Israel warns media against boarding Gaza flotilla
By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press – 12PM JUNE 26,11
JERUSALEM – Israel on Sunday threatened to ban international journalists for up to a decade if they join a flotilla planning to breach the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.The warning reflected Israeli jitters about the international flotilla, which comes just over a year after a similar mission ended in the deaths of nine Turkish activists in clashes with Israeli naval commandos.Israel is eager to avoid a repeat of last year's raid, which drew heavy international condemnation and ultimately forced Israel to ease its blockade on Hamas-controlled Gaza. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons into the territory.The Foreign Press Association, which represents hundreds of journalists working for international news organizations in Israel and the Palestinian territories, condemned the Israeli decision and urged the government to cancel the order.The government's threat to punish journalists covering the Gaza flotilla sends a chilling message to the international media and raises serious questions about Israel's commitment to freedom of the press,the FPA said in a statement. "Journalists covering a legitimate news event should be allowed to do their jobs without threats and intimidation.It remains unclear when the current flotilla will actually set sail, but organizers have hinted it could be as soon as this week.
Organizers have said 10 boats, including two cargo vessels carrying aid supplies, will participate in the flotilla and that hundreds, including activists, journalists, politicians, writers and religious figures, will be on board.About two dozen activist groups, many of them based in Europe, are organizing the flotilla. Among them is IHH, a Turkish Islamic charity that helped organize last year's flotilla and is outlawed in Israel.In a letter to foreign journalists, the Government Press Office's director, Oren Helman, called the flotilla a dangerous provocation that is being organized by western and Islamic extremist elements to aid Hamas.I would like to make it clear to you and to the media that you represent, that participation in the flotilla is an intentional violation of Israeli law and is liable to lead to participants being denied entry into the State of Israel for 10 years, to the impoundment of their equipment and to additional sanctions,Helman said.
The letter, he added, was reviewed and approved by Israel's attorney general.
Organizers of the flotilla say the mission is necessary to draw attention to the plight of Gaza's 1.6 million residents. The Israeli blockade has caused heavy damage to Gaza's economy: Unemployment is estimated at close to 50 percent, and the territory still suffers from a shortage of badly needed construction materials.Israel says there is no humanitarian crisis and says the flotilla is little more than a provocation aimed at stirring up trouble.Israel has long had a strained relationship with the international media. During an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip 2 1/2 years ago, Israeli-based journalists were prevented from entering the territory, forcing the Supreme Court to order the army to allow reporters in.Israel imposed a land and naval blockade of Gaza after Hamas, an Iran-backed group that has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks, took control of the coastal strip. Israel withdrew its settlers and military from Gaza in 2005.The international uproar over last year's deadly flotilla raid forced Israel to greatly ease the land embargo, but the naval blockade remains intact.Israel has already said it will block the flotilla this time. Naval officials say they will use different tactics in hopes of avoiding bloodshed.Federman can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/joseffederman.
Israel begins removing part of West Bank barrier
By ARON HELLER, Associated Press – JUNE 26,11
NAALIN CROSSING, West Bank – Israel on Sunday began tearing down a section of its contentious West Bank separation barrier near a village that has come to symbolize Palestinian opposition to the enclosure, the military said.The rerouting marked a major victory for the residents of Bilin and the international groups that have backed their struggle. But they said it fell short of their demands to remove the structure from the village altogether and vowed to continue with their weekly protests.The dismantling of the section near the village of Bilin comes four years after Israel's Supreme Court ordered it torn down, rejecting the military's argument that the route was necessary to secure the nearby Modiin Illit settlement.Col. Saar Tsur, the regional brigade commander, said the military has begun taking apart a two mile (3.2 kilometer)-stretch of the barrier and has replaced it with a 1.6 mile-long (2.7 kilometer) wall adjacent to the settlement. He said the new route would give the military less response time in case of a potential infiltration.This is a new threat but we can handle it, he said, adding that the work would be done by the end of the week.Bilin lost half its land to the barrier, and years of weekly protests there have frequently evolved into clashes between activists and Israeli troops.
Israel began building the barrier in late 2002 to keep out Palestinian attackers amid a wave of suicide bombers targeting its cities. It says the structure is needed to keep militants from reaching Israeli population centers.But the barrier juts into the West Bank, and critics say the route is designed to grab land that Palestinians want for a state. The barrier, when completed, is projected to swallow some 6 to 8 percent of the West Bank.Tsur said the new route will put some 140 acres (55 hectares) back in Palestinian hands. He said the total cost of the project is $9 million.The protests have become a ritual of sorts each Friday, making the once out-of-the-way farming village a fashionable cause among activists. Nobel Peace Prize laureates Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu are among the notables who have participated. Naalin started similar marches three years ago.The Bilin protests, attended by villagers as well as Israeli and international activists, usually involve a mix of marching, chanting and throwing rocks at Israeli troops. Two Palestinians, and five in the nearby village of Naalin, have died and hundreds others have been wounded since the protests began in 2005.One Bilin demonstrator was hit in the chest with a tear gas canister and another woman died after she inhaled tear gas. Palestinians said she had a pre-existing medical condition that was exacerbated by the acrid fumes.In March 2009, 38-year-old Tristan Anderson of Oakland, Calif., was badly wounded after he was hit in the head with a tear gas canister during a West Bank protest. Anderson lost his right eye and suffered brain damage.
Dozens of Israeli troops and police also have been injured, including one who lost an eye.Tsur, the military commander, called the protests acts of violence, and said he doubted they would cease even after Israel rerouted the barrier's course because there was big money involved in backing the protesters.Indeed, Bilin activists said the move would not influence their opposition.We are going to continue until we get all our rights. This barrier isn't for security. It's to steal land and build settlements,said Rani Burnat, a 30-year-old resident paralyzed in a separate demonstration 10 years ago.While activists say the Israeli move falls short for their goals, they insist it only happened because of their stubborn demonstrations.We showed that we could put facts on the ground,said Mohammed Khatib of Bilin.
Gaza-bound flotilla set to leave Greece
by Helene Colliopoulou – JUNE 26,11
ATHENS (AFP) – Hundreds of activists are preparing to board aid ships bound for Gaza this week in defiance of an Israeli blockade and UN warnings and in spite of the violent end to an operation last year which left nine dead.About 350 pro-Palestinian supporters hailing from 22 countries are set to join the Freedom Flotilla leaving from Greek ports.Bestselling Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell and many journalists are among those taking part in the action seeking to break a five-year long Israeli naval blockade.Nine Turks died when Israeli forces seized the Mavi Marmara, a ship taking part in the international aid flotilla in May last year.The raid sparked worldwide condemnation and soured relations between Ankara and Tel-Aviv.
Israel said on Thursday it was determined to stop the flotilla, calling the protest a provocation and saying the country had a right to self defence.UN envoy Ron Prosor said: The flotilla has nothing constructive -- there is nothing humanitarian or anything that has to do with Palestinian welfare in the organizing of this flotilla.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a number of governments have warned the flotilla not to start while the US government has urged its nationals against taking part in the protest.Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2006 after militants snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. A ban on civilian goods and foodstuffs was eased last year but many restrictions remain in place.Boats from Greece, France, Italy and Spain are among those taking part in the flotilla. Ankara said the Mavi Marmara had been withdrawn this year and that there would be no Turkish vessels involved in the operation.The boats will leave from various Greek ports or meet off the coast, said Vaguelis Pissias from the country's A boat for Gaza group, without specifying a departure date.Greek is being used as a departure point due to its geographic position and its historical, cultural relations with Arab countries, he said.Two cargo boats will carry medicines, a fully-equipped ambulance car and cement.
What happened last year caused us grave concern ... but we are determined to go to Gaza, our aim is not simply to break the embargo but to show Israelis and people in the region that they have the right to live more harmoniously,said Pissias.The United States said last week that such flotillas were not needed to funnel humanitarian aid because aid can be delivered to the Israeli port of Ashdod, from where it can be transported to Gaza.We do not believe that the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza, said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.Just this week, the Israeli government approved a significant commitment to housing in Gaza. There will be construction materials entering Gaza.
And we think that it?s not helpful for there to be flotillas that try to provoke actions by entering into Israeli waters and creating a situation in which the Israelis have the right to defend themselves,Clinton said.
Latest developments in Arab world's unrest
By The Associated Press – Sat Jun 25, 5:39 pm ET
SYRIA-Hundreds of Syrians, some with gunshot wounds, cross into neighboring Lebanon in search of a refuge from the growing government crackdown in their homeland, a Lebanese security official says. Other Syrians march in a funeral for victims of the crackdown outside Damascus, demanding President Bashar Assad's ouster.Most refugees arriving at the Lebanese border came after Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters in anti-regime demonstrations across Syria on Friday. Syrian activists say 20 people were killed, including two children aged 12 and 13.
LIBYA-Libyan authorities accuse NATO of killing 15 people in an airstrike that they say hit a restaurant and bakery in the east, though the alliance denies the report.
It is the latest outcry from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's government blaming NATO for killing civilians amid a four-month uprising that has sparked a civil war. NATO insists it does all it can to avoid such casualties.Rebel representatives, meanwhile, say their fighters are coordinating around the country for the zero hour when their forces would reach the capital of Tripoli.The rebels say they have been working to cut fuel supplies from the Tunisian border in an attempt to paralyze Gadhafi's forces. Rebels also are making homemade bombs and trying to ferry other weapons to their comrades in Tripoli, a spokesman for an underground guerrilla group there says.
EGYPT-Amnesty International urges Egypt's military rulers to break with the past and abolish repressive laws and practices as the country prepares for parliamentary elections in the aftermath of Hosni Mubarak's ouster.Amnesty Secretary-General Salil Shetty tells reporters during a visit to Cairo that the military council that took power from Mubarak on an interim basis after February's political upheaval should fulfill a promise to scrap decades-old emergency laws that gave Mubarak's security agents and police a free hand to silence dissent.This is an incredible moment of opportunity for the Egyptian authorities to show they have made a clean break with past abuses,he says.
YEMEN-Yemeni forces kill three men who were among nearly 60 suspected al-Qaida militants who escaped from prison this past week, officials says. The three escapees were awaiting execution in the Mukalla prison in southern Yemen, where inmates attacked guards, seized their weapons and fled through a tunnel on Wednesday in another sign that Islamic militants are making gains amid Yemen's political turmoil.
Nearly four months of anti-government protests have left the country's president of more than three decades clinging to power.
TUNISIA-Tunisia's official news agency says a Tunis appeals court has upheld the conviction of a nephew of ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on drug use and possession charges.The court gave Imed Trabelsi a four-year prison sentence, twice the penalty handed down in the original trial in May. He was also fined 3,000 dinars ($2,100).A Justice Ministry spokesman says Trabelsi will stand trial on other charges including corruption, fraud and illegal trafficking of archaeological items.
Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia Jan. 14 amid a public uprising. He and his wife, Leila Trabelsi, were convicted in absentia Monday and sentenced to 35 years each in prison and fined millions of dollars.
Israel marks five years since capture of soldier
by Gali Tibbon – Sat Jun 25, 3:39 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The parents of an Israeli soldier snatched by Palestinians five years ago chained themselves to railings near the premier's home on Saturday to protest against their son's continued captivity.Elsewhere, hundreds of supporters of captive sergeant Gilad Shalit gathered in southern Israel near the Gaza border, close to the site where militants seized him on June 25, 2006 in a cross-border raid that killed two other soldiers and wounded five.And in a commercial TV studio near Tel Aviv, celebrities took it in turns to spend one hour each in a mock-up cell to dramatise Shalit's plight.In Jerusalem, Shalit's parents Noam and Aviva, his brother Yoel and Yoel's girlfriend Yaara Winkler used a length of chain and a padlock to attach themselves to the railings of a building metres (yards) from Benjamin Netanyahu's official residence, linking themselves with plastic ties.We are a family already in captivity for five years -- we'll stay here as long as necessary,Noam Shalit told journalists.The group was ringed by members of Netanyahu's security detail, but there was no attempt to move them.The action took place close to the pavement protest tent where Shalit's parents and supporters have spent the past year.
Earlier on Saturday, French Ambassador Christophe Bigot gave the Shalits a letter from French President Nicolas Sarkozy addressed to Gilad, who also holds French nationality, saying France will never abandon you.Sarkozy's letter, addressed Dear Gilad and seen by AFP, said the French president does not accept the isolation which your jailers have imposed upon you for five years, in violation of all the norms of international law and the most basic principles of humanity.You are spending the years of your youth in the most extreme solitude, Sarkozy wrote.This situation is outrageous. Nothing could justify it.It is time for those responsible for your captivity to take the decision to cease this endless, unacceptable and revolting imprisonment.Bigot told reporters that France was doing everything possible to win Shalit's freedom but that he could not give details.At the rally in southern Israel, near where Shalit was captured by militants from three Gaza-based groups, including Hamas, around 300 people gathered to call for his release.Organisers read out a letter from his grandfather Zvi Shalit, blaming Netanyahu for rejecting a prisoner swap deal with Hamas for Shalit's release.The prime minister, in his refusal to compromise, is gambling daily with the life of my grandson and endangering him, the letter said.Later, 24 Israeli celebrities began taking turns in a mock-up of a cell for an hour each, to back demands for a prisoner swap. Their vigil is being captured on video which will be posted on Facebook.Pictures broadcast on state-run Channel One TV showed the set depicting a grim and gloomy concrete space, with sand on the floor and a cracked and filthy toilet in the corner.
In Gaza City, Hamas organised a rally of its own.Its supporters also set up a make-believe cell, with a character inside dressed as Shalit in an Israeli army uniform. A cake with five flowers, representing the five years of his captivity, was placed in front of him.A loudspeaker played a recording of Shalit pleading with Netanyahu to free him. It was taken from a video -- the last proof he was alive -- that was released in October 2009.A banner said: The Red Cross asked for the release of Shalit, but we are asking the Red Cross if it has heard of the 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.Hamas's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, issued a statement on its website saying Shalit would not see the light of day until the Palestinian prisoners were released.On Friday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States condemns in the strongest possible terms his continued detention, and joins other governments and international organisations around the world in calling on Hamas to release him immediately.UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for Shalit's immediate release, and asked Hamas to protect his life, treat him humanely, prove that he is alive and allow the Shalit family to have contact with their son.
U.S. warns against new Gaza flotilla plans
– Fri Jun 24, 5:18 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States warned activists on Friday against plans to send a new aid flotilla to challenge Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying it would be irresponsible and dangerous.Groups that seek to break Israel's maritime blockade of Gaza are taking irresponsible and provocative actions that risk the safety of their passengers, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a statement.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said there were better ways of getting help into Gaza.We don't think it's useful or productive or helpful to the people of Gaza, Clinton told reporters after a meeting with the visiting South Korean foreign minister.We believe that a far better approach is to support the work that is being done through the United Nations ... to ensure that the people of Gaza get access to materials and humanitarian assistance in a safe and timely way.Israel said on Wednesday it had warned the United Nations that a new aid flotilla -- which activists say could depart from European ports in coming days -- could result in dangerous consequences.Israel has made clear it will prevent any new flotilla from reaching Gaza. A year ago, nine Turkish activists, including one with dual U.S.-Turkish nationality, were killed in an Israeli raid on a similar convoy.
The Israeli military came under fierce criticism for the May 2010 raid, which led to a severe deterioration of its ties with Turkey.The United States, Israel's most important ally, has backed Israel's blockade of Gaza, which the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group seized from forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.Palestinians say the Israeli sea blockade is illegal and is helping strangle Gaza's underdeveloped economy.Nuland said the United States remained concerned about conditions in Gaza, but that the situation there had improved significantly over the past year with a broader range of goods and materials available.But she said that recent weapons seizures and periodic rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza against Israeli civilians illustrated the ongoing necessity for Israel to screen Gaza-bound cargo.We underscore that delivering or attempting or conspiring to deliver material support or other resources to or for the benefit of a designated foreign terrorist organization, such as Hamas, could violate U.S. civil and criminal statutes and could lead to fines and incarceration, Nuland said.Clinton said the people of Gaza were the victims of the decisions that have been made over the past years by Hamas,and that the United States hoped to see changes in the way the region is administered.The contrast between the rising standard of living and economic opportunity and educational and health services in the West Bank, compared to Gaza, I think tell a very compelling story,she said.(Editing by Jackie Frank and Peter Cooney)
Hezbollah members confess to spying for CIA: Nasrallah by Natacha Yazbeck – Fri Jun 24, 4:30 pm ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday said members of his group had confessed to being CIA agents, and accused arch-foe Israel of turning to the US spy agency after failing to infiltrate his party.The US embassy in Beirut immediately dismissed the accusations as empty, saying Nasrallah seemed to be addressing internal problems within Hezbollah.In the first such acknowledgement of infiltration since the Iranian-backed Shiite group's founding in the 1980s, Nasrallah refused to give the identities of two party members he said were working for the Central Intelligence Agency.But he said a third case was also under investigation, and slammed the American embassy in Beirut as a den of spies.When the Israeli enemy failed to infiltrate Hezbollah, it turned to the most powerful intelligence agency, he said in a closed-circuit television speech, referring to the CIA.Our investigation has found that... (CIA) intelligence officers have recruited two of our members separately, whom we shall not name out of respect for the privacy of their families.The first confessed he was recruited five months ago... while the second confessed he had been recruited even before that, he said, adding that the recruiters were CIA agents posing as diplomats at the US embassy east of Beirut.
