12 novembre 2009
PA officials: 'Postpone elections'
Palestinian election officials on Thursday recommended calling off January's presidential election, clearing the way for embattled President Mahmoud Abbas to back off his threats to step down and remain in office. Election Commission chairman Hanna Nasser said it would be impossible to conduct the vote in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. "We planned to go to Gaza to figure out how we can conduct elections there," Nasser said. "In the meantime, we received an answer from Hamas that we are not welcome in Gaza. It is clear now that we cannot hold an election in Gaza." Hamas announced already in late October that it would not allow the elections committee to start preparations in the Gaza Strip for holding new presidential and parliamentary elections. At the time, the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior threatened to punish any Palestinian who participated in the elections or helped Abbas's elections committee in the Gaza Strip. Later on Thursday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zouhri reiterated that his group opposed the election because it was declared unilaterally. "Without reconciliation, there will be no election," he said. Abbas was in neighboring Jordan on Thursday and did not immediately comment. "President Abbas will make the appropriate decision after he returns," said his spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdeneh. "Hamas' decision to ban the election commission from working in Gaza proves that Hamas is not eager to reach national unity and reconciliation." On Wednesday, Abbas said that he was still interested in patching up his differences with Hamas. "We want reconciliation and we want to reunite our people and homeland," he said during a ceremony marking the fifth anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death. "Hamas exists and it will stay. Hamas came through elections and now we are offering Hamas elections once again." Referring to his decision last week not to run for another term in a new election, Abbas said: "I don't want to talk again about my desire not to run in the election. But I want to say that there are other options that I will take in accordance with the developments." (21,09)
Jordan: Jerusalem is a ticking time bomb
Jerusalem is a ticking time bomb where an attack by Jewish extremists on Muslim holy sites could erase any chances for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, undermining stability in the entire Muslim world, Jordan's US Ambassador Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein told the Washington Times in an interview published on Thursday. The Jordanian envoy referred to clashes between security forces and Arab rioters in Jerusalem in recent weeks, and explained that the Hashemite Kingdom was worried those events could lead to another incident such as the 1969 fire at the Aksa Mosque set by Australian Denis Michael Rohan. Rohan, a Christian, was arrested and later found to be mentally ill. "We are worried that, in the short term, something like this might happen," he said. "It would unleash emotions of an extreme nature [and] the consequences would be very severe," Zeid told the paper. He went on to warn that the US does not seem to realize the serious ramifications such an incident could have on the peace process and on the entire region. The threat of an attack on sites such as the Aksa Mosque compound "is the real showstopper [and] the issue that can turn US policy on its head," Prince Zeid reportedly said, but "there is no discussion about this in Washington. ... Something is not working right." The Jordanian diplomat stressed that the two-state solution was pointless if the Israeli government refused to discuss the status of the capital. (21,06)
TRANSFER OF EDUCATIONAL EQUIPMENT VIA ISRAEL TO THE GAZA STRIP
The Coordinator for Government Activity in the Territories (CoGAT), through the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Office (DCL), facilitated a large transfer of educational supplies to the Gaza Strip for use in schools run by UNRWA. The shipment included copy machines, printers, and projectors which entered the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing in the morning hours. During the past month, a large quantity of educational tools such as notebooks, backpacks, writing tools, and textbooks have crossed from Israel to Gaza for use in schools run by UNRWA. Furthermore, two special Braille printers were also transferred to complement the Braille-language keyboards whose transfer was also facilitated by CoGAT and the Gaza DCL during recent weeks. These specialized pedagogical tools will be transferred to UNRWA for use in special-needs education. The commander of the Gaza DCL, Col. Moshe Levi said "UNRWA is an important humanitarian aid organization in the Gaza Strip that operates many schools as part of its aid activities. Through CoGAT and the Gaza DCL, Israel makes great efforts to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Gaza Strip, and for this reason the recent transfer was facilitated at the request of the organization." With regard to the special-needs educational services provided by the organization, Levi said: "This is another humanitarian case, just one of many handled by the soldiers and officers of the Gaza DCL. A large number of cases reach our doorstep and require special consideration, and we do our very best to understand the needs while providing the best and quickest response. This falls into the framework of the overall humanitarian efforts and occurs in accordance with the policies in effect in Gaza." (20,53)
French President phones Palestinian counterpart with 'important suggestions' on how to restart stalled peace process
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday with "important suggestions" to restart the stalled peace process, an Abbas aide said. The phone call came a day after the French leader met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Paris. "President Sarkozy had very important suggestions on how to move the peace process forward," Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP. He did not elaborate, but said Sarkozy had shared details of his meeting with Netanyahu and the two agreed to talk again in a few days. Another senior Palestinian official told AFP on condition of anonymity that among the topics discussed was the idea of organizing a Middle East peace conference in Moscow, an idea Russia has been pushing for months. Netanyahu returned to Israel early on Thursday after meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington and Sarkozy in Paris. Obama's administration has struggled for months to get Israel and the Palestinian to restart peace negotiations that were suspended during the Gaza war at the turn of the year.(18,00)
11 novembre 2009
PM Netanyahu tries to jump-start talks with Syria
Opening up hope for some sudden progress on the Syrian front, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent a verbal message to Syria on Wednesday, when he told French President Nicolas Sarkozy he would be happy to resume peace talks with Syria anytime, anywhere and without preconditions, a government source said. The two leaders spoke at the Elysée Palace in Paris, the day before Syrian President Bashar Assad is expected to hold his own meeting in Paris with Sarkozy. The prime minister's message to Syria comes as ties between Israel and Turkey, which facilitated indirect talks between Israel and Syria during the tenure of former prime minister Ehud Olmert, are strained. Syria and Israel held four rounds of indirect peace talks without making headway. No similar negotiations have been conducted with Syria since Netanyahu took office in March of this year. But as peace talks with the Palestinians have hit a dead end, it has been speculated that Netanyahu is turning to Syria as a more likely negotiating partner. On Tuesday in Brazil, President Shimon Peres said, "I call from here to President Assad: come, enter direct negotiations with us immediately. With no mediations, with no preconditions, with no levels, and with no delay." Government sources would not comment on whether any new Syria talks would be direct or indirect, nor would they speculate on whether France would lead such talks. On Wednesday, according to AFP, Assad gave a nod in Israel's direction when he said, "We do not put forward conditions on making peace." But in the same breath, he added that, "The essence of peace is not just negotiations but rather, resistance as well." Assad said armed conflict and peace talks were parts of the same "axis" to recover legitimate Palestinian rights. He was speaking at a conference of Arab political parties and his comments were carried by state-run SANA news agency. Syria is allied with Hamas and Hizbullah as well as Iran, all of which want to destroy Israel. Still, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night, "It is possible and important to negotiate with Syria. In any situation we have to preserve our security interests, but we must not treat lightly the peace signals that have come from Damascus of late." In Paris, when asked by Sarkozy if he would be willing to talk with Syria, Netanyahu said he would be pleased to hold such talks. According to a government source, they were joined by National Security Adviser Uzi Arad and his French counterpart. Tensions have sparked lately between France and Israel over French demands that Israel halt all construction in West Bank settlements. France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who is scheduled to visit Israel next week, further upset Israel by commenting that he believed Israelis no longer aspired to peace. A source close to Netanyahu who was in the palace during the meeting said, however, that "it was a very good meeting between Bibi and Sarkozy. It was serious and strong. It was an hour and 50 minutes in the private residence of Sarkozy, which is rare." Afterward Sarkozy walked Netanyahu to his car and hugged him. The source said that such a move was unusual, and noted that former French president Jacques Chirac did not take this additional step when Netanyahu met with him earlier this year. "Bibi and Sarkozy have met many times and this was the best one. I guess Sarkozy wanted to give Bibi the maximum because he felt bad about what Kouchner said and all the bad press Bibi has been getting. Bibi also met before with the French finance minister, Christine Legard, about economic relations," a source said from Paris. Israel Radio reported that Sarkozy telephoned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas while he was meeting with Netanyahu and asked Abbas to begin negotiations immediately. In a formal statement it issued after the meeting, the Prime Minister's Office said, "The two leaders discussed the most pressing tasks on the international agenda, in particular, the ways to speedily relaunch the Middle East peace process." It added that Sarkozy and Netanyahu "agreed to extend all efforts to that end, and to maintain close contact in this regard. The Iranian nuclear issue was also discussed in light of the latest developments. The president and the prime minister also expressed satisfaction at the excellent bilateral relations between France and Israel, and at the increased cooperation between the two countries." Netanyahu arrived in Paris after he held a private meeting with US President Barack Obama in the White House late Monday night. The last-minute scheduling of that conversation, as well as the media blackout that surrounded the talk, fueled media speculation in Israel of a breakdown in relations between the two leaders. It was a spin that was denied both by the White House, Netanyahu, his spokespeople and advisers, as well as by Barak. After landing in Israel on Wednesday evening, Barak called Netanyahu's meeting with Obama "good" and "constructive." "The meeting with US President Barack Obama was good, important and constructive. It created a joint basis for advancing the peace process in order to achieve an agreement with the Palestinians," Barak said, adding that he did not understand why the media reports on the meeting were so negative. The defense minister went on to praise Netanyahu for keeping the details of the meeting confidential. "Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is showing true leadership and responsibility by not revealing the details of his one-on-one meeting with President Obama," said Barak. Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser told army radio, "There was a positive meeting, the relationship is sound, the meeting was long and good." "Speculations should not be made according to the form; the substance is what's significant," Hauser added. Channel 2 reported that Obama told Netanyahu aides after the meeting, "We spoke freely and openly. The discussion was positive. We still have a lot of work to do. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to tell my two daughters a bed-time story."
U.S.keeps pressure on Abbas after Netanyahu visit
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's low-profile White House visit, widely portrayed as frosty, in fact broke the ice in his relations with President Barack Obama, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday. And since the meeting on Monday, Washington has been keeping the pressure on Palestinians to resume peace talks without an Israeli settlement freeze first. Netanyahu, who has withstood U.S. pressure to halt settlement construction, was ushered into the Oval Office after nightfall for a session at which, contrary to normal practice with a visiting Israeli leader, reporters were not allowed in. Back home in Israel, newspapers seized on the low-profile White House visit as a snub, a sign of strained relations between Obama and Netanyahu, who had rejected his calls for a halt to settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. "It was actually an ice-breaker," said a senior Israeli official, who accompanied Netanyahu on his U.S. visit and to France, where the prime minister planned to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "At the meeting, Netanyahu and Obama established a real rapport," the official said, noting the two men spoke alone for more than hour. Another Israeli official added: "They spoke about concrete moves on the Palestinian track in the near future." He did not elaborate. The low-key nature of the Oval Office visit, Israeli officials said, was partly aimed at not upsetting the Palestinians -- already angry over what they see as U.S. backsliding on the settlement issue -- or undermining Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Echoing Netanyahu's remarks in Washington the day before, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told U.S. Jewish leaders on Tuesday that Israeli-Palestinian talks, suspended for nearly a year, should get under way "without preconditions". "No one should allow the issue of settlements to distract from the goal of a lasting peace between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab world," Emanuel said. Abbas has rejected Netanyahu's proposal, praised last week by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to limit temporarily construction in West Bank enclaves to 3,000 home, Reuters reported.. (19,41)
Washington disappointed: Netanyahu didn't present concrete steps
The White House expressed disappointment in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent visit to Washington, with officials saying that they had hoped that the prime minister would present a concrete plan to scale back Israeli construction in West Bank settlements, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Speaking at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America in Washington on Monday, Netanyahu urged the Palestinians to resume peace talks with Israel, but failed to offer any new commitment regarding the settlements, which the Palestinians have demanded be halted as a precondition for talks, nor did he present any new terms for the talks. "We had an idea that he might bring something out to push the process forward," one U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal. "But he's kept it in his pocket." In his address, Netanyahu also appeared to resist U.S. pressure to promote the two-state solution. He said he was committed to two states living side by side, but stressed that the central issues - the right of Palestinian refugees to return to the homes from which they were expelled and certain territorial claims - would not be on the table. "They must abandon the fantasy of flooding Israel with refugees, give up irredentist claims to the Negev and Galilee, and declare unequivocally that the conflict is finally over," Netanyahu said in his address. U.S. officials said the White House had held off until Netanyahu was on a plane to Washington before confirming a meeting between the prime minister and U.S. President Barack Obama in efforts to pressure the Israeli leader to take a more conciliatory line. Following the meeting Monday night, the White House issued only a brief statement saying the president and Mr. Netanyahu discussed a number of issues in the U.S.-Israel bilateral relationship, as well as how to move forward on Middle East peace. The mystery that shrouded the meeting sparked a wave of speculations. American commentators argued that the White House's refusal to even supply a photo opportunity of the two leaders indicated the American president's dissatisfaction with Netanyahu's policies. (15,41)
Ahmadinejad to Obama: Choose between Israel and Iran
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that the U.S. must choose between supporting Israel or Iran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. Ahmadinejad addressed the 25th Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Turkey, saying that U.S. President Barack Obama should make a choice in order to fulfill his campaign promise of change. The Iranian president said that in order to make change, big decisions must be made, and they are awaiting the U.S. president's correct decision regarding which country he supports, IRNA reported. Ahmadinejad added that Iran cannot accept the extended hand of a country which clasps Israel's hand as well, referring to the U.S.'s traditionally close ties with Israel. The Iranian President criticized the West for classifying non-Western nations as "second class societies." Turkey, Iran and Asia are all cradles of civilization, while many European countries have killed millions in world wars, he said. During the conference Ahmadinejad also congratulated Turkey on entering the European Union, and said that it was in the best interest of the EU to incorporate the country. (15,39)
FM Kouchner said France continues to believe Isael must agree to a freeze in settlement building on Palestinian land
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has left Washington on Tuesday and is travelling to France where he is scheduled to meet Wednesday with President Nicolas Sarkozy. Ahead of Netanyahu's arrival, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that France continues to believe Isael must agree to a freeze in settlement building on Palestinian land as a precondition to Middle East peace talks. "We think that a freeze on settlements, that is to say, no more colonisation while talks are ongoing, would be absolutely indespensable," Kouchner said in a radio interview in France. "We need talks and the peace process to restart." Few details have emerged on Monday night's White House meeting between Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama. There was no news conference following the talks and the prime minister did not brief the press. Instead, both sides referred to a brief statement put out by the White House after the meeting, about half of which was one-on-one and half of which included four members of staff on each side. Barak, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, National Security Council head Uzi Arad and the prime minister's adviser Yitzhak Molcho joined Netanyahu. "The president reaffirmed our strong commitment to Israel's security, and discussed security cooperation on a range of issues," said the White House statement . "The president and prime minister also discussed Iran and how to move forward on Middle East peace." (08,41)
US: Iran financing of 'Francop' a violation of UN embargo
The United States accused Iran Tuesday of violating a UN arms embargo by secretly sending weapons to Syria in a cargo ship seized by Israel, a US official said. Britain took a softer line in the UN Security Council, expressing "very serious concern" at suggestions that Iran was caught illegally exporting weapons but saying it was waiting for more information about the ship's origin, destination, cargo and seizure. US deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff and British deputy ambassador Philip Parham raised Israel's seizure of the cargo vessel Francop on Nov. 4 off Cyprus during a closed-door council debate on implementation of the 2006 cease-fire between Israel and Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon that ended the Second Lebanon War, council diplomats said. Israel has not provided documentary evidence to back its claims that 36 containers of weapons hidden among hundreds of containers of civilian cargo on the Francop came from Iran and were headed for Lebanon's Hizbullah fighters via Syria. But its contention about the Iranian origin was bolstered by Iranian markings on the side of containers filled with rockets, missiles, mortars, anti-tank weapons and munitions shown to reporters in Israel. The United States told the council that the concealed arms shipment, "clearly manifested from Iran to Syria" in violation of a March 2007 arms embargo, provides "unambiguous evidence of the destabilizing proliferation of arms in the region," the US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the council meeting was private. The United States also called on Syria and Iran to end their "material support" for Hizbullah and other terror groups in Lebanon, which violates the 2006 cease-fire resolution, the US official said. (06,58)