Saturday, May 06, 2006

EGYPT ROADMAP OUTDATED CHANGE

Well Well. Egypt wants a change in the Roadmap interesting, is this were they might go to the Geneva Accord like I think they will. Because in Daniel 9:27, This verse says the Roadmap will be signed by Israel, Arabs and many. And many people signed the Geneva Accord, I take the Bible literal when it says the Peace contract will be signed by Many, The Geneva Accord was signed by many people, so I think The peace process will switch to it. Only God knows, but I go literally by what the Bible says.

Egypt says Mideast peace 'roadmap' outdated, needs change 2 hours, 3 minutes ago


CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit has said that the Middle East peace "roadmap" needed to be modified and called on the Palestinians to clarify their position towards its principles. The roadmap needs to be modified because its expiry date was last year in 2005," Abul Gheit said at a conference in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

Palestinians need to "create a clear workplan to define the Palestinian Authority's position on the principles fixed by the Quartet," Abul Gheit said Saturday. The language of negotiation is the only way to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said. If we succeed in gathering all the parties to participate... we could reach an agreement that may take several years to implement.

The international "roadmap" to peace was designed by the so-called Middle East quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. It was announced in 2003, with the aim of establishing by 2005 a viable Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace.
The group is due to meet in New York on Tuesday to promote the peace plan, along with foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported. On Thursday, Abul Gheit met in Cairo with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Zahar and asked that the Palestinians determine their position vis-a-vis the principles laid down by the quartet, MENA said.

Abul Gheit also called on the Palestinians to adopt a common position based on the Arab peace
initiative and on UN resolutions. The Arab peace initiative, which was adopted by the Arab Summit in Beirut in 2002, calls for normalizing relations with Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories according to the 1967 borders. The initiative, which also calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state, has been rejected by Israel which is aiming to set its final borders with or without Palestinian agreement by 2010.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

DIVISION OF HOLY CITY

ONCE IT GETS TO THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM STAGE, HE WHOLE WORLD GETS INVOLVED AND ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE.

Israel Offers Outline to Divide Jerusalem

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI (The Associated Press)Thursday, May 4, 2006; 4:39 PM
JERUSALEM -- Israel's new government is drawing up a blueprint for dividing the holy city of Jerusalem _ a once inconceivable notion _ giving the Palestinians nearly all the Arab neighborhoods while holding onto Jewish areas and disputed holy shrines.Otniel Schneller, an architect of the plan, described it in interviews this week with The Associated Press, giving the clearest picture yet of how Israel plans to separate from the Palestinians, abandoning most of the West Bank. We will not divide Jerusalem, we will share it," he said. Most of Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods would go to the Palestinians, he said. "Those same neighborhoods will, in my assessment, be central to the makeup of the Palestinian capital ... al-Quds," Schneller said, calling Jerusalem by its Arabic name. Israel would keep Jerusalem's Old City with its shrines sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians alike an unacceptable plan to Palestinians, particularly if carried out unilaterally.

Still, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert determined to draw Israel's final borders by 2010, likely without waiting for Palestinian agreement, a division of Jerusalem looks realistic for the first time.The plan reflects a sea change in the thinking of most Israelis, who once considered sacrilegious the idea of abandoning any part of the holy city.Since Israel captured east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast War, Israelis had been in broad agreement that the city could never again be divided. But after five years of intefadeh bloodshed, Israeli voters swept Olmert's Kadima Party into office in March 28 elections on a platform to separate from the Palestinians for the good of the Jewish state.

A plan to divide Jerusalem was first brought up in 2000 peace talks but failed to materialize. Schneller _ a Kadima lawmaker _ is reviving that plan with his blueprint. But he cautioned that the ideas are still in the planning stages, require international backing and that there's no clear timetable for carrying them out. Under the plan, which would be executed unilaterally if efforts to resume peace talks fail, Jerusalem's Old City, its holy shrines and the adjacent neighborhoods, would become a "special region with special understandings" but remain under Israeli sovereignty, said Schneller. The Old City and the adjacent "holy basin," which includes the predominantly Arab neighborhoods of Silwan and Sheik Jarrah, would fall on the Israeli side of the separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank, another Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because plans are not final.

