffa as part of significant efforts for Judaizing the city. The newspaper reported that the plan aims to build 12 housing units in" Bevet street", confirming that a settler group, that led by extremist "Yaakov Haimen, is responsible for the plan.
The group stated that it will encourage the Zionist settlers to live in the new planned neighborhood.
The first stage of the plan will include 12 homes built in Bevet street.
The leader of the project Haimen, who lives in the occupied Jerusalem after leaving the colonial settlement of Itamar, always encourages colonial judaizing projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The group stated that it will encourage the Zionist settlers to live in the new planned neighborhood.
The first stage of the plan will include 12 homes built in Bevet street.
The leader of the project Haimen, who lives in the occupied Jerusalem after leaving the colonial settlement of Itamar, always encourages colonial judaizing projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, said that Israeli occupation has waged unprecedented deportation and Judaization campaign against occupied Jerusalem. MP Barghouti confirmed on Tuesday that 219 Palestinian houses were demolished in occupied Jerusalem, thirty-seven civilians were killed, and ten thousand housing units were established since the start of the negotiations process.
He stressed that the Israeli government took advantage of the ongoing negotiations to cover up its settlement and Judaization projects.
The settlement construction has increased by 143% compared to the period before the start of negotiations, he said, adding that occupation aims to impose a status quo.
The MP charged that this Israeli campaign targets Palestinian people, land and properties, referring to the recent arrest campaigns against dozens of Abu Dis and Alezariya's youths and minors.
The demolition of Palestinian houses and facilities in Issawiya and Beit Hanina towns in occupied Jerusalem came as part of Israeli government's ethnic cleansing policy.
For his part, Palestinian Legislative Council second deputy speaker Hassan Khreishe called on Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas to end security coordination between Israeli and Palestinian forces especially in light of the Israeli escalated attacks against Palestinian citizens and holy sites.
He stressed that occupation will never succeed to undermine Palestinian resistance's will and determination.
He stressed that the Israeli government took advantage of the ongoing negotiations to cover up its settlement and Judaization projects.
The settlement construction has increased by 143% compared to the period before the start of negotiations, he said, adding that occupation aims to impose a status quo.
The MP charged that this Israeli campaign targets Palestinian people, land and properties, referring to the recent arrest campaigns against dozens of Abu Dis and Alezariya's youths and minors.
The demolition of Palestinian houses and facilities in Issawiya and Beit Hanina towns in occupied Jerusalem came as part of Israeli government's ethnic cleansing policy.
For his part, Palestinian Legislative Council second deputy speaker Hassan Khreishe called on Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas to end security coordination between Israeli and Palestinian forces especially in light of the Israeli escalated attacks against Palestinian citizens and holy sites.
He stressed that occupation will never succeed to undermine Palestinian resistance's will and determination.
Kerry's plan does not include any right of return for Palestinian refugees into their occupied lands, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote on Tuesday about a new peace plan of Secretary of State John Kerry that is likely to be publicized soon. In the column entitled "Why Kerry is Scary", Friedman speculated that Kerry's plan will "call for an end to the conflict and all claims, following a phased Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank based on the 1967 lines, with unprecedented security arrangements in the strategic Jordan Valley.
The Israeli withdrawal will not include certain settlement blocs, but Israel will compensate the Palestinians for them with occupied (Israeli) territories. It will call for the Palestinians to have a capital in East Jerusalem.
Kerry's plan will call for Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state as well as have Israel recognize Arab East Jerusalem as the rightful capital of the Palestinian people.
It will not include any right of return for Palestinian refugees into Israel proper ( occupied Palestine).
Friedman explained that Kerry expects and hopes that both Netanyahu and Abbas will declare that despite their reservations about one or another element in the U.S. framework, they will use it as the basis of further negotiations.
The Israeli withdrawal will not include certain settlement blocs, but Israel will compensate the Palestinians for them with occupied (Israeli) territories. It will call for the Palestinians to have a capital in East Jerusalem.
Kerry's plan will call for Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state as well as have Israel recognize Arab East Jerusalem as the rightful capital of the Palestinian people.
It will not include any right of return for Palestinian refugees into Israel proper ( occupied Palestine).
Friedman explained that Kerry expects and hopes that both Netanyahu and Abbas will declare that despite their reservations about one or another element in the U.S. framework, they will use it as the basis of further negotiations.
"Developing a just and agreed solution to the Palestinian refugees issue is one of the biggest challenges in making progress not just towards a framework agreement, but also towards a final status agreement, " US deputy Secretary of state William Burns said. " It’s not an easy challenge, but it is one which will be crucial to producing that kind of permanent status solution," he said.
He said in an interview with Petra news agency on Tuesday that the US president Barak Obama and the Secretary of State John Kerry are strongly committed to achieve a final status agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.
"United States cannot make choice for Palestinians and Israelis , but we will do everything we can to make progress," he added.
He appreciated Jordan’s constructive role, in support of a two-state solution, explaining that US administration clearly understand Jordan’s profound stake in this process, and Jordan’s profound stake in progress toward a two-state solution, as well as the importance of addressing Jordan’s interests along the way.
He said in an interview with Petra news agency on Tuesday that the US president Barak Obama and the Secretary of State John Kerry are strongly committed to achieve a final status agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.
"United States cannot make choice for Palestinians and Israelis , but we will do everything we can to make progress," he added.
