You concieted little pip squeak. The Palestinians were and are entitled to a home land. All Israel is trying to do is twist the deffinitions of "war" so as to be interpreted as police state to mean "war".
History will pay close attention to this sick little ruse.
ttom, you gay pride loser. Take your concieted crap and stuff it the same place as Netanyahus' going to cram all the dead people ON BOTH SIDES OF THE FENCE,..loser.
There will be more bodies. Not just in Israel,..but globaly. Netanyahu, in their halucinations of omnipotence will see. Will endure the rapture. Before the fall. With every action is an equal,...and opposite, re-...action.
Ah, phosphorus bombs, hummmm where did I hear that before? Oh yeah Cast Lead!!! Thats the ticket! See I knew I had heard of Phosphorus Bombs before!!!!!!!!!!
Looming over the negotiations is a Palestinian threat to pull out of the nascent talks if new construction begins in the West Bank settlements when the 10-month moratorium ends on Sept. 30.
"I spoke with him (Netanyahu) about the issue and told him to give it another three months during the negotiations," Mubarak said in an excerpt from the interview aired on Israel Radio.
He said borders of a Palestinian state could be negotiated during the extension. Israel has said such a deal could entail a land swap under which it would keep major settlement blocs in the West Bank.
Once frontier lines were agreed, Mubarak said, Israel could build within its future borders and Palestinians could do the same -- effectively resolving the moratorium issue and keeping the peace talks alive. Officials close to the talks said the United States had made a similar proposal and Netanyahu, whose governing coalition is dominated by pro-settler parties, turned it down.
In a statement, Netanyahu's bureau said it would not comment on the substance of the negotiations but that he was standing by his position not to extend the moratorium. He has said, however, he intends to limit the scope of future construction.
BORDERS
U.S. officials travelling with Clinton declined to comment on Israel's response. But the United States said on Wednesday it believed Israel and the Palestinians were making progress on ending the settlement dispute. The settlements are on territory captured by Israeli forces from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war and are deemed by the World Court to be illegal, a finding disputed by Israel.
Palestinians fear that settlements will deny them a viable and contiguous country.
Meeting in Brussels on Thursday, European leaders will call on Israel to extend the moratorium according to a draft of the summit conclusions seen by Reuters.
Washington has set a one-year target for resolving major issues dividing the two sides in a Palestinian drive for a state. U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell said Israeli and Palestinian negotiators would meet next week and set a new date for leaders to convene.
The status of Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees, the borders of a future Palestinian state and security arrangements are the main issues Abbas and Netanyahu would have to resolve to secure a permanent peace deal.
As part of U.S. President Barack Obama's drive for a wider peace between Israel and the Arab world, Mitchell planned to travel to Syria on Thursday for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and then to Lebanon to meet Lebanese leaders.
In the Hamas-run Gaza Strip overnight, Israeli aircraft carried out three air strikes against suspected militant targets after rocket and mortar bomb attacks on Israel. No casualties were reported in the incidents.
Hey Moe, Larry, ttom? Where'd ya go? Bow-wow? Come on,..you can still kill a few Palestinian kids,..its ok! You just have to nix a couple to get used to it,...then you can do it while eating shrimp cocktail!!
I know Albert, being 5' 8" is a sad disadvantage. People laugh and make fun of you. And you think to yourself, "how can I get even" Poor fellow. Hate is your primary focus. Too bad kid.
I know Albert, being 5' 8" is a sad disadvantage. People laugh and make fun of you. And you think to yourself, "how can I get even" Poor fellow. Hate is your primary focus. Too bad kid.
Yep. As predicted Hamas and the PA still won't remove the destruction of Israel from their charters so, looks like there is little sense moving ahead anywhere, anyway.
Too bad, looked like the Israelis were rally going to provide some good finalized concessions this time around.
A Palestinian never passes up a chance to lose an opportunity.[/quote"rally"?
But discussing borders while land is being carved out by settlements is a waste of time, Palestinians argue.
Sources tell me the atmosphere was intense in Sharm Al-Sheikh, with American and Egyptian diplomacy working until the last minute to save the talks from collapsing before they start. The center of tension was Netanyahu’s refusal to commit to any settlement freeze. It’s interesting that the US Administration, represented by the Secretary of State, came to these tense talks empty handed – no alternative way out to suggest, no decisive decision to ensure all sides are fulfilling their agreed-on obligations. A complete Israeli settlement freeze in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is part of Israel’s obligations in the Roadmap for peace [which was introduced and endorsed by the Bush Administration]. This Tuesday, Netenyahu’s team wanted it to be among the issues ‘on the table’.
Between live-shots, we speak to our sources and search for any and all new news lines and developments. On the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, a headline caught my eye: Israeli settlers receive 22% more government grants than ordinary Israelis living within the Green Line – or the internationally recognized Israeli borders. As the wind starts to pick up on the rooftop where I’m standing, looking in Bethlehem’s direction becomes harder. I turn around and face Har Homa. There, construction continues, unbothered by the talk of peace.
Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesperson, told Aljazeera Palestinians should be ‘creative’ in dealing with the issue of settlements. On the ground, it’s quite difficult to see what kind of creativity can change or better the reality Palestinians here live. Where ever they may live in Bethlehem, the view from their balconies is one of the 19 Israeli settlements surrounding the District; built on their occupied land – and private property – and edging rapidly closer to their front yard. These settlements, illegal in international law, now occupy about half of the West Bank, isolating Palestinian communities behind military-run gates, checkpoints, and walls.
