Wednesday, September 06, 2006

ARABS DISCUSS PEACE PROCESS

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

Arab FMs review plans to destroy Israel by diplomacy
By Stan Goodenough,September 06, 2006

Foreign ministers representing the 22 Arab states – all of which remain united in their determination to purge Israel from the Middle East – met in Cairo Wednesday for a strategy session aimed at reviving the peace process they believe will help to facilitate their goal.

Laying a smokescreen, the ministers said they had gathered out of concern that Iran and the terror groups it supports had substantially expanded their influence in the region as a result of Israel’s recent conflict with Hizb’allah.The real aim of the Arab League meeting, however, was to resuscitate the formula for negotiations that had led to the 1991 International Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid.Invited to Madrid were Israel, all the countries bordering the Jewish state – Lebanon, Syria and Jordan – as well as the Palestinian Arabs.

That conference launched the so-called land-for-peace process that resulted directly in the deaths of hundreds of Israelis, the injuring of thousands, deepening internecine strife among Israeli Jews, the creation of thousands of Jewish refugees, the parceling out of some of Israel’s most sacred land, and a serious erosion of Israel’s deterrence in the face of unrelenting Arab hostility and aggression.For their part, the Arab world has been richly rewarded by the peace process. As was the case in the Israel-Egypt negotiations that preceded Madrid and the Oslo Agreement, the Arab sides have seen Israel make painful, possibly irreversible and
potentially lethal concessions in exchange for promises on paper.The Arab League meeting Wednesday was aimed at perpetuating this – for them – promising state of affairs.

According to an Associated Press report, the Arabs want another international conference – this time under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council and not the USA, the chief sponsor at Madrid – which will kick off direct negotiations between Israel and Syria, Israel and Lebanon, and Israel and the Palestinian Arabs.

The League’s goals for this conference – which they are calling to be convened before the end of this year – are the establishment of a Palestinian state on Jewish lands, Israel’s relinquishing of its Golan Heights to Syria, and some kind of arrangement with Lebanon after this summer’s war on Hizb’allah.Each of these goals is meant to strengthen the Arab side while further weakening Israel, with the ultimate destruction of the Jewish state the ultimate goal.

While the Security Council has so far not reacted favorably towards the idea of sponsoring such a conference, it has in the past proven unable or unwilling to long resist the demands of the Arab states.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

OLMERT TO START TALKS MAYBE

Prodi Says Lebanon Force May Help Revive Mideast Peace Process
By Andrew Davis and Flavia Rotondi

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations effort to enforce the cease-fire in Lebanon could aid in bringing stability to the region and help the European Union revive the stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said. Some of the 2,500 Italian soldiers being sent to Lebanon to police the truce between Israel and the Hezbollah militia began arriving Sept 2. Italy, which has joint command of the UN force with the French, contributed the largest contingent. The situation in Lebanon changes the spirit in the Middle East,' Prodi said in an interview in Cernobbio, Italy yesterday. There is a new role for the United Nations and a new role for Europe, and that can help unblock the peace process with the Palestinians, but first we must secure the peace in Lebanon.The United States-backed peace plan known as the roadmap has stalled, and violence between Israel and the Palestinians has escalated since March when Hamas, which Israel and the U.S. consider a terrorist group, took control of the Palestinian government after winning a majority in parliament. Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said on a visit to Rome Aug. 31 that Italy had an important role to play in bringing the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

The kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by Hamas militants in June triggered the first extensive round of hostilities since Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip in September, ending 38 years of occupation. The UN estimates that more than 200 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, while Israel says 300 rockets have been fired into Israeli territory. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged Israel on Aug. 30 to ease its blockade of Gaza, which was tightened after the abduction of the soldier in June. To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Davis in Rome at abdavis@bloomberg.net.

PM: Israel must renew Palestinian talksBy AMY TEIBEL
Associated Press Writer Sept. 5,2006, 1:16AM

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Ehud Olmert signaled a need Monday to pursue talks with the Palestinians, an official said, apparently edging away from a unilateral West Bank pullback plan that swept him to power in March.Olmert's government also issued bids to build 700 homes in major settlements in the West Bank its largest settlement construction project since taking office in May.There have been no official contacts between Israel and the Palestinians since the militant Hamas group, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, won Palestinian parliamentary elections in January.But with Israel's recent war against Hezbollah guerrillas putting a chill on Olmert's program to uproot Jewish settlements and unilaterally draw Israel's border with the West Bank the Israeli leader again broached the idea of talks.

We have no more urgent problem than that of the Palestinians,Olmert told parliament's influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, a meeting participant said.Government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said Israel had no preconditions for a meeting between Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah Party, who favors peace talks with the Israelis.Palestinian lawmaker Saeb Erekat, an Abbas ally, said the president, known as Abu Mazen, was prepared to talk. If Mr. Olmert says there are no conditions for a meeting, he knows that Abu Mazen stands ready for such a meeting,Erekat said.Olmert's Kadima Party had pledged large-scale Israeli pullbacks in the West Bank, but Olmert shelved that plan after the war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, leaving the future of Jewish settlements in the West Bank up in the air.

Asked where the West Bank pullback plan was going, Olmert told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, What I advocated several months ago has changed,according to the meeting participant.Interior Minister Roni Bar-On told Israel Radio on Tuesday that the government has not completely abandoned the idea. The plan is not dead, it's been postponed,he said. It's not a priority right now. ... The plan has been put on the shelf.

Construction and Housing Ministry spokesman Kobi Bleich confirmed that the bids to build 700 homes in the Maaleh Adumim and Betar Illit settlements both outside Jerusalem represent the Olmert government's largest settlement construction project since taking office.The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, as part of a future state. Erekat said the planned expansion of Maaleh Adumim and Betar Illit undermined efforts to revive peacemaking.Olmert's appearance before the committee was his first since the Lebanon war ended three weeks ago, and he used the occasion to deliver a harsh warning to Syria, a patron of Hezbollah and Palestinian militants. If forced into war with Syria, Israel will strike more harshly than it did in Lebanon, the participant quoted him as saying.More than 850 Lebanese were killed during the fighting, most of them civilians. The battles also left 159 Israelis dead, including 39 civilians hit by Hezbollah rockets in Israel's northern cities.

Three weeks after a cease-fire ended the war, Israel has a special legal team preparing to provide protection for government officials and army officers who could face related war crimes charges abroad.There have been unsuccessful efforts in Europe in the past to try Israeli politicians and army officers on war crimes charges over other conflicts.Amnesty International recently accused Israel of war crimes in the Lebanese war, but Israel has said all of its actions were legal, accusing Hezbollah of hiding among civilians in Lebanon and deliberately targeting Israeli civilians in rocket attacks.

Monday, September 04, 2006

OLMERT SHELVES REALIGNMENT

Olmert shelves 'realignment' plan
By The Jerusalem Post,September 04, 2006

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Monday officially shelved his plan to uproot most Jewish communities from Judea and Samaria, calling the so-called realignment plan no longer relevant.Olmert was speaking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, where participants quoted him as saying:What I saw as right several months ago has changed now. The order of priorities of the government has changed since the war in Lebanon.The prime minister did, however, stress that Israel has no more urgent problem than that of the Palestinians,and that some solution must be found.

Top security officials have warned recently that Hamas-controlled Gaza is on the verge of becoming as big a problem as southern Lebanon was two months ago, with local terror groups importing large quantities of surface-to-surface short-range missiles and anti-tank weapons.Meanwhile, a spokeswomen for the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria was unimpressed with Olmert's pronouncement, predicting that unilateral withdrawal would again top the agenda in a few short months.

Emily Amrusi told The Jerusalem Post:Olmert is still a shortsighted leader who is devoid of logic. He has not changed overnight.In a related development, the government Monday began accepting bids for the construction of nearly 700 new homes in the Judean towns of Ma'aleh Adumim and Beitar Illit.The new construction will represent the largest settlement construction project yet under the Olmert government.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

EU DIVIDED OVER HAMAS

EU foreign ministers divided over contact with Hamas
By Yossi Lempkowicz Updated: 03/Sep/2006 18:20

Erkki Tuomioja, Finnish EU council chairman with Javier Solana, EU's foreign policy chief

BRUSSELS (EJP)--- EU foreign ministers, who met this weekend in Finland, have agreed on the need for the European Union to concentrate on reviving the Mideast peace process. But they appeared divided over suggestions to hold contacts with Hamas. Just before the informal meeting of EU ministers in the resort of Lappeeranta, near the Russian border, Finnish EU council chairman Erkki Tuomioja suggested a major EU policy change by saying the EU should open contact with Hamas which is on the EU list of terror organisations. In an interview published last Tursday in the German daily Financial Times Deutschland, the Finnish foreign
minister said : Hamas is not the same party it was before the elections.

Hamas is leading the Palestinian government since it won a large victory in parliamentary elections last January. On Friday Tuomioja appeared to backtrack by saying that we have not changed our policy,adding that the EU would stick to its line that it will only talk with Hamas if it recognises Israel, renounces violence and respects past agreements. We have to put pressure on Hamas to change,he added.Since the Hamas victory and the forming of a Hamas-led Palestinian government, the EU has repeatedly stated that it would only establish political contacts with Hamas if it meets the three conditions set out by the Quartet (US, EU, UN and Russia): honour past agreements with Israel, cease violence and recognise Israel.

Dutch foreign minister Ben Bot, generally considered pro-Israel among EU ministers, said that the line towards Hamas is under discussion, telling reporters: I see a shift towards the idea that we should include them (Hamas) in the game. But here I am tough.

As far as the Netherlands is concerned they should recognise Israel first,he added. He noted however that an Abbas-brokered national unity government could change Hamas policy. According to diplomatic sources, the possible formation of a Palestinian government of national unity, composed of both Hamas and the moderate Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, could open the door for contacts with Hamas.