Nasrallah also said the group was investigating whether the third member of the militant group had been recruited by the CIA, Israel's Mossad or the intelligence service of a European country.A US embassy spokesperson told AFP there was no substance to Nasrallah's accusations, pointing instead to internal problems within Hezbollah.These are the same kinds of empty accusations that we have repeatedly heard from Hezbollah, the US spokesperson said shortly after Nasrallah's speech.
There is no substance to his accusation, he added.It appears as if Nasrallah was addressing internal problems within Hezbollah with which we have nothing to do.Our position towards Hezbollah is well known and has not changed.The United States blacklists Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.Nasrallah warned that Hezbollah, which prides itself on the discipline of its members and its immunity to infiltration, was facing a new threat.A new confrontation has now begun, he said. We were already in a state of confrontation with the Israeli enemy, but now we are being targeted by US intelligence, opening a new front in our struggle.The Shiite leader insisted, however, that the alleged agents had not been involved in the 2008 assassination of senior Hezbollah operative Imad Mughnieh in the Syrian capital Damascus.Hezbollah openly accused Israel of being behind the bombing that killed Mughnieh and vowed to avenge his death. The Jewish state denied responsibility.More than 100 people in Lebanon have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel since April 2009, including military personnel and telecommunications employees.Lebanon and Israel technically remain in a state of war and convicted spies face life imprisonment or the death sentence if found guilty of contributing to Lebanese loss of life.
Lebanon has protested to the United Nations over the alleged spy networks.Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah last fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006.The month-long conflict killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mainly soldiers, and destroyed much of Lebanon's major infrastructure.
French Mideast conference plan sows confusion
– Fri Jun 24, 2:07 pm ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) – Europe's leaders Friday backed a French plan for a Palestinian donor conference as President Nicolas Sarkozy insisted it had a wider goal of gathering Palestinians and Israelis together for peace talks.Confusion surfaced when EU leaders issued a summit statement backing a conference in Paris to provide economic support for the construction of the Palestinian state in the framework of a re-launched peace process.The wording of the European Union statement stopped short of endorsing efforts by Paris to transform its plan for July donor talks into a wider Middle East peace conference, but left the door open to this possibility should the peace process resume any time soon.Sarkozy said at a news conference following the summit that there is an agreement to back the French initiative.But he described that initiative as a Paris conference, a peace initiative between Palestinians and Israelis, and this initiative will enable Europe to have a joint position.The French offer of a conference has so far met with resistance from the United States as well as parties to the talks.The EU's statement also said its leaders backed a call by foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton for the re-launch of the peace process as a matter of urgency.Ashton on June 10 sent a letter to her fellow principals in the Middle East Quartet -- Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- saying a gesture was critical before the summer in order to calm a volatile situation should the UN vote on backing a Palestinian state in September.
Fundamental changes across the Arab world highlight the need for progress on the Middle East peace process and to overcome the current stalemate,the statement said.
An EU diplomat said the bloc hoped to see a high-level meeting of the diplomatic Quartet in the next two or three weeks -- a move that would signal movement on the negotiation front.Envoys from the Quartet met in Brussels on Friday to look at the possibility of calling a meeting of principals, or ministerial-level talks, but there was no immediate word on a date for further talks.The EU statement also welcomed US President Barack Obama's proposal for talks to be based on Israel's 1967 borders and warned all parties to abstain from unilateral actions that are not conducive to a comprehensive solution.And it expressed grave concern on the fate of Gilad Shalit, on the fifth anniversary of the Israeli soldier's capture by Gaza-based militants.
Abbas says no turning back from Palestinian unity efforts – Fri Jun 24, 11:10 am ET
ANKARA (AFP) – Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas vowed Friday to press ahead with efforts for a unity government, as disagreements with Hamas continue to snag the process.We are continuing on the path of reconciliation and there will be no turning back, Abbas said after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that marked the end of his four-day visit to Ankara.We will make all efforts possible until the unity of our nation is achieved and a transitional government is established, he told reporters through an interpreter.On Sunday, a Palestinian official cited Abbas' trip to Turkey among the reasons for the indefinite postponement of his meeting with Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, which had been scheduled for Tuesday in Cairo.The two were to have finalised the formation of a unity government.But other officials said later that disagreement over who should be the next Palestinian premier was holding up the creation of an interim government.
The Cairo meeting was postponed due to Hamas opposition to the reappointment of Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad, they said.On Tuesday, the day Abbas arrived in Ankara, Meshaal was in Istanbul holding talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on ways to overcome disagreements with Fatah.A senior Palestinian official familiar with the talks told AFP in Ramallah that Turkey had informed Abbas that Hamas adamantly refused to accept Fayyad's reappointment.He said Hamas would accept any other official the president proposes, just not Salam Fayyad.Hamas associates Fayyad with a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank in cooperation with Israel.Under a unity deal signed in May, the old rivals must agree on independent figures to be included in a government that will lay the groundwork for legislative and presidential elections within a year.Turkey has sought to mediate in efforts to reconcile Fatah and Hamas, braving Israel's ire over contacts with Meshaal's radical Islamist group.Erdogan offered all support to secure Palestinian unity and stressed that Ankara does not want to see bloodshed between brothers in Palestine.He promised to resolutely support a Palestinian bid for membership in the United Nations.Turkey will host a meeting of Palestinian ambassadors, scheduled for July 23-24 in Istanbul, Erdogan said.He renewed a call on Israel to lift as soon as possible the inhumane and unlawful blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and allow the entry of goods, notably construction materials to rebuild infrastructure destroyed during a major Israeli offensive.Relations between one-time allies Turkey and Israel were soured last year when Israeli troops killed nine Turks in a raid on a Turkish ferry leading an international aid flotilla that attempted to break the blockade of Gaza.Their ties had already been strained over Erdogan's frequent outbursts against Israel and his defence of Hamas.
Turkey supports Palestinian recognition
– Fri Jun 24, 9:27 am ET
ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey's prime minister has voiced strong backing for Palestinian plans to seek U.N. recognition of an independent state.Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey would mobilize support to help Palestinians achieve recognition and form their own state. He was addressing reporters after talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Erdogan also said Turkey was prepared to contribute toward Palestinian efforts to form a unity government.Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu this week held separate meetings with Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, days after they called off a meeting in Egypt meant to finalize a reconciliation agreement.Abbas reaffirmed commitment to Palestinian unity saying: there will be no turning back from the road to reconciliation.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
TALKS WITH ISRAEL WON'T STOP UN BID-PAL
Palestinians: Talks with Israel won't stop UN bid
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press – Thu Jun 23, 9:19 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS – The Palestinians will seek membership as an independent state at the U.N. in September even if peace negotiations with Israel are underway, the Palestinian U.N. envoy said Thursday.Riyad Mansour said the Palestinians are working on three separate tracks — restarting negotiations, completing the institutions for an independent state and gaining additional recognition for a Palestinian state.If we succeed in opening the door for negotiations, we're not going to stop from attaining what belongs to us as Palestinians in this General Assembly starting on Sept. 20, Mansour told reporters after the Security Council's monthly meeting on the Mideast. Whether we succeed in the negotiations or we don't, the other two tracks are continuing.Mansour dismissed speculation that the Palestinians would decide against taking action to promote an independent Palestinian state and U.N. membership at the annual gathering of world leaders and ministers at the General Assembly.Some Palestinians have said privately that the project is problematic and promises a messy and unclear outcome that could change little on the ground — and might backfire politically or even spark new violence if Palestinians emerge disappointed with the result.U.N. membership requires a recommendation from the Security Council — which means no veto by the United States, Israel's closest ally — and approval by two-thirds of the General Assembly, or 128 countries. The U.S. has repeatedly said there should be a negotiated peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians before Palestine becomes a U.N. member state.Earlier this month, U.S. officials told a visiting Palestinian delegation that seeking U.N. recognition in the absence of a peace deal was a nonstarter — the latest indication that the U.S. would veto a resolution at the Security Council.Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor told reporters that doing anything unilateral would not be constructive.The Palestinians insist they will not resume peace talks until Israel stops building settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — lands it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and which the Palestinians want for their future state. Israel maintains that the Palestinians should not set conditions for talks and that settlements didn't stop them negotiating in the past.
Mansour criticized Israel for refusing to halt settlement building and agree to resume negotiations based on 1967 borders, with agreed land swaps, as U.S. President Barack Obama has endorsed.Israel's Prosor said I think both sides are working together now to find ways to go into direct negotiations.I know that unilateral steps don't bring anything constructive, but on the contrary, he said,so we all should try and work as much as we can with the time that we have in order to set down with the difficult issues that we still have to address.Mansour wouldn't say exactly what the Palestinians will do at the U.N. in September. Asked when the Palestinians would submit an application for U.N. membership to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, he replied: When we are ready.He predicted that more than two-thirds of the 192 U.N. member states would recognize an independent Palestinian state before September, up from around 120 countries at present.Then, we want to know if there is a position in the Security Council of depriving us of our natural right and legal right to join the community of nations as a state, he said.What would be the argument if more than two-thirds of nations are supporting us in that endeavor?Mansour said he believes this year the Palestinians are facing a historic moment because the international community is sick and tired of the continuation of this conflict.No one can stop the wheel of history that is rotating,he said.They want to see it ending — and it has to be ending on the basis of an independent Palestinian state on the borders of 1967 with east Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel determined to halt Gaza flotilla: UN envoy
by Pierre-Antoine Donnet – Thu Jun 23, 1:22 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – Israel is determined to stop an activist flotilla that will try to reach the besieged Gaza Strip next week, the country's UN envoy said Thursday.
Setting off a new dispute with his Palestinian counterpart, ambassador Ron Prosor said:Israel is determined to stop this flotilla. Israel has the right to self defense.He called the protest a provocation.The flotilla has nothing constructive -- there is nothing humanitarian or anything that has to do with Palestinian welfare in the organizing of this flotilla,he told reporters as the UN Security Council held talks on the Middle East including the flotilla.Prosor called the organizers extremists.About 10 boats are to take part in the flotilla which is set to leave 13 months after Israeli commandos halted a previous aid armada heading for Gaza, killing nine people, mainly Turkish nationals.A group of pro-Palestinian activists, led by several Turkish groups, have said they plan to sail to Gaza, mainly from Greek ports, in a repeat of the mission violently halted on May 31 last year.UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a number of governments have warned the flotilla not to start. The US government has warned its nationals against taking part in the protest.Israel has strongly urged Turkey to block the flotilla from leaving. The United Nations has said that aid shipments should be sent through formal UN structures.The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyadh Mansour, spoke up for the flotilla protest however. If this blockade of Gaza was lifted there might not be the need for many of the things which are happening and might happen, he told reporters.
Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2006 after militants snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. A ban on civilian goods and foodstuffs was eased last year but many restrictions remain in place.Mansour rejected the Israeli envoy's condemnation of Palestinian moves to seek international recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September. Prosor said the unilateral action risked putting back peace efforts.The biggest illegal action we have seen for a long time is the illegal settlement campaign by Israel against our people, Mansour said.Palestinians were ready to negotiate on final status issues with Israel, he said. Our independence is not one of these six final status issues.
Americans warned against sailing in Gaza flotilla
By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press – Wed Jun 22, 2:32 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The State Department is warning Americans against participating in an international flotilla aimed at breaking Israel's sea blockade of the Palestinian Gaza Strip.In a new travel advisory for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, the department says the Gaza coast is dangerous and volatile.The advisory notes that the Israeli navy has stopped previous attempts to enter Gaza by sea, and that's resulted in deaths, injuries and arrests.The U.S. says those participating may face arrest, prosecution and deportation. Israeli authorities say they will seek to ban anyone attempting to break the blockade from traveling to Israel for 10 years.A group of 36 U.S. citizens has announced plans to sail aboard a U.S.-flagged vessel in a flotilla to this month to challenge the blockade.
Palestine may be partner: Council of Europe assembly head – Wed Jun 22, 1:56 pm ET
STRASBOURG, France (AFP) – The Palestinian National Council could this year gain partner for democracy status at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Strasbourg-based body said Wednesday.The assembly's Turkish head, Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking as Morocco gained the same status, said he hoped that during our next session (in October) we shall also be able to grant the Partner for Democracy status to Palestine and that other countries will soon apply.The Council introduced the new status last year to strengthen cooperation with parliaments of non-member states that wish to participate in debates that transcend European borders.The Palestinian National Council, the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization, officially applied for the status last November.Tiny Kox, the Dutch rapporteur for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the case, visited the Palestinian territories in March when he invited president Mahmud Abbas to address the European body, which may happen at the October session.The partnership status allows parliamentary delegates from countries from the southern Mediterranean, the Middle East and Central Asia to take part in PACE's activities, though without the right to vote -- which is reserved for parliamentarians from the 47 Council of Europe member states.Morocco on Tuesday became the first parliament to receive the recognition which comes with certain obligations.These include the holding of free and fair elections and working for the total abolition of the death penalty.Kox recently hailed the signing in Cairo of a reconciliation agreement between feuding Palestinian groups.Three countries have a separate observer status at the PACE; Canada, Mexico and Israel.
Saudis give $70m for Palestinian housing in Gaza
– Wed Jun 22, 1:20 pm ET
AMMAN, Jordan – A U.N. agency aiding Palestinian refugees said Wednesday that Saudi Arabia is contributing $70 million for new housing units in the Gaza Strip.Israel has authorized construction of the 1,200 new homes and 18 badly needed schools in Gaza, in what would be one of the largest housing projects in the seaside territory in years.Israel, which controls the cargo crossings into Gaza, has largely banned the entry of construction materials into the coastal strip since Hamas militants seized control in 2007. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said Wednesday that the test of Israel's decision would be whether it allows thousands of trucks to ferry building material into Gaza's border town of Rafah, where the houses are to be built.The Israeli military said it had no objections to Saudi funding for the project, as long as international groups were overseeing the construction.Japan is also funding the project.
Israeli leaders test nuclear bunker in defense drill
By Dan Williams – Wed Jun 22, 8:22 am ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli leaders holed up in a new underground nuclear bunker on Wednesday as part of annual maneuvers to prepare for a possible missile war with Iran, Syria and their Lebanese and Palestinian guerrilla allies.Officials said it was the first time the security cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had tested the National Management Center carved out beneath the government complex in Jerusalem over the past decade.The bunker includes living quarters as well as command facilities. It can be accessed through the western foothills leading to the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv.This is the proper place from which to run the State of Israel in wartime, Homefront Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio in an interview.Israel instituted increasingly sweeping civil defense drills after the 2006 Lebanon war in which Hezbollah fighters fired thousands of short-range rockets at its northern towns.There have been similar salvoes from Hamas and other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip to the south, and Israeli officials say a future war could involve non-conventional missile strikes by Syria and Iran.Wednesday's exercise, dubbed Turning Point 5, envisaged heavy shelling and thousands of dead and wounded on several Israeli fronts. Police and medics practiced mass-casualty incidents and air raid sirens were scheduled to sound twice.It is certainly an extreme scenario (although) we assume that our enemies would not dare to operate this way, given our deterrent power,Vilnai said.
Reputed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, Israel bombed an Iraqi reactor in 1981 under what it called a policy of denying foes the means to threaten its destruction.Israel launched a similar sortie against Syria in 2007 but its veiled threats to tackle Iran's remote and fortified uranium enrichment sites have often been dismissed as bluster given the tactical challenges involved. World powers say they prefer a negotiated resolution with Iran, which denies seeking the bomb.
Disclosures of the Jerusalem bunker's existence prompted some Israelis to question whether their country, which has also been developing an elaborate ballistic missile shield, was taking a more passive approach to potential nuclear threats.Officials say that providing Israeli leaders with a secret haven from which to respond to attacks would in itself discourage, or at least contain, any future war.(Editing by Alison Williams)
Syria regime lashes out at EU over sanctions
By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press – Wed Jun 22, 3:51 pm ET
BEIRUT – The Syrian regime, besieged by street protests at home and condemnation abroad, on Wednesday lashed out at European governments for threatening a new round of sanctions and accused the West of trying to sow chaos and conflict in the Arab nation.But Foreign Minister Walid Moallem also reiterated the president's call for national dialogue and spoke of democracy over the horizon — a bold assertion after more than four decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family and months of bloody reprisals.It was the regime's latest attempt to blunt three months of widespread demonstrations, a movement that was inspired by pro-democracy upheavals elsewhere in the Mideast and that has persisted despite the reported killing of hundreds of protesters by security forces. A skeptical opposition rejected the overture while the Syrian military is occupying towns and shooting protesters. Seven were reported killed on Tuesday.An official said the European Union is planning to hit the Syrian regime with more sanctions, targeting seven more individuals and four companies in a bid to stop the crackdown against protests. That would bring to 34 the number of Syrian individuals and entities that are hit with an asset freeze and travel ban.
The EU official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The 27-member bloc also has an embargo on sales of arms and equipment that can be used to suppress demonstrations.Moallem said the suggestion amounts to (an act) of war and warned we will forget that Europe is on the map.Stop intervening in Syria's affairs, do not stir chaos nor strife, the Syrian people ... are capable of making their own future away from you,he said.Any external intervention is rejected.