He appreciated Jordan’s constructive role, in support of a two-state solution, explaining that US administration clearly understand Jordan’s profound stake in this process, and Jordan’s profound stake in progress toward a two-state solution, as well as the importance of addressing Jordan’s interests along the way.
28 jan 2014
Thomas L. Friedman
It is pretty clear now that Secretary of State John Kerry will either be Israel’s diplomatic salvation or the most dangerous diplomatic fanatic Israel has ever encountered. But there isn’t much room anymore for anything in between. This is one of those rare pay-per-view foreign policy moments. Pull up a chair. You don’t see this every day.
In essence what Kerry is daring to test is a question everyone has wanted to avoid: Is the situation between Israelis and Palestinians at five minutes to midnight or five minutes after midnight, or even 1 a.m. (beyond diplomacy)?
That is, has Israel become so much more powerful than its neighbors that a symmetrical negotiation is impossible, especially when the Palestinians do not seem willing or able to mount another intifada that might force Israel to withdraw? Has the neighborhood around Israel become so much more unstable that any Israeli withdrawal from anywhere is unthinkable? Has the number of Israeli Jews now living in East Jerusalem and the West Bank become so much larger — more than 540,000 — that they are immovable? And has the Palestinian rhetoric on the right of return become so deeply embedded in Palestinian politics? So when you add them all up, it becomes a fantasy to expect any Israeli or Palestinian leader to have the strength to make the huge concessions needed for a two-state solution?
President Obama is letting Kerry test all this. Kerry has done so in a fanatically relentless — I’ve lost count of his visits here — but highly sophisticated way. After letting the two sides fruitlessly butt heads for six months, he’s now planning to present a U.S. framework that will lay out what Washington considers the core concessions Israelis and Palestinians need to make for a fair, lasting deal.
The “Kerry Plan,” likely to be unveiled soon, is expected to call for an end to the conflict and all claims, following a phased Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank (based on the 1967 lines), with unprecedented security arrangements in the strategic Jordan Valley. The Israeli withdrawal will not include certain settlement blocs, but Israel will compensate the Palestinians for them with Israeli territory. It will call for the Palestinians to have a capital in Arab East Jerusalem and for Palestinians to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. It will not include any right of return for Palestinian refugees into Israel proper.
Kerry expects and hopes that both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will declare that despite their reservations about one or another element in the U.S. framework, they will use it as the basis of further negotiations.
This is where things will get interesting. U.S. and Israeli officials in close contact with Netanyahu describe him as torn, clearly understanding that some kind of two-state solution is necessary for Israel’s integrity as a Jewish democratic state, with the healthy ties to Europe and the West that are vital for Israel’s economy. But he remains deeply skeptical about Palestinian intentions — or as Netanyahu said here Tuesday: “I do not want a binational state. But we also don’t want another state that will start attacking us.” His political base, though, which he nurtured, does not want Netanyahu making a U-turn.
Which is why — although Netanyahu has started to prepare the ground here for the U.S. plan — if he proceeds on its basis, even with reservations, his coalition will likely collapse. He will lose a major part of his own Likud Party and all his other right-wing allies. In short, for Netanyahu to move forward, he will have to build a new political base around centrist parties. To do that, Netanyahu would have to become, to some degree, a new leader — overcoming his own innate ambivalence about any deal with the Palestinians to become Israel’s most vocal and enthusiastic salesman for a two-state deal, otherwise it would never pass.
“Nothing in politics is as risky as a U-turn or as challenging as a successful one,” says Gidi Grinstein, the president of the Reut Institute, a leading Israeli strategy group. “It requires a gradual disengagement from one’s greatest supporters, who slowly turn into staunchest enemies, while forming a new coalition of backers, made up of former opponents. In a cautious dance of two-steps-forward, one-step-back, U-turning leaders must shift their political center of gravity from the former base to their future platform.”
If the Palestinians and Israelis find a way to proceed with the Kerry plan, everything is still possible. Success is hardly assured, but it will prove that it’s not midnight yet. But if either or both don’t agree, Kerry would have to take his mission to its logical, fanatical conclusion and declare the end of the negotiated two-state solution. (If not, he loses his credibility.)
If and when that happens, Israel, which controls the land, would have to either implement a unilateral withdrawal, live with the morally corrosive and globally isolating implications of a permanent West Bank occupation or design a new framework of one-state-for-two-people.
So that’s where we are: Israelis and Palestinians need to understand that Kerry’s mission is the last train to a negotiated two-state solution. The next train is the one coming at them.
It is pretty clear now that Secretary of State John Kerry will either be Israel’s diplomatic salvation or the most dangerous diplomatic fanatic Israel has ever encountered. But there isn’t much room anymore for anything in between. This is one of those rare pay-per-view foreign policy moments. Pull up a chair. You don’t see this every day.
In essence what Kerry is daring to test is a question everyone has wanted to avoid: Is the situation between Israelis and Palestinians at five minutes to midnight or five minutes after midnight, or even 1 a.m. (beyond diplomacy)?