The plan also calls for moving the barrier westward. That means much of East Jerusalem would no longer be cut off from the West Bank and most Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem could become part of a future Palestinian state on the eastern side of the barrier, the official said. The United States has long held the position that "borders and Jerusalem and all final status issues ... ultimately have to be decided in negotiations between the parties," U.S. Embassy spokesman Stewart Tuttle said.But Washington is not likely to oppose unilateral Israeli pullouts from the West Bank. Olmert's plan involves dismantling dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank with tens of thousands of people and moving them to larger settlement blocs in the territory that Israel hopes to hold onto under a final peace deal.

Israel has said it will give the Hamas-led Palestinian government time to agree to international demands to recognize Israel, accept past peace deals and renounce violence. More than a month into its rule, Hamas has rejected the demands, Israel has cut off all ties with what it has labeled an enemy entity, and it appears increasingly likely the Jewish state will draw its borders on its own. The continuation of the scattered settlements throughout the West Bank creates an inseparable mix of populations that will threaten the existence of the state of Israel as a Jewish state," Olmert told parliament as he presented his government Thursday. If necessary, he said, "we will also act without the Palestinian Authority's agreement to reach an understanding that will first and foremost be based on the correct definition of Israel's borders.

That's a position hotly rejected by the Palestinians, who say the result will be a truncated territory on which it will be impossible to build a viable state. President Mahmoud Abbas refuses to accept any unilateral steps and rejects any provisional solutions," said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a senior spokesman for Abbas, a moderate who wields considerable power as president even though Hamas controls the parliament and Cabinet. Under Olmert's plan, the 460-mile West Bank separation barrier will roughly serve as the border, with some alterations. The barrier, as envisioned now, puts some 9.5 percent of the West Bank inside Israel, including Jewish settlement blocs and other areas Israel considers to be strategically important.

Schneller, himself a West Bank settler, would not say which settlements or how many settlers would be evacuated under Olmert's plan _ although he said it would be fewer than the 70,000 settlers Israeli media had speculated. Schneller said Israel plans to hold on to two main settlement blocs near Jerusalem, Maaleh Adumim and Gush Etzion, and the large Ariel settlement bloc jutting deep into the West Bank. Israel also plans to hold on to the Jordan River Valley as a security border. Settlements on the eastern side of the barrier, including Schneller's, will likely go.

2 YEAR COUNTDOWN

Sources: Start of convergence plan within two years By Aluf Benn (haaertz)

Ehud Olmert plans to begin implementing the convergence plan to define Israel's permanent borders in the West Bank within two years, according to political sources. In the meantime, the interim prime minister will present his government to the Knesset today and delineate its policies in the diplomatic, economic and social arenas. Following deliberations that are likely to last several hours, the Knesset plenum will authorize the new government that comprises 67 MKs from Kadima, Labor, the Pensioners party and the ultra-Orthodox Shas. After the Knesset, the 25 cabinet ministers will gather for a ceremony and group photograph at the residence of President Moshe Katsav.

On Sunday, Olmert will takeover the Prime Minister's offices, for the first time since he became acting Prime Minister following Ariel Sharon's stroke on 4 January. Joining Olmert will be his four senior aides: Chief of Staff Yoram Turbowicz; Deputy Chief of Staff, Oved Yehezkel - in charge of coordination of aides; Director of the prime minister's bureau, Shula Zaken; and Ra'anan Dinur, Director General of the Prime Minister's Office. In the coming week, Olmert and his associates will focus on internal organization and prepare for his first visit to Washington as prime minister where he is scheduled to meet President George W. Bush on 23 May at the White House.

In Washington, discussions are being held on the proposal to invite Olmert to address a joint session of Congress during his visit. An address to Congress by a foreign leader is not commonplace although a number of Israeli prime ministers have been invited to do so. Following his visit to Washington, Olmert is expected to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, most likely at the Sinai resort in Sharm el-Sheikh. Topping his list of priorities on the diplomatic front will be the "convergence plan" and the shaping of Israel's permanent borders in the West Bank. Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said that Olmert would like to begin the implementation of the plan in two years - others suggest 18 months to two years. By then, Olmert expects to focus his efforts on harnessing domestic political support for his plan as well as international backing.