The televised statements by the longtime trusted Assad aide also went beyond the vague promises of reform made Monday by President Bashar Assad and amounted to a rare official admission that Syria has ignored basic democratic principles.In his speech, President Assad had said he was forming a committee to study constitutional amendments, including one that would open the way to political parties other than the ruling Baath Party. He said a package of reforms was expected by September or no later than the end of the year.Moallem added a promise that the Damascus government would soon present an unprecedented example of democracy in the troubled Middle East.
There will be social justice, equality before the law and accountability,he said, when asked about his vision for Syria in three months. But he gave no specifics.
Moallem called for regime opponents to enter into political talks, and urged Syrian exiles to return, pledging that even the harshest opponent of the regime will not be arrested.Whoever wants to test our seriousness should come to the national dialogue to be a partner in shaping the future,he said.But a prominent dissident rejected the idea of talks.There can be no dialogue when a gun is being held to your head, Damascus-based activist Hassan Abdul-Azim said.Responding to Moallem's statements, the dissident Abdul-Azim said dialogue was impossible with the regime's security forces still cracking down on dissent. Such a dialogue would provide a cover for the security crackdown,he told The Associated Press.That view was echoed at the highest level of the United Nations later Wednesday, when Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told New York reporters he didn't see much credibility in the Assad statements because the situation has been continuing.The U.N. chief suggested unified Security Council action to pressure Syria would be helpful.Russia and China have opposed such action.
The U.S. State Department also demanded action instead of words, saying the status quo was unacceptable.They've thrown around a lot of rhetoric, and meanwhile, they've used unremitting violence against innocent civilians,State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.Syria dissidents noted that previous talk of reform has produced little change in Syria's autocratic system.We are not against dialogue in principle, but we currently have no confidence or guarantees that anything would be implemented, said London-based Syrian activist Rami Abdul-Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human RightsAmong the opposition's demands is the withdrawal of Syrian troops from cities, trials for security personnel responsible for killing protesters and the release of all political prisoners.The opposition estimates 1,400 people have been killed and 10,000 detained in the attempted suppression of the 3-month-old pro-democracy movement, which was inspired by successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. Hundreds of soldiers and police officers have also been killed.Activists said the sweeping arrests have continued even after Assad's speech. Abdul-Rahman and others said dozens of students were beaten and others detained, including female students, during a raid at Damascus University dormitories Tuesday night.Abdul-Azim said the scattered opposition movement would announce within a week the formation of a National Coordination Council for democratic change, encompassing all groups inside and outside Syria.The foreign minister sounded confident there would be no Western military intervention or no-fly zone over Syria, saying the international community is mired in the scandals of its military intervention in Libya.Moallem added that Arab countries without exception support Damascus. The Arab League on Monday issued a statement of support for Syria and opposition to foreign intervention there.
Moallem also denied that Syrian allies Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement are helping the Damascus regime put down unrest. The U.S. has accused Iran of sending reinforcements and equipment to Syria.Associated Press writers Raf Casert in Brussels and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.Zeina Karam can be reached on http://twitter.com/zkaram
Israel allows new Palestinian housing in Gaza
By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press – Tue Jun 21, 3:06 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Israel has authorized construction of 1,200 new homes for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in what would be one of the largest housing projects in the troubled seaside territory in years, military authorities said Tuesday.The body that coordinates Israeli activities in the Palestinian areas said it has authorized the construction of the 1,200 homes, as well as 18 badly needed schools, in southern Gaza.Israel, which controls the cargo crossings into Gaza, has largely banned the entry of construction materials into the coastal strip since Hamas militants seized control of the area in 2007. Israel fears items like cement, metal and glass could be used for military purposes by Gaza's Hamas rulers.Gaza's construction needs are dire, especially following an Israeli military offensive against Hamas two and a half years ago. The United Nations estimates that 60,000 homes were damaged or destroyed during the three-week operation.Israel has sporadically approved a series of housing projects since that war, but U.N. officials say the limited approvals, combined with the slow entry of materials into the territory, have done little to alleviate the situation.U.N. officials said Defense Minister Ehud Barak relayed the decision to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon in a telephone conversation on Monday.
Ban's Mideast envoy, Robert Serry, welcomed the significant step.We will continue to work together with the relevant U.N. agencies to implement these projects in a timely fashion so as to improve the situation in Gaza,Serry said.Officials with UNRWA, the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees, said it was important that Israel follow through and allow large quantities of construction materials into Gaza.
Adnan Abu Hassna, a spokesman for the U.N. agency, said the approval would allow two major housing projects in southern Gaza. He said they would replace homes that were demolished by Israel's military in 2003 and 2004, a period of heavy fighting between the Jewish state and Palestinian militants. He said the projects are being funded by Saudi Arabia and Japan.We are now waiting for practical steps to allow thousands of trucks loaded with construction materials to enter, which will allow us to start the building process needed to ease the lives of thousands of families,he said.He said the new schools would alleviate a crunch that has forced students to attend U.N. schools in three shifts throughout the day.Associated Press writer Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report.
Israel to let $100 million of building goods into Gaza – Tue Jun 21, 1:59 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has approved the building of $100 million worth of new houses and schools in the Gaza Strip, Israeli and U.N. officials said on Tuesday.
Israel, together with Egypt, tightened a blockade on the Gaza Strip after Hamas Islamists seized it from forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.Guy Inbar, a military spokesman, said Israel had given the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) the green light to bring building materials for 18 new schools and 1,200 new houses into the Hamas-controlled territory.He said the approval was immediate and the process could begin as soon as UNRWA was ready.I welcome this significant step and I hope it will happen in a timely fashion, said U.N. Middle East envoy Robert Serry.Israel says its Gaza blockade, which prevents many needed supplies from entering the Strip, stops weapons from reaching Hamas, a militant group that refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and frequently fires cross-border rockets.Palestinians believe the Israeli sea blockade is illegal and say it is helping to strangle the underdeveloped Gazan economy.Israel has made clear it will prevent a planned pro-Palestinian aid flotilla from reaching Gaza. A year ago, nine Turkish activists, including one with dual U.S.-Turkish nationality, were killed in an Israeli raid on a similar convoy.
Israel, calling the new flotilla a provocation, has stepped up diplomatic efforts to block it. Organizers say the sea convoy, which they hope will set sail this month, will carry humanitarian aid and construction materials.One foreign diplomat, speaking anonymously, suggested that Tuesday's approval for UNRWA to deliver housing materials may have been an Israeli attempt to undercut the rationale for sending another flotilla.(Writing by Ari Rabinovitch, Editing by Alistair Lyon)
Palestinian leader in Turkey for talks
– Tue Jun 21, 1:20 pm ET
ANKARA (AFP) – Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas arrived here Tuesday for talks with Turkish leaders amid disagreements over the formation of a Palestinian unity government, officials said.Abbas will have a private programme before talks with Turkish leaders on Thursday and Friday, a Turkish diplomat told AFP, without elaborating.The Palestinian leader is to meet with President Abdullah Gul on Thursday, a presidential aide said.He will also hold talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.Bilateral relations with Palestine will be discussed during the talks, and consultations will take place on the situation in Palestine and the Middle East peace process following the national compromise between Fatah and Hamas, the presidency said in a statement.On Sunday, a Palestinian official cited the trip among the reasons for the indefinite postponement of a meeting between Abbas, who heads Fatah, and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, which had been scheduled for Tuesday in Cairo.
The two were to have finalised the formation of a unity government.But other officials said later that disagreement over who should be the next Palestinian premier were holding up the creation of an interim government of independents agreed last month between old rivals Fatah and Hamas.The Cairo meeting was postponed due to Hamas opposition to the reappointment of Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad, they said.Under the unity deal signed in May, Fatah and Hamas must agree on independent figures to make up a government that will lay the groundwork for legislative and presidential elections within a year.Turkey has sought to mediate in efforts to reconcile the two factions, braving Israel's ire over contacts with Hamas.The Islamist-rooted government in Ankara insists that peace cannot be achieved in the Middle East if Hamas is excluded from the process.
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press – Thu Jun 23, 9:19 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS – The Palestinians will seek membership as an independent state at the U.N. in September even if peace negotiations with Israel are underway, the Palestinian U.N. envoy said Thursday.Riyad Mansour said the Palestinians are working on three separate tracks — restarting negotiations, completing the institutions for an independent state and gaining additional recognition for a Palestinian state.If we succeed in opening the door for negotiations, we're not going to stop from attaining what belongs to us as Palestinians in this General Assembly starting on Sept. 20, Mansour told reporters after the Security Council's monthly meeting on the Mideast. Whether we succeed in the negotiations or we don't, the other two tracks are continuing.Mansour dismissed speculation that the Palestinians would decide against taking action to promote an independent Palestinian state and U.N. membership at the annual gathering of world leaders and ministers at the General Assembly.Some Palestinians have said privately that the project is problematic and promises a messy and unclear outcome that could change little on the ground — and might backfire politically or even spark new violence if Palestinians emerge disappointed with the result.U.N. membership requires a recommendation from the Security Council — which means no veto by the United States, Israel's closest ally — and approval by two-thirds of the General Assembly, or 128 countries. The U.S. has repeatedly said there should be a negotiated peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians before Palestine becomes a U.N. member state.Earlier this month, U.S. officials told a visiting Palestinian delegation that seeking U.N. recognition in the absence of a peace deal was a nonstarter — the latest indication that the U.S. would veto a resolution at the Security Council.Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor told reporters that doing anything unilateral would not be constructive.The Palestinians insist they will not resume peace talks until Israel stops building settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — lands it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and which the Palestinians want for their future state. Israel maintains that the Palestinians should not set conditions for talks and that settlements didn't stop them negotiating in the past.
Mansour criticized Israel for refusing to halt settlement building and agree to resume negotiations based on 1967 borders, with agreed land swaps, as U.S. President Barack Obama has endorsed.Israel's Prosor said I think both sides are working together now to find ways to go into direct negotiations.I know that unilateral steps don't bring anything constructive, but on the contrary, he said,so we all should try and work as much as we can with the time that we have in order to set down with the difficult issues that we still have to address.Mansour wouldn't say exactly what the Palestinians will do at the U.N. in September. Asked when the Palestinians would submit an application for U.N. membership to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, he replied: When we are ready.He predicted that more than two-thirds of the 192 U.N. member states would recognize an independent Palestinian state before September, up from around 120 countries at present.Then, we want to know if there is a position in the Security Council of depriving us of our natural right and legal right to join the community of nations as a state, he said.What would be the argument if more than two-thirds of nations are supporting us in that endeavor?Mansour said he believes this year the Palestinians are facing a historic moment because the international community is sick and tired of the continuation of this conflict.No one can stop the wheel of history that is rotating,he said.They want to see it ending — and it has to be ending on the basis of an independent Palestinian state on the borders of 1967 with east Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel determined to halt Gaza flotilla: UN envoy
by Pierre-Antoine Donnet – Thu Jun 23, 1:22 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – Israel is determined to stop an activist flotilla that will try to reach the besieged Gaza Strip next week, the country's UN envoy said Thursday.
Setting off a new dispute with his Palestinian counterpart, ambassador Ron Prosor said:Israel is determined to stop this flotilla. Israel has the right to self defense.He called the protest a provocation.The flotilla has nothing constructive -- there is nothing humanitarian or anything that has to do with Palestinian welfare in the organizing of this flotilla,he told reporters as the UN Security Council held talks on the Middle East including the flotilla.Prosor called the organizers extremists.About 10 boats are to take part in the flotilla which is set to leave 13 months after Israeli commandos halted a previous aid armada heading for Gaza, killing nine people, mainly Turkish nationals.A group of pro-Palestinian activists, led by several Turkish groups, have said they plan to sail to Gaza, mainly from Greek ports, in a repeat of the mission violently halted on May 31 last year.UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a number of governments have warned the flotilla not to start. The US government has warned its nationals against taking part in the protest.Israel has strongly urged Turkey to block the flotilla from leaving. The United Nations has said that aid shipments should be sent through formal UN structures.The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyadh Mansour, spoke up for the flotilla protest however. If this blockade of Gaza was lifted there might not be the need for many of the things which are happening and might happen, he told reporters.
Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2006 after militants snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. A ban on civilian goods and foodstuffs was eased last year but many restrictions remain in place.Mansour rejected the Israeli envoy's condemnation of Palestinian moves to seek international recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September. Prosor said the unilateral action risked putting back peace efforts.The biggest illegal action we have seen for a long time is the illegal settlement campaign by Israel against our people, Mansour said.Palestinians were ready to negotiate on final status issues with Israel, he said. Our independence is not one of these six final status issues.
Americans warned against sailing in Gaza flotilla
By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press – Wed Jun 22, 2:32 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The State Department is warning Americans against participating in an international flotilla aimed at breaking Israel's sea blockade of the Palestinian Gaza Strip.In a new travel advisory for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, the department says the Gaza coast is dangerous and volatile.The advisory notes that the Israeli navy has stopped previous attempts to enter Gaza by sea, and that's resulted in deaths, injuries and arrests.The U.S. says those participating may face arrest, prosecution and deportation. Israeli authorities say they will seek to ban anyone attempting to break the blockade from traveling to Israel for 10 years.A group of 36 U.S. citizens has announced plans to sail aboard a U.S.-flagged vessel in a flotilla to this month to challenge the blockade.
Palestine may be partner: Council of Europe assembly head – Wed Jun 22, 1:56 pm ET
STRASBOURG, France (AFP) – The Palestinian National Council could this year gain partner for democracy status at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Strasbourg-based body said Wednesday.The assembly's Turkish head, Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking as Morocco gained the same status, said he hoped that during our next session (in October) we shall also be able to grant the Partner for Democracy status to Palestine and that other countries will soon apply.The Council introduced the new status last year to strengthen cooperation with parliaments of non-member states that wish to participate in debates that transcend European borders.The Palestinian National Council, the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization, officially applied for the status last November.Tiny Kox, the Dutch rapporteur for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the case, visited the Palestinian territories in March when he invited president Mahmud Abbas to address the European body, which may happen at the October session.The partnership status allows parliamentary delegates from countries from the southern Mediterranean, the Middle East and Central Asia to take part in PACE's activities, though without the right to vote -- which is reserved for parliamentarians from the 47 Council of Europe member states.Morocco on Tuesday became the first parliament to receive the recognition which comes with certain obligations.These include the holding of free and fair elections and working for the total abolition of the death penalty.Kox recently hailed the signing in Cairo of a reconciliation agreement between feuding Palestinian groups.Three countries have a separate observer status at the PACE; Canada, Mexico and Israel.
Saudis give $70m for Palestinian housing in Gaza
– Wed Jun 22, 1:20 pm ET
AMMAN, Jordan – A U.N. agency aiding Palestinian refugees said Wednesday that Saudi Arabia is contributing $70 million for new housing units in the Gaza Strip.Israel has authorized construction of the 1,200 new homes and 18 badly needed schools in Gaza, in what would be one of the largest housing projects in the seaside territory in years.Israel, which controls the cargo crossings into Gaza, has largely banned the entry of construction materials into the coastal strip since Hamas militants seized control in 2007. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said Wednesday that the test of Israel's decision would be whether it allows thousands of trucks to ferry building material into Gaza's border town of Rafah, where the houses are to be built.The Israeli military said it had no objections to Saudi funding for the project, as long as international groups were overseeing the construction.Japan is also funding the project.
Israeli leaders test nuclear bunker in defense drill
By Dan Williams – Wed Jun 22, 8:22 am ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli leaders holed up in a new underground nuclear bunker on Wednesday as part of annual maneuvers to prepare for a possible missile war with Iran, Syria and their Lebanese and Palestinian guerrilla allies.Officials said it was the first time the security cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had tested the National Management Center carved out beneath the government complex in Jerusalem over the past decade.The bunker includes living quarters as well as command facilities. It can be accessed through the western foothills leading to the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv.This is the proper place from which to run the State of Israel in wartime, Homefront Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio in an interview.Israel instituted increasingly sweeping civil defense drills after the 2006 Lebanon war in which Hezbollah fighters fired thousands of short-range rockets at its northern towns.There have been similar salvoes from Hamas and other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip to the south, and Israeli officials say a future war could involve non-conventional missile strikes by Syria and Iran.Wednesday's exercise, dubbed Turning Point 5, envisaged heavy shelling and thousands of dead and wounded on several Israeli fronts. Police and medics practiced mass-casualty incidents and air raid sirens were scheduled to sound twice.It is certainly an extreme scenario (although) we assume that our enemies would not dare to operate this way, given our deterrent power,Vilnai said.
Reputed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, Israel bombed an Iraqi reactor in 1981 under what it called a policy of denying foes the means to threaten its destruction.Israel launched a similar sortie against Syria in 2007 but its veiled threats to tackle Iran's remote and fortified uranium enrichment sites have often been dismissed as bluster given the tactical challenges involved. World powers say they prefer a negotiated resolution with Iran, which denies seeking the bomb.