Step-by-step process

Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, outlined a step-by-step process which would allow Hamas to indirectly meet the EU’s demand that the movement recognizes Israel, renounce violence and accepts past peace agreements in order to be de-listed as a terrorist organisation. Solana said the first step would have to be the creation of a Palestinian government of national unity. Of course in that government will be members of Hamas,Solana told reporters. Solana said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had set conditions for such a government which were the same as those set by the EU for direct talks with Hamas. The EU initiatives follow calls by the EU that the ceasefire brokered in Lebanon after a month long war between Israel and Hezbollah should be followed by efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Saturday, September 02, 2006

EU WANTS 67 BORDERS PEACE

The future 7 year peace treaty Signed by the EU President will be a land for security deal, so this headline is right on track with Bible prophecy happenings.(LAND FOR SECURITY)

EU to seek new Mideast talks based on 1967 borders
By Paul Taylor, European Affairs Editor

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is set to launch a drive this week to revive long-stalled Middle East peace negotiations based on the principle of a return to Israel's 1967 borders, EU officials say. At an informal meeting in Finland on Friday and Saturday, foreign ministers of the 25-nation bloc will discuss how to leverage their increased military presence in southern Lebanon to gain more political clout in future peacemaking.

With the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas still fragile and a standoff between the Jewish state and Palestinian militants over an abducted Israeli soldier unresolved, the Europeans argue the situation can only be stabilised by starting processes to seek political solutions. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana wants to create momentum for fresh talks based on the goals of a two-state solution and a return to 1967 borders plus or minus agreed minor
adjustments, his spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said.

Solana's objective is to build consensus for negotiations on the basis of the '67 borders, plus or minus,she said, acknowledging it could be a lengthy process. Israel has long rejected any talk of returning to the lines it held before capturing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights from Jordan, Egypt and Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. The United States backed its stance. President George W. Bush said in 2004 it was unrealistic to expect Israel to return to those boundaries in the light of Israeli settlements on the ground.

INFLUENCE?

Solana's spokeswoman said the principle of a return to something close to the 1967 frontiers, with a negotiated land swap to enable Israel to keep some settlement blocs, underlay former U.S. President Bill Clinton's 2000 peace plan and had widespread international support. There had been resistance when the Europeans first called for a two-state solution to the conflict but the United States and Israel had eventually embraced the objective, she noted.

The EU has played second fiddle to the United States in the Quartet of international mediators that has been working, mostly unsuccessfully, to broker Israeli-Palestinian agreements. But the Europeans came to the fore in the Lebanon crisis by offering to provide more than half of the proposed 15,000 peacekeepers for a buffer force between Israel and Hizbollah, while Washington, Israel's superpower ally, will provide none.

The more we are physically involved with soldiers on the ground, the more we are going to get influence to match our military, humanitarian and economic commitment,Gallach said. French President Jacques Chirac has called for a revival of Quartet peace efforts at a high level with a bigger EU role.

But diplomats are sceptical, noting persistent differences among the Europeans on relations with Israel and Syria, which resurfaced during the Lebanon fighting. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the Lebanon war had shown there was no military solution to the Middle East conflict and should create momentum for fresh negotiations. The Quartet needed to update the road map peace plan for a two-state solution, which had been
overtaken by events since its promulgation in 2003, she said.

The EU is hoping a slow-moving Palestinian national dialogue will soon yield a national unity government between the militant Hamas movement, which won a parliamentary election in January, and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement. The West has halted aid to the Hamas-led government because of its refusal to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept past peace agreements, but a unity cabinet could adopt a platform that could lead to an end of the boycott. (Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom)

Friday, September 01, 2006

ABBAS WANTS UN FORCE IN GAZA

Abbas Wants UN Force To Defend Palestinians
August 31, 2006 5:21 p.m. ESTRyan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent

Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - A new Palestinian unity government proposal would call for the deployment of international peacekeepers in the West Bank and Gaza to act as a buffer between the Palestinians and Israel. According to Ha'aretz, PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas wrote in a document detailing the proposal that the requested UN force should be modeled after the one currently being deployed in southern Lebanon, with a full mandate to militarily defend the Palestinians against what he refers to as Israeli aggression.

He also wants the force to be tasked with tearing down those parts of Israel's security fence that veer from the Green Line that separates sovereign Israel from the West Bank. The document was published in the Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam Thursday.

Abbas said he would soon present the unity proposal to Hamas and Islamic Jihad and give them one week to respond. But it was far from certain Hamas would accept the proposal, which would also obligate the terror group to recognize all peace agreements signed with Israel over the past decade. It would also allow Abbas to preside over all government meetings, despite the fact his own Fatah faction is now a minority in the Palestinian parliament. The ruling Hamas, which swept to victory in January's election, has demanded Abbas recognize the will of the people and allow it to govern without interference.