Rice Tells Palestinians To Lower Hopes-Zionists Abandon Peace
Various | 21.10.2007 15:28 | Anti-militarism | World
The Zionists say they can't negotiate because of the crisis that they are responsible for. That's priceless.
Rice to Palestinians: lower your hopes
Martin Chulov, Middle East correspondent | October 16, 2007
CONDOLEEZZA Rice last night told the Palestinians to lower their expectations ahead of the White House-sponsored peace conference and to drop demands for a timetable to implement final status agreements.
The US Secretary of State's latest round of shuttle diplomacy has emerged as her most crucial yet as gaps start to become entrenched between both sides ahead of the meeting late next month, to be chaired by US President George W.Bush in Annapolis.
The conference had been labelled as the best chance since the turn of the century to end 59 years of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. However, Palestinian negotiators and key Arab states have warned they will not attend unless substantive agreements are tabled.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and two of his senior ministers warned Dr Rice during a meeting on Sunday that the ruling coalition Government would probably fall if Israel moved towards a deal involving the separation of Jerusalem, or other red-line issues, such as refugee return.
The influential Arab League has also drawn a line in the sand under the final status of Jerusalem's Temple Mount, which includes the most sacred site to Judaism - the Western Wall of the ruined second Jewish Temple - and the third most holy site to Islam, the al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock. The Arab League insists the site must in the future be under Muslim control.
However, orthodox Jewry in Israel has pledged to use all its political clout to oppose such a move. Member states of the Arab league have threatened to stay away en masse if the future of al-Aqsa is not clarified.
Palestinian officials have told Israeli media the mosque is a deal breaker for Palestinians and Arabs across the region. "The Israeli public still doesn't understand how important the issue ofal-Aqsa is," one official said.
Another complained the talks were imperilled by the inexperience of Israeli negotiators. "They weren't at Camp David or Taba (earlier summit venues) and do not know or want to know what was agreed on there. They want to start from zero, which is unacceptable to the Palestinian side."
Dr Rice told Mr Olmert and other Israeli ministers that the US expected tough decisions to be made before the meeting.
"Decisions must be made without running away from the issues," she said. "Only dealing with the core issues will bolster the diplomatic process."
Both the Israeli and Palestinian public fear that neither of their leaders is strong enough to lead either side to a resolution.
"The time has come for a Palestinian state," Dr Rice said.
"I agree that the partners are weak, but we must bolster them."
www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22590280-2703,00.html
Israeli Cabinet Sends Message To Rice
By: David Bedein, The Bulletin
10/17/2007
Jerusalem - Israel Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that in the current political situation in Israel, conditions are not ripe for diplomatic gestures in the Annapolis, Md., conference on the Middle East next month.
During a meeting the two held at the David's Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, Mr. Lieberman said, "A meeting at this time in Annapolis is a mistake. What is the sense in another conference without there being any practical results that Israelis and Palestinians can feel in their daily lives?"
Mr.Lieberman told Ms.Rice the first subject from his point of view is that of the security of the inhabitants of Sderot and the communities around Gaza. "Until the security question is resolved, there is no sense in putting more complicated and sensitive subjects on the agenda. Only after matters such as Israeli security and the shaky Palestinian economy are dealt with can we work on a diplomatic out-line." He also warned of the possi-bility Israel may be forced to embark upon a military operation in Gaza, modeled on "Operation Defensive Shield" launched in April 2002. That operation facilitated widespread Israeli army initiatives in Arab villages in Judea and Samaria, often described by the media as the "west bank". These Israeli army initiatives have continued to this day, with one purpose - proactive prevention of Arab terror attacks against Israel.
The relentless rocket fire upon the Negev is intended to reconstruct the success of disengagement from the Palestinians' point of view, according to a high-ranking operative of Islamic Jihad known as Abu Hamza in a report in the Washington Post.
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He said that the Palestinian rockets got Israel out of Gaza in 2005, and therefore he expected the same result in the cities in southern Israel such as Sderot and Ashkelon.
