EZEKIEL 33:1-6 (WARN THE PEOPLE)
1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
HOW ISRAELIS ARE COMING TO CHRIST AS THE MESSIAH. THE INCOMPLETE CHURCH BY SID ROTH.
SID ROTH ON PROPHECY HOUR JAN 21,2010
http://messiahsbranch.org/radio_archives.htm
SID ROTH WEBSITE
http://www.sidroth.org/site/PageServer/
SHADOW GOVERNMENT-THE MOVIE BY CLOUD 10 (CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE)
http://www.shadowgovernment-movie.com/
http://www.cloudtenpictures.com/site2/
SID ROTH IS A JEWISH MAN THAT GOT SAVED AND PLANTED ONE OF THE FIRST MESSIANIC CHURCHES IN AMERICA.
WHAT JESUS WANTS FOR CHRISTIANS AND JEWS.THAT THEY BECOME ONE IN UNITY(ONE NEW HUMANITY-MAN).
ROMANS 11:11
11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
WHEN JESUS WAS ON EARTH THERE WAS THE JEW AND THE GENTILE ONLY.JESUS WANTS THE JEW AND CHRISTIAN AS ONE IN THE LAST DAYS.
JOHN 10:16
16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:(GENTILES) them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
JOHN 17:21-22
21 That they (JEW-GENTILES) all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.(WHEN JEW AND CHRISTIANS BECOME ONE SPIRITUALLY)
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
ROMANS 11:25
11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
SIGNS OF THE LAST DAYS - WHEN JEWS,CHRISTIANS,MUSLIMS BECOME ONE IN GOD(JESUS)
JEWS WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM
LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
BLINDNESS LIFTED FROM ISRAELIS EYES
ROMANS 11:25
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
SID ROTH THEN IN RUSSIA SET UP A MEETING AND A JEWISH RUSSIAN WOMAN WAS HEELED AND THEN MANY RUSSIAN JEWS WERE SAVED IN THAT MEETING.
SID THEN WENT TO AMERICA AND SET UP A MEETING IN CALIFORNIA.HE HAD WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE 400 MEMBER JEWISH CROWD AND MANY WERE HEALED OF THEIR ILLS. MANY JEWS CAME TO REALISATION OF CHRIST AS THE MESSIAH IN THAT MEETING DUE TO GODS MIRACLES.30 OF THE 400 WERE SAVED AT THAT MEETING. THERES ONE GOD AND MESSIAH OF THE WHOLE EARTH.GOD WANTS ISRAELIS TO COME TO HIM.
ROMANS 9:1-33 JEWS AND CHRISTIANS WHOLE WHEN ONE IN UNITY
1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.
10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
AMOS 9:11-15
11 In that day (END OF THE AGE) will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.
13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.
HEBREWS 9:1-28
1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
JEREMIAH 31:1-40 (THE NEW COVENANT IN CHRIST)
1 At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
7 For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
16 Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17 And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
21 Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
22 How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.
25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
27 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.
29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
38 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
39 And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
GOD WILL RESTORE,WORSHIP.GOD WILL RESTORE ISRAEL AND THE HARVEST OF GENTILES (WORLD NATIONS) WLL BE PLENTIFUL,MANY WILL BE SAVED. THIS WILL BE COMPLETED DURING THE TRIBULATION PERIOD WHEN THESE MESSIANIC JEWS PREACH TO ALL THE WORLD FROM THE 12 TRIBES.
REVELATION 7:1-17 (MESSIANIC JEWS PREACH WORLDWIDE)
1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
I BELIEVE ELIJAH AND MOSES OR ENOUCH WILL BE LEADING THESE MESSIANIC JEWS.
REVELATION 11:1-17
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
IN THE BOOK OF CORINTHIANS THERES A SPIRITUAL PRINCIPAL,FIRST THE NATURAL,THEN THE SPIRITUAL.
NATURAL ISRAEL AND SPIRITUAL ISRAEL.(CHURCH).WHAT HAPPENS TO ISRAEL FIRST,THEN THE CHURCH IS AFFECTED BY SPIRITUALLY.
1898 FIRST ZIONIST CONGRESS.(NATURAL). PENTICOSTAL REVIVAL (SPIRITUAL)
1948 ISRAEL REBORN.(NATURAL) HUNDREDS OF TENT MEETINGS,HEALING REVIVAL BY CHRISTIANS STARTED.BILLY GRAHAM ETC.(SPIRITUAL)
1967 ISRAEL RECAPTURED JERUSALEM.(NATURAL) THE CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT STARTED (SPIRITUAL)
WHATS NEXT FOR NATURAL(ISRAEL),SPIRITUAL(CHURCH) SID THINKS
OIL RESERVES LITERALLY TO BE DISCOVERED IN ISRAEL.OIL SPIRITUALLY IS THE HOLY SPIRIT TO WORK MIRACLES AND SALVATION WORLWIDE.(RESURRECTION LIKE FROM THE DEAD,WHEN ISRAEL ACCEPTS CHRIST AS MESSIAH)
GENESIS 49:1,25
1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
DEUTERONOMY 33:13-14,24
13 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,
24 And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.
GENESIS 27:28-29
28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness (RICHNESS) of the earth,(OIL) and plenty of corn and wine:
29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
MATTHEW 27:50-53 (RELEASE OF GODS POWER WILL MANIFEST BIGTIME)
50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
MARK 15:37-38
37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
LUKE 23:44-46
44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
AMERICAS FATE DEPENDS IF JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED OR NOT.NATIONS WILL BE JUDGED FOR DIVIDING ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM.
OBADIAH 1:15-16 (WHAT YOU DO AGAINST ISRAEL,COMES BACK ON YOU)
15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations,(WORLD NATIONS) and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people (ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(ISRAEL-JERUSALEM)
3 And they have cast lots for my people;(ISRAEL) and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
MATTHEW 25:31-46
31 When the Son of man (JESUS) shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him,(RAPTURED CHURCH) then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
WE PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.PEOPLE WHO PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM WILL HAVE HEART PEACE 24/7.
SIDS PREDICTS THERE WILL BE A MAJOR WAR,THEN OIL DISCOVERED IN ISRAEL,THEN A BRIEF TIME OF PEACE BEFORE EVERYHING ERUPTS AGAIN.THEN RUSSIA MARCHES TO ISRAEL TO TAKE A SPOIL(OIL) SID PREDICTS.
TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW
SID ROTH ON PROPHECY HOUR JAN 21,2010
http://messiahsbranch.org/radio_archives.htm
SID ROTH WEBSITE
http://www.sidroth.org/site/PageServer/
Saturday, January 30, 2010
ISRAEL REJECTS WAR CRIMES ACCUSATIONS
2010 PREDICTIONS - JOHN LOEFFLER AND CHRISTIAN FRIENDS
http://britanniaradio.blogspot.com/2010/01/john-leoffler-steel-on-steel-round.html#links
Israel rejects Gaza war crimes accusations in UN response by Ron Bousso – Fri Jan 29, 3:37 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel handed the United Nations on Friday a report on its military investigations into the Gaza war, rejecting accusations of war crimes and refusing to say whether it will hold an independent inquiry.UN chief Ban Ki-moon's office confirmed he had received a letter from Israel responding to allegations and that he was working on his response to the UN General Assembly.The Palestinian observer to the United Nations also said he had handed over his government's report on war crimes allegedly committed by Palestinian militants during the brief but bloody conflict.Israel's 46-page report said its army had examined 150 reports of wrongdoing during last year's war, of which 36 had been referred to criminal investigation.While admitting several fatal errors in judgment, the report denied any violations of international law during the war in which some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.The complexity and scale of such operations means that inevitably there are tragic instances, mistakes, and errors of judgment. Tragic results, including civilian death and damage to property do not necessarily mean that violations of international law have occurred,it said.The 36 cases under criminal investigation included 34 incidents addressed by a fact-finding mission by the UN Human Rights Council headed by South African international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, the report said.I think this report again proves the fact that the IDF (Israel Defence Force) is the most responsible and serious army and operates in the most moral way,Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement earlier on Friday.He called the Goldstone report -- which accused both Israel and Palestinian armed groups of war crimes during the three weeks of fighting -- distorted, biased and unbalanced.
Hamas has also denied accusations of war crimes.
At the United Nations, Palestinian observer Riyad Mansour said the Palestinian Authority met the deadline in submitting what is required of it, referring to a call by the UN General Assembly last November for Israel and Hamas to conduct independent probes of the allegations by February 5.The Israeli report did not list all of the investigations it had carried out, but provided several detailed examples of its probes into some incidents.In one instance, the report said after investigating allegations that the army had used munitions containing white phosphorous -- banned by international war conventions -- that the army found its use was consistent with Israel?s obligations under international law.The report also summarised the Israeli army's internal judicial and investigative systems, comparing it to those of a number of Western armies, including Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States.