Disclosures of the Jerusalem bunker's existence prompted some Israelis to question whether their country, which has also been developing an elaborate ballistic missile shield, was taking a more passive approach to potential nuclear threats.Officials say that providing Israeli leaders with a secret haven from which to respond to attacks would in itself discourage, or at least contain, any future war.(Editing by Alison Williams)
Syria regime lashes out at EU over sanctions
By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press – Wed Jun 22, 3:51 pm ET
BEIRUT – The Syrian regime, besieged by street protests at home and condemnation abroad, on Wednesday lashed out at European governments for threatening a new round of sanctions and accused the West of trying to sow chaos and conflict in the Arab nation.But Foreign Minister Walid Moallem also reiterated the president's call for national dialogue and spoke of democracy over the horizon — a bold assertion after more than four decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family and months of bloody reprisals.It was the regime's latest attempt to blunt three months of widespread demonstrations, a movement that was inspired by pro-democracy upheavals elsewhere in the Mideast and that has persisted despite the reported killing of hundreds of protesters by security forces. A skeptical opposition rejected the overture while the Syrian military is occupying towns and shooting protesters. Seven were reported killed on Tuesday.An official said the European Union is planning to hit the Syrian regime with more sanctions, targeting seven more individuals and four companies in a bid to stop the crackdown against protests. That would bring to 34 the number of Syrian individuals and entities that are hit with an asset freeze and travel ban.
The EU official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The 27-member bloc also has an embargo on sales of arms and equipment that can be used to suppress demonstrations.Moallem said the suggestion amounts to (an act) of war and warned we will forget that Europe is on the map.Stop intervening in Syria's affairs, do not stir chaos nor strife, the Syrian people ... are capable of making their own future away from you,he said.Any external intervention is rejected.
The televised statements by the longtime trusted Assad aide also went beyond the vague promises of reform made Monday by President Bashar Assad and amounted to a rare official admission that Syria has ignored basic democratic principles.In his speech, President Assad had said he was forming a committee to study constitutional amendments, including one that would open the way to political parties other than the ruling Baath Party. He said a package of reforms was expected by September or no later than the end of the year.Moallem added a promise that the Damascus government would soon present an unprecedented example of democracy in the troubled Middle East.
There will be social justice, equality before the law and accountability,he said, when asked about his vision for Syria in three months. But he gave no specifics.
Moallem called for regime opponents to enter into political talks, and urged Syrian exiles to return, pledging that even the harshest opponent of the regime will not be arrested.Whoever wants to test our seriousness should come to the national dialogue to be a partner in shaping the future,he said.But a prominent dissident rejected the idea of talks.There can be no dialogue when a gun is being held to your head, Damascus-based activist Hassan Abdul-Azim said.Responding to Moallem's statements, the dissident Abdul-Azim said dialogue was impossible with the regime's security forces still cracking down on dissent. Such a dialogue would provide a cover for the security crackdown,he told The Associated Press.That view was echoed at the highest level of the United Nations later Wednesday, when Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told New York reporters he didn't see much credibility in the Assad statements because the situation has been continuing.The U.N. chief suggested unified Security Council action to pressure Syria would be helpful.Russia and China have opposed such action.
The U.S. State Department also demanded action instead of words, saying the status quo was unacceptable.They've thrown around a lot of rhetoric, and meanwhile, they've used unremitting violence against innocent civilians,State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.Syria dissidents noted that previous talk of reform has produced little change in Syria's autocratic system.We are not against dialogue in principle, but we currently have no confidence or guarantees that anything would be implemented, said London-based Syrian activist Rami Abdul-Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human RightsAmong the opposition's demands is the withdrawal of Syrian troops from cities, trials for security personnel responsible for killing protesters and the release of all political prisoners.The opposition estimates 1,400 people have been killed and 10,000 detained in the attempted suppression of the 3-month-old pro-democracy movement, which was inspired by successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. Hundreds of soldiers and police officers have also been killed.Activists said the sweeping arrests have continued even after Assad's speech. Abdul-Rahman and others said dozens of students were beaten and others detained, including female students, during a raid at Damascus University dormitories Tuesday night.Abdul-Azim said the scattered opposition movement would announce within a week the formation of a National Coordination Council for democratic change, encompassing all groups inside and outside Syria.The foreign minister sounded confident there would be no Western military intervention or no-fly zone over Syria, saying the international community is mired in the scandals of its military intervention in Libya.Moallem added that Arab countries without exception support Damascus. The Arab League on Monday issued a statement of support for Syria and opposition to foreign intervention there.
Moallem also denied that Syrian allies Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement are helping the Damascus regime put down unrest. The U.S. has accused Iran of sending reinforcements and equipment to Syria.Associated Press writers Raf Casert in Brussels and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.Zeina Karam can be reached on http://twitter.com/zkaram
Israel allows new Palestinian housing in Gaza
By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press – Tue Jun 21, 3:06 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Israel has authorized construction of 1,200 new homes for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in what would be one of the largest housing projects in the troubled seaside territory in years, military authorities said Tuesday.The body that coordinates Israeli activities in the Palestinian areas said it has authorized the construction of the 1,200 homes, as well as 18 badly needed schools, in southern Gaza.Israel, which controls the cargo crossings into Gaza, has largely banned the entry of construction materials into the coastal strip since Hamas militants seized control of the area in 2007. Israel fears items like cement, metal and glass could be used for military purposes by Gaza's Hamas rulers.Gaza's construction needs are dire, especially following an Israeli military offensive against Hamas two and a half years ago. The United Nations estimates that 60,000 homes were damaged or destroyed during the three-week operation.Israel has sporadically approved a series of housing projects since that war, but U.N. officials say the limited approvals, combined with the slow entry of materials into the territory, have done little to alleviate the situation.U.N. officials said Defense Minister Ehud Barak relayed the decision to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon in a telephone conversation on Monday.
Ban's Mideast envoy, Robert Serry, welcomed the significant step.We will continue to work together with the relevant U.N. agencies to implement these projects in a timely fashion so as to improve the situation in Gaza,Serry said.Officials with UNRWA, the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees, said it was important that Israel follow through and allow large quantities of construction materials into Gaza.
Adnan Abu Hassna, a spokesman for the U.N. agency, said the approval would allow two major housing projects in southern Gaza. He said they would replace homes that were demolished by Israel's military in 2003 and 2004, a period of heavy fighting between the Jewish state and Palestinian militants. He said the projects are being funded by Saudi Arabia and Japan.We are now waiting for practical steps to allow thousands of trucks loaded with construction materials to enter, which will allow us to start the building process needed to ease the lives of thousands of families,he said.He said the new schools would alleviate a crunch that has forced students to attend U.N. schools in three shifts throughout the day.Associated Press writer Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report.
Israel to let $100 million of building goods into Gaza – Tue Jun 21, 1:59 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has approved the building of $100 million worth of new houses and schools in the Gaza Strip, Israeli and U.N. officials said on Tuesday.
Israel, together with Egypt, tightened a blockade on the Gaza Strip after Hamas Islamists seized it from forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.Guy Inbar, a military spokesman, said Israel had given the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) the green light to bring building materials for 18 new schools and 1,200 new houses into the Hamas-controlled territory.He said the approval was immediate and the process could begin as soon as UNRWA was ready.I welcome this significant step and I hope it will happen in a timely fashion, said U.N. Middle East envoy Robert Serry.Israel says its Gaza blockade, which prevents many needed supplies from entering the Strip, stops weapons from reaching Hamas, a militant group that refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and frequently fires cross-border rockets.Palestinians believe the Israeli sea blockade is illegal and say it is helping to strangle the underdeveloped Gazan economy.Israel has made clear it will prevent a planned pro-Palestinian aid flotilla from reaching Gaza. A year ago, nine Turkish activists, including one with dual U.S.-Turkish nationality, were killed in an Israeli raid on a similar convoy.
Israel, calling the new flotilla a provocation, has stepped up diplomatic efforts to block it. Organizers say the sea convoy, which they hope will set sail this month, will carry humanitarian aid and construction materials.One foreign diplomat, speaking anonymously, suggested that Tuesday's approval for UNRWA to deliver housing materials may have been an Israeli attempt to undercut the rationale for sending another flotilla.(Writing by Ari Rabinovitch, Editing by Alistair Lyon)
Palestinian leader in Turkey for talks
– Tue Jun 21, 1:20 pm ET
ANKARA (AFP) – Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas arrived here Tuesday for talks with Turkish leaders amid disagreements over the formation of a Palestinian unity government, officials said.Abbas will have a private programme before talks with Turkish leaders on Thursday and Friday, a Turkish diplomat told AFP, without elaborating.The Palestinian leader is to meet with President Abdullah Gul on Thursday, a presidential aide said.He will also hold talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.Bilateral relations with Palestine will be discussed during the talks, and consultations will take place on the situation in Palestine and the Middle East peace process following the national compromise between Fatah and Hamas, the presidency said in a statement.On Sunday, a Palestinian official cited the trip among the reasons for the indefinite postponement of a meeting between Abbas, who heads Fatah, and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, which had been scheduled for Tuesday in Cairo.
The two were to have finalised the formation of a unity government.But other officials said later that disagreement over who should be the next Palestinian premier were holding up the creation of an interim government of independents agreed last month between old rivals Fatah and Hamas.The Cairo meeting was postponed due to Hamas opposition to the reappointment of Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad, they said.Under the unity deal signed in May, Fatah and Hamas must agree on independent figures to make up a government that will lay the groundwork for legislative and presidential elections within a year.Turkey has sought to mediate in efforts to reconcile the two factions, braving Israel's ire over contacts with Hamas.The Islamist-rooted government in Ankara insists that peace cannot be achieved in the Middle East if Hamas is excluded from the process.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
BORDER OPENING BRINGS LITTLE RELIEF
In Gaza, border opening brings little relief
By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press – JUNE 21,11 7AM
RAFAH, Gaza Strip – The reopening of the Gaza Strip's main border crossing with Egypt brought widespread relief to Palestinians suffering from a four-year blocakade. But one month later, some 20,000 people are on a wait list and despair is growing in this crowded territory.Residents still must apply for travel permits, and the first available dates to cross are in late August. Frustrated travelers gather at the crossing each day, clutching medical reports, foreign residency permits and university registration documents in hopes of persuading the authorities to let them through.And after a brief period of goodwill, many are openly asking whether Egypt's new government is truly committed to improving relations with the Palestinians.It seems nothing has changed and we are still locked in this big jail, said Ghassan al-Jaabri, a 35-year-old man who originally had been scheduled to visit his in-laws in Ukraine on June 11.The Rafah terminal has traditionally been Gaza's main gateway to the outside world, used by residents who need to travel abroad for medical care, business purposes, studies or family visits. In an area with an estimated 45 percent unemployment rate, many want to leave in search of work elsewhere in the Arab world.Movement through the terminal was greatly restricted after the Hamas militant group seized power in Gaza in June 2007. Following the takeover, Egypt and Israel imposed a strict blockade on the territory, arguing the closure was needed to prevent weapons and militants from moving in and out of the area.Under the closure, Egypt allowed no more than 300 or so people to exit each day, primarily those traveling abroad for university studies, medical procedures unavailable in Gaza or religious pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia.Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist group, allowed just a few dozen through its crossing at the other end of Gaza on any given day, mostly medical patients and a select group of businessmen who trade with Israel. Both borders were frequently closed on security grounds.The situation was expected to change after the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last February. The caretaker military government promised to improve relations with Hamas, and in its first tangible gesture to the Palestinians, announced in May that it was permanently opening Rafah.
Egypt promised longer operating hours and said it was dropping most travel restrictions, meaning that virtually anyone could leave Gaza within days. Most critically, it promised to more than triple the number of people allowed to leave each day, with the aim of reducing the lengthy wait that Gazans face.Even on the May 28 reopening of Gaza, there were early signs of trouble. As scores of jubilant travelers lined up at the border, fewer than 400 were allowed to cross. Since then, residents say, there has been little improvement.Even those who do have permits are often refused entry by Egypt without explanation.The Palestinians can no longer bear the humiliation of the Rafah border crossing, said Yousef Rezqa, a top adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in an op-ed article.We want free and dignified travel.Hamas has becoming increasingly vocal in its criticism of Egypt. The militant group shut the border for several days earlier this month to protest the repeated delays.We have about 20,000 people on our waiting list, said Salma Barka, director of the Palestinian side of the Rafah terminal. With only 300 people crossing each day, it will be impossible to clear the backlog anytime soon, he said.The solution should come from the Egyptian side. They should speed up the process and keep the promises they made a few weeks ago,he said.A senior Egyptian intelligence official said that Egypt is working with the Palestinians to try to improve movement across the border. But he said Egypt believes it is legitimate to maintain a blacklist of people banned from crossing, and made clear that Egypt is not happy with Hamas' pressure tactics.
Hamas is exercising pressure on us through demonstrations at the other side to give the impression that Egypt was on the negative side,said the official, who, spoke on condition of anonymity because of Egyptian security rules.Al-Jaabri was among hundreds of people, including women and children, gathered at Rafah on Monday in hopes of being allowed to pass. Hamas border police slowly called out the names of a lucky few who were allowed to board a pair of buses and cross into Egypt.Al-Jaabri's name was not called, and around 3 p.m., he picked up his handbag and waved down a taxi to take him home. He said authorities told him to try again Wednesday, but he was skeptical.If you are a citizen who wishes to leave Gaza, you are forced to wait for many hours, sometimes even days, with no clear explanation,he said.I don't know who to blame anymore. I blame my luck that I am a resident of Gaza.Associated Press writer Ashraf Sweilam in Rafah, Egypt contributed to this report.
63% of Israelis back swap deal to free Shalit
– JUNE 21,11
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Nearly two-thirds of Israelis back a prisoner exchange deal which would see 1,000 Palestinians inmates released in order to free captured soldier Gilad Shalit, a poll showed on Tuesday.The poll, conducted by the Rafi Smith Institute and published in Haaretz newspaper, asked respondents if they would back such a deal even if it meant the release of 450 prisoners with blood on their hands, with 63 percent in favour and 19 percent against.Another 18 percent of the 600 respondents had no opinion.The results showed an increase in support from an earlier survey conducted in February, in which 61 percent backed such a deal, while 25 were opposed, Haaretz said.The poll was conducted on behalf of the campaign for the release of the captive soldier who has been held by Palestinian militants in Gaza for nearly five years. It did not give a margin of error.Shalit was snatched on June 25, 2006 by three armed Palestinian groups, including the Islamist movement Hamas, and held at a secret location in Gaza, which since 2007 has been ruled by the Islamists.Until now, they have not permitted visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross.Egyptian- and German-mediated talks to push through a swap deal stalled in autumn 2009, although three weeks ago a Cairo newspaper suggested a breakthrough in negotiations to free Shalit in exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.But the report was denied by officials in Cairo and Gaza as well as by Israel, which on Saturday will mark the fifth anniversary of his capture.The last confirmation of his well-being emerged in October 2009 when Hamas released a videotape of the young soldier calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do everything to free him.
Latest developments in Arab world's unrest
By The Associated Press – Mon Jun 20, 4:41 pm ET
SYRIA-Syria's president promises a national dialogue to consider political reforms, but his vague overtures to a pro-democracy uprising fall flat as protesters take to the streets shouting Liar! and demanding his ouster. In only his third public appearance since the revolt erupted in March, Bashar Assad blames the unrest on saboteurs,offers modest potential reforms, but gives no sign he'd move toward ending the Assad family's political domination.
LIBYA-Libya's government says a NATO airstrike west of Tripoli destroyed a large family compound belonging to a close associate of Moammar Gadhafi, killing at least 15 people, including three children. The alliance says the strike hit a command and control center. Gadhafi's regime has repeatedly accused NATO of targeting civilians in an attempt to rally support against international intervention into Libya's civil war. The alliance insists it tries to avoid killing civilians.
EGYPT-Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was treated last year for cancer in his gallbladder and pancreas, and may be suffering a recurrence that spread to his stomach, his defense lawyer says. However, two senior Egyptian medical officials — one of them the head of Mubarak's team of doctors — says he does not have cancer. Mubarak, 83, has been hospitalized since early April. He is set to face trial in August on charges he ordered the killings of protesters during the 18-day uprising that ousted him on Feb. 11. A conviction could carry the death penalty, and activists suspect he may be using health problems as a ruse to sway public opinion and perhaps even win amnesty.
YEMEN-Tens of thousands take to the streets of the capital, demanding that the president's sons leave Yemen, as pressure rises for the wounded leader being treated in Saudi Arabia to step down. Ahmed Saleh, 42, is a one-time heir apparent to his father, who was badly wounded in an attack earlier this month. Ahmed Saleh commands the elite Presidential Guard, the country's best equipped and trained military unit.
TUNISIA-Tunisia's former ruler and his wife are convicted in absentia on embezzlement and other charges after $27 million in jewels and public funds were found in one of his palaces. They are sentenced to 35 years each in prison and fined. The conviction of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Leila Trabelsi follows a daylong trial before the Tunis criminal court. The couple went into exile on Jan. 14 in Saudi Arabia after a monthlong uprising that sparked a string of other uprisings in the Arab world.
ALGERIA-About 200 former military conscripts demonstrate in downtown Algiers calling for greater pensions and benefits after taking part in the fight against the Islamist insurgency the 1990s. The conscripts say they were never properly compensated for their years of service in the bloody battles that claimed an estimated 200,000 lives.