The Washington Post reported Mr. Hamza is hiding in a secret room with a computer connected to the Internet the Islamic Jihad commander says serves for planning rocket attacks on southern Israel. The rockets Islamic Jihad fires at Israel on a near-daily basis serve as a permanent reminder the resumption of peace talks in the Middle East remains a distant dream in Gaza. Thousands of rockets that have been fired over the past seven years have killed 12 Israelis,wounded dozens and disrupted the lives of thousands.
"Resistance must continue until we uproot the occupation from the entire land of Palestine. from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river," said Mr. Hamza.
JERUSALEM SYNDROME AND U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Ms. Rice's mediation in Jerusalem has caused many Israelis to question her judgment.
There is a recognized clinical state of mind known as "Jerusalem Syndrome", which causes some people here to lose their rational judgment when they discuss Jerusalem, the cradle of the world's three great religions, the place where Jewish prophets once flourished.
Deeply religious, Rice studies portions of the Bible every day, and no one can disturb her while she studies. Nothing is wrong with Bible study, except when Rice proclaims that she is on the ultimate mission of peace , she herself is going to foster a peace settlement in the Middle East, and that the Palestinian state must be created immediately, she seems totally disconnected from the reality of the Arab war that continues against Israel, unabated, since 1948.
Speaking to reporters while en route to Israel, Ms. Rice told the media that her goal was to achieve "security for the Israelis and dignity for the Palestinians", as if these are the characteristics of the Middle East conflict that has lasted for the past sixty years between Israel and the Arab world.
Yet as Ms. Rice says over and over she wants the Palestinian state now, she also mentions to people around her she feels that the Palestinian cause is reminiscent of the civil rights struggle.
Indeed, the civil rights movement dominated the formative years of Rice's life as the daughter of a black clergyman whose life was on the line in the 1960's in a small Alabama town. Some of her close childhood friends were, indeed, murdered in a brutal attack on a local church.
Yet it seems Ms. Rice's seminal civil rights experience has distracted her from the reality that a war of extermination was declared by the Arab League against the nascent state of Israel on the day of its inception in 1948 - a war that continues to this day, with an active state of war still in place...
While Ms. Rice may imagine the PLO is a spontaneous Palestinian Arab grass roots civil rights movement, she apparently never relates to the fact that that it was Arab League that fostered the PLO in 1964, three years before the 1967 war, in order to incite the indigenous Arab population to join their war to liquidate Israel and liberate all of Palestine.
Ms. Rice never mentions the PLO covenant to destroy Israel remains in tact as the mandate for the PLO and its progeny, the Palestinian Authority, and the PLO covenant has not changed, except for the 1974 amendment that allows the PLO to destroy Israel in stages, which allows the PLO to use diplomatic means to that end.
Perhaps the unkindest cut of all was Rice's comment to her colleagues that she compares Machmud Abbas to Martin Luther King, because they are both committed to peace. .
If Ms. Rice had paid more attention to the guidelines the US State Department, she could have paid more attention to the fact Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades of the Fatah, commanded by Abbas, was designated by the US government on March 23rd, 2002, as a terrorist organization and that Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades remain an integral part of Fatah, whose members regard Abbas as their leader. Ms. Rice could relate to the fact that Abbas simply refuses to disband the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade
Instead, Ms. Rice lauds a terror organization which her own government defines as a terrorist group, while repeating, over and over, that she respects this same organization as a "moderate" entity. A symptom, perhaps, of Jerusalem Syndrome, since such a description bears no connection to reality
From Jerusalem, Ms. Rice flew to Egypt yesterday, where she praised Egypt for agreeing to join the Annapolis peace conference next month.
This is the same Egypt which endows the Hamas regime in Gaza with a daily flow of massive supplies of ammunition, light arms and rockets which have enabled Arab militias from Gaza to conduct daily missile Israel attacks for the last seven years...including 1000 missile attacks since Hamas formally took over Gaza in June, while Egyptian supply lines to terror in Gaza have continued without interference..
Where was Rice's criticism of Egypt for arming a terror regime?
Once again, that could be attributed to an advanced case of Jerusalem Syndrome. Why allow the reality of war to interfere with her illusions of peace?
www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=18925255&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_i
Martin Chulov, Middle East correspondent | October 16, 2007
CONDOLEEZZA Rice last night told the Palestinians to lower their expectations ahead of the White House-sponsored peace conference and to drop demands for a timetable to implement final status agreements.
The US Secretary of State's latest round of shuttle diplomacy has emerged as her most crucial yet as gaps start to become entrenched between both sides ahead of the meeting late next month, to be chaired by US President George W.Bush in Annapolis.
The conference had been labelled as the best chance since the turn of the century to end 59 years of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. However, Palestinian negotiators and key Arab states have warned they will not attend unless substantive agreements are tabled.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and two of his senior ministers warned Dr Rice during a meeting on Sunday that the ruling coalition Government would probably fall if Israel moved towards a deal involving the separation of Jerusalem, or other red-line issues, such as refugee return.
The influential Arab League has also drawn a line in the sand under the final status of Jerusalem's Temple Mount, which includes the most sacred site to Judaism - the Western Wall of the ruined second Jewish Temple - and the third most holy site to Islam, the al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock. The Arab League insists the site must in the future be under Muslim control.
However, orthodox Jewry in Israel has pledged to use all its political clout to oppose such a move. Member states of the Arab league have threatened to stay away en masse if the future of al-Aqsa is not clarified.
Palestinian officials have told Israeli media the mosque is a deal breaker for Palestinians and Arabs across the region. "The Israeli public still doesn't understand how important the issue ofal-Aqsa is," one official said.
Another complained the talks were imperilled by the inexperience of Israeli negotiators. "They weren't at Camp David or Taba (earlier summit venues) and do not know or want to know what was agreed on there. They want to start from zero, which is unacceptable to the Palestinian side."
Dr Rice told Mr Olmert and other Israeli ministers that the US expected tough decisions to be made before the meeting.
"Decisions must be made without running away from the issues," she said. "Only dealing with the core issues will bolster the diplomatic process."
Both the Israeli and Palestinian public fear that neither of their leaders is strong enough to lead either side to a resolution.
"The time has come for a Palestinian state," Dr Rice said.
"I agree that the partners are weak, but we must bolster them."
www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22590280-2703,00.html
Israeli Cabinet Sends Message To Rice
By: David Bedein, The Bulletin
10/17/2007
Jerusalem - Israel Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that in the current political situation in Israel, conditions are not ripe for diplomatic gestures in the Annapolis, Md., conference on the Middle East next month.
During a meeting the two held at the David's Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, Mr. Lieberman said, "A meeting at this time in Annapolis is a mistake. What is the sense in another conference without there being any practical results that Israelis and Palestinians can feel in their daily lives?"
Mr.Lieberman told Ms.Rice the first subject from his point of view is that of the security of the inhabitants of Sderot and the communities around Gaza. "Until the security question is resolved, there is no sense in putting more complicated and sensitive subjects on the agenda. Only after matters such as Israeli security and the shaky Palestinian economy are dealt with can we work on a diplomatic out-line." He also warned of the possi-bility Israel may be forced to embark upon a military operation in Gaza, modeled on "Operation Defensive Shield" launched in April 2002. That operation facilitated widespread Israeli army initiatives in Arab villages in Judea and Samaria, often described by the media as the "west bank". These Israeli army initiatives have continued to this day, with one purpose - proactive prevention of Arab terror attacks against Israel.
The relentless rocket fire upon the Negev is intended to reconstruct the success of disengagement from the Palestinians' point of view, according to a high-ranking operative of Islamic Jihad known as Abu Hamza in a report in the Washington Post.
Advertisement
Click to learn more...
He said that the Palestinian rockets got Israel out of Gaza in 2005, and therefore he expected the same result in the cities in southern Israel such as Sderot and Ashkelon.