The report made no reference to whether the Israeli government would agree to form an independent inquiry committee.Information Minister Yuli Edelstein said earlier in the week that Israel rejected the demand for a verification commission to probe the devastating offensive launched on December 27, 2008 in response to Palestinian rocket fire.But Israeli media have said the government may agree to a limited probe to deflect some international criticism.In such a case the investigators would examine decisions and orders given by government officials and military top brass and would interview only senior officials, the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot said.
Leading Israeli human rights groups have urged Israel to establish, without delay, an independent and impartial investigation.The Hamas rulers of Gaza insisted this week their investigations showed that Palestinian fighters in the coastal strip did not target Israeli civilians during the war -- a stand rejected by Human Rights Watch. Hamas?s claim that rockets were intended to hit Israeli military targets and only accidentally harmed civilians is belied by the facts,the New York-based group said. The 575-page Goldstone report recommended that its conclusions be referred to the International Criminal Court prosecutor in The Hague if Israel and Hamas fail to carry out credible investigations.
Turkey offers to resume Israel-Syria mediation By Adrian Croft – Fri Jan 29, 1:45 pm ET
LONDON (Reuters) – Turkey is ready to try again to broker a peace agreement between Israel and Syria if both countries agree to resume the stalled initiative, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday.Davutoglu said Israel's 2008 invasion of Gaza scuttled a potential peace deal after Turkey mediated in indirect talks between Israel and Syria.Is it possible to restart it again? Yes, why not? Davutoglu said in response to a question about the talks.If the two countries agree to restart it, we can do it. As Turkey, we are ready, Davutoglu said at the International Institute of Strategic Studies thinktank in London.The Syrian side already declared they want to continue from where we left (off). The Israeli side, they have different views. Some coalition members are against, some are in favor. We will see,he said.If we see a strong political will, both in Israel and Syria, we will continue to support (peace efforts). We will support every attempt, step in the direction of peace.
INDIRECT TALKS
Israel and Syria held four indirect rounds of peace talks with Turkish mediation in 2008, but they were suspended following the resignation of then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in September that year.Syria said at the time of the Israeli offensive in Gaza at the end of 2008 that it ruled out a resumption of the indirect talks any time soon.But more recently, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has expressed interest in renewing negotiations with Israel.Syria wants an Israeli commitment to withdraw from the whole of the Golan Heights, the Syrian plateau that Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East War.
Israel has said it was willing to resume the talks without preconditions.
George Mitchell, U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, discussed reviving peace talks between Israel and Syria last week with Assad, who said Israel had to declare frankly it wants peace.Muslim but secular, Turkey has a history of military cooperation with Israel and has acted as an intermediary for the Jewish state with the Arab world.But relations have soured recently as Turkey repeatedly criticized Israel's offensive in Palestinian-ruled Gaza.Syria has meanwhile improved its ties with Turkey, making Israeli officials wary of Turkey resuming a mediation role.
Davutoglu repeated that the Israel-Syria peace talks had been making progress when Israel launched the Gaza offensive.Turkey was concerned with the policies of Israel because of Gaza,he said, adding: Criticizing one policy of an Israeli government does not mean the end of Turkish-Israel relations.(Editing by Tim Castle)
US pledges to push hard on Mideast
Fri Jan 29, 1:34 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The White House pledged Friday to push hard to relaunch Middle East peace talks in 2010, warning that Iran may try to exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.National Security Adviser James Jones acknowledged it was a major disappointment that President Barack Obama's administration was unable to jumpstart negotiations in its first year.But that doesn't mean we're going to stop trying. We will continue to work this issue very hard, Jones, a retired general, said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank.Our goal remains as stated -- both parties should return to negotiations without preconditions. The United States will not waver in our commitments to Israel's security and we will not waver in our support for Palestinian aspirations.He pointed to the latest shuttle diplomacy to the Middle East this week by Obama's envoy, former senator George Mitchell, who met with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.Jones warned that Iran may step up violence in the region through its Islamist allies -- Hamas in the Palestinian territories and Hezbollah in Lebanon.History shows that when regimes are feeling pressure as Iran is internally and will externally in the near future, it often lashes out through its surrogates, he said.He pointed to Iran's internal political tensions along with pressure on the Islamic republic over its nuclear ambitions.
Palestinian PM sees point of agreement with Hamas on security
Fri Jan 29, 12:51 pm ET
DAVOS (AFP) – Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad said Friday the Palestinian Authority and the Islamist group Hamas could build on a de facto agreement on security.Politicians from the Palestinian Authority have consistently said there can be no political pluralism but not pluralism on the matter of security, no tolerance to violence,Fayyad said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.Look at what is happening in Gaza at the moment -- it is clear that Hamas has been trying to prevent attacks on Israel, it is no secret, it has been trying to do that, it is not saying it is doing it but it is doing it,said the PM.I believe there is a point of agreement, an advantage that should be taken, it is key, he said.Why can't we as a whole, a Palestinian whole, make that policy and say to the world: this is Palestinians subscribing to this policy and let us see what they can do politically, he asked.He noted that dealing with security issues has been as important, even more important than coming to terms on the political programme.Fayyad has criticised however the fact that the world was not insisting enough on democratic values in its approach of the Gaza problem, notably the refusal of Hamas to hold elections.He reiterated that reunification is a condition for a global Palestinian solution: there must be a state in Gaza and in the West Bank, with east Jerusalem as capital.
Islamic singer agrees to remain jailed in Michigan By ED WHITE, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jan 28, 9:31 pm ET
DETROIT – A prominent Islamic singer accused of concealing ties to a terrorist group was duped into believing the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development worked only for needy people, his lawyer said Thursday.Mohamad Masfaka, also known as the singer Abu Ratib, agreed to remain jailed in Detroit while his case moves through federal court.Masfaka, 47, is charged with making false statements to the FBI, perjury and attempted fraud in naturalization proceedings. The government alleges he was the Holy Land Foundation's Detroit-area representative in 1997 and 1998, but failed to mention his employment in a 2002 application for naturalization.The U.S. government labeled the foundation a terrorist group in 2001, alleging it had provided money and support to Hamas, a Palestinian militant group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. in 1995.He acknowledges he worked for (Holy Land) as a singer, defense lawyer Doraid Elder said outside court Thursday.It's not cut and dried to say he was employed. Was he affiliated? Yes. ... He was duped. People who donated money thought it was a noble cause.The government said in a court document that it has video of Masfaka praising Hamas in songs at foundation fundraisers. The dates and locations are not listed.
In the name of God the Most Great, smash those filthy ones. With the knife and the dagger and with your stones and the ax,Masfaka sang, according to the FBI.Elder said he doesn't agree with the song, but this is America and Masfaka has free-speech rights. Masfaka also has performed in Europe and the Middle East.He's very, very popular, Elder said.Masfaka was arrested last week while entering the United States at the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Ontario, Canada. His wife and five children live in Farmington Hills, a Detroit suburb, although he has been outside the U.S. for more than a year. Elder said the native of Syria knew he would be arrested.In 2008, a federal jury in Texas convicted five Holy Land Foundation employees of providing support to Hamas. Mufid Abdelquader, who played with Masfaka at fundraising events, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Jebson said.
Obama urges Mideast compromise toward talks By Ross Colvin – Thu Jan 28, 5:29 pm ET
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Thursday urged Israel and the Palestinians to make compromises to help revive peace talks, signaling he has not given up Middle East diplomacy despite his administration's shaky efforts so far.
Speaking at a townhall-style meeting in Florida, Obama said he was still working to bring the two sides to the negotiating table to resume a peace process that has been frozen for the past 13 months.He also reasserted his administration's ability to act as an even-handed broker, saying he was committed to Israel's security but also was sympathetic to the Palestinians' plight.We are working to try to strengthen the ability of both parties to sit down across the table and to begin serious negotiations, Obama said.His efforts to restart talks have made little progress since he took office a year ago with a commitment to make ending the 62-year-old conflict a high priority. Critics say he was naive about obstacles such as Israeli settlement building.Obama blamed internal politics both in Israel and the Palestinian territories for constraining peace diplomacy.
He cited problems faced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who the president said is making some effort to move a little bit further than his coalition wants to go.Netanyahu's right-leaning government includes pro-settler parties strongly opposed to ceding occupied land to the Palestinians for a future state.