That is, has Israel become so much more powerful than its neighbors that a symmetrical negotiation is impossible, especially when the Palestinians do not seem willing or able to mount another intifada that might force Israel to withdraw? Has the neighborhood around Israel become so much more unstable that any Israeli withdrawal from anywhere is unthinkable? Has the number of Israeli Jews now living in East Jerusalem and the West Bank become so much larger — more than 540,000 — that they are immovable? And has the Palestinian rhetoric on the right of return become so deeply embedded in Palestinian politics? So when you add them all up, it becomes a fantasy to expect any Israeli or Palestinian leader to have the strength to make the huge concessions needed for a two-state solution?
President Obama is letting Kerry test all this. Kerry has done so in a fanatically relentless — I’ve lost count of his visits here — but highly sophisticated way. After letting the two sides fruitlessly butt heads for six months, he’s now planning to present a U.S. framework that will lay out what Washington considers the core concessions Israelis and Palestinians need to make for a fair, lasting deal.
The “Kerry Plan,” likely to be unveiled soon, is expected to call for an end to the conflict and all claims, following a phased Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank (based on the 1967 lines), with unprecedented security arrangements in the strategic Jordan Valley. The Israeli withdrawal will not include certain settlement blocs, but Israel will compensate the Palestinians for them with Israeli territory. It will call for the Palestinians to have a capital in Arab East Jerusalem and for Palestinians to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. It will not include any right of return for Palestinian refugees into Israel proper.
Kerry expects and hopes that both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will declare that despite their reservations about one or another element in the U.S. framework, they will use it as the basis of further negotiations.
This is where things will get interesting. U.S. and Israeli officials in close contact with Netanyahu describe him as torn, clearly understanding that some kind of two-state solution is necessary for Israel’s integrity as a Jewish democratic state, with the healthy ties to Europe and the West that are vital for Israel’s economy. But he remains deeply skeptical about Palestinian intentions — or as Netanyahu said here Tuesday: “I do not want a binational state. But we also don’t want another state that will start attacking us.” His political base, though, which he nurtured, does not want Netanyahu making a U-turn.
Which is why — although Netanyahu has started to prepare the ground here for the U.S. plan — if he proceeds on its basis, even with reservations, his coalition will likely collapse. He will lose a major part of his own Likud Party and all his other right-wing allies. In short, for Netanyahu to move forward, he will have to build a new political base around centrist parties. To do that, Netanyahu would have to become, to some degree, a new leader — overcoming his own innate ambivalence about any deal with the Palestinians to become Israel’s most vocal and enthusiastic salesman for a two-state deal, otherwise it would never pass.
“Nothing in politics is as risky as a U-turn or as challenging as a successful one,” says Gidi Grinstein, the president of the Reut Institute, a leading Israeli strategy group. “It requires a gradual disengagement from one’s greatest supporters, who slowly turn into staunchest enemies, while forming a new coalition of backers, made up of former opponents. In a cautious dance of two-steps-forward, one-step-back, U-turning leaders must shift their political center of gravity from the former base to their future platform.”
If the Palestinians and Israelis find a way to proceed with the Kerry plan, everything is still possible. Success is hardly assured, but it will prove that it’s not midnight yet. But if either or both don’t agree, Kerry would have to take his mission to its logical, fanatical conclusion and declare the end of the negotiated two-state solution. (If not, he loses his credibility.)
If and when that happens, Israel, which controls the land, would have to either implement a unilateral withdrawal, live with the morally corrosive and globally isolating implications of a permanent West Bank occupation or design a new framework of one-state-for-two-people.
So that’s where we are: Israelis and Palestinians need to understand that Kerry’s mission is the last train to a negotiated two-state solution. The next train is the one coming at them.
Jerusalem International Foundation said that the Israeli decision to establish a highway dividing Beit Safafa village, in occupied Jerusalem, into two parts came as part of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's plan. The Beirut-based foundation, confirmed that this Israeli decision came as a result of Kerry' plan that aims to achieve a framework agreement between Israeli and Palestinian authorities that includes the establishment of a Palestinian state within the borders of 1967 with part of East Jerusalem as its capital.
The foundation described the Israeli decision as illegal and illegitimate, saying that it was an Israeli scheme planned 20 years ago aiming to link between Israeli squatter settlements in occupied Jerusalem.
A state of anger has prevailed in Beit Safafa village after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by Palestinian citizens against the construction of the highway.
If the road was finished, Beit Safafa residents would suffer heightened noise and pollution in addition to being cut off from basic services including schools and grocery stores.
The highway would connect the Gush Etzion settlement bloc in Bethlehem and southern Jerusalem to Israel's highway network.
For its part, the Civic Coalition for Defending Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem strongly condemned the Supreme Court's decision to refuse the appeal submitted by Beit Safafa's residents and to approve the establishment of the highway which would split their village into two separate areas.
The Coalition confirmed that the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem and the Ministry of Transport are currently undertaking large-scale construction work in Beit Safafa, occupied East Jerusalem, in order to complete a highway (“Begin Highway”) that will serve the expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements in and around the southern part of occupied East Jerusalem and expedite the annexation de facto of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc.
The occupied Palestinian population of Beit Safafa does not benefit from this highway, the coalition added, calling upon the United Nations and the EU to intervene as a matter of urgency in order to cease the construction of the new illegal settlement highway in Beit Safafa and make full reparation for losses and damages already caused to the Palestinian population in the occupied area, and not to grant any international recognition to the unlawful situation resulting from the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise of which this highway is part.
In light of the persistence of Israeli settlement expansion, the coalition urged the international community, including local authorities and business companies, to suspend cooperation and business with the Israeli authorities and companies responsible for the construction of the illegal highway in occupied Beit Safafa.
The construction site extends from the Israeli (Teddy Kolleg) football stadium and (Malha) Mall in the area of the 1948 depopulated Palestinian village of al Malha, West Jerusalem, to the Israeli Gilo settlement in the south of 1967 occupied East Jerusalem, the statement said.
"The projected road is approximately 1.5 km long and almost entirely located in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, specifically in Beit Safafa, a Palestinian community with approximately 9,300 inhabitants. In Beit Safafa, the road is being constructed as a 6-lane highway, with as many as 10-11 lanes in some parts. Construction started in September 2012 and is scheduled to be completed in October 2015."
The highway currently under construction in Beit Safafa is an extension of the already existing “Begin Highway” and has been designated alternatingly as Road No. 4 or Road No. 50 by the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality.
The Begin Highway is the western Jerusalem ring road that expedites travel between the south and the north of the city.
Partially constructed in occupied Palestinian territory, the Begin Highway links in the north into Road 443 to the settlement bloc of Givat Ze’ev in the occupied West Bank and onward to Tel Aviv. In the south, the Begin Highway currently ends in the Malha neighborhood, West Jerusalem; it does not yet have a direct connection with Road 60 (the “Tunnel Road”) which serves Israeli movement to and from the settlements in the southern West Bank, the statement clarified.
According to the coalition, Palestinians in Beit Safafa do not benefit from this highway which is being imposed on them against their express will. Although the highway is being built on land confiscated in the past from members of the community and passes through its center, no access road onto the highway will be available for the local Palestinian residents.
Moreover, the highway is causing grave losses and damages to individuals and the community of Beit Safafa. For Palestinian owners of land and homes along the route of the highway through Beit Safafa, construction of the highway is resulting in serious infringements against their property and housing rights.
In the longer term, the Begin Highway alone and in combination with the additional Israeli settlement activities planned in the area will result in the destruction of Beit Safafa as a community and in the forced displacement of (part of) its members, the statement continued.
The foundation described the Israeli decision as illegal and illegitimate, saying that it was an Israeli scheme planned 20 years ago aiming to link between Israeli squatter settlements in occupied Jerusalem.
A state of anger has prevailed in Beit Safafa village after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by Palestinian citizens against the construction of the highway.
If the road was finished, Beit Safafa residents would suffer heightened noise and pollution in addition to being cut off from basic services including schools and grocery stores.
The highway would connect the Gush Etzion settlement bloc in Bethlehem and southern Jerusalem to Israel's highway network.
For its part, the Civic Coalition for Defending Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem strongly condemned the Supreme Court's decision to refuse the appeal submitted by Beit Safafa's residents and to approve the establishment of the highway which would split their village into two separate areas.
The Coalition confirmed that the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem and the Ministry of Transport are currently undertaking large-scale construction work in Beit Safafa, occupied East Jerusalem, in order to complete a highway (“Begin Highway”) that will serve the expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements in and around the southern part of occupied East Jerusalem and expedite the annexation de facto of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc.
The occupied Palestinian population of Beit Safafa does not benefit from this highway, the coalition added, calling upon the United Nations and the EU to intervene as a matter of urgency in order to cease the construction of the new illegal settlement highway in Beit Safafa and make full reparation for losses and damages already caused to the Palestinian population in the occupied area, and not to grant any international recognition to the unlawful situation resulting from the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise of which this highway is part.
In light of the persistence of Israeli settlement expansion, the coalition urged the international community, including local authorities and business companies, to suspend cooperation and business with the Israeli authorities and companies responsible for the construction of the illegal highway in occupied Beit Safafa.
The construction site extends from the Israeli (Teddy Kolleg) football stadium and (Malha) Mall in the area of the 1948 depopulated Palestinian village of al Malha, West Jerusalem, to the Israeli Gilo settlement in the south of 1967 occupied East Jerusalem, the statement said.
"The projected road is approximately 1.5 km long and almost entirely located in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, specifically in Beit Safafa, a Palestinian community with approximately 9,300 inhabitants. In Beit Safafa, the road is being constructed as a 6-lane highway, with as many as 10-11 lanes in some parts. Construction started in September 2012 and is scheduled to be completed in October 2015."
The highway currently under construction in Beit Safafa is an extension of the already existing “Begin Highway” and has been designated alternatingly as Road No. 4 or Road No. 50 by the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality.
The Begin Highway is the western Jerusalem ring road that expedites travel between the south and the north of the city.
Partially constructed in occupied Palestinian territory, the Begin Highway links in the north into Road 443 to the settlement bloc of Givat Ze’ev in the occupied West Bank and onward to Tel Aviv. In the south, the Begin Highway currently ends in the Malha neighborhood, West Jerusalem; it does not yet have a direct connection with Road 60 (the “Tunnel Road”) which serves Israeli movement to and from the settlements in the southern West Bank, the statement clarified.
According to the coalition, Palestinians in Beit Safafa do not benefit from this highway which is being imposed on them against their express will. Although the highway is being built on land confiscated in the past from members of the community and passes through its center, no access road onto the highway will be available for the local Palestinian residents.
Moreover, the highway is causing grave losses and damages to individuals and the community of Beit Safafa. For Palestinian owners of land and homes along the route of the highway through Beit Safafa, construction of the highway is resulting in serious infringements against their property and housing rights.
In the longer term, the Begin Highway alone and in combination with the additional Israeli settlement activities planned in the area will result in the destruction of Beit Safafa as a community and in the forced displacement of (part of) its members, the statement continued.
Abbas' interview aired on Israeli TV
President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that he was ready to meet Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu any time, Israeli media reported.
"Quote me on this: I am ready to meet Netanyahu any time," Abbas told Israeli TV.
Asked if he would address the Israeli parliament, or if he would allow Netanyahu to speak in the Palestinian one, Abbas responded that "We can consider this … I don't rule out the idea."
In Abbas' interview with the Institute for National Security Studies, which was published on Israel's Ynet news site and other Israeli media, he addressed Israeli security concerns and explained the PLO's view of ending the conflict.
"First, the two-state vision must become real, in which the State of Israel will live alongside the State of Palestine on the 1967 borders in security and stability," Abbas said.
"The second most important section is that East Jerusalem be the capital of the Palestinian state. Jerusalem will remain open to all religions with arrangements between the two parties."
He added: "I say to the Israeli people we are neighbors. We fought many wars against each other and I pray to God that these wars are over. We consider them and the use of force part of the past."
The deadline of a nine-month framework for US-brokered direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians is the end of April with no visible results, as both sides express seemingly irreconcilable demands.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has made 11 trips to Israel and the West Bank in his first year in office, is trying to hammer out a framework deal to chart the talks going forward by establishing guidelines on the most contentious issues.
Quds has to be Capital of Palestine says Abbas
President Mahmoud Abbas has stated that East al-Quds must be the capital of the Palestinian state.
According to the Jerusalem Post Abbas stated that one of the conditions for the peace talks is that the eastern part of the city is made capital.
He went on to say that the Israelis should also recognize the borders of 1967, which means the way they were laid out before the six-days war Press TV reports.
Asked whether he would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Abbas said, “I am ready to meet Netanyahu any time.”
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that he was ready to meet Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu any time, Israeli media reported.
"Quote me on this: I am ready to meet Netanyahu any time," Abbas told Israeli TV.
Asked if he would address the Israeli parliament, or if he would allow Netanyahu to speak in the Palestinian one, Abbas responded that "We can consider this … I don't rule out the idea."
In Abbas' interview with the Institute for National Security Studies, which was published on Israel's Ynet news site and other Israeli media, he addressed Israeli security concerns and explained the PLO's view of ending the conflict.
"First, the two-state vision must become real, in which the State of Israel will live alongside the State of Palestine on the 1967 borders in security and stability," Abbas said.
"The second most important section is that East Jerusalem be the capital of the Palestinian state. Jerusalem will remain open to all religions with arrangements between the two parties."
He added: "I say to the Israeli people we are neighbors. We fought many wars against each other and I pray to God that these wars are over. We consider them and the use of force part of the past."
The deadline of a nine-month framework for US-brokered direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians is the end of April with no visible results, as both sides express seemingly irreconcilable demands.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has made 11 trips to Israel and the West Bank in his first year in office, is trying to hammer out a framework deal to chart the talks going forward by establishing guidelines on the most contentious issues.
Quds has to be Capital of Palestine says Abbas
President Mahmoud Abbas has stated that East al-Quds must be the capital of the Palestinian state.
According to the Jerusalem Post Abbas stated that one of the conditions for the peace talks is that the eastern part of the city is made capital.
He went on to say that the Israelis should also recognize the borders of 1967, which means the way they were laid out before the six-days war Press TV reports.
Asked whether he would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Abbas said, “I am ready to meet Netanyahu any time.”
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
27 jan 2014
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hoped not to “make a decision to take (Israel) to the International Criminal Court which will complicate things,”
In an interview with Yediot Ahranot daily on Monday evening, he added that "the use of force against Israel became an option not on the cards,” Abbas hoped to solve the pending issues peacefully with the Israelis “I do not want to complicate thing with the world and Israel," "I have the right to go wherever to sue Israel, but I have stopped here and paused to give peace efforts a chance,” he said. |
Commenting on Hamas, which is radically opposing any final-status settlement agreement between the [Palestinian] authority and Israel, he said that “there is an official agreement with Hamas in writing about our negotiations on the 1967 borders and they [Hamas] agree on a non-violent popular resistance, forming a government of technocrats and holding elections,”
“All the [Palestinian] security services are working on one goal; to prevent any one from smuggling weapons or wanting to use these weapons either in the Palestinian territories or Israel; this is the main concern of the Palestinian security forces,”
He said this solution [final-status settlement agreement] shall get a recognition from 57 Arab and Islamic countries, adding that it might be a 'one-off opportunity'.
“All the [Palestinian] security services are working on one goal; to prevent any one from smuggling weapons or wanting to use these weapons either in the Palestinian territories or Israel; this is the main concern of the Palestinian security forces,”
He said this solution [final-status settlement agreement] shall get a recognition from 57 Arab and Islamic countries, adding that it might be a 'one-off opportunity'.
26 jan 2014
The controversy over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state is rooted in the clashing historical narratives of the decades-old conflict.
Palestinians have dismissed the demand, pointing to the fact that they recognized Israel in 1993 at the start of the peace process and insisting it's not for other nations to define a state's national or religious character.
Israeli President Shimon Peres, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for the 1993 Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, reportedly agrees, and this week was said to have called the request "unnecessary."
But Netanyahu insists the demand gets to the very heart of the conflict, which he says is the refusal of Arabs to accept the right of Jews to a nation-state in the Middle East.
For Israel, the Zionist dream was realized in 1948, but for the Palestinians that year brought the "Nakba," or catastrophe, when 760,000 fled or were forced out of their homeland.
The Palestinians fear that accepting Israel as a "Jewish state" would amount to relinquishing the "right of return" of the refugees -- who now number some five million people -- and undermine the rights of Israel's sizable Arab minority.
The dispute was thrown into focus last weekend when the UN cultural agency suspended an exhibit tracing 3,500 years of ties between the Jewish people and the Holy Land following a complaint by 22 Arab member states that it would "impact negatively" on US-brokered peace talks relaunched last year.
In Israel, cancellation of the exhibition was seen as an Arab-led attempt to legitimize the millenia-long Jewish connection to the land.
"It would not harm the negotiations. Negotiations are based on facts, on the truth, which is never harmful," Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday.
The Palestinians, who view themselves as the descendants of all the various peoples who have dwelled in the Holy Land since ancient times, saw the staging of the exhibit as an attempt to legitimize their own connection to the land.
And they view the "Jewish state" demand as a departure from the peace talks, which they say are aimed at creating a Palestinian state and ending the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that began in 1967.
"We totally reject, on principle, the demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish state," President Mahmoud Abbas said last Friday in Morocco.
"We reject attempts to rub out our historical narrative and to erase our collective memory," said the Palestinian president, who himself is a refugee from 1948.
'Obsessive-compulsive behavior'
Senior PLO negotiator Nabil Shaath said last week that Israel had succeeded in imposing its view of events on the latest peace talks, which are being steered by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
"From the Israeli point of view, recognition of the state of Israel as a Jewish state is equal to cancelling the right of return, based on (UN) Resolution 194," he said, describing it as "an entirely new requirement."
According to Tel Aviv daily Israel Hayom, Peres also sees Netanyahu's position as problematic.
"In conversations held by Peres in the past weeks with senior diplomatic and political figures, he explained that this insistence by Netanyahu was 'unnecessary,' ... since it could derail the peace negotiations," the paper wrote.
"The position of Peres is important and proves that recognition of a Jewish State is not among the final status issues," chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP, referring to core disputes over borders, Jerusalem and security arrangements.
The question of the 1948 refugees is one of the most thorny issues of the talks, with the Palestinians insisting the matter be resolved on the basis of resolution 194, which defines principles for their "right of return."
"We will never accept the violation of the rights of refugees, which are guaranteed by international law and international resolutions," Abbas said.
Israel opposes the return of the refugees and their descendants, arguing that it would destroy the state's national and religious character by making Jews a minority.
But writing in Israeli daily Haaretz, leftwing commentator Gideon Levy compared Israel to a neurotic person who constantly has to check whether a door is locked or not.
"Israel is exhibiting classic signs of obsessive-compulsive behavior," he wrote.
"Everything is directed to achieve the goal that was reached long ago. ... The prime minister invents demands that the Palestinians recognize a locked door."
Palestinians have dismissed the demand, pointing to the fact that they recognized Israel in 1993 at the start of the peace process and insisting it's not for other nations to define a state's national or religious character.
Israeli President Shimon Peres, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for the 1993 Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, reportedly agrees, and this week was said to have called the request "unnecessary."
But Netanyahu insists the demand gets to the very heart of the conflict, which he says is the refusal of Arabs to accept the right of Jews to a nation-state in the Middle East.
For Israel, the Zionist dream was realized in 1948, but for the Palestinians that year brought the "Nakba," or catastrophe, when 760,000 fled or were forced out of their homeland.
The Palestinians fear that accepting Israel as a "Jewish state" would amount to relinquishing the "right of return" of the refugees -- who now number some five million people -- and undermine the rights of Israel's sizable Arab minority.
The dispute was thrown into focus last weekend when the UN cultural agency suspended an exhibit tracing 3,500 years of ties between the Jewish people and the Holy Land following a complaint by 22 Arab member states that it would "impact negatively" on US-brokered peace talks relaunched last year.
In Israel, cancellation of the exhibition was seen as an Arab-led attempt to legitimize the millenia-long Jewish connection to the land.
"It would not harm the negotiations. Negotiations are based on facts, on the truth, which is never harmful," Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday.
The Palestinians, who view themselves as the descendants of all the various peoples who have dwelled in the Holy Land since ancient times, saw the staging of the exhibit as an attempt to legitimize their own connection to the land.
And they view the "Jewish state" demand as a departure from the peace talks, which they say are aimed at creating a Palestinian state and ending the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that began in 1967.
"We totally reject, on principle, the demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish state," President Mahmoud Abbas said last Friday in Morocco.
"We reject attempts to rub out our historical narrative and to erase our collective memory," said the Palestinian president, who himself is a refugee from 1948.
'Obsessive-compulsive behavior'
Senior PLO negotiator Nabil Shaath said last week that Israel had succeeded in imposing its view of events on the latest peace talks, which are being steered by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
"From the Israeli point of view, recognition of the state of Israel as a Jewish state is equal to cancelling the right of return, based on (UN) Resolution 194," he said, describing it as "an entirely new requirement."
According to Tel Aviv daily Israel Hayom, Peres also sees Netanyahu's position as problematic.
"In conversations held by Peres in the past weeks with senior diplomatic and political figures, he explained that this insistence by Netanyahu was 'unnecessary,' ... since it could derail the peace negotiations," the paper wrote.
"The position of Peres is important and proves that recognition of a Jewish State is not among the final status issues," chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP, referring to core disputes over borders, Jerusalem and security arrangements.
The question of the 1948 refugees is one of the most thorny issues of the talks, with the Palestinians insisting the matter be resolved on the basis of resolution 194, which defines principles for their "right of return."
"We will never accept the violation of the rights of refugees, which are guaranteed by international law and international resolutions," Abbas said.
Israel opposes the return of the refugees and their descendants, arguing that it would destroy the state's national and religious character by making Jews a minority.
But writing in Israeli daily Haaretz, leftwing commentator Gideon Levy compared Israel to a neurotic person who constantly has to check whether a door is locked or not.
"Israel is exhibiting classic signs of obsessive-compulsive behavior," he wrote.
"Everything is directed to achieve the goal that was reached long ago. ... The prime minister invents demands that the Palestinians recognize a locked door."
Former minister of prisoners Wasfi Qabha said that the escalation of Palestinian attacks against Israeli targets comes in response to the occupation violations and the settler attacks against the Palestinian people. Qabha said in a statement on Saturday that "the Palestinian people have lost patience. They have been daily exposed to the occupation and settlers' attacks while the Palestinian negotiator has failed to accomplish anything on the ground."
He added that the Palestinian people are defending themselves; this is a right guaranteed by the divine laws before it was guaranteed by the international conventions.
The former minister noted that the Palestinians are fully aware that the negotiation process will not achieve their rights; after its failure for more than twenty years.
He has also condemned the PA in the occupied West Bank for suppressing the freedoms and the anti-negotiations actions.
Resheq warns of getting along with Kerry's peace plan
Member of Hamas' political bureau Ezzat Al-Resheq warned of the gravity of the peace plan proposed by US secretary of state John Kerry and described it as extremely detrimental to the Palestinian cause. In a press release on Saturday, Resheq said that Kerry's solutions are biased in favor of the Israeli occupation and is aimed at destroying the Palestinian cause entirely and quietly.
The Hamas official called on the Palestinian negotiator not to get along with Kerry's plan or succumb to its ideas, stressing that the US administration has never been a trustworthy mediator in the peace process.
He also deplored the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine liberation organization (PLO) for not clearly rejecting Kerry's intended framework agreement that would lead to serious concessions on the Palestinian rights and constants.
Resheq made his remarks in response to what had been disclosed on Friday by Yaser Abed Rabbo, the secretary-general of the PLO's executive committee, about Kerry's peace plan.
Abed Rabbo had told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper that Kerry's plan stipulates that the Palestinians must recognize Israel as a state for Jews and accept a small part of east Jerusalem as a capital for Palestine, and that the issue of the refugees must be addressed according to former US president Bill Clinton's vision.
According to Kerry's plan, Israel would keep all major settlement blocs under its control, rent the other settlements from the PA and control crossings and airspace, Abed Rabbo explained.
He added that the plan demands the presence of joint military forces from the US, Israel, Jordan and Palestine at some border areas and gives Israel the right to launch security raids and pursuits in the future Palestinian state.
He added that the Palestinian people are defending themselves; this is a right guaranteed by the divine laws before it was guaranteed by the international conventions.
The former minister noted that the Palestinians are fully aware that the negotiation process will not achieve their rights; after its failure for more than twenty years.
He has also condemned the PA in the occupied West Bank for suppressing the freedoms and the anti-negotiations actions.
Resheq warns of getting along with Kerry's peace plan
Member of Hamas' political bureau Ezzat Al-Resheq warned of the gravity of the peace plan proposed by US secretary of state John Kerry and described it as extremely detrimental to the Palestinian cause. In a press release on Saturday, Resheq said that Kerry's solutions are biased in favor of the Israeli occupation and is aimed at destroying the Palestinian cause entirely and quietly.
The Hamas official called on the Palestinian negotiator not to get along with Kerry's plan or succumb to its ideas, stressing that the US administration has never been a trustworthy mediator in the peace process.
He also deplored the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine liberation organization (PLO) for not clearly rejecting Kerry's intended framework agreement that would lead to serious concessions on the Palestinian rights and constants.
Resheq made his remarks in response to what had been disclosed on Friday by Yaser Abed Rabbo, the secretary-general of the PLO's executive committee, about Kerry's peace plan.
Abed Rabbo had told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper that Kerry's plan stipulates that the Palestinians must recognize Israel as a state for Jews and accept a small part of east Jerusalem as a capital for Palestine, and that the issue of the refugees must be addressed according to former US president Bill Clinton's vision.
According to Kerry's plan, Israel would keep all major settlement blocs under its control, rent the other settlements from the PA and control crossings and airspace, Abed Rabbo explained.
He added that the plan demands the presence of joint military forces from the US, Israel, Jordan and Palestine at some border areas and gives Israel the right to launch security raids and pursuits in the future Palestinian state.
Livni is identified as a war crimes suspect, as she was foreign minister at the time of the 2008-2009 Gaza invasion
Israeli chief negotiator warned the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas of ‘paying a price’ for not accepting the Israeli demand of a Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish State, Israeli media reported. Should Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas keep sticking to his positions unacceptable by neither international nor Israeli community, including his position refusing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, ‘he shall pay the price for that’, Tzipi Livni stated.
Livni, who is the occupation state’s minister of justice, said in weekly “Meet the Press” show broadcast on Israel Channel 2 on Saturday evening that she hopes an agreement could be reached with the Palestinian negotiator within the remaining three months of negotiations.
She noted that the role of the Israeli leadership is to create a new reality and not be influenced by opinion polls, in her response to the latest opinion polls where only 7% of the Israelis appeared confident that ‘peace talks’ would end in a final-status agreement.
Responding to being accused of showing sympathy with the organizations calling for a boycott of "Israel", she said that such accusations are unbearable.
It’s noteworthy that Livni is identified as a war crimes suspect, as she was foreign minister at the time of the 2008-2009 Gaza invasion and directed threats against Gaza in a press conference joined with Egyptian foreign minister from Cairo.
Israeli chief negotiator warned the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas of ‘paying a price’ for not accepting the Israeli demand of a Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish State, Israeli media reported. Should Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas keep sticking to his positions unacceptable by neither international nor Israeli community, including his position refusing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, ‘he shall pay the price for that’, Tzipi Livni stated.
Livni, who is the occupation state’s minister of justice, said in weekly “Meet the Press” show broadcast on Israel Channel 2 on Saturday evening that she hopes an agreement could be reached with the Palestinian negotiator within the remaining three months of negotiations.
She noted that the role of the Israeli leadership is to create a new reality and not be influenced by opinion polls, in her response to the latest opinion polls where only 7% of the Israelis appeared confident that ‘peace talks’ would end in a final-status agreement.
Responding to being accused of showing sympathy with the organizations calling for a boycott of "Israel", she said that such accusations are unbearable.
It’s noteworthy that Livni is identified as a war crimes suspect, as she was foreign minister at the time of the 2008-2009 Gaza invasion and directed threats against Gaza in a press conference joined with Egyptian foreign minister from Cairo.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that he intends to present the framework agreement setting out the principles for resolution of the core issues between Israel and the Palestinians within a few weeks, an Israeli businessman present at the meeting in Davos told Haaretz. He explained that the agreement will include the principles of resolving the core issues of the overall relationship between the parties and it will form the basis for the next stages of the negotiations.
According to the Israeli newspaper Kerry was speaking to businessmen during a meeting on the margins of the Davos economic conference of Israeli and Palestinian businesspeople as part of the Breaking the Impasse initiative, whose goal is to push the leadership in Jerusalem and Ramallah to move ahead toward a peace agreement.
Kerry met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for almost two hours on Friday morning and discussed the framework agreement with him. However, statements released by both parties after the meeting presented conflicting versions about the nature of the document.
However, Deputy State Department Spokesperson Marie Harf presented the opposite view in the daily press briefing in Washington. “This is not an American plan. The framework that we are in discussions with is based on our discussions with both sides and the parties leading up to this point … The framework ... will guide the discussion on all of the issues going forward,” Harf said.
In Kerry’s address to the conference, he outlined several U.S. principles for solving the core issues: an independent state for the Palestinians wherever they may be; security arrangements for Israel that leave it more secure; a full, phased and final withdrawal of the Israeli army, a just and agreed solution to the Palestinian refugee problem; an end to the conflict and all claims; and mutual recognition of the nation-state of the Palestinian people and the nation-state of the Jewish people.
The newspaper also reported that the Israeli prime minister , Netanyahu expressed political positions hardened in the conference and said he will not evacuate settlements from the West Bank.
Kerry warned in his speech that if talks fail, “for Israel, the demographic dynamic will make it impossible to preserve its future as a democratic Jewish state,” adding, “Today’s status quo cannot last forever.”
According to the Israeli newspaper Kerry was speaking to businessmen during a meeting on the margins of the Davos economic conference of Israeli and Palestinian businesspeople as part of the Breaking the Impasse initiative, whose goal is to push the leadership in Jerusalem and Ramallah to move ahead toward a peace agreement.
Kerry met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for almost two hours on Friday morning and discussed the framework agreement with him. However, statements released by both parties after the meeting presented conflicting versions about the nature of the document.
However, Deputy State Department Spokesperson Marie Harf presented the opposite view in the daily press briefing in Washington. “This is not an American plan. The framework that we are in discussions with is based on our discussions with both sides and the parties leading up to this point … The framework ... will guide the discussion on all of the issues going forward,” Harf said.
In Kerry’s address to the conference, he outlined several U.S. principles for solving the core issues: an independent state for the Palestinians wherever they may be; security arrangements for Israel that leave it more secure; a full, phased and final withdrawal of the Israeli army, a just and agreed solution to the Palestinian refugee problem; an end to the conflict and all claims; and mutual recognition of the nation-state of the Palestinian people and the nation-state of the Jewish people.
The newspaper also reported that the Israeli prime minister , Netanyahu expressed political positions hardened in the conference and said he will not evacuate settlements from the West Bank.
Kerry warned in his speech that if talks fail, “for Israel, the demographic dynamic will make it impossible to preserve its future as a democratic Jewish state,” adding, “Today’s status quo cannot last forever.”