The Washington Post reported Mr. Hamza is hiding in a secret room with a computer connected to the Internet the Islamic Jihad commander says serves for planning rocket attacks on southern Israel. The rockets Islamic Jihad fires at Israel on a near-daily basis serve as a permanent reminder the resumption of peace talks in the Middle East remains a distant dream in Gaza. Thousands of rockets that have been fired over the past seven years have killed 12 Israelis,wounded dozens and disrupted the lives of thousands.
"Resistance must continue until we uproot the occupation from the entire land of Palestine. from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river," said Mr. Hamza.
JERUSALEM SYNDROME AND U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Ms. Rice's mediation in Jerusalem has caused many Israelis to question her judgment.
There is a recognized clinical state of mind known as "Jerusalem Syndrome", which causes some people here to lose their rational judgment when they discuss Jerusalem, the cradle of the world's three great religions, the place where Jewish prophets once flourished.
Deeply religious, Rice studies portions of the Bible every day, and no one can disturb her while she studies. Nothing is wrong with Bible study, except when Rice proclaims that she is on the ultimate mission of peace , she herself is going to foster a peace settlement in the Middle East, and that the Palestinian state must be created immediately, she seems totally disconnected from the reality of the Arab war that continues against Israel, unabated, since 1948.
Speaking to reporters while en route to Israel, Ms. Rice told the media that her goal was to achieve "security for the Israelis and dignity for the Palestinians", as if these are the characteristics of the Middle East conflict that has lasted for the past sixty years between Israel and the Arab world.
Yet as Ms. Rice says over and over she wants the Palestinian state now, she also mentions to people around her she feels that the Palestinian cause is reminiscent of the civil rights struggle.
Indeed, the civil rights movement dominated the formative years of Rice's life as the daughter of a black clergyman whose life was on the line in the 1960's in a small Alabama town. Some of her close childhood friends were, indeed, murdered in a brutal attack on a local church.
Yet it seems Ms. Rice's seminal civil rights experience has distracted her from the reality that a war of extermination was declared by the Arab League against the nascent state of Israel on the day of its inception in 1948 - a war that continues to this day, with an active state of war still in place...
While Ms. Rice may imagine the PLO is a spontaneous Palestinian Arab grass roots civil rights movement, she apparently never relates to the fact that that it was Arab League that fostered the PLO in 1964, three years before the 1967 war, in order to incite the indigenous Arab population to join their war to liquidate Israel and liberate all of Palestine.
Ms. Rice never mentions the PLO covenant to destroy Israel remains in tact as the mandate for the PLO and its progeny, the Palestinian Authority, and the PLO covenant has not changed, except for the 1974 amendment that allows the PLO to destroy Israel in stages, which allows the PLO to use diplomatic means to that end.
Perhaps the unkindest cut of all was Rice's comment to her colleagues that she compares Machmud Abbas to Martin Luther King, because they are both committed to peace. .
If Ms. Rice had paid more attention to the guidelines the US State Department, she could have paid more attention to the fact Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades of the Fatah, commanded by Abbas, was designated by the US government on March 23rd, 2002, as a terrorist organization and that Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades remain an integral part of Fatah, whose members regard Abbas as their leader. Ms. Rice could relate to the fact that Abbas simply refuses to disband the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade
Instead, Ms. Rice lauds a terror organization which her own government defines as a terrorist group, while repeating, over and over, that she respects this same organization as a "moderate" entity. A symptom, perhaps, of Jerusalem Syndrome, since such a description bears no connection to reality
From Jerusalem, Ms. Rice flew to Egypt yesterday, where she praised Egypt for agreeing to join the Annapolis peace conference next month.
This is the same Egypt which endows the Hamas regime in Gaza with a daily flow of massive supplies of ammunition, light arms and rockets which have enabled Arab militias from Gaza to conduct daily missile Israel attacks for the last seven years...including 1000 missile attacks since Hamas formally took over Gaza in June, while Egyptian supply lines to terror in Gaza have continued without interference..
Where was Rice's criticism of Egypt for arming a terror regime?
Once again, that could be attributed to an advanced case of Jerusalem Syndrome. Why allow the reality of war to interfere with her illusions of peace?
www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=18925255&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_i
Various