American Jews to join Gaza flotilla
– Mon Jun 20, 2:43 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – Several American Jews are to board a US boat planning to join a flotilla of about 10 ships seeking to breach Israel's naval blockade of Gaza later this month, an organizer said Monday.We are seeking justice for Gaza, Leslie Cogan told reporters, noting the boat will have 36 passengers, four crew and nine journalists when it sets sail for the tiny Palestinian enclave.She said 28 percent of the passengers were American Jews.It's important that Jews are in this boat... The Jewish lobby in this country is so powerful, said New York labor attorney Richard Levy, himself Jewish.We cannot support an Israeli blockade which is morally and juridically unsupportable... No more people should be slaughtered in the name of the Jews.The US boat, The Audacity of Hope, will sail from Athens to join around 10 ships carrying some 500 to 600 pro-Palestinian activists from 22 countries, Cogan said.The boats are expected to leave various Mediterranean ports around June 20 as part of the so-called Freedom Flotilla II aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade.
Cogan said the American ship will carry some 3,000 messages from the American people to the people of Gaza in what she called a cargo of friendship, a cargo of peace.They will try and reach the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip a year after a previous attempt ended when Israeli troops stormed the lead ship and shot dead nine Turkish activists.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged all governments concerned by the plans to try to discourage the new flotilla from being launched out of fear it could degenerate into violence.
Leadership row delays Palestinian unity government
by Nasser Abu Bakr – Mon Jun 20, 2:07 pm ET
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Disagreement over who should be the next Palestinian premier is holding up the creation of a unity government agreed last month between old rivals Fatah and Hamas, Palestinian officials said on Monday.A meeting in Cairo on Tuesday between Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who heads Fatah, and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal has been postponed due to Hamas opposition to the reappointment of Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad, they said.The real reason for the delay in the forming and convening of the government is disagreement over Fayyad,an official told AFP on condition of anonymity.President Abbas insists on nominating Salam Fayyad, whose appointment Hamas categorically rejects,he added.That has led the two sides to postpone the meeting rather than announce the collapse of the reconciliation.Fayyad is not wanted because his name is linked to Palestinian division, the debt-ridden Palestinian economy and operations by the (Palestinian) security services against the resistance, Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said, referring to the group's armed campaign against Israel.Announcing the delay on Sunday, Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed made no mention of a leadership dispute.The meeting has been postponed until a new date is set in the coming days in order to assure the best atmosphere for the successful implementation of the reconciliation agreement,he told AFP.Ahmed said Fatah had requested the delay in the talks to create the right atmosphere and because of the commitments that have come up on the president's schedule in Turkey.He said Abbas would visit Turkey on Wednesday.
Samir Awad, a professor of political science at Bir Zeit University near Ramallah, said that while Fayyad has the personal backing of Abbas, he does not have universal support within Fatah.There are those who favour dropping his candidacy and putting other names forward, he said.Hamas has burnt all its bridges and continues to reject Fayyad.A change of heart by Hamas seems unlikely given that the Islamist group has already agreed other concessions that set off a row between Mahmud Zahar, its main Gaza ideologue and Syria-based political leader Meshaal.Zahar, who participated in discussions with Fatah in April, has criticised Meshaal for comments he made during the official ceremony of reconciliation on May 4, saying he had no mandate to make such statements.A member of Fatah's central committee confided to journalists last week that he too was surprised by some of Meshaal's words.He said We accept two states on the 1967 borders. We are not in favour of violence, Mohammed Shtayeh said, adding that Meshaal had also told Abbas that if he needed more time to negotiate with Israel, he would not object.What I heard from Khaled Meshaal... I never expected him to say,Shtayeh said.A poll published on Monday by the independent Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research showed broad public support for Fayyad with 45 percent of 1,200 respondents favouring him, as opposed to 25 percent approval for Jamal Khodari, who is widely believed to have Hamas's backing.Under the terms of the unity deal signed by Fatah and Hamas they must agree on independent figures to make up a government that will lay the groundwork for legislative and presidential elections within a year.
Settlers cultivate West Bank tourism to tighten grip on land By Maayan Lubell – Mon Jun 20, 12:27 pm ET
RECHELIM, West Bank (Reuters) – The bulletproof van is extra.Welcome to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Jewish settlements built on land Palestinians seek for a state are opening their gates to foreign tourists and Israeli visitors.A one-day tour, booked through a regional settler council, costs $50. An additional $80 secures the armored bus.Palestinians, or local Arabs in the words of settlers who spoke to one group of visitors, are not on the itinerary.We are not monsters,Ilana Shimon told a clutch of tourists this week, leading them through Havat Gilad, a small settlement outpost built without Israeli government authorization.I'm against violence. All we want is to sit on our land and we want you to be our ambassadors, Shimon told her visitors near her home in Havat Gilad, where she lives with 30 other families, making up about 250 people, most of them children.Her audience, comprised of seven non-Jewish tourists from Belgium, France, the United States and the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, seemed to agree.The world needs to know the truth, all they see is the violence,Aline Boyer from Reunion said.About 300,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank, occupied by Israel in a 1967 war and home to 2.5 million Palestinians. The World Court has ruled the settlements illegal.Although violence has mostly subsided since a 2000-2005 Palestinian uprising, clashes between settlers and Palestinians are not uncommon, along with mutual accusations of vandalizing crops, fields, private property and holy shrines.The placid vista presented to the tourists include organic farms offering an assortment of goat cheese and yoghurt, as well as flourishing vineyards that produce boutique wines.Palestinians see things very differently -- the settlements, they fear, will deny them a viable state, and an Israeli barrier is cutting through the West Bank, a project they condemn as a land grab and which Israel says is necessary for security.
ENDING IGNORANCE
The tour took the group through several small settlements, some of them built without official permission by settlers who see themselves as pioneers exercising their claim to a Biblical birthright to the land.Sitting round a wooden table eating a rustic meal of goat cheese, yoghurt and eggs, Daniel and Catherine Lippert from Belgium gave their impressions of their Israeli hosts in an organic dairy farm near the settlement of Itamar.The media portrays the settlers as crazy, violent obstacles to peace and we want to tell everyone at home what we saw,Catherine said.The tour group's members defined themselves as former Christians who believe Jesus is the saviour but also abide by some Jewish ritual laws.We love Israel and pray together every Sabbath on Skype,said Simone Van Goethem, from Belgium.Daniel Lippert said he and his wife come to Israel two or three times a year, but this was their first visit to the West Bank.We donated money to Havat Gilad last year because it is the right thing to do,Daniel said.God promised the land to the Jews. The Palestinians should become Israeli citizens or leave.Nati Yisraeli, tourism coordinator for the settlers' regional council, said he hoped the tours would end ignorance, by bringing people to see for themselves.We want people to know what they're talking about when they discuss the future of the settlements. We want them first to experience the place, the people.he said.
Yisraeli said the number of tourists rose to almost 100,000 in 2010 from 45,000 in 2008. These include large Israeli groups which come mostly on Jewish holidays, as well as foreign tourists.Yisraeli's eyes lit up each time he pointed out ancient sites. A quick detour through rolling hills dotted with olive groves and grape vines took the group near the Palestinian city of Nablus, where they admired, from a distance, Joseph's Tomb, believed by worshippers to be the burial site of the Jewish patriarch.The group's next stop was the settlement of Itamar. As the vehicle approached, the driver checked that all had heard of the Fogel family, a couple and three of their children killed in the settlement in March. The killing was the most serious attack in years and shocked Israel, which has charged two Palestinian men with the murder.
WINE TASTING
In the small settlement of Rechelim, Vered Ben Saadon, owner of its Tura winery, said she lets her award-winning Cabernets and Merlots do the talking when it comes to winning hearts and minds.Talking politics sullies the wine's flavor. Our visitors, after getting to know the place, leave a little confused. They see a quality product and nice people who make it. It throws them off balance,Ben Saadon said.In May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said any future peace deal with the Palestinians would leave some settlements beyond Israel's borders suggesting that places like Rechelim, in remote areas, could be abandoned.But Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been frozen since last year in a dispute over construction in Jewish settlements, with little sign of revival soon.There is no other explanation to our success other than divine providence,Ben Saadon said.We didn't come here to make a business profit, we came here for the love of the land and as the years go by we see God is rewarding us.(Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Israel okays expansion of 2,000 settler homes
– Sun Jun 19, 10:39 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Jerusalem's municipal council on Sunday approved the expansion of 2,000 homes in the settlement district of Ramat Shlomo, allowing each home to add a room, the interior ministry said.Jerusalem's planning and urbanisation committee on Sunday authorised the enlargement of 2,000 homes in the neighbourhood of Ramat Shlomo, it said in a statement.An additional room will be built in each of these 2,000 homes in response to the needs of the numerous families suffering from housing problems in this area,it added.The Ramat Shlomo neighbourhood lies in an area of Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel captured during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed in a move not recognised by the international community.Israel considers Jerusalem to be its undivided capital, but the Palestinians, with the support of much of the international community, want to make east Jerusalem the capital of their future state.Israel's construction or expansion of homes in the area has drawn criticism from European capitals and Washington in the past, and settlement building in Ramat Shlomo led to a crisis in relations with the United States last year.In March 2010, Israel announced approval for the construction of 1,600 homes in the settlement neighbourhood just as US Vice President Joe Biden visited the Jewish state for meetings with Israeli officials.The announcement angered Biden, and prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offer an apology for the unfortunate timing.That announcement came as US officials laid the groundwork for the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the first in nearly two years.The talks were launched later that year in Washington, but ground to a halt shortly after they started when Israel declined to renew a moratorium that froze settlement construction in the West Bank, though not in Jerusalem.The Palestinians have refused to hold talks while Israel builds on land they want for their future state, and negotiations have remained on hold since late September 2010 because of the issue.
Abbas calls on EU to recognise Palestine
– Fri Jun 17, 6:42 pm ET
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas urged European Union nations on Friday to separately or collectively recognise the state of Palestine.During a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Abbas affirmed that the Palestinian position was to resume the peace process with Israel, expecting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept to talk of two states and to halt Jewish settlements, especially in Jerusalem, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said.We are calling on the European Union to help us on the question of moving the United Nations to accept Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders, Erakat was quoted as saying by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.Ashton arrived in Israel on Thursday and met Friday with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.She later met Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad and president Abbas in the West Bank.She is due to hold talks with Netanyahu on Sunday.
EU, Israel spar over peace prospects
by Hazel Ward – Fri Jun 17, 9:04 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The EU's top diplomat had a terse exchange with Israel's Avigdor Lieberman on Friday after he told her there was zero chance of reviving talks given the Palestinians' bid for UN recognition.The exchange occurred during an early breakfast briefing during which EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held talks with the Israeli foreign minister over ways to resume talks ahead of September when the Palestinians are planning to approach the UN to recognise their state on the 1967 borders.But Lieberman told her there was zero chance of resuming peace talks given the Palestinians determination to seek UN support for their state, and that if it happened, it would render null and void the 1993 Oslo Accords and all the other agreements reached since.The unilateral declaration at the United Nations would mean the end of the Oslo Agreement and a violation of all the agreements that were signed up to today,Lieberman was widely quoted as saying by all the mainstream Israel news websites and radio stations.Israel would no longer be bound to the agreements that were signed with the Palestinians over the past 18 years.In a tersely-worded statement released hours after the talks, Ashton said the European Union was well aware that September is fast approaching and stressed the urgency of resuming talks given the ongoing regional upheaval and last month's call by US President Barack Obama for talks to be based on the 1967 borders.With the events of the Arab Spring and following President Obama's speech, it is more urgent than ever to engage in meaningful negotiations and move the peace process forward, she said, noting that the message was passed on very clearly.Lieberman also launched an attack on Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, claming he does not want an agreement, he wants conflict with Israel.
By looking to secure a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, Mahmud Abbas is acting out of his own personal interests, without taking into account Palestinian interests nor the advice of many officials in the Palestinian Authority who are opposed to his initiative,public radio quoted him as saying.Lieberman was referring to a growing number of media reports suggesting there is division within the Palestinian leadership over the UN strategy.Later on Friday, Ashton will meet Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad then have dinner with Abbas before flying to Cairo on Saturday.Ashton is hoping to convene an urgent session of the Middle East Quartet in the coming weeks, with diplomatic sources in Brussels telling AFP she was pushing for a meeting in Washington which would take place by early July at the latest.On June 10, she wrote to her fellow Quartet principals -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon -- calling for the adoption of statement consolidating elements of Obama's May 19 speech.It is critical that we make a gesture before the summer, because we need to contribute to a calming of a volatile situation, she wrote in her letter, adding: This is no time for unilateral moves on either side, since this could lead to escalation.Ashton is just one of a number of world leaders working to find a way to head off potentially volatile developments in September when the Palestinians approach the United Nations to request membership and recognition by the 192-member body in a move fiercely opposed by Israel.After visiting Cairo, Ashton will return to Israel on Sunday for a joint meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Quartet envoy Tony Blair, an EU spokesman said.She will then fly to Luxembourg to brief the EU's 27 foreign ministers on Monday.
Israel to stop Gaza flotilla regardless of cargo
By Crispian Balmer – Thu Jun 16, 1:16 pm ET
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israel will do everything necessary to prevent a planned international flotilla from reaching Gaza, despite the fact the ships will probably not be carrying weapons, a senior military source said.The source, who declined to be named, said Israel's maritime blockade would only be deemed legal if it imposed a total exclusion zone around the small Palestinian enclave and urged the flotilla organizers not to challenge the navy.No ship will get into Gaza, the source said, adding that the military had drawn up new tactics in an effort to avoid last year's bloodshed, when Israeli marines killed nine activists after intercepting their group of six ships in international waters.Pro-Palestinian groups are planning a new flotilla, which they say will carry humanitarian aid to Hamas-controlled Gaza, and hope to set sail this month. The senior security source said he expected 10-15 ships to take part.I believe that with this flotilla there won't be any arms smuggled into Gaza, he told a group of reporters.But a maritime security blockade can only be legal if it is effective and complete. You cannot keep a selective maritime blockade under international law. You can't say who gets in and who doesn't,he added.Israeli officials have long argued that aid flotillas could be used as a cover to help supply weapons to Hamas, an Islamist group which refuses to recognize Israel and regularly fires rockets and mortars into the adjoining Jewish state.Palestinians believe the Israeli sea blockade is illegal and say it is helping strangle the underdeveloped Gazan economy.
MILITARY OPERATING IN A PR WORLD
The Israeli military came under fierce criticism for its assault on a Turkish-sponsored flotilla in May 2010.It said its soldiers had not expected the violent resistance they faced when they boarded the lead vessel, and had to open fire in self-defense, killing eight Turks and one American-Turk.On Wednesday, Israel carried out a large simulation exercise at sea to prepare for any new confrontation and the source said everything possible would be done to prevent direct clashes.We are being asked to do a military operation in a PR arena. We are trying to find better tactics to keep injuries of activists to a minimum,he said.Critics said the navy should have used water cannon to try to halt the ships or done more to disable the engines. Video footage from Wednesday's exercise broadcast by the military showed Israeli ships practicing the use of water cannon.Israel has said the activists can unload their cargo either at its Ashdod port or in Egypt, where it could be checked before being delivered by truck to the Gaza Strip.Israeli officials argue that deliveries of many goods into Gaza from its two neighbors means there is no humanitarian crisis in the enclave and therefore no need for aid shipments.If the sea line is opened, then Gaza will be flooded with arms and rockets, the senior official said.Palestinians say rigid controls are preventing the import of badly needed materials and warn that the prolonged isolation of Gaza plays into the hands of Islamist militants.(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis)
Peres: Palestinians' UN move an illusion By DAN PERRY and JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press – Thu Jun 16, 10:02 am ET
JERUSALEM – Israeli President Shimon Peres urged a resumption of Middle East peace talks Thursday, dismissing the Palestinians' plan to instead ask the United Nations for recognition as an illusion and arguing that a peace deal — despite widespread skepticism on both sides — was possible within months.In a strange way the differences are rather psychological than material, the 87-year-old head of state and Nobel laureate said in an interview with The Associated Press.I don't exclude that in spite of the shortage of time we can conclude an agreement with the Palestinians before September, Peres said, referring to the month the Palestinians, in the absence of a peace deal, plan to ask the United Nations for recognition as a state.Peres warned the U.N. gambit could backfire. The U.S. is expected to veto the measure in the powerful Security Council, forcing the Palestinians to turn to the General Assembly, where a majority seems likely but any decision would have no legal force.It will remain (on) paper and it will raise false hopes,Peres said. Israel would simply ask: Can you stop terror, United Nations? Can you stop the politics of Iran that finances Hezbollah and finances Hamas? Can you stop the smuggling of arms? ... And if the United Nations cannot answer it, so what is the value of their resolution?
With his comments, Peres joined a chorus of world leaders, including President Barack Obama and European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, urging the Palestinians not to follow through with the U.N. resolution. Palestinian officials have acknowledged they are having second thoughts, but insist they will press forward if peace talks don't resume.The Israeli president dismissed skepticism about the gaps between any Palestinian leadership and the current right-leaning Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:I know a little bit about negotiations, said Peres, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the 1993 Oslo interim peace accords with the Palestinians. The opening position is extremely loud and very maximalist ... But then you have to go down, quietly.Would the Palestinians give up the so-called right of return by refugees and their millions of descendants — a persistent and principled demand that Israelis across the spectrum reject out of hand as demographic suicide?I think so, he said, insisting a creative solution is possible.Among the obstacles to talks even beginning is Israel's rejection of an emerging Palestinian unity government between Fatah, the moderate grouping of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas which controls Palestinian autonomy zones in the West Bank, and the Hamas militant group, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.The sides reached a reconciliation agreement last month and are still laboring to implement it, wrangling over issues like the appointment of a prime minister. But Netanyahu has already made the deal an obstacle to talks, saying he cannot negotiate with a government even partly backed by a sworn enemy like Hamas.Peres noted the United States and other world powers have insisted that Hamas recognize Israel, renounce terrorism and accept previous agreements. Hamas' acceptance of these terms, Peres suggested, would enable such talks between Israel and a unified Palestinian leadership.