Obama said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants peace but has to contend with Hamas, an Islamist group that denies Israel's right to exist. Abbas, a pro-U.S. moderate, is also weakened by Hamas's control of the Gaza Strip.Both sides are going to have to make compromises, Obama said, calling on Israelis to acknowledge Palestinians' legitimate grievances and for the Palestinians to unequivocally renounce violence against the Jewish state.Obama declined, under questioning from an audience member, to condemn Israel for its treatment of Palestinians.Israel is one of our strongest allies,he said.I will never waver from ensuring Israel's security.
But he insisted, The plight of the Palestinians is something that we have to pay attention to. It is not good for our security and for Israel's security if you have millions of individuals who feel hopeless.Many in the Muslim world accused Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, of bias in favor of Israel. Obama had pledged full engagement in Middle East peace efforts, something the Bush administration was widely seen as avoiding.Despite that, Obama made no mention of the Middle East conflict in his State of the Union speech on Wednesday.(Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Paul Simao)
No ray of hope for Palestinian statehood: Moroccan PM
Thu Jan 28, 1:00 pm ET
WARSAW (AFP) – Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi said Thursday he currently saw no hope for the creation of a Palestinian state, as he paid an official Thursday visit to the Polish capital Warsaw.We see no ray of hope for a Palestinian state today,he said at a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk.Of course, Arabs definitively accept Israel, but on the condition there is a Palestinian state.Today there is just one state, Israel, and the oppressed Palestinian people who suffer repression,he added.The Moroccan government head said the issue of the creation of a Palestinian state ought to be on the agenda of the EU-Morocco summit in March in Granada, Spain.Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were suspended amid Israel's military offensive in the Gaza strip between December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009.The Palestinians have said they will not restart negotiations without a complete freeze of Israeli settlements and have rejected as insufficient a limited 10-month moratorium imposed in November.
Spain takes command of UN force in Lebanon
Thu Jan 28, 11:50 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – Spain on Thursday took over from Italy at the head of a 12,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon that was set up in 1978 to monitor the country's border with Israel.Spanish General Alberto Asarta Cuevas took over command of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon from Italian General Claudio Graziano at a ceremony at UNIFIL headquarters in Naqura near Lebanon's southern border.In his farewell speech, Graziano, who served as UNIFIL chief since February 2007, said both Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah had mostly upheld their commitment to the cessation of hostilities.Asarta, 58, is the force's 12th commander. Prior to his Lebanon posting, he served as the advisor to the Spanish army's chief of staff.From my point of view, the desired end state is to establish sustainable peace and stability in southern Lebanon, but this is a political problem that cannot be solved by UNIFIL,Asarta said at the exchange of command.
Present at the ceremony were Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon, Lebanese Defence Minister Elias Murr and a number of other officials.UNIFIL was established during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war under UN Security Council Resolutions 425 and 426 and beefed up in 2006, under Resolution 1701.The latest resolution lead to a ceasefire ending the devastating month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah, and the expanded force has been deployed to monitor the border and keep the peace in southern Lebanon, largely a Hezbollah-controlled zone.UNIFIL currently counts 12,000 troops from 29 countries. Italy has the largest contingent with 2,500 soldiers, while Spain contributes 1,070 soldiers.Since UNIFIL's founding, 275 of its soldiers have died in service.The last major attack targeted a Spanish contingent in June 2007, killing three Spaniards and three Colombians on patrol.Spain is set to hold the rotating presidency of the European Union during the first half of 2010, and political analysts say Madrid is keen to take control of UNIFIL in order to raise its Middle East profile.In October, Israel asked Italy to try to remain at the head of the force for at least another six months rather than handing over to Spain as planned, a senior Israeli official told AFP at the time.Israel and Spain denied any disagreement, but Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak canceled a visit to Madrid that month for what Spain said were agenda reasons.
HRW claim Hamas did target civilians in Gaza war
Thu Jan 28, 5:37 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Human Rights Watch on Thursday rejected Hamas claims that the Islamists did not target civilians during Israel's devastating Gaza offensive just over a year ago.Hamas?s claim that rockets were intended to hit Israeli military targets and only accidentally harmed civilians is belied by the facts, the New York-based group said.HRW issued its statement after the Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip said its investigations of allegations in a UN report on the Gaza war found that they and other Palestinian armed groups struck military targets and avoided civilian targets.HRW pointed out that most of the rocket attacks on Israel hit civilian areas. Civilians were the target, the rights group said, adding that deliberately targeting civilians is a war crime.The UN report into the 22-day Gaza offensive published in September also said the firing of the hard-to-aim rockets at southern Israel deliberately targeted civilians and could constitute a crime against humanity.
The report authored by the respected former international prosecutor Richard Goldstone accused both Israel and Palestinian groups of war crimes during the conflict, which killed 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.HRW rejected claims Hamas made during the war that attacks against Israeli civilians were justified reprisals for attacks on Palestinians and lawful resistance against occupation.The rights group stressed that under the laws of war nothing can justify an attack against civilians, and violations by one side do not justify violations by the other.The Goldstone report recommended its findings be referred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague if Israel and Hamas failed to carry out credible, independent investigations.Israel has rejected the report as anti-Semitic despite the fact Goldstone is Jewish, because it accuses Israeli troops of deliberately targeting civilians and destroying vital infrastructure.
http://britanniaradio.blogspot.com/2010/01/john-leoffler-steel-on-steel-round.html#links
Israel rejects Gaza war crimes accusations in UN response by Ron Bousso – Fri Jan 29, 3:37 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel handed the United Nations on Friday a report on its military investigations into the Gaza war, rejecting accusations of war crimes and refusing to say whether it will hold an independent inquiry.UN chief Ban Ki-moon's office confirmed he had received a letter from Israel responding to allegations and that he was working on his response to the UN General Assembly.The Palestinian observer to the United Nations also said he had handed over his government's report on war crimes allegedly committed by Palestinian militants during the brief but bloody conflict.Israel's 46-page report said its army had examined 150 reports of wrongdoing during last year's war, of which 36 had been referred to criminal investigation.While admitting several fatal errors in judgment, the report denied any violations of international law during the war in which some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.The complexity and scale of such operations means that inevitably there are tragic instances, mistakes, and errors of judgment. Tragic results, including civilian death and damage to property do not necessarily mean that violations of international law have occurred,it said.The 36 cases under criminal investigation included 34 incidents addressed by a fact-finding mission by the UN Human Rights Council headed by South African international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, the report said.I think this report again proves the fact that the IDF (Israel Defence Force) is the most responsible and serious army and operates in the most moral way,Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement earlier on Friday.He called the Goldstone report -- which accused both Israel and Palestinian armed groups of war crimes during the three weeks of fighting -- distorted, biased and unbalanced.
Hamas has also denied accusations of war crimes.
At the United Nations, Palestinian observer Riyad Mansour said the Palestinian Authority met the deadline in submitting what is required of it, referring to a call by the UN General Assembly last November for Israel and Hamas to conduct independent probes of the allegations by February 5.The Israeli report did not list all of the investigations it had carried out, but provided several detailed examples of its probes into some incidents.In one instance, the report said after investigating allegations that the army had used munitions containing white phosphorous -- banned by international war conventions -- that the army found its use was consistent with Israel?s obligations under international law.The report also summarised the Israeli army's internal judicial and investigative systems, comparing it to those of a number of Western armies, including Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States.
The report made no reference to whether the Israeli government would agree to form an independent inquiry committee.Information Minister Yuli Edelstein said earlier in the week that Israel rejected the demand for a verification commission to probe the devastating offensive launched on December 27, 2008 in response to Palestinian rocket fire.But Israeli media have said the government may agree to a limited probe to deflect some international criticism.In such a case the investigators would examine decisions and orders given by government officials and military top brass and would interview only senior officials, the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot said.
Leading Israeli human rights groups have urged Israel to establish, without delay, an independent and impartial investigation.The Hamas rulers of Gaza insisted this week their investigations showed that Palestinian fighters in the coastal strip did not target Israeli civilians during the war -- a stand rejected by Human Rights Watch. Hamas?s claim that rockets were intended to hit Israeli military targets and only accidentally harmed civilians is belied by the facts,the New York-based group said. The 575-page Goldstone report recommended that its conclusions be referred to the International Criminal Court prosecutor in The Hague if Israel and Hamas fail to carry out credible investigations.