Olmert will seek to broaden his coalition to 80 MKs, according to diplomatic sources, in order to allow his government the necessary breadth to last more than two years. Currently, support for the convergence plan stems from the MKs of Kadima, Labor, the Pensioners, and Meretz, a total of 60 parliamentarians, backed with the representatives of the Arab parties. Fearing a narrow base of support in the Knesset for his convergence plan, Olmert is likely to bring into the government the six representatives of United Torah Judaism. According to the convergence plan, which Olmert presented prior to the elections, the settlements beyond the separation fence will be evacuated and attached to the large settlement blocs of Ma'aleh Adumim, Ariel, Greater Jerusalem and Gush Etzion. At the same time, the IDF will be given free rein in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley will be Israel's eastern border.

Olmert has said that he will initially offer the Palestinians negotiations, pending that the Hamas government recognizes Israel, accepts the previously signed agreements with the PLO and disavows terrorism. However, if negotiations do not advance, Olmert intends to carry out unilateral steps toward establishing Israel's borders. In his talks with Bush, Olmert will assess how much leeway the American administration is willing to grant on the convergence plan. Olmert considers it of paramount importance to initiate the implementation of the plan during the Bush presidency, whose tenure ends in January 2009. The Israeli leader will seek to reach an agreement with the U.S. administration on the time that should be alloted to attempts at negotiations with the Palestinians, and try to achieve U.S. support for a unilateral Israeli move.

At the same time, Olmert intends to order the construction of thousands of housing units in the large settlement blocs in order to absorb evacuees from the West Bank settlements. He intends to seek American approval for this action and create a sufficient housing stockpile in order to avoid the crisis which emerged following the disengagement from Gaza. Olmert would also like to hold an internal dialogue with the Yesha Council of Settlements on the convergence plan at an early stage. Olmert is opposed to the implementation of the Evacuation-Compensation law at this stage, and is not inclined to alter the preferential status of settlements. Sources close to Olmert say that the reason is that any change in the status or in the granting of compensation will have to take place after the evacuation limits are set, and this will take "at least a year."
Shmuel Rosner and Gideon Alon contributed to this report.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

QUARTET HOLD TALKS AT UN

Well folks the Quartet is starting to fall apart what has to happen si the eu takes full control of the mideast peace process.

Quartet to hold key talks on fate of its Mideast role By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service

Heads of the international Quartet will convene at the office of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday to discuss the future role of the U.S.-UN-EU-Russian grouping in the Middle East conflict, with the talks centering on the possibility of backing away from the road map peace plan and ending Quartet mediation in the Mideast conflict. A main issue in the talks will be whether to appoint a replacement for James Wolfensohn, the Quartet's former envoy for the Disengagement, or to refrain from further involvement in mediation between Israel and the Palestinians.

According to senior European sources, the Quartet officials will also weigh the degree to which the road map peace plan is relevant, discussing whether to update the plan or to withdraw from it altogether. Senior Quartet sources are voicing doubt regarding the continuation of international involvement in the Mideast diplomatic process. The doubt comes in the wake of the formation of the new coalition by Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert - who has indicated that he intends to continue to pursue his policy of unilateralism - and following the rise of the Hamas government and the international boycott against it.

"The Quartet will need to take a principle decision regarding the continuation of its contribution to mediation between Israel and the Palestinians, if the reasons for Wolfensohn's resignation do not change," a European diplomat told Haaretz.If it is decided to name a new envoy, it will be necessary to formulate a mandate that is relevant to the new reality that has been created on the ground. Wolfensohn, ending more than a year's service as the Quartet envoy to Israel and the Palestinians, Monday singled out the rise of the Hamas government as a main stumbling block to further movement in Middle East diplomacy.

Wolfensohn had initially intended to leave the job in December, but bowed to a U.S. request that he stay on until the end of April to allow the Palestinian and Israeli elections to play out. While agreeing it was time for Wolfensohn to step down, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signalled in a joint news conference with Wolfensohn Monday that he might be called back for another stint and said, "I hope he will keep his uniform not very far from the door.