And yet, these Palestinians see world leaders play host to ‘peace talks’ and hear the Israeli Prime Minister pledging to make peace with the Palestinians while vowing to continue the march of settlement expansion in the West Bank right to their front door. It’s doubtful to imagine, in this scenario, how ‘creativity’ can change the picture or even fudge it prettier.
The wind is now gusting; uncompromising and cool – without much mind gymnastics, this feels as real as the mood around me…
The view is as ironic as the reality. Standing on the edge of a house under construction in Bethlehem, I can see the Church of Nativity, Israel’s separation Wall surrounding Bethlehem, the city’s traffic, and the ever-expanding Israeli settlement Har Homa – while covering Palestinian-Israeli direct talks underway in Egypt.
Palestinians know the settlement as Jabal Abu Ghneim; Israel says it’s part of greater Occupied East Jerusalem. Palaestinians also know this illegal settlement of 30,000 residents was built in the height of the Oslo peace process on their private property.
As we prepare to go on the air, I think about how many times I’ve been in Bethlehem and how many stories I’ve filed out of this historic and spiritual town… Most of them have been about the way Bethlehem has been squeezed, cornered, and shrunk by the imposed and fast-encroaching reality of Israeli settlements. This town has literally changed in appearance, spirit, and life over the years. So much that a UN study last year said Israeli policies were shrinking urban Bethlehem and fragmenting its rural areas. Over the past four decades of Israeli occupation, the report said, Israeli settlement construction and related measures had shrunk Bethlehem by 87%, confining its growing population to less than twenty percent of their land.
This Tuesday, Palestinian and Israeli leaders met in Egypt’s Sharm Al-Sheikh. Joined by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and amid much media attention and speculation, the second round of talks was, well, going in circles. Palestinians and Israelis did not agree on an agenda for the talks, or on how to proceed in these talks. Consequently, the scheduled ceremonial events of the day were cancelled and the trilateral meeting [between Abbas, Netanyahu, and Clinton] was delayed. The sticky, or rather explosive, issue was Israel’s illegal settlement construction in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. A unilateral and partial so-called moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank, excluding Jerusalem, is due to expire at the end of September. Even though Palestinians were unhappy about this moratorium, which by Israeli reports was not respected, they say they’re unwilling to entertain a return to full-fledged settlement construction.
According to Palestinian negotiators, the Israeli Prime Minister wanted only to speak about security. Such a demand, officials told me, means that Israel wants its security demands to draw the boundaries of geography on the ground. “They want the shape and size of the future Palestinian state to be defined by those demands. That’s just not possible”, they said. In contrast, Palestinians wanted to talk about borders and security first and foremost. They argue that an agreement on these two main final status issues would lay the groundwork for other issues and allow for technical teams to get down to business.
aeli-Palestinian negotiations limped into their second phase in Egypt today with little sign of progress as a row over West Bank settlement construction remained unresolved.
The US repeated its demand that Israel extend a 10-month partial freeze on settlement building before it expires later this month. "We think it makes sense to extend the moratorium," said Barack Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell immediately after the summit at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Palestinian negotiators have repeatedly made clear that talks cannot continue if the freeze is not extended but Israeli officials countered that an "all or nothing" strategy could paralyse negotiations.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, remained optimistic on progress, but has yet to present any concrete evidence of it. Mitchell said the so-called "core" issues in the peace process were discussed, but all sides agreed not to reveal which ones or with what result. "Several were in a very serious, detailed and extensive discussion," Mitchell told reporters.
Talks between the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, continued for longer than expected.
Analysts think US mediators might be looking for ways to shift positions on settlements palatable to both sides.
"They are trying find a formula that will minimise the settlements issue and put it in a broader context," said Akiva Eldar, columnist for Haaretz.
"Both sides know that any concessions made will create problems back home, so each has to prove to their constituencies that they got a reasonable payoff for those concessions – because, unfortunately, we are back in a zero-sum game." The talks, ceremonially relaunched in Washington on September 2 after a 20-month hiatus, are being held against a backdrop of disaffection and apathy on both sides. Hamas, the Islamist movement which governs Gaza describing them as "humiliating and degrading".
Ahmed Ja'abari, leader of Hamas's military wing, threatened a wave of violence intended to derail the talks. Hamas gunmen killed four Israeli settlers near the West Bank town of Hebron before the relaunch. Several PLO factions have also denounced the resumption of direct negotiations.
The Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot said describing the public reaction to the talks as "deep pessimism" would be an understatement. It published a poll showing that 71% percent of Israelis doubted the talks would lead to an agreement. In addition, 51% said the settlement construction freeze should be lifted, while 39% thought it should continue. Israeli media also reported that Jerusalem city planners would, in a few weeks, discuss proposals to build more than 1,000 homes in East Jerusalem, an announcement that could deal another blow to the talks. East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel, is occupied territory in international law.
Despite pessimism, both sides were seeking to accentuate the positive.
"Talks were very serious and in-depth," said Nabil Aburudeineh, one of the Palestinian negotiators.
"But we have to understand that the obstacle of settlements is still not resolved. We are in need of a lot of consultation with help from the US and others to find a way to tackle this."
Netanyahu's spokesman, Mark Regev, said: "We had good meetings in which substantive issues were discussed including the future of the freeze."
SilverBirch Forum Posts (3,158)
United Nations Peace Keepers in Gaza
Where did the three stooges go?Probably spooning somewhere. Butter em' up cowboy.