Turkey offers to resume Israel-Syria mediation By Adrian Croft – Fri Jan 29, 1:45 pm ET
LONDON (Reuters) – Turkey is ready to try again to broker a peace agreement between Israel and Syria if both countries agree to resume the stalled initiative, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday.Davutoglu said Israel's 2008 invasion of Gaza scuttled a potential peace deal after Turkey mediated in indirect talks between Israel and Syria.Is it possible to restart it again? Yes, why not? Davutoglu said in response to a question about the talks.If the two countries agree to restart it, we can do it. As Turkey, we are ready, Davutoglu said at the International Institute of Strategic Studies thinktank in London.The Syrian side already declared they want to continue from where we left (off). The Israeli side, they have different views. Some coalition members are against, some are in favor. We will see,he said.If we see a strong political will, both in Israel and Syria, we will continue to support (peace efforts). We will support every attempt, step in the direction of peace.
INDIRECT TALKS
Israel and Syria held four indirect rounds of peace talks with Turkish mediation in 2008, but they were suspended following the resignation of then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in September that year.Syria said at the time of the Israeli offensive in Gaza at the end of 2008 that it ruled out a resumption of the indirect talks any time soon.But more recently, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has expressed interest in renewing negotiations with Israel.Syria wants an Israeli commitment to withdraw from the whole of the Golan Heights, the Syrian plateau that Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East War.
Israel has said it was willing to resume the talks without preconditions.
George Mitchell, U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, discussed reviving peace talks between Israel and Syria last week with Assad, who said Israel had to declare frankly it wants peace.Muslim but secular, Turkey has a history of military cooperation with Israel and has acted as an intermediary for the Jewish state with the Arab world.But relations have soured recently as Turkey repeatedly criticized Israel's offensive in Palestinian-ruled Gaza.Syria has meanwhile improved its ties with Turkey, making Israeli officials wary of Turkey resuming a mediation role.
Davutoglu repeated that the Israel-Syria peace talks had been making progress when Israel launched the Gaza offensive.Turkey was concerned with the policies of Israel because of Gaza,he said, adding: Criticizing one policy of an Israeli government does not mean the end of Turkish-Israel relations.(Editing by Tim Castle)
US pledges to push hard on Mideast
Fri Jan 29, 1:34 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The White House pledged Friday to push hard to relaunch Middle East peace talks in 2010, warning that Iran may try to exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.National Security Adviser James Jones acknowledged it was a major disappointment that President Barack Obama's administration was unable to jumpstart negotiations in its first year.But that doesn't mean we're going to stop trying. We will continue to work this issue very hard, Jones, a retired general, said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank.Our goal remains as stated -- both parties should return to negotiations without preconditions. The United States will not waver in our commitments to Israel's security and we will not waver in our support for Palestinian aspirations.He pointed to the latest shuttle diplomacy to the Middle East this week by Obama's envoy, former senator George Mitchell, who met with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.Jones warned that Iran may step up violence in the region through its Islamist allies -- Hamas in the Palestinian territories and Hezbollah in Lebanon.History shows that when regimes are feeling pressure as Iran is internally and will externally in the near future, it often lashes out through its surrogates, he said.He pointed to Iran's internal political tensions along with pressure on the Islamic republic over its nuclear ambitions.
Palestinian PM sees point of agreement with Hamas on security
Fri Jan 29, 12:51 pm ET
DAVOS (AFP) – Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad said Friday the Palestinian Authority and the Islamist group Hamas could build on a de facto agreement on security.Politicians from the Palestinian Authority have consistently said there can be no political pluralism but not pluralism on the matter of security, no tolerance to violence,Fayyad said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.Look at what is happening in Gaza at the moment -- it is clear that Hamas has been trying to prevent attacks on Israel, it is no secret, it has been trying to do that, it is not saying it is doing it but it is doing it,said the PM.I believe there is a point of agreement, an advantage that should be taken, it is key, he said.Why can't we as a whole, a Palestinian whole, make that policy and say to the world: this is Palestinians subscribing to this policy and let us see what they can do politically, he asked.He noted that dealing with security issues has been as important, even more important than coming to terms on the political programme.Fayyad has criticised however the fact that the world was not insisting enough on democratic values in its approach of the Gaza problem, notably the refusal of Hamas to hold elections.He reiterated that reunification is a condition for a global Palestinian solution: there must be a state in Gaza and in the West Bank, with east Jerusalem as capital.
Islamic singer agrees to remain jailed in Michigan By ED WHITE, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jan 28, 9:31 pm ET
DETROIT – A prominent Islamic singer accused of concealing ties to a terrorist group was duped into believing the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development worked only for needy people, his lawyer said Thursday.Mohamad Masfaka, also known as the singer Abu Ratib, agreed to remain jailed in Detroit while his case moves through federal court.Masfaka, 47, is charged with making false statements to the FBI, perjury and attempted fraud in naturalization proceedings. The government alleges he was the Holy Land Foundation's Detroit-area representative in 1997 and 1998, but failed to mention his employment in a 2002 application for naturalization.The U.S. government labeled the foundation a terrorist group in 2001, alleging it had provided money and support to Hamas, a Palestinian militant group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. in 1995.He acknowledges he worked for (Holy Land) as a singer, defense lawyer Doraid Elder said outside court Thursday.It's not cut and dried to say he was employed. Was he affiliated? Yes. ... He was duped. People who donated money thought it was a noble cause.The government said in a court document that it has video of Masfaka praising Hamas in songs at foundation fundraisers. The dates and locations are not listed.
In the name of God the Most Great, smash those filthy ones. With the knife and the dagger and with your stones and the ax,Masfaka sang, according to the FBI.Elder said he doesn't agree with the song, but this is America and Masfaka has free-speech rights. Masfaka also has performed in Europe and the Middle East.He's very, very popular, Elder said.Masfaka was arrested last week while entering the United States at the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Ontario, Canada. His wife and five children live in Farmington Hills, a Detroit suburb, although he has been outside the U.S. for more than a year. Elder said the native of Syria knew he would be arrested.In 2008, a federal jury in Texas convicted five Holy Land Foundation employees of providing support to Hamas. Mufid Abdelquader, who played with Masfaka at fundraising events, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Jebson said.
Obama urges Mideast compromise toward talks By Ross Colvin – Thu Jan 28, 5:29 pm ET
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Thursday urged Israel and the Palestinians to make compromises to help revive peace talks, signaling he has not given up Middle East diplomacy despite his administration's shaky efforts so far.
Speaking at a townhall-style meeting in Florida, Obama said he was still working to bring the two sides to the negotiating table to resume a peace process that has been frozen for the past 13 months.He also reasserted his administration's ability to act as an even-handed broker, saying he was committed to Israel's security but also was sympathetic to the Palestinians' plight.We are working to try to strengthen the ability of both parties to sit down across the table and to begin serious negotiations, Obama said.His efforts to restart talks have made little progress since he took office a year ago with a commitment to make ending the 62-year-old conflict a high priority. Critics say he was naive about obstacles such as Israeli settlement building.Obama blamed internal politics both in Israel and the Palestinian territories for constraining peace diplomacy.
He cited problems faced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who the president said is making some effort to move a little bit further than his coalition wants to go.Netanyahu's right-leaning government includes pro-settler parties strongly opposed to ceding occupied land to the Palestinians for a future state.
Obama said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants peace but has to contend with Hamas, an Islamist group that denies Israel's right to exist. Abbas, a pro-U.S. moderate, is also weakened by Hamas's control of the Gaza Strip.Both sides are going to have to make compromises, Obama said, calling on Israelis to acknowledge Palestinians' legitimate grievances and for the Palestinians to unequivocally renounce violence against the Jewish state.Obama declined, under questioning from an audience member, to condemn Israel for its treatment of Palestinians.Israel is one of our strongest allies,he said.I will never waver from ensuring Israel's security.
But he insisted, The plight of the Palestinians is something that we have to pay attention to. It is not good for our security and for Israel's security if you have millions of individuals who feel hopeless.Many in the Muslim world accused Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, of bias in favor of Israel. Obama had pledged full engagement in Middle East peace efforts, something the Bush administration was widely seen as avoiding.Despite that, Obama made no mention of the Middle East conflict in his State of the Union speech on Wednesday.(Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Paul Simao)
No ray of hope for Palestinian statehood: Moroccan PM
Thu Jan 28, 1:00 pm ET
WARSAW (AFP) – Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi said Thursday he currently saw no hope for the creation of a Palestinian state, as he paid an official Thursday visit to the Polish capital Warsaw.We see no ray of hope for a Palestinian state today,he said at a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk.Of course, Arabs definitively accept Israel, but on the condition there is a Palestinian state.Today there is just one state, Israel, and the oppressed Palestinian people who suffer repression,he added.The Moroccan government head said the issue of the creation of a Palestinian state ought to be on the agenda of the EU-Morocco summit in March in Granada, Spain.Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were suspended amid Israel's military offensive in the Gaza strip between December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009.The Palestinians have said they will not restart negotiations without a complete freeze of Israeli settlements and have rejected as insufficient a limited 10-month moratorium imposed in November.