Wolfenson urges urgent attention on Mideast

In a summary report he submitted to the heads of the Quartet when he decided to resign, Wolfensohn called on the international community to address the Israeli-Palestinian crisis without delay, in order to prevent severe consequences for the whole region and for world peace, while impugning the Quartet's credibility as a conflict-resolving party. He warned that without a fundamental change in the situation vital services in the territories would collapse in the near future. Wolfensohn noted that if the Palestinian Authority did not receive the tax money Israel collects for it, if Israel continued its regime of restrictions on trade and labor and if the flow of donations continued to weaken, the GDP in the territories would drop this year by 27%.

According to the former World Bank president the bank's economists predict unless the situation turns around in 2008 74% of the Palestinians will be living beneath the poverty line and unemployment will reach 47%. He attributes a large part of the tremendous economic damage caused to the Palestinians to a systematic violation of commitments by Israel regarding the Gaza Strip border crossings and freedom of movement in the West Bank. Wolfensohn stressed the Palestinian Authority provides 60% of the health and education services and that the U.N. and voluntary organizations can not replace it. He said due to fear of American sanctions banks throughout the world refuse to transfer money to the PA or even directly to its employees.

"We must ask ourselves whether humanitarian aid is enough to bring us to the desired goal - a two-state solution - as the Road Map says," Wolfensohn concluded his latest report. He noted that in recent years the international community allocated an annual sum of some two billion dollars as aid to the Palestinians, hoping it would help build effective institutions and a thriving economy, on the way to establishing a viable state.

"Are we going to give all that up now," he asks, alluding to the policy of completely boycotting the Hamas government, or will we find a way that will allow us to work in the framework of the law and the policy, while continuing to support building a democratic and responsible administration, that can act to realize the dream of peace and security for the two peoples.
The 72-year-old Australian-born American Jew informed PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and the heads of the Israeli defense establishment during his latest visit in Israel in mid-March that if he did not receive a renewed mandate for his mission he was resolved to resign at the end of April. He explained he did not see any point in his continuing to serve as long as the Quartet and the donor nations had not decided on a clear policy that befitted the new political situation created in the territories following the Hamas victory in the legislative council elections.

Since the elections Wolfensohn and his team have coordinated efforts to obtain funding for the Palestinian interim government. Wolfensohn, who took office last May, coordinated the contacts that led to the agreement on the border crossings between Israel and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice last November.

Wolfensohn recently met representatives of the Bereaved Families Forum, that includes both Israelis and Palestinians, and decided to donate 100,000 dollars of his own money to an exhibit they initiated, Offering Reconciliation 2006, whose purpose is to bring the idea of reconciliation to the public's awareness through art. In the exhibit, which will be displayed at the Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan , before traveling the world, 135 Israeli and Palestinian artists present their work, including the prime minister's wife, Aliza Olmert, Danny Caravan, Moshe Gershoni, Menashe Kadishman, Yigal Tumarkin, David Tartakover, Usama Za'tar, Jamal Houda, Jalal Kamal, Bouthniya Milhed, Rafi Lavie and others.

Wolfensohn leaves with dig at Hamas

"The Palestinians need to understand that it is not business as usual," Wolfensohn told the news conference, adding in a reference to Hamas, "Here you have a Palestinian group which has said it wants to destroy its neighbor. I guess if Canada did that to the United States, or New Zealand did it to Australia, the reaction would not be very [positive]," he said. Speaking in Washington on Monday, Wolfensohn said he had made "quite a lot of progress" in promoting economic development of Gaza after the Israelis withdrew in September of last year.

But he said that given Hamas' accession to power after its surprise win in January's Palestinian elections, "the political events are such that I think the issues are above my pay grade. With the government of Hamas having taken over with the Palestinians, it's a very difficult movement to be able to try and negotiate any independent type of arrangements," Wolfensohn said.

Wolfensohn, who had frequently complained of being "disenfranchised" in his Gaza role and threatened to quit, left with a warning that the West should not consider trying to starve the Hamas-led Palestinians into submission. I don't think anyone in the quartet believes that to be the policy - although, sometimes, it is made to appear that that is what it is," he said. "I think that's a losing gambit."