As president, Peres is a figurehead, but his words carry weight because of an elder statesman status achieved over six frequently turbulent decades in Israeli public life — a period marked by achievement and electoral futility in seemingly equal measure.As leader of Israel's center-left Labor Party, Peres lost an improbable string of elections — in 1977, 1981, 1988, and 1996 — and managed only a tie in 1984, with Israel's economy mired in hyperinflation and its army in a costly and unpopular war in Lebanon.Despite these difficulties, he has managed to serve in practically every top government position, including three brief stints as prime minister.Peres' dogged pursuit of peace has made him a regular at global gatherings such as the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where his penchant for visionary pronouncements and his extraordinary longevity have given him a somewhat iconic status.Alert, jocular and surrounded by adoring aides, Peres spoke to the AP at his presidential compound as he prepared to host his own version of Davos — the third annual Israeli Presidential Conference — an event which he said would this year attract 1,700 figures from outside Israel.The diverse guest list ranges from Colombian singer Shakira and U.S. comedienne Sarah Silverman to Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, advertising magnate Martin Sorrel and European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet, in addition to a cluster of leaders and government ministers.Peres said the three-day event next week will focus on the issues of tomorrow — in Jewish life, in world affairs, in Israeli development, in all domains — science, technology, politics.He said he had special interest in exploring the workings of the brain, cybernetics, and what he perceived as an unprecedented type of generation gap.Youngsters are equipped with ... Facebook and the Internet. They don't want their parents to get involved in their own way of life. They respect the parents but without much admiration. They say: ... The world you have handed over is full of blood and suffering and mistakes. Let us have our own future.Peres credited Facebook-wielding youth for the current upheavals in the Arab world and offered his neighbors free advice: If you don't give equal rights to (women) you're half a nation ... No money can compensate (for) this mistake.Peres clearly feels the changes in the region belatedly vindicate the optimism he espoused 18 years ago in a book titled The New Middle East — which earned him some derision at the time by critics who considered him naive.He dismissed the concerns of many Israelis today that Arab democracies would elect Islamists and authoritarians:The moral call is the right one and the preferred one. Don't make too many calculations. I shall be a happy person when the Middle East will become free and democratic.Peres predicted that the unusual Israeli presidential conference — despite its association with him personally — would continue after he leaves office, because the Jewish state has a global role in advancing knowledge.A good Jew cannot be satisfied,Peres said.All the time he feels he has to improve ... which creates, in a way, creativity and imagination.
Palestinians want UN seat even if talks start
– Thu Jun 16, 9:33 am ET
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The Palestinians will seek UN recognition and membership regardless of whether there is a resumption of peace talks, negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh said on Thursday.His comments were made as the international community pushes a raft of new peace initiatives in a bid to head off the Palestinian push for UN membership.But Shtayeh said the Palestinians were determined to seek recognition and that talks could proceed alongside their bid.We are by all means going to the United Nations, whether there are negotiations or no negotiations, he told reporters in Ramallah, adding that he thought there was little chances talks would resume.We think that is not either/or -- we think that going to the United Nations and negotiations can go hand in hand and they are complementary to each other, Shtayeh said.Negotiations have been on hold since late September 2010, when they ground to a halt after a partial freeze on Israeli settlement construction expired.The Israelis refused to renew the freeze and the Palestinians have said they will not talk while Israel builds on land they want for their future state.As the talks remained stuck in a stalemate, the Palestinians have sought international backing for a plan to seek recognition and membership at the United Nations during the General Assembly in September.The United States and several European countries have stated their opposition to the plan, and are reportedly seeking a new peace initiative that could relaunch talks and convince the Palestinians to abandon the UN push.We are ready to live with any proposal. But the problem is, we don't want anybody to believe that these sort of proposals are actually initiatives that are an alternative to us going to the United Nations,he said.We are going to the United Nations.Shtayeh said the Palestinians were actively seeking support, particularly in Europe, for bid to get UN recognition of a state on the lines that existed before the 1967 Six Day War.For us and the Israelis the battle is over Europe because the issue is not how many states, the issue is also quality states, with all respect to everybody,he said.So it is important for us that Europe recognises Palestine and I think that the Europeans obviously are trying to come up with initiatives so that they are not politically embarrassed in one way or another.
Palestinians urge Spain, EU to recognise state
– Thu Jun 16, 9:30 am ET
MADRID (AFP) – Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki on Thursday urged Spain and the rest of the European Union to recognise a Palestinian state with borders from before the 1967 Six Day War.Since the collapse of peace talks with Israel last year, the Palestinians have campaigned to gain recognition of statehood and UN membership when the General Assembly meets in New York in September.We hope the European Union will take a decision to collectively recognise a Palestinian state with the 1967 borders, Malki told a conference in Madrid during an official visit that began Friday.We have the hope that Spain will lead the EU countries in the official recognition of the Palestinian state, he said, calling on Madrid to take an active role in persuading other members.Recognition of statehood would guarantee the two-state solution and provide a firm and solid basis for the immediate start of negotiations with Israel, Malki said.Peace negotiations have been on hold since late September 2010 when the Israelis refused to renew a partial freeze on building Israeli settlements on land that the Palestinians want for their future state.The question of recognising a Palestinian state at the UN looks set to divide EU nations, with Germany for the moment opposed and France not excluding recognition.If there is no unanimity in the European Union, each EU country should have the right to decide whether it is ready to recognise the Palestinian state,as had happened with Kosovo, Malki said.Spain's secretary of state for foreign affairs, Juan Antonio Yanez Barnuevo, said Thursday that Madrid unreservedly supported efforts to return to the negotiating table and achieve peace.Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh said in Ramallah that the Palestinians will seek UN recognition and membership regardless of whether there is a resumption of peace talks.
Spain wants Mideast talks to resume this year
– Wed Jun 15, 3:12 pm ET
MADRID (AFP) – Spain supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and wants the two sides to resume peace talks this year, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez met with her Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Malki on Wednesday, during his official visit which ends on Friday.Jimenez reiterated Spain's support in favour of a two-state solution...as the only path to a global and long-standing peace in the Middle East,a statement said.
Spain is in favour of a solution under the auspices of the United Nations and wants the negotiations to resume this year, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said.The talks have been on hold since September 2010, when they ground to a halt over Israeli settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land.Jimenez however did not speak on Palestine's bid for a United Nations membership based on 1967 borders, the official said.The European Union is divided over Palestine's membership in the United Nations. Numerous nations, including France, have said they would vote for and recognise a Palestinian state if talks restart by September.
EU's Ashton due in Mideast over stalled peace talks
– Wed Jun 15, 2:17 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton flies to the Middle East this week for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials, hoping to break the impasse in peace talks, her office said Wednesday.Ashton kicks off the trip in Jordan on Thursday before meeting Israeli and Palestinian officials on Friday and then going on to Egypt to discuss events in Libya on Saturday.She will head back to Israel on Sunday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then brief the EU's 27 foreign ministers on the mission at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.I look forward to meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders and encouraging them to seize the opportunity and engage in negotiations,Ashton said in a statement.With the momentous events going on in North Africa and following (US) President (Barack) Obama's speech last month, it is more urgent than ever that we kickstart the Middle East peace process.I have proposed a meeting of the Quartet to help relaunch negotiations and will be looking for positive signs from all sides,she added.
Her visit comes just days after she sent a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, a copy of which was seen by AFP.The letter, sent on June 10, calls for a gesture before the summer from the diplomatic Quartet of Middle East peacemakers, which comprises the European Union, the United Nations, Russia and the United States.
In the document, Ashton calls for a meeting of Quartet principals to adopt a statement which would consolidate elements of Obama's call for negotiations to resume on the basis of 1967 borders with mutual land swaps, coupled with firm security guarantees.This is no time for unilateral moves on either side, since this could lead to escalation,she wrote in what appeared to be a reference to the Palestinians' plan to seek UN recognition for a state of their own this September.
Israel is fiercely opposed to the step, with Netanyahu looking to convince at least 30 countries to vote against the proposal, media reports said.I believe that what is needed now is a clear signal to the parties, and a reference framework that should enable them to return to the negotiating table,Ashton wrote.It is critical that we make a gesture before the summer, because we need to contribute to a calming of a volatile situation.In Amman, Ashton meets counterpart Nasser Judeh before talks the next day with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and opposition Leader Tzipi Livni, followed by a West Bank visit to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas.Diplomatic sources in Brussels told AFP that Ashton hoped for a swift Quartet meeting, by early July at the latest, in Washington.But Ashton has limited room to manoeuvre,one source said, believing that Netanyahu does not want to relaunch the negotiations and is busy campaigning for support against the recognition of a Palestinian state.The question of recognising Palestine at the UN looks set to divide EU nations, with Germany for the moment opposed, Spain in favour and France not excluding recognition.In Egypt, Ashton will attend a meeting of the Cairo Group, bringing together international organisations supporting a democratic transition in Libya.The talks will be hosted by Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa and bring Ashton together with the UN's Ban, by video-link, African Union commission president Jean Ping, and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
Israel holds drill for next Gaza-bound flotilla
– Wed Jun 15, 4:51 am ET
JERUSALEM – The Israeli military says it's holding a drill ahead of the next Gaza-bound flotilla with pro-Palestinian activists who could try to breach Israel's naval blockade of the territory.Last year, an Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla left nine activists dead and propelled the blockade controversy to center stage of international politics. Israel said its soldiers were defending themselves.
A military spokeswoman would not provide details of the drill under way Wednesday.
Israel's Army Radio says commandoes were practicing the takeover of a ship and that troops have been trained to board vessels more quickly than they did last year to minimize any violent confrontations.The flotilla is to depart at the end of June from various European ports.
Palestinian rivals to finalise unity govt next week
– Tue Jun 14, 1:16 pm ET
CAIRO (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will meet Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in Cairo next week to finalise a new government put together by the two factions, a top official of his Fatah movement said Tuesday.The meeting was announced as Palestinian factions were in Cairo for reconciliation talks aimed at choosing a prime minister to head the unity government.Today, during the talks between the Fatah and Hamas delegations, a meeting was scheduled for next Tuesday between President Abbas and Meshaal to finalise the formation of the new government, said Azzam al-Ahmad, who heads the Fatah delegation at the talks.They also decided that this meeting will be the last to finalise the issue of the government, he told AFP.Fatah met a Hamas delegation headed by Mussa Abu Marzuk at the Egyptian intelligence headquarters.It has said it wants to retain prime minister Salam Fayyad to head the government, but the nomination was immediately rejected by the Islamist movement.A Fatah member who attended the talks told AFP that negotiations stumbled over the list of names (for prime minister) which were put forward by Fatah, particularly Fayyad.Hamas strongly rejected Fayyad as head of the next government and officially notified us of their rejection and said the issue was not open for discussion, asking us to abide by the reconciliation agreement which says that all names in the government must be agreed by consensus,the member said.
The Cairo agreement stipulates that all the issues must be resolved by agreement and that no party imposes any person on the other, and this was stressed again during the meeting today (Tuesday),he said.He said that, because there was disagreement over Fayyad, it was agreed that the leaders of Fatah and Hamas would meet in Cairo on June 21.Hamas has not put forward any new suggestions and we agreed that both sides would choose the government ministers after agreeing on the head of the unity government,he said.Fayyad told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that he would not want to be a stumbling block in the reconciliation deal.I assure you that there is no way I can accept that the formation of the unity government be delayed because of me,Fayyad said.I will not impose myself on anyone, and I do not want any side to perceive me as being imposed on them. But if there is an agreement on my (nomination), I will be willing to take on the task,he added.Both Fatah and Hamas said they were optimistic they would come to an agreement.God willing, this will be the last round of talks regarding the formation of the government,Ahmad told AFP ahead of the meeting.
The Egyptian-sponsored talks are the fruit of a reconciliation agreement signed in Cairo in May aimed at ending years of bitter feuding and laying the groundwork for presidential and parliamentary elections within a year.Fatah's central committee agreed on Saturday to throw their support behind Fayyad, a former World Bank official and preferred candidate of the international community.But Hamas has rejected Fayyad, blaming him for the arrest and alleged torture of its leaders, and plunging the Palestinian Authority into debt.Izzat al-Risheq, a member of the Hamas politburo, said ahead of the Cairo talks that the best way forward in forming the unity government was to exclude controversial candidates.A main principle we have agreed on is that thorny issues or disagreements be dealt with by both sides through consensus. Therefore the government will be one of consensus and no side will impose its view on the other,Egyptian state news agency MENA quoted Risheq as saying.We feel the best way is to exclude controversial choices,he said.On Sunday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri reiterated his movement's rejection of Fayyad.Hamas informed Fatah during the last meeting of its rejection of the choice of Salam Fayyad to head the new government,Abu Zuhri told AFP.Hamas has yet to put forward a candidate for the prime minister's post.
By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press – JUNE 21,11 7AM
RAFAH, Gaza Strip – The reopening of the Gaza Strip's main border crossing with Egypt brought widespread relief to Palestinians suffering from a four-year blocakade. But one month later, some 20,000 people are on a wait list and despair is growing in this crowded territory.Residents still must apply for travel permits, and the first available dates to cross are in late August. Frustrated travelers gather at the crossing each day, clutching medical reports, foreign residency permits and university registration documents in hopes of persuading the authorities to let them through.And after a brief period of goodwill, many are openly asking whether Egypt's new government is truly committed to improving relations with the Palestinians.It seems nothing has changed and we are still locked in this big jail, said Ghassan al-Jaabri, a 35-year-old man who originally had been scheduled to visit his in-laws in Ukraine on June 11.The Rafah terminal has traditionally been Gaza's main gateway to the outside world, used by residents who need to travel abroad for medical care, business purposes, studies or family visits. In an area with an estimated 45 percent unemployment rate, many want to leave in search of work elsewhere in the Arab world.Movement through the terminal was greatly restricted after the Hamas militant group seized power in Gaza in June 2007. Following the takeover, Egypt and Israel imposed a strict blockade on the territory, arguing the closure was needed to prevent weapons and militants from moving in and out of the area.Under the closure, Egypt allowed no more than 300 or so people to exit each day, primarily those traveling abroad for university studies, medical procedures unavailable in Gaza or religious pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia.Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist group, allowed just a few dozen through its crossing at the other end of Gaza on any given day, mostly medical patients and a select group of businessmen who trade with Israel. Both borders were frequently closed on security grounds.The situation was expected to change after the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last February. The caretaker military government promised to improve relations with Hamas, and in its first tangible gesture to the Palestinians, announced in May that it was permanently opening Rafah.
Egypt promised longer operating hours and said it was dropping most travel restrictions, meaning that virtually anyone could leave Gaza within days. Most critically, it promised to more than triple the number of people allowed to leave each day, with the aim of reducing the lengthy wait that Gazans face.Even on the May 28 reopening of Gaza, there were early signs of trouble. As scores of jubilant travelers lined up at the border, fewer than 400 were allowed to cross. Since then, residents say, there has been little improvement.Even those who do have permits are often refused entry by Egypt without explanation.The Palestinians can no longer bear the humiliation of the Rafah border crossing, said Yousef Rezqa, a top adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in an op-ed article.We want free and dignified travel.Hamas has becoming increasingly vocal in its criticism of Egypt. The militant group shut the border for several days earlier this month to protest the repeated delays.We have about 20,000 people on our waiting list, said Salma Barka, director of the Palestinian side of the Rafah terminal. With only 300 people crossing each day, it will be impossible to clear the backlog anytime soon, he said.The solution should come from the Egyptian side. They should speed up the process and keep the promises they made a few weeks ago,he said.A senior Egyptian intelligence official said that Egypt is working with the Palestinians to try to improve movement across the border. But he said Egypt believes it is legitimate to maintain a blacklist of people banned from crossing, and made clear that Egypt is not happy with Hamas' pressure tactics.
Hamas is exercising pressure on us through demonstrations at the other side to give the impression that Egypt was on the negative side,said the official, who, spoke on condition of anonymity because of Egyptian security rules.Al-Jaabri was among hundreds of people, including women and children, gathered at Rafah on Monday in hopes of being allowed to pass. Hamas border police slowly called out the names of a lucky few who were allowed to board a pair of buses and cross into Egypt.Al-Jaabri's name was not called, and around 3 p.m., he picked up his handbag and waved down a taxi to take him home. He said authorities told him to try again Wednesday, but he was skeptical.If you are a citizen who wishes to leave Gaza, you are forced to wait for many hours, sometimes even days, with no clear explanation,he said.I don't know who to blame anymore. I blame my luck that I am a resident of Gaza.Associated Press writer Ashraf Sweilam in Rafah, Egypt contributed to this report.
63% of Israelis back swap deal to free Shalit
– JUNE 21,11
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Nearly two-thirds of Israelis back a prisoner exchange deal which would see 1,000 Palestinians inmates released in order to free captured soldier Gilad Shalit, a poll showed on Tuesday.The poll, conducted by the Rafi Smith Institute and published in Haaretz newspaper, asked respondents if they would back such a deal even if it meant the release of 450 prisoners with blood on their hands, with 63 percent in favour and 19 percent against.Another 18 percent of the 600 respondents had no opinion.The results showed an increase in support from an earlier survey conducted in February, in which 61 percent backed such a deal, while 25 were opposed, Haaretz said.The poll was conducted on behalf of the campaign for the release of the captive soldier who has been held by Palestinian militants in Gaza for nearly five years. It did not give a margin of error.Shalit was snatched on June 25, 2006 by three armed Palestinian groups, including the Islamist movement Hamas, and held at a secret location in Gaza, which since 2007 has been ruled by the Islamists.Until now, they have not permitted visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross.Egyptian- and German-mediated talks to push through a swap deal stalled in autumn 2009, although three weeks ago a Cairo newspaper suggested a breakthrough in negotiations to free Shalit in exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.But the report was denied by officials in Cairo and Gaza as well as by Israel, which on Saturday will mark the fifth anniversary of his capture.The last confirmation of his well-being emerged in October 2009 when Hamas released a videotape of the young soldier calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do everything to free him.
Latest developments in Arab world's unrest
By The Associated Press – Mon Jun 20, 4:41 pm ET
SYRIA-Syria's president promises a national dialogue to consider political reforms, but his vague overtures to a pro-democracy uprising fall flat as protesters take to the streets shouting Liar! and demanding his ouster. In only his third public appearance since the revolt erupted in March, Bashar Assad blames the unrest on saboteurs,offers modest potential reforms, but gives no sign he'd move toward ending the Assad family's political domination.
LIBYA-Libya's government says a NATO airstrike west of Tripoli destroyed a large family compound belonging to a close associate of Moammar Gadhafi, killing at least 15 people, including three children. The alliance says the strike hit a command and control center. Gadhafi's regime has repeatedly accused NATO of targeting civilians in an attempt to rally support against international intervention into Libya's civil war. The alliance insists it tries to avoid killing civilians.
EGYPT-Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was treated last year for cancer in his gallbladder and pancreas, and may be suffering a recurrence that spread to his stomach, his defense lawyer says. However, two senior Egyptian medical officials — one of them the head of Mubarak's team of doctors — says he does not have cancer. Mubarak, 83, has been hospitalized since early April. He is set to face trial in August on charges he ordered the killings of protesters during the 18-day uprising that ousted him on Feb. 11. A conviction could carry the death penalty, and activists suspect he may be using health problems as a ruse to sway public opinion and perhaps even win amnesty.
YEMEN-Tens of thousands take to the streets of the capital, demanding that the president's sons leave Yemen, as pressure rises for the wounded leader being treated in Saudi Arabia to step down. Ahmed Saleh, 42, is a one-time heir apparent to his father, who was badly wounded in an attack earlier this month. Ahmed Saleh commands the elite Presidential Guard, the country's best equipped and trained military unit.
TUNISIA-Tunisia's former ruler and his wife are convicted in absentia on embezzlement and other charges after $27 million in jewels and public funds were found in one of his palaces. They are sentenced to 35 years each in prison and fined. The conviction of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Leila Trabelsi follows a daylong trial before the Tunis criminal court. The couple went into exile on Jan. 14 in Saudi Arabia after a monthlong uprising that sparked a string of other uprisings in the Arab world.
ALGERIA-About 200 former military conscripts demonstrate in downtown Algiers calling for greater pensions and benefits after taking part in the fight against the Islamist insurgency the 1990s. The conscripts say they were never properly compensated for their years of service in the bloody battles that claimed an estimated 200,000 lives.
American Jews to join Gaza flotilla
– Mon Jun 20, 2:43 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – Several American Jews are to board a US boat planning to join a flotilla of about 10 ships seeking to breach Israel's naval blockade of Gaza later this month, an organizer said Monday.We are seeking justice for Gaza, Leslie Cogan told reporters, noting the boat will have 36 passengers, four crew and nine journalists when it sets sail for the tiny Palestinian enclave.She said 28 percent of the passengers were American Jews.It's important that Jews are in this boat... The Jewish lobby in this country is so powerful, said New York labor attorney Richard Levy, himself Jewish.We cannot support an Israeli blockade which is morally and juridically unsupportable... No more people should be slaughtered in the name of the Jews.The US boat, The Audacity of Hope, will sail from Athens to join around 10 ships carrying some 500 to 600 pro-Palestinian activists from 22 countries, Cogan said.The boats are expected to leave various Mediterranean ports around June 20 as part of the so-called Freedom Flotilla II aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade.
Cogan said the American ship will carry some 3,000 messages from the American people to the people of Gaza in what she called a cargo of friendship, a cargo of peace.They will try and reach the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip a year after a previous attempt ended when Israeli troops stormed the lead ship and shot dead nine Turkish activists.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged all governments concerned by the plans to try to discourage the new flotilla from being launched out of fear it could degenerate into violence.
Leadership row delays Palestinian unity government
by Nasser Abu Bakr – Mon Jun 20, 2:07 pm ET
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Disagreement over who should be the next Palestinian premier is holding up the creation of a unity government agreed last month between old rivals Fatah and Hamas, Palestinian officials said on Monday.A meeting in Cairo on Tuesday between Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who heads Fatah, and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal has been postponed due to Hamas opposition to the reappointment of Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad, they said.The real reason for the delay in the forming and convening of the government is disagreement over Fayyad,an official told AFP on condition of anonymity.President Abbas insists on nominating Salam Fayyad, whose appointment Hamas categorically rejects,he added.That has led the two sides to postpone the meeting rather than announce the collapse of the reconciliation.Fayyad is not wanted because his name is linked to Palestinian division, the debt-ridden Palestinian economy and operations by the (Palestinian) security services against the resistance, Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said, referring to the group's armed campaign against Israel.Announcing the delay on Sunday, Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed made no mention of a leadership dispute.The meeting has been postponed until a new date is set in the coming days in order to assure the best atmosphere for the successful implementation of the reconciliation agreement,he told AFP.Ahmed said Fatah had requested the delay in the talks to create the right atmosphere and because of the commitments that have come up on the president's schedule in Turkey.He said Abbas would visit Turkey on Wednesday.
Samir Awad, a professor of political science at Bir Zeit University near Ramallah, said that while Fayyad has the personal backing of Abbas, he does not have universal support within Fatah.There are those who favour dropping his candidacy and putting other names forward, he said.Hamas has burnt all its bridges and continues to reject Fayyad.A change of heart by Hamas seems unlikely given that the Islamist group has already agreed other concessions that set off a row between Mahmud Zahar, its main Gaza ideologue and Syria-based political leader Meshaal.Zahar, who participated in discussions with Fatah in April, has criticised Meshaal for comments he made during the official ceremony of reconciliation on May 4, saying he had no mandate to make such statements.A member of Fatah's central committee confided to journalists last week that he too was surprised by some of Meshaal's words.He said We accept two states on the 1967 borders. We are not in favour of violence, Mohammed Shtayeh said, adding that Meshaal had also told Abbas that if he needed more time to negotiate with Israel, he would not object.What I heard from Khaled Meshaal... I never expected him to say,Shtayeh said.A poll published on Monday by the independent Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research showed broad public support for Fayyad with 45 percent of 1,200 respondents favouring him, as opposed to 25 percent approval for Jamal Khodari, who is widely believed to have Hamas's backing.Under the terms of the unity deal signed by Fatah and Hamas they must agree on independent figures to make up a government that will lay the groundwork for legislative and presidential elections within a year.
Settlers cultivate West Bank tourism to tighten grip on land By Maayan Lubell – Mon Jun 20, 12:27 pm ET
RECHELIM, West Bank (Reuters) – The bulletproof van is extra.Welcome to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Jewish settlements built on land Palestinians seek for a state are opening their gates to foreign tourists and Israeli visitors.A one-day tour, booked through a regional settler council, costs $50. An additional $80 secures the armored bus.Palestinians, or local Arabs in the words of settlers who spoke to one group of visitors, are not on the itinerary.We are not monsters,Ilana Shimon told a clutch of tourists this week, leading them through Havat Gilad, a small settlement outpost built without Israeli government authorization.I'm against violence. All we want is to sit on our land and we want you to be our ambassadors, Shimon told her visitors near her home in Havat Gilad, where she lives with 30 other families, making up about 250 people, most of them children.Her audience, comprised of seven non-Jewish tourists from Belgium, France, the United States and the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, seemed to agree.The world needs to know the truth, all they see is the violence,Aline Boyer from Reunion said.About 300,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank, occupied by Israel in a 1967 war and home to 2.5 million Palestinians. The World Court has ruled the settlements illegal.Although violence has mostly subsided since a 2000-2005 Palestinian uprising, clashes between settlers and Palestinians are not uncommon, along with mutual accusations of vandalizing crops, fields, private property and holy shrines.The placid vista presented to the tourists include organic farms offering an assortment of goat cheese and yoghurt, as well as flourishing vineyards that produce boutique wines.Palestinians see things very differently -- the settlements, they fear, will deny them a viable state, and an Israeli barrier is cutting through the West Bank, a project they condemn as a land grab and which Israel says is necessary for security.
ENDING IGNORANCE
The tour took the group through several small settlements, some of them built without official permission by settlers who see themselves as pioneers exercising their claim to a Biblical birthright to the land.Sitting round a wooden table eating a rustic meal of goat cheese, yoghurt and eggs, Daniel and Catherine Lippert from Belgium gave their impressions of their Israeli hosts in an organic dairy farm near the settlement of Itamar.The media portrays the settlers as crazy, violent obstacles to peace and we want to tell everyone at home what we saw,Catherine said.The tour group's members defined themselves as former Christians who believe Jesus is the saviour but also abide by some Jewish ritual laws.We love Israel and pray together every Sabbath on Skype,said Simone Van Goethem, from Belgium.Daniel Lippert said he and his wife come to Israel two or three times a year, but this was their first visit to the West Bank.We donated money to Havat Gilad last year because it is the right thing to do,Daniel said.God promised the land to the Jews. The Palestinians should become Israeli citizens or leave.Nati Yisraeli, tourism coordinator for the settlers' regional council, said he hoped the tours would end ignorance, by bringing people to see for themselves.We want people to know what they're talking about when they discuss the future of the settlements. We want them first to experience the place, the people.he said.
Yisraeli said the number of tourists rose to almost 100,000 in 2010 from 45,000 in 2008. These include large Israeli groups which come mostly on Jewish holidays, as well as foreign tourists.Yisraeli's eyes lit up each time he pointed out ancient sites. A quick detour through rolling hills dotted with olive groves and grape vines took the group near the Palestinian city of Nablus, where they admired, from a distance, Joseph's Tomb, believed by worshippers to be the burial site of the Jewish patriarch.The group's next stop was the settlement of Itamar. As the vehicle approached, the driver checked that all had heard of the Fogel family, a couple and three of their children killed in the settlement in March. The killing was the most serious attack in years and shocked Israel, which has charged two Palestinian men with the murder.
WINE TASTING
In the small settlement of Rechelim, Vered Ben Saadon, owner of its Tura winery, said she lets her award-winning Cabernets and Merlots do the talking when it comes to winning hearts and minds.Talking politics sullies the wine's flavor. Our visitors, after getting to know the place, leave a little confused. They see a quality product and nice people who make it. It throws them off balance,Ben Saadon said.In May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said any future peace deal with the Palestinians would leave some settlements beyond Israel's borders suggesting that places like Rechelim, in remote areas, could be abandoned.But Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been frozen since last year in a dispute over construction in Jewish settlements, with little sign of revival soon.There is no other explanation to our success other than divine providence,Ben Saadon said.We didn't come here to make a business profit, we came here for the love of the land and as the years go by we see God is rewarding us.(Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Israel okays expansion of 2,000 settler homes
– Sun Jun 19, 10:39 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Jerusalem's municipal council on Sunday approved the expansion of 2,000 homes in the settlement district of Ramat Shlomo, allowing each home to add a room, the interior ministry said.Jerusalem's planning and urbanisation committee on Sunday authorised the enlargement of 2,000 homes in the neighbourhood of Ramat Shlomo, it said in a statement.An additional room will be built in each of these 2,000 homes in response to the needs of the numerous families suffering from housing problems in this area,it added.The Ramat Shlomo neighbourhood lies in an area of Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel captured during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed in a move not recognised by the international community.Israel considers Jerusalem to be its undivided capital, but the Palestinians, with the support of much of the international community, want to make east Jerusalem the capital of their future state.Israel's construction or expansion of homes in the area has drawn criticism from European capitals and Washington in the past, and settlement building in Ramat Shlomo led to a crisis in relations with the United States last year.In March 2010, Israel announced approval for the construction of 1,600 homes in the settlement neighbourhood just as US Vice President Joe Biden visited the Jewish state for meetings with Israeli officials.The announcement angered Biden, and prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offer an apology for the unfortunate timing.That announcement came as US officials laid the groundwork for the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the first in nearly two years.The talks were launched later that year in Washington, but ground to a halt shortly after they started when Israel declined to renew a moratorium that froze settlement construction in the West Bank, though not in Jerusalem.The Palestinians have refused to hold talks while Israel builds on land they want for their future state, and negotiations have remained on hold since late September 2010 because of the issue.
Abbas calls on EU to recognise Palestine
– Fri Jun 17, 6:42 pm ET
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas urged European Union nations on Friday to separately or collectively recognise the state of Palestine.During a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Abbas affirmed that the Palestinian position was to resume the peace process with Israel, expecting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept to talk of two states and to halt Jewish settlements, especially in Jerusalem, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said.We are calling on the European Union to help us on the question of moving the United Nations to accept Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders, Erakat was quoted as saying by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.Ashton arrived in Israel on Thursday and met Friday with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.She later met Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad and president Abbas in the West Bank.She is due to hold talks with Netanyahu on Sunday.
EU, Israel spar over peace prospects
by Hazel Ward – Fri Jun 17, 9:04 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The EU's top diplomat had a terse exchange with Israel's Avigdor Lieberman on Friday after he told her there was zero chance of reviving talks given the Palestinians' bid for UN recognition.The exchange occurred during an early breakfast briefing during which EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held talks with the Israeli foreign minister over ways to resume talks ahead of September when the Palestinians are planning to approach the UN to recognise their state on the 1967 borders.But Lieberman told her there was zero chance of resuming peace talks given the Palestinians determination to seek UN support for their state, and that if it happened, it would render null and void the 1993 Oslo Accords and all the other agreements reached since.The unilateral declaration at the United Nations would mean the end of the Oslo Agreement and a violation of all the agreements that were signed up to today,Lieberman was widely quoted as saying by all the mainstream Israel news websites and radio stations.Israel would no longer be bound to the agreements that were signed with the Palestinians over the past 18 years.In a tersely-worded statement released hours after the talks, Ashton said the European Union was well aware that September is fast approaching and stressed the urgency of resuming talks given the ongoing regional upheaval and last month's call by US President Barack Obama for talks to be based on the 1967 borders.With the events of the Arab Spring and following President Obama's speech, it is more urgent than ever to engage in meaningful negotiations and move the peace process forward, she said, noting that the message was passed on very clearly.Lieberman also launched an attack on Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, claming he does not want an agreement, he wants conflict with Israel.
By looking to secure a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, Mahmud Abbas is acting out of his own personal interests, without taking into account Palestinian interests nor the advice of many officials in the Palestinian Authority who are opposed to his initiative,public radio quoted him as saying.Lieberman was referring to a growing number of media reports suggesting there is division within the Palestinian leadership over the UN strategy.Later on Friday, Ashton will meet Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad then have dinner with Abbas before flying to Cairo on Saturday.Ashton is hoping to convene an urgent session of the Middle East Quartet in the coming weeks, with diplomatic sources in Brussels telling AFP she was pushing for a meeting in Washington which would take place by early July at the latest.On June 10, she wrote to her fellow Quartet principals -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon -- calling for the adoption of statement consolidating elements of Obama's May 19 speech.It is critical that we make a gesture before the summer, because we need to contribute to a calming of a volatile situation, she wrote in her letter, adding: This is no time for unilateral moves on either side, since this could lead to escalation.Ashton is just one of a number of world leaders working to find a way to head off potentially volatile developments in September when the Palestinians approach the United Nations to request membership and recognition by the 192-member body in a move fiercely opposed by Israel.After visiting Cairo, Ashton will return to Israel on Sunday for a joint meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Quartet envoy Tony Blair, an EU spokesman said.She will then fly to Luxembourg to brief the EU's 27 foreign ministers on Monday.
Israel to stop Gaza flotilla regardless of cargo
By Crispian Balmer – Thu Jun 16, 1:16 pm ET
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israel will do everything necessary to prevent a planned international flotilla from reaching Gaza, despite the fact the ships will probably not be carrying weapons, a senior military source said.The source, who declined to be named, said Israel's maritime blockade would only be deemed legal if it imposed a total exclusion zone around the small Palestinian enclave and urged the flotilla organizers not to challenge the navy.No ship will get into Gaza, the source said, adding that the military had drawn up new tactics in an effort to avoid last year's bloodshed, when Israeli marines killed nine activists after intercepting their group of six ships in international waters.Pro-Palestinian groups are planning a new flotilla, which they say will carry humanitarian aid to Hamas-controlled Gaza, and hope to set sail this month. The senior security source said he expected 10-15 ships to take part.I believe that with this flotilla there won't be any arms smuggled into Gaza, he told a group of reporters.But a maritime security blockade can only be legal if it is effective and complete. You cannot keep a selective maritime blockade under international law. You can't say who gets in and who doesn't,he added.Israeli officials have long argued that aid flotillas could be used as a cover to help supply weapons to Hamas, an Islamist group which refuses to recognize Israel and regularly fires rockets and mortars into the adjoining Jewish state.Palestinians believe the Israeli sea blockade is illegal and say it is helping strangle the underdeveloped Gazan economy.
MILITARY OPERATING IN A PR WORLD
The Israeli military came under fierce criticism for its assault on a Turkish-sponsored flotilla in May 2010.It said its soldiers had not expected the violent resistance they faced when they boarded the lead vessel, and had to open fire in self-defense, killing eight Turks and one American-Turk.On Wednesday, Israel carried out a large simulation exercise at sea to prepare for any new confrontation and the source said everything possible would be done to prevent direct clashes.We are being asked to do a military operation in a PR arena. We are trying to find better tactics to keep injuries of activists to a minimum,he said.Critics said the navy should have used water cannon to try to halt the ships or done more to disable the engines. Video footage from Wednesday's exercise broadcast by the military showed Israeli ships practicing the use of water cannon.Israel has said the activists can unload their cargo either at its Ashdod port or in Egypt, where it could be checked before being delivered by truck to the Gaza Strip.Israeli officials argue that deliveries of many goods into Gaza from its two neighbors means there is no humanitarian crisis in the enclave and therefore no need for aid shipments.If the sea line is opened, then Gaza will be flooded with arms and rockets, the senior official said.Palestinians say rigid controls are preventing the import of badly needed materials and warn that the prolonged isolation of Gaza plays into the hands of Islamist militants.(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis)
Peres: Palestinians' UN move an illusion By DAN PERRY and JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press – Thu Jun 16, 10:02 am ET
JERUSALEM – Israeli President Shimon Peres urged a resumption of Middle East peace talks Thursday, dismissing the Palestinians' plan to instead ask the United Nations for recognition as an illusion and arguing that a peace deal — despite widespread skepticism on both sides — was possible within months.In a strange way the differences are rather psychological than material, the 87-year-old head of state and Nobel laureate said in an interview with The Associated Press.I don't exclude that in spite of the shortage of time we can conclude an agreement with the Palestinians before September, Peres said, referring to the month the Palestinians, in the absence of a peace deal, plan to ask the United Nations for recognition as a state.Peres warned the U.N. gambit could backfire. The U.S. is expected to veto the measure in the powerful Security Council, forcing the Palestinians to turn to the General Assembly, where a majority seems likely but any decision would have no legal force.It will remain (on) paper and it will raise false hopes,Peres said. Israel would simply ask: Can you stop terror, United Nations? Can you stop the politics of Iran that finances Hezbollah and finances Hamas? Can you stop the smuggling of arms? ... And if the United Nations cannot answer it, so what is the value of their resolution?
With his comments, Peres joined a chorus of world leaders, including President Barack Obama and European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, urging the Palestinians not to follow through with the U.N. resolution. Palestinian officials have acknowledged they are having second thoughts, but insist they will press forward if peace talks don't resume.The Israeli president dismissed skepticism about the gaps between any Palestinian leadership and the current right-leaning Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:I know a little bit about negotiations, said Peres, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the 1993 Oslo interim peace accords with the Palestinians. The opening position is extremely loud and very maximalist ... But then you have to go down, quietly.Would the Palestinians give up the so-called right of return by refugees and their millions of descendants — a persistent and principled demand that Israelis across the spectrum reject out of hand as demographic suicide?I think so, he said, insisting a creative solution is possible.Among the obstacles to talks even beginning is Israel's rejection of an emerging Palestinian unity government between Fatah, the moderate grouping of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas which controls Palestinian autonomy zones in the West Bank, and the Hamas militant group, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.The sides reached a reconciliation agreement last month and are still laboring to implement it, wrangling over issues like the appointment of a prime minister. But Netanyahu has already made the deal an obstacle to talks, saying he cannot negotiate with a government even partly backed by a sworn enemy like Hamas.Peres noted the United States and other world powers have insisted that Hamas recognize Israel, renounce terrorism and accept previous agreements. Hamas' acceptance of these terms, Peres suggested, would enable such talks between Israel and a unified Palestinian leadership.
As president, Peres is a figurehead, but his words carry weight because of an elder statesman status achieved over six frequently turbulent decades in Israeli public life — a period marked by achievement and electoral futility in seemingly equal measure.As leader of Israel's center-left Labor Party, Peres lost an improbable string of elections — in 1977, 1981, 1988, and 1996 — and managed only a tie in 1984, with Israel's economy mired in hyperinflation and its army in a costly and unpopular war in Lebanon.Despite these difficulties, he has managed to serve in practically every top government position, including three brief stints as prime minister.Peres' dogged pursuit of peace has made him a regular at global gatherings such as the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where his penchant for visionary pronouncements and his extraordinary longevity have given him a somewhat iconic status.Alert, jocular and surrounded by adoring aides, Peres spoke to the AP at his presidential compound as he prepared to host his own version of Davos — the third annual Israeli Presidential Conference — an event which he said would this year attract 1,700 figures from outside Israel.The diverse guest list ranges from Colombian singer Shakira and U.S. comedienne Sarah Silverman to Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, advertising magnate Martin Sorrel and European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet, in addition to a cluster of leaders and government ministers.Peres said the three-day event next week will focus on the issues of tomorrow — in Jewish life, in world affairs, in Israeli development, in all domains — science, technology, politics.He said he had special interest in exploring the workings of the brain, cybernetics, and what he perceived as an unprecedented type of generation gap.Youngsters are equipped with ... Facebook and the Internet. They don't want their parents to get involved in their own way of life. They respect the parents but without much admiration. They say: ... The world you have handed over is full of blood and suffering and mistakes. Let us have our own future.Peres credited Facebook-wielding youth for the current upheavals in the Arab world and offered his neighbors free advice: If you don't give equal rights to (women) you're half a nation ... No money can compensate (for) this mistake.Peres clearly feels the changes in the region belatedly vindicate the optimism he espoused 18 years ago in a book titled The New Middle East — which earned him some derision at the time by critics who considered him naive.He dismissed the concerns of many Israelis today that Arab democracies would elect Islamists and authoritarians:The moral call is the right one and the preferred one. Don't make too many calculations. I shall be a happy person when the Middle East will become free and democratic.Peres predicted that the unusual Israeli presidential conference — despite its association with him personally — would continue after he leaves office, because the Jewish state has a global role in advancing knowledge.A good Jew cannot be satisfied,Peres said.All the time he feels he has to improve ... which creates, in a way, creativity and imagination.
Palestinians want UN seat even if talks start
– Thu Jun 16, 9:33 am ET
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The Palestinians will seek UN recognition and membership regardless of whether there is a resumption of peace talks, negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh said on Thursday.His comments were made as the international community pushes a raft of new peace initiatives in a bid to head off the Palestinian push for UN membership.But Shtayeh said the Palestinians were determined to seek recognition and that talks could proceed alongside their bid.We are by all means going to the United Nations, whether there are negotiations or no negotiations, he told reporters in Ramallah, adding that he thought there was little chances talks would resume.We think that is not either/or -- we think that going to the United Nations and negotiations can go hand in hand and they are complementary to each other, Shtayeh said.Negotiations have been on hold since late September 2010, when they ground to a halt after a partial freeze on Israeli settlement construction expired.The Israelis refused to renew the freeze and the Palestinians have said they will not talk while Israel builds on land they want for their future state.As the talks remained stuck in a stalemate, the Palestinians have sought international backing for a plan to seek recognition and membership at the United Nations during the General Assembly in September.The United States and several European countries have stated their opposition to the plan, and are reportedly seeking a new peace initiative that could relaunch talks and convince the Palestinians to abandon the UN push.We are ready to live with any proposal. But the problem is, we don't want anybody to believe that these sort of proposals are actually initiatives that are an alternative to us going to the United Nations,he said.We are going to the United Nations.Shtayeh said the Palestinians were actively seeking support, particularly in Europe, for bid to get UN recognition of a state on the lines that existed before the 1967 Six Day War.For us and the Israelis the battle is over Europe because the issue is not how many states, the issue is also quality states, with all respect to everybody,he said.So it is important for us that Europe recognises Palestine and I think that the Europeans obviously are trying to come up with initiatives so that they are not politically embarrassed in one way or another.
Palestinians urge Spain, EU to recognise state
– Thu Jun 16, 9:30 am ET
MADRID (AFP) – Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki on Thursday urged Spain and the rest of the European Union to recognise a Palestinian state with borders from before the 1967 Six Day War.Since the collapse of peace talks with Israel last year, the Palestinians have campaigned to gain recognition of statehood and UN membership when the General Assembly meets in New York in September.We hope the European Union will take a decision to collectively recognise a Palestinian state with the 1967 borders, Malki told a conference in Madrid during an official visit that began Friday.We have the hope that Spain will lead the EU countries in the official recognition of the Palestinian state, he said, calling on Madrid to take an active role in persuading other members.Recognition of statehood would guarantee the two-state solution and provide a firm and solid basis for the immediate start of negotiations with Israel, Malki said.Peace negotiations have been on hold since late September 2010 when the Israelis refused to renew a partial freeze on building Israeli settlements on land that the Palestinians want for their future state.The question of recognising a Palestinian state at the UN looks set to divide EU nations, with Germany for the moment opposed and France not excluding recognition.If there is no unanimity in the European Union, each EU country should have the right to decide whether it is ready to recognise the Palestinian state,as had happened with Kosovo, Malki said.Spain's secretary of state for foreign affairs, Juan Antonio Yanez Barnuevo, said Thursday that Madrid unreservedly supported efforts to return to the negotiating table and achieve peace.Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh said in Ramallah that the Palestinians will seek UN recognition and membership regardless of whether there is a resumption of peace talks.
Spain wants Mideast talks to resume this year
– Wed Jun 15, 3:12 pm ET
MADRID (AFP) – Spain supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and wants the two sides to resume peace talks this year, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez met with her Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Malki on Wednesday, during his official visit which ends on Friday.Jimenez reiterated Spain's support in favour of a two-state solution...as the only path to a global and long-standing peace in the Middle East,a statement said.
Spain is in favour of a solution under the auspices of the United Nations and wants the negotiations to resume this year, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said.The talks have been on hold since September 2010, when they ground to a halt over Israeli settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land.Jimenez however did not speak on Palestine's bid for a United Nations membership based on 1967 borders, the official said.The European Union is divided over Palestine's membership in the United Nations. Numerous nations, including France, have said they would vote for and recognise a Palestinian state if talks restart by September.
EU's Ashton due in Mideast over stalled peace talks
– Wed Jun 15, 2:17 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton flies to the Middle East this week for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials, hoping to break the impasse in peace talks, her office said Wednesday.Ashton kicks off the trip in Jordan on Thursday before meeting Israeli and Palestinian officials on Friday and then going on to Egypt to discuss events in Libya on Saturday.She will head back to Israel on Sunday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then brief the EU's 27 foreign ministers on the mission at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.I look forward to meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders and encouraging them to seize the opportunity and engage in negotiations,Ashton said in a statement.With the momentous events going on in North Africa and following (US) President (Barack) Obama's speech last month, it is more urgent than ever that we kickstart the Middle East peace process.I have proposed a meeting of the Quartet to help relaunch negotiations and will be looking for positive signs from all sides,she added.
Her visit comes just days after she sent a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, a copy of which was seen by AFP.The letter, sent on June 10, calls for a gesture before the summer from the diplomatic Quartet of Middle East peacemakers, which comprises the European Union, the United Nations, Russia and the United States.
In the document, Ashton calls for a meeting of Quartet principals to adopt a statement which would consolidate elements of Obama's call for negotiations to resume on the basis of 1967 borders with mutual land swaps, coupled with firm security guarantees.This is no time for unilateral moves on either side, since this could lead to escalation,she wrote in what appeared to be a reference to the Palestinians' plan to seek UN recognition for a state of their own this September.
Israel is fiercely opposed to the step, with Netanyahu looking to convince at least 30 countries to vote against the proposal, media reports said.I believe that what is needed now is a clear signal to the parties, and a reference framework that should enable them to return to the negotiating table,Ashton wrote.It is critical that we make a gesture before the summer, because we need to contribute to a calming of a volatile situation.In Amman, Ashton meets counterpart Nasser Judeh before talks the next day with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and opposition Leader Tzipi Livni, followed by a West Bank visit to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas.Diplomatic sources in Brussels told AFP that Ashton hoped for a swift Quartet meeting, by early July at the latest, in Washington.But Ashton has limited room to manoeuvre,one source said, believing that Netanyahu does not want to relaunch the negotiations and is busy campaigning for support against the recognition of a Palestinian state.The question of recognising Palestine at the UN looks set to divide EU nations, with Germany for the moment opposed, Spain in favour and France not excluding recognition.In Egypt, Ashton will attend a meeting of the Cairo Group, bringing together international organisations supporting a democratic transition in Libya.The talks will be hosted by Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa and bring Ashton together with the UN's Ban, by video-link, African Union commission president Jean Ping, and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
Israel holds drill for next Gaza-bound flotilla
– Wed Jun 15, 4:51 am ET
JERUSALEM – The Israeli military says it's holding a drill ahead of the next Gaza-bound flotilla with pro-Palestinian activists who could try to breach Israel's naval blockade of the territory.Last year, an Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla left nine activists dead and propelled the blockade controversy to center stage of international politics. Israel said its soldiers were defending themselves.
A military spokeswoman would not provide details of the drill under way Wednesday.
Israel's Army Radio says commandoes were practicing the takeover of a ship and that troops have been trained to board vessels more quickly than they did last year to minimize any violent confrontations.The flotilla is to depart at the end of June from various European ports.
Palestinian rivals to finalise unity govt next week
– Tue Jun 14, 1:16 pm ET
CAIRO (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will meet Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in Cairo next week to finalise a new government put together by the two factions, a top official of his Fatah movement said Tuesday.The meeting was announced as Palestinian factions were in Cairo for reconciliation talks aimed at choosing a prime minister to head the unity government.Today, during the talks between the Fatah and Hamas delegations, a meeting was scheduled for next Tuesday between President Abbas and Meshaal to finalise the formation of the new government, said Azzam al-Ahmad, who heads the Fatah delegation at the talks.They also decided that this meeting will be the last to finalise the issue of the government, he told AFP.Fatah met a Hamas delegation headed by Mussa Abu Marzuk at the Egyptian intelligence headquarters.It has said it wants to retain prime minister Salam Fayyad to head the government, but the nomination was immediately rejected by the Islamist movement.A Fatah member who attended the talks told AFP that negotiations stumbled over the list of names (for prime minister) which were put forward by Fatah, particularly Fayyad.Hamas strongly rejected Fayyad as head of the next government and officially notified us of their rejection and said the issue was not open for discussion, asking us to abide by the reconciliation agreement which says that all names in the government must be agreed by consensus,the member said.
The Cairo agreement stipulates that all the issues must be resolved by agreement and that no party imposes any person on the other, and this was stressed again during the meeting today (Tuesday),he said.He said that, because there was disagreement over Fayyad, it was agreed that the leaders of Fatah and Hamas would meet in Cairo on June 21.Hamas has not put forward any new suggestions and we agreed that both sides would choose the government ministers after agreeing on the head of the unity government,he said.Fayyad told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that he would not want to be a stumbling block in the reconciliation deal.I assure you that there is no way I can accept that the formation of the unity government be delayed because of me,Fayyad said.I will not impose myself on anyone, and I do not want any side to perceive me as being imposed on them. But if there is an agreement on my (nomination), I will be willing to take on the task,he added.Both Fatah and Hamas said they were optimistic they would come to an agreement.God willing, this will be the last round of talks regarding the formation of the government,Ahmad told AFP ahead of the meeting.
The Egyptian-sponsored talks are the fruit of a reconciliation agreement signed in Cairo in May aimed at ending years of bitter feuding and laying the groundwork for presidential and parliamentary elections within a year.Fatah's central committee agreed on Saturday to throw their support behind Fayyad, a former World Bank official and preferred candidate of the international community.But Hamas has rejected Fayyad, blaming him for the arrest and alleged torture of its leaders, and plunging the Palestinian Authority into debt.Izzat al-Risheq, a member of the Hamas politburo, said ahead of the Cairo talks that the best way forward in forming the unity government was to exclude controversial candidates.A main principle we have agreed on is that thorny issues or disagreements be dealt with by both sides through consensus. Therefore the government will be one of consensus and no side will impose its view on the other,Egyptian state news agency MENA quoted Risheq as saying.We feel the best way is to exclude controversial choices,he said.On Sunday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri reiterated his movement's rejection of Fayyad.Hamas informed Fatah during the last meeting of its rejection of the choice of Salam Fayyad to head the new government,Abu Zuhri told AFP.Hamas has yet to put forward a candidate for the prime minister's post.
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