Spain takes command of UN force in Lebanon
Thu Jan 28, 11:50 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – Spain on Thursday took over from Italy at the head of a 12,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon that was set up in 1978 to monitor the country's border with Israel.Spanish General Alberto Asarta Cuevas took over command of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon from Italian General Claudio Graziano at a ceremony at UNIFIL headquarters in Naqura near Lebanon's southern border.In his farewell speech, Graziano, who served as UNIFIL chief since February 2007, said both Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah had mostly upheld their commitment to the cessation of hostilities.Asarta, 58, is the force's 12th commander. Prior to his Lebanon posting, he served as the advisor to the Spanish army's chief of staff.From my point of view, the desired end state is to establish sustainable peace and stability in southern Lebanon, but this is a political problem that cannot be solved by UNIFIL,Asarta said at the exchange of command.
Present at the ceremony were Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon, Lebanese Defence Minister Elias Murr and a number of other officials.UNIFIL was established during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war under UN Security Council Resolutions 425 and 426 and beefed up in 2006, under Resolution 1701.The latest resolution lead to a ceasefire ending the devastating month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah, and the expanded force has been deployed to monitor the border and keep the peace in southern Lebanon, largely a Hezbollah-controlled zone.UNIFIL currently counts 12,000 troops from 29 countries. Italy has the largest contingent with 2,500 soldiers, while Spain contributes 1,070 soldiers.Since UNIFIL's founding, 275 of its soldiers have died in service.The last major attack targeted a Spanish contingent in June 2007, killing three Spaniards and three Colombians on patrol.Spain is set to hold the rotating presidency of the European Union during the first half of 2010, and political analysts say Madrid is keen to take control of UNIFIL in order to raise its Middle East profile.In October, Israel asked Italy to try to remain at the head of the force for at least another six months rather than handing over to Spain as planned, a senior Israeli official told AFP at the time.Israel and Spain denied any disagreement, but Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak canceled a visit to Madrid that month for what Spain said were agenda reasons.
HRW claim Hamas did target civilians in Gaza war
Thu Jan 28, 5:37 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Human Rights Watch on Thursday rejected Hamas claims that the Islamists did not target civilians during Israel's devastating Gaza offensive just over a year ago.Hamas?s claim that rockets were intended to hit Israeli military targets and only accidentally harmed civilians is belied by the facts, the New York-based group said.HRW issued its statement after the Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip said its investigations of allegations in a UN report on the Gaza war found that they and other Palestinian armed groups struck military targets and avoided civilian targets.HRW pointed out that most of the rocket attacks on Israel hit civilian areas. Civilians were the target, the rights group said, adding that deliberately targeting civilians is a war crime.The UN report into the 22-day Gaza offensive published in September also said the firing of the hard-to-aim rockets at southern Israel deliberately targeted civilians and could constitute a crime against humanity.
The report authored by the respected former international prosecutor Richard Goldstone accused both Israel and Palestinian groups of war crimes during the conflict, which killed 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.HRW rejected claims Hamas made during the war that attacks against Israeli civilians were justified reprisals for attacks on Palestinians and lawful resistance against occupation.The rights group stressed that under the laws of war nothing can justify an attack against civilians, and violations by one side do not justify violations by the other.The Goldstone report recommended its findings be referred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague if Israel and Hamas failed to carry out credible, independent investigations.Israel has rejected the report as anti-Semitic despite the fact Goldstone is Jewish, because it accuses Israeli troops of deliberately targeting civilians and destroying vital infrastructure.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
BARAK-PEACE-PALESTINIANS SEIZE MOMENT
Barak calls on Palestinians to seize chance for talks
Wed Jan 27, 12:56 pm ET
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AFP) – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak called on Palestinians on Wednesday to seize the opportunity to resume peace talks, as both sides failed to agree on the conditions for negotiations.Barak told reporters in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh after talks with President Hosni Mubarak that Israel had already made the unprecedented move of partially freezing settlement building on Palestinian territory.We accept the solution and vision of two states, we decided to recognise all agreements signed by previous governments, he said referring to hardline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet.We hope that in current weeks the Palestinians will also see the opportunity that should be seized to resume negotiations,he said.Hopes were raised for a resumption of talks, which were suspended in December 2008 when Israel launched its devastating offensive against Gaza.Months of shuttle diplomacy US envoy George Mitchell have floundered on the Palestinian Authority's refusal to negotiate with Israel without a complete halt to settlement building in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas has said Israel's partial settlement freeze, which excludes building in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and the construction of public buildings in the West Bank, was not enough.Mitchell, who was in the region again this week, presented Palestinian and Israeli leaders with a new initiative aimed at creating an atmosphere for the relaunch of peace talks, a Palestinian official told AFP.Israel is also at an impasse with the Islamist Hamas movement, Abbas's rivals in the Gaza Strip, who are holding an Israeli soldier captured more than three years ago.Hamas, which ousted Abbas's Fatah party from Gaza in 2007, said it will only release Gilad Shalit in return for nearly 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including about 450 militants serving long terms in Israeli jails.Barak discussed the prisoner exchange during his meeting with Mubarak, whose government helped mediate the talks, his office said in a statement.During the press conference he maintained his government's usual secrecy on developments in the German-brokered talks, saying only that Israel would consider any reasonable proposal, but not at any price.Hamas says the talks have been stalled by Israel's refusal to release a number of hardcore militants responsible for attacks on Israelis.
US envoy to return to Mideast in near future: official
Wed Jan 27, 10:49 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Middle East envoy George Mitchell has completed a series of meetings with major Middle East players and will return to the region in the near future,the US State Department said Tuesday.Mitchell completed a series of meetings in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Egypt,said spokesman Marc Toner, adding that Washington remained committed to achieving our goal of comprehensive peace in the Middle East.Mitchell on Sunday shuttled between Jerusalem and Amman in his second attempt in a week to persuade Israeli and Palestinian leaders to relaunch peace talks.Without divulging any details of Mitchell's meetings, Toner said he continued the two-pronged approach we have consistently pursued" of encouraging both sides to agree on permanent status issues, and helping the Palestinians prepare for statehood.The two objectives are mutually reinforcing. Each is essential. Neither can be attained without the other, the spokesman said.Mitchell, Toner added, will be following up with the parties in the coming days and he will return to the region in the near future.A Palestinian official told AFP on Monday that Mitchell presented Palestinian and Israeli leaders with a new initiative aimed at creating an atmosphere for the relaunching of peace talks suspended more than a year ago.
The United States has been trying for months to convince both sides to return to the negotiating table, but the Palestinians have refused to do so unless Israel halts all settlement growth in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories it occupied in 1967.Washington initially backed that demand but has more recently pressed both sides to return to the talks immediately and praised a limited 10-month settlement slowdown enacted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November.Israel has insisted it will not give any more ground and has blamed the Palestinians for the impasse.
Hamas clears itself of UN Gaza war crimes charges
Wed Jan 27, 10:39 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – The Islamist Hamas movement said Wednesday it has investigated allegations in a UN report into last winter's Gaza war and absolved Palestinian armed groups of any atrocities.The UN Human Rights Council report authored by the respected former international prosecutor Richard Goldstone accused both Israel and Palestinian groups of war crimes during the devastating 22-day conflict.Some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed during the Israeli offensive aimed at halting rocket attacks from the territory ruled by the Islamist militant group, which is sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state.But Hamas, which along with other armed groups has launched thousands of makeshift rockets into southern Israel in recent years, said a committee it appointed to follow up on the report found no intention to harm civilians.The committee worked around the clock to uncover the facts, despite the certainty that there were no violations of international humanitarian law or international human rights law that amount to war crimes,said the committee head, Hamas justice minister Mohammed Faraj al-Ghul.The Palestinian government has on more than one occasion called on armed Palestinian groups to avoid targeting civilians,said the report by Hamas, which has claimed scores of deadly suicide bombings against Israeli civilians.
(The armed groups) struck military targets and avoided civilian targets, and any accusations related to this concern errant fire.The Goldstone report said the firing of the hard-to-aim rockets at southern Israel deliberately targeted civilians and could constitute a crime against humanity.The Goldstone report recommended its findings be referred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague if Israel and Hamas failed to carry out credible, independent investigations.Israel has rejected the report as anti-Semitic despite the fact Goldstone is Jewish, because the report accuses Israeli troops of deliberately targeting civilians and destroying vital infrastructure.
Rights group slams treatment of Mideast minorities By PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jan 26, 10:05 am ET
CAIRO – A New York-based human rights organization criticized the governments of five Middle Eastern countries Tuesday, including close U.S.-allies Jordan and Saudi Arabia, for their treatment of women and minorities.Human Rights Watch released the chapters of its 2010 World Report that deal with Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen, accusing them of poor treatment of women, minorities and refugees.
Middle Eastern governments need to recognize that the rights of minorities, refugees, and stateless persons need greater protections,the group's Middle East director, Sarah Leah Whitson, said in a statement.The release of these latest chapters of the annual report follows Sunday's description of the post-election crackdown in Iran and the mistreatment of migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates.The chapters described a pattern of discrimination against minorities in the region, including Saudi Arabia's treatment of its 2 million-strong Shiite population and Syria's repression of its Kurds.In Lebanon, the report criticized the living conditions of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, while asserting that the Yemeni government committed violations in its battle with Shiite rebels in the north.Tensions with Shiites in Saudi Arabia reached new heights in 2009 when clashes between Shiite pilgrims and security guards in the city of Medina resulted in scores of arrests. At least one Shiite mosque was closed down in the kingdom.
The report did note that King Abdullah had replaced conservatives in the religious establishment and judiciary, but saw little overall improvement in human rights, especially for women.Authorities continue to systematically suppress, or fail to protect, the rights of fourteen million Saudi women and girls,the report said.Just to the south, in Yemen, Human Rights Watch described a severe deterioration in the rule of law as a government facing opposition on several fronts arrested journalists and activists.With a Shiite rebellion in the north and a southern separatist movement, Yemen's government has conducted sweeping arrest campaigns against any suspected sympathizers of either movement, charging many with contesting the unity of the state.In Syria, meanwhile, a chronically poor rights situation worsened, according to the report, with some 45 people arrested for membership in unauthorized political groups or those with links to the Kurds or Muslim Brotherhood.In contrast to the other countries, the report saw no significant decline in the human rights situation in Jordan, though it did note that criticizing the king still carried heavy penalties, and perpetrators of honor killings were receiving lenient sentences.
So-called honor killings involve slayings of women — often by male relatives — for perceived slights to their families' honor, such as accusations of infidelity or of having romantic relationships outside of marriage.
Israeli chief of staff heads to NATO conference
Tue Jan 26, 4:42 am ET
Jerusalem (AFP) – Israeli military chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi is heading to Brussels to attend a NATO conference, where he planned to discuss the challenges facing Israel and regional threats, the armed forces said in a statement.
Ashkenazi's agenda also included discussions on the need for cooperation between Israel's armed forces and NATO member countries against the global terrorist threat, the statement said.The conference was to focus on ways to enhance maritime security.
Centuries-old Holy City cellar at heart of Byzantine battle by Patrick Moser – Mon Jan 25, 12:18 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – An Arab-Israeli shopkeeper is locked in a Byzantine battle with the Coptic Church over an ancient Jerusalem cellar, in a saga involving Christianity's holiest site and a 12th century Muslim general.Lawyers on both sides expect authorities to decide soon whether the disputed basement adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is sacred or not, and whether the Egyptian Christians or the Israeli Muslim can claim ownership.The legal battle over the centuries-old vaulted stone cellar has been festering for 14 years in the heart of the Holy City, a flashpoint of political and religious conflict.It has as many twists and turns as the Old City, a maze of narrow streets and intrigue, and features top Middle East political players.Antonios al-Orshaleme, general secretary of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, insists the basement is holy ground and was once part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered by most Christians as the site where Jesus was crucified and buried.Orshaleme says the vast cellar, which runs under both the patriarchate and the grocery store, had been a church at least as long as the Holy Sepulchre, but remains vague as to when it was last used as such.
The church was built in the fourth century. Its destruction seven centuries later provided an impetus for the Crusades. It was rebuilt in 1048 following agreement between the Byzantine Empire and the region's Muslim rulers.Here is a monastery, below is also a monastery,says Orshaleme, clad in a black gown, an embroidered hood covering his head, as he points to the ground below the patriarchate.Not so, says lawyer Reuven Yehoshua, who represents storekeeper Hazam Hirbawi.For 800 years this cellar was used as a garbage dump,says Yehoshua.The entrance to the basement, which can be seen from above through a mesh of wire, is cluttered with a jumble of discarded objects.Yehoshua points to a 1921 survey that describes the basement as being disgusting and filled with cesspools.This is what they say is a holy place? Yehoshua asks, shaking his head.A history buff, Yehoshua bases his arguments on a wealth of ancient documents, including one showing that Salah ad-Din -- the 12th century military commander who defeated the Crusaders -- issued a writ giving Muslims control of the area where the store is now located, and the basements below it.Orshaleme admits that part is true and points out, with a smile, it goes to show Christians were the original owners.This whole area was part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Salah ad-Din made the church smaller and surrounded it with Muslims so it could not grow strong again.The modern dispute started in 1996 when Hazam Hirbawi was sent by his father to the cellar to pick up a stone he needed to repair a wall in the building, only to find 10 Copts digging and clearing out mud and rubble.
I asked what they were doing. They said: We're fixing our place,said Hirbawi.We kicked them out,he adds. Orshaleme says Hirbawi had no right to interfere with the Copts.Hirbawi came down and made problems with workers from the church.The Coptic Church, which is predominantly Egyptian, took its case to the Egyptian authorities, who in turn raised it with then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Arafat told (Egyptian) President Hosni Mubarak the Copts could have it, as a gift from him to Egypt,says Hirbawi, who like his father is Arab-Israeli. Hirbawi's father refused to cave in and was eventually arrested by agents from Arafat's Preventive Security, who took him to the Palestinian political capital Ramallah. The dispute rapidly snowballed and hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who served a first term at the time, sent forces to surround Ramallah. The elder Hirbawi was released three days later and took the issue to the Israeli authorities. The issue is one of clout for the Copts, a comparatively small denomination and among those who share ownership of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre under a fragile agreement which hasn't always been enough to prevent brawls between rival monks. For Hirbawi, it's a question of principle.Nobody can take what you own by force. And it is forbidden for something that belongs to Muslims to be taken by a Christian.
Israel PM opens Auschwitz blueprint exhibit
Mon Jan 25, 8:08 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday opened an exhibition of the Auschwitz death camp blueprints, saying Jews are again facing calls for their extermination, an apparent reference to Iran.There is evil in the world. If it is unstopped it expands, and it is expanding. And it is threatening the same people, the Jewish people, but we know it only starts with the Jewish people, said Netanyahu who has called Iran an existential threat to Israel.There is a new call for the extermination of the Jewish people,he said at the Yad Vashem holocaust memorial.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly said the Jewish state was doomed to be wiped off the map and has questioned the scale of the Holocaust.
Israel has routinely called for tough measures against Iran, which the West suspects of seeking to develop a weapons capability under the guise of a civil nuclear programme, an accusation Tehran denies.Israel is widely believed to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power.This is test for humanity and we shall see in the coming weeks and coming months how the international community lives up to its responsibility to stop evil before it spreads, the premier said.Netanyahu was given the rare original blueprints of the Nazi death camp -- some bearing the initials of Heinrich Himmler, chief architect of the Nazi plan to exterminate the Jews -- by German publisher Bild in Berlin in August.The documents, which date from 1941-42 and include plans drawn with technical precision for a gas chamber and a crematorium, were discovered in a Berlin apartment in 2008 and later bought by Bild newspaper.More than one million Jews, Roma and others deemed sub-human by Adolf Hitler's regime were killed at Auschwitz, near the Polish city of Krakow, out of a total six million Jews slaughtered by the end of World War II in 1945.What you see in this exhibition, in these testimonies is great evil. Unadulterated evil, Netanyahu said, pointing to the yellowed sketches and plans.Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev said that at first glance, the documents looked like any regular construction plans -- but a mute scream emerges from them with terrifying clarity.
Netanyahu was set to travel to Poland later on Monday to attend the anniversary of the January 27, 1945 liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops.
Wed Jan 27, 12:56 pm ET
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AFP) – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak called on Palestinians on Wednesday to seize the opportunity to resume peace talks, as both sides failed to agree on the conditions for negotiations.Barak told reporters in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh after talks with President Hosni Mubarak that Israel had already made the unprecedented move of partially freezing settlement building on Palestinian territory.We accept the solution and vision of two states, we decided to recognise all agreements signed by previous governments, he said referring to hardline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet.We hope that in current weeks the Palestinians will also see the opportunity that should be seized to resume negotiations,he said.Hopes were raised for a resumption of talks, which were suspended in December 2008 when Israel launched its devastating offensive against Gaza.Months of shuttle diplomacy US envoy George Mitchell have floundered on the Palestinian Authority's refusal to negotiate with Israel without a complete halt to settlement building in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas has said Israel's partial settlement freeze, which excludes building in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and the construction of public buildings in the West Bank, was not enough.Mitchell, who was in the region again this week, presented Palestinian and Israeli leaders with a new initiative aimed at creating an atmosphere for the relaunch of peace talks, a Palestinian official told AFP.Israel is also at an impasse with the Islamist Hamas movement, Abbas's rivals in the Gaza Strip, who are holding an Israeli soldier captured more than three years ago.Hamas, which ousted Abbas's Fatah party from Gaza in 2007, said it will only release Gilad Shalit in return for nearly 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including about 450 militants serving long terms in Israeli jails.Barak discussed the prisoner exchange during his meeting with Mubarak, whose government helped mediate the talks, his office said in a statement.During the press conference he maintained his government's usual secrecy on developments in the German-brokered talks, saying only that Israel would consider any reasonable proposal, but not at any price.Hamas says the talks have been stalled by Israel's refusal to release a number of hardcore militants responsible for attacks on Israelis.
US envoy to return to Mideast in near future: official
Wed Jan 27, 10:49 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Middle East envoy George Mitchell has completed a series of meetings with major Middle East players and will return to the region in the near future,the US State Department said Tuesday.Mitchell completed a series of meetings in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Egypt,said spokesman Marc Toner, adding that Washington remained committed to achieving our goal of comprehensive peace in the Middle East.Mitchell on Sunday shuttled between Jerusalem and Amman in his second attempt in a week to persuade Israeli and Palestinian leaders to relaunch peace talks.Without divulging any details of Mitchell's meetings, Toner said he continued the two-pronged approach we have consistently pursued" of encouraging both sides to agree on permanent status issues, and helping the Palestinians prepare for statehood.The two objectives are mutually reinforcing. Each is essential. Neither can be attained without the other, the spokesman said.Mitchell, Toner added, will be following up with the parties in the coming days and he will return to the region in the near future.A Palestinian official told AFP on Monday that Mitchell presented Palestinian and Israeli leaders with a new initiative aimed at creating an atmosphere for the relaunching of peace talks suspended more than a year ago.
The United States has been trying for months to convince both sides to return to the negotiating table, but the Palestinians have refused to do so unless Israel halts all settlement growth in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories it occupied in 1967.Washington initially backed that demand but has more recently pressed both sides to return to the talks immediately and praised a limited 10-month settlement slowdown enacted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November.Israel has insisted it will not give any more ground and has blamed the Palestinians for the impasse.
Hamas clears itself of UN Gaza war crimes charges
Wed Jan 27, 10:39 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – The Islamist Hamas movement said Wednesday it has investigated allegations in a UN report into last winter's Gaza war and absolved Palestinian armed groups of any atrocities.The UN Human Rights Council report authored by the respected former international prosecutor Richard Goldstone accused both Israel and Palestinian groups of war crimes during the devastating 22-day conflict.Some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed during the Israeli offensive aimed at halting rocket attacks from the territory ruled by the Islamist militant group, which is sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state.But Hamas, which along with other armed groups has launched thousands of makeshift rockets into southern Israel in recent years, said a committee it appointed to follow up on the report found no intention to harm civilians.The committee worked around the clock to uncover the facts, despite the certainty that there were no violations of international humanitarian law or international human rights law that amount to war crimes,said the committee head, Hamas justice minister Mohammed Faraj al-Ghul.The Palestinian government has on more than one occasion called on armed Palestinian groups to avoid targeting civilians,said the report by Hamas, which has claimed scores of deadly suicide bombings against Israeli civilians.
(The armed groups) struck military targets and avoided civilian targets, and any accusations related to this concern errant fire.The Goldstone report said the firing of the hard-to-aim rockets at southern Israel deliberately targeted civilians and could constitute a crime against humanity.The Goldstone report recommended its findings be referred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague if Israel and Hamas failed to carry out credible, independent investigations.Israel has rejected the report as anti-Semitic despite the fact Goldstone is Jewish, because the report accuses Israeli troops of deliberately targeting civilians and destroying vital infrastructure.
Rights group slams treatment of Mideast minorities By PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jan 26, 10:05 am ET
CAIRO – A New York-based human rights organization criticized the governments of five Middle Eastern countries Tuesday, including close U.S.-allies Jordan and Saudi Arabia, for their treatment of women and minorities.Human Rights Watch released the chapters of its 2010 World Report that deal with Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen, accusing them of poor treatment of women, minorities and refugees.
Middle Eastern governments need to recognize that the rights of minorities, refugees, and stateless persons need greater protections,the group's Middle East director, Sarah Leah Whitson, said in a statement.The release of these latest chapters of the annual report follows Sunday's description of the post-election crackdown in Iran and the mistreatment of migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates.The chapters described a pattern of discrimination against minorities in the region, including Saudi Arabia's treatment of its 2 million-strong Shiite population and Syria's repression of its Kurds.In Lebanon, the report criticized the living conditions of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, while asserting that the Yemeni government committed violations in its battle with Shiite rebels in the north.Tensions with Shiites in Saudi Arabia reached new heights in 2009 when clashes between Shiite pilgrims and security guards in the city of Medina resulted in scores of arrests. At least one Shiite mosque was closed down in the kingdom.
The report did note that King Abdullah had replaced conservatives in the religious establishment and judiciary, but saw little overall improvement in human rights, especially for women.Authorities continue to systematically suppress, or fail to protect, the rights of fourteen million Saudi women and girls,the report said.Just to the south, in Yemen, Human Rights Watch described a severe deterioration in the rule of law as a government facing opposition on several fronts arrested journalists and activists.With a Shiite rebellion in the north and a southern separatist movement, Yemen's government has conducted sweeping arrest campaigns against any suspected sympathizers of either movement, charging many with contesting the unity of the state.In Syria, meanwhile, a chronically poor rights situation worsened, according to the report, with some 45 people arrested for membership in unauthorized political groups or those with links to the Kurds or Muslim Brotherhood.In contrast to the other countries, the report saw no significant decline in the human rights situation in Jordan, though it did note that criticizing the king still carried heavy penalties, and perpetrators of honor killings were receiving lenient sentences.
So-called honor killings involve slayings of women — often by male relatives — for perceived slights to their families' honor, such as accusations of infidelity or of having romantic relationships outside of marriage.
Israeli chief of staff heads to NATO conference
Tue Jan 26, 4:42 am ET
Jerusalem (AFP) – Israeli military chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi is heading to Brussels to attend a NATO conference, where he planned to discuss the challenges facing Israel and regional threats, the armed forces said in a statement.
Ashkenazi's agenda also included discussions on the need for cooperation between Israel's armed forces and NATO member countries against the global terrorist threat, the statement said.The conference was to focus on ways to enhance maritime security.
Centuries-old Holy City cellar at heart of Byzantine battle by Patrick Moser – Mon Jan 25, 12:18 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – An Arab-Israeli shopkeeper is locked in a Byzantine battle with the Coptic Church over an ancient Jerusalem cellar, in a saga involving Christianity's holiest site and a 12th century Muslim general.Lawyers on both sides expect authorities to decide soon whether the disputed basement adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is sacred or not, and whether the Egyptian Christians or the Israeli Muslim can claim ownership.The legal battle over the centuries-old vaulted stone cellar has been festering for 14 years in the heart of the Holy City, a flashpoint of political and religious conflict.It has as many twists and turns as the Old City, a maze of narrow streets and intrigue, and features top Middle East political players.Antonios al-Orshaleme, general secretary of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, insists the basement is holy ground and was once part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered by most Christians as the site where Jesus was crucified and buried.Orshaleme says the vast cellar, which runs under both the patriarchate and the grocery store, had been a church at least as long as the Holy Sepulchre, but remains vague as to when it was last used as such.
The church was built in the fourth century. Its destruction seven centuries later provided an impetus for the Crusades. It was rebuilt in 1048 following agreement between the Byzantine Empire and the region's Muslim rulers.Here is a monastery, below is also a monastery,says Orshaleme, clad in a black gown, an embroidered hood covering his head, as he points to the ground below the patriarchate.Not so, says lawyer Reuven Yehoshua, who represents storekeeper Hazam Hirbawi.For 800 years this cellar was used as a garbage dump,says Yehoshua.The entrance to the basement, which can be seen from above through a mesh of wire, is cluttered with a jumble of discarded objects.Yehoshua points to a 1921 survey that describes the basement as being disgusting and filled with cesspools.This is what they say is a holy place? Yehoshua asks, shaking his head.A history buff, Yehoshua bases his arguments on a wealth of ancient documents, including one showing that Salah ad-Din -- the 12th century military commander who defeated the Crusaders -- issued a writ giving Muslims control of the area where the store is now located, and the basements below it.Orshaleme admits that part is true and points out, with a smile, it goes to show Christians were the original owners.This whole area was part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Salah ad-Din made the church smaller and surrounded it with Muslims so it could not grow strong again.The modern dispute started in 1996 when Hazam Hirbawi was sent by his father to the cellar to pick up a stone he needed to repair a wall in the building, only to find 10 Copts digging and clearing out mud and rubble.
I asked what they were doing. They said: We're fixing our place,said Hirbawi.We kicked them out,he adds. Orshaleme says Hirbawi had no right to interfere with the Copts.Hirbawi came down and made problems with workers from the church.The Coptic Church, which is predominantly Egyptian, took its case to the Egyptian authorities, who in turn raised it with then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Arafat told (Egyptian) President Hosni Mubarak the Copts could have it, as a gift from him to Egypt,says Hirbawi, who like his father is Arab-Israeli. Hirbawi's father refused to cave in and was eventually arrested by agents from Arafat's Preventive Security, who took him to the Palestinian political capital Ramallah. The dispute rapidly snowballed and hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who served a first term at the time, sent forces to surround Ramallah. The elder Hirbawi was released three days later and took the issue to the Israeli authorities. The issue is one of clout for the Copts, a comparatively small denomination and among those who share ownership of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre under a fragile agreement which hasn't always been enough to prevent brawls between rival monks. For Hirbawi, it's a question of principle.Nobody can take what you own by force. And it is forbidden for something that belongs to Muslims to be taken by a Christian.
Israel PM opens Auschwitz blueprint exhibit
Mon Jan 25, 8:08 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday opened an exhibition of the Auschwitz death camp blueprints, saying Jews are again facing calls for their extermination, an apparent reference to Iran.There is evil in the world. If it is unstopped it expands, and it is expanding. And it is threatening the same people, the Jewish people, but we know it only starts with the Jewish people, said Netanyahu who has called Iran an existential threat to Israel.There is a new call for the extermination of the Jewish people,he said at the Yad Vashem holocaust memorial.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly said the Jewish state was doomed to be wiped off the map and has questioned the scale of the Holocaust.
Israel has routinely called for tough measures against Iran, which the West suspects of seeking to develop a weapons capability under the guise of a civil nuclear programme, an accusation Tehran denies.Israel is widely believed to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power.This is test for humanity and we shall see in the coming weeks and coming months how the international community lives up to its responsibility to stop evil before it spreads, the premier said.Netanyahu was given the rare original blueprints of the Nazi death camp -- some bearing the initials of Heinrich Himmler, chief architect of the Nazi plan to exterminate the Jews -- by German publisher Bild in Berlin in August.The documents, which date from 1941-42 and include plans drawn with technical precision for a gas chamber and a crematorium, were discovered in a Berlin apartment in 2008 and later bought by Bild newspaper.More than one million Jews, Roma and others deemed sub-human by Adolf Hitler's regime were killed at Auschwitz, near the Polish city of Krakow, out of a total six million Jews slaughtered by the end of World War II in 1945.What you see in this exhibition, in these testimonies is great evil. Unadulterated evil, Netanyahu said, pointing to the yellowed sketches and plans.Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev said that at first glance, the documents looked like any regular construction plans -- but a mute scream emerges from them with terrifying clarity.
Netanyahu was set to travel to Poland later on Monday to attend the anniversary of the January 27, 1945 liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
ISRAEL TO KEEP WEST BANK FOREVER
Premier: Israel to keep parts of West Bank forever By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jan 24, 4:33 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Israel's leader declared his country's permanent claim to parts of the West Bank on Sunday, angering Palestinians again and complicating efforts by President Barack Obama's Mideast envoy — though the same claim was also made by previous, more moderate premiers.Timing and context lent weight to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to two Jewish settlements and his declaration that they would remain in Israel forever. He planted a tree at one of them — Maaleh Adumim, home to about 30,000 Israelis about two miles (three kilometers) from Jerusalem — a symbolic act of ownership.Our message is clear: We are planting here, we will stay here, we will build here. This place will be an inseparable part of the state of Israel for eternity, Netanyahu proclaimed, just as envoy George Mitchell was trying to restart peace talks after a yearlong stalemate.In his claim, Netanyahu was referring to what Israel calls its main settlement blocs, most of them close to Israeli population centers. Israel has long said it would keep the blocs, where about 80 percent of its 300,000 settlers live, and trade Israeli land to the Palestinians in exchange for the blocs.In failed negotiations with former, relatively moderate Israeli premiers like Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, Palestinians have indicated they might accept such a trade.
But Netanyahu is suspect in Palestinian eyes, since he has traditionally opposed ceding control of any of the West Bank and has backed settlement expansion. Only under heavy U.S. pressure did he express grudging acceptance of the idea of a Palestinian state in a speech last June.Netanyahu responded to Palestinian demands for a total construction freeze in the settlements by limiting new building in the West Bank but not in east Jerusalem, claimed by the Palestinians as their capital.
Palestinians rejected the partial freeze as insufficient to get them back to the negotiating table.Israel countered that by demanding a total freeze in construction in the settlements and east Jerusalem's large Jewish neighborhoods — also considered settlements by the Palestinians — they have climbed out on a limb and are trapped by their own conditions.On Sunday, claiming Maaleh Adumim and the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem, Netanyahu once again provided fuel for Palestinian outrage.This is an unacceptable act that destroys all the efforts being exerted by Senator Mitchell in order to bring the parties back to the negotiating table, said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.This came as Mitchell was conducting his latest round of talks in the region to try to get peace talks back on track.In Amman, Jordan, Mitchell appeared unmoved by Netanyahu's declaration on Maaleh Adumim, restating the U.S. goal of a Palestinian state living next to Israel in peace.We intend to continue to pursue our efforts until that objective is achieved,he said after meeting Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II.On the eve of Mitchell's arrival last week, Netanyahu said Israel would demand a presence on the Jordanian border of the West Bank to stop weapons and rocket smuggling even if a peace deal is reached, in order to protect Israel's heartland from militant attacks like those from Gaza.Palestinians rejected that as well. They want a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem and say they will not accept any Israeli presence there — soldiers or settlers.After his meeting with Mitchell, Netanyahu told his Cabinet he had heard a few interesting ideas on renewing peace talks. No details were forthcoming.Even Mitchell's boss, Obama, has been sounding pessimistic about the prospects.Last year, Obama took office with the ambitious aim of putting Mideast peacemaking on a fast track. Instead, the peace mission has stalled over Israel's settlements on occupied lands and the refusal by the Palestinians to return to peace talks.
Obama acknowledged in an interview published last week that he underestimated the domestic political forces at play in the region and overreached in expecting a quick breakthrough. Also Sunday, a Belgian official protested after Israel prevented him from visiting Gaza. Development Minister Charles Michel said European officials must be able to visit the territory because they have aid projects there. This situation is unacceptable,he told RTL TV. Israel routinely bans foreign officials from crossing into Gaza, maintaining that such visits bolster the Islamic Hamas rulers of Gaza. Officials can enter Gaza from Egypt. Associated Press Writer Jamal Halaby contributed to this report from Amman, Jordan.
US envoy in peace shuttle between Israelis, Palestinians by Ahmad Khatib – Sun Jan 24, 12:46 pm ET
AMMAN (AFP) – US Middle East envoy George Mitchell on Sunday shuttled between Jerusalem and Amman in his second attempt this week to persuade Israeli and Palestinian leaders to relaunch peace talks.Mitchell met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem before heading to Amman to see Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as part of a tour aimed at reviving talks suspended during the Gaza war more than a year ago.President (Barack) Obama, Secretary of State (Hillary) Clinton and the United States are fully committed to comprehensive peace in the Middle East... Mitchell said after meeting Abbas in joint remarks to reporters with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat.The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which includes the creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state... we believe it's the only realistic solution to the conflict.He said that such a solution also includes agreements between Israel and Syria, Israel and Lebanon and full normalisation of relations among all countries in the region.
Mitchell said Washington would pursue our efforts until that objective is achieved.
Erakat said the Palestinians have not set preconditions for a resumption of talks.We don't have any conditions to resume negotiations. It's time for Israel to drop its conditions,he said.If Israel thinks that by finger-pointing at us and blaming us (the conflict) can be solved, it won't be solved.What really obstructs the efforts by Senator Mitchell and President Obama is Israel and its settlements, incursions and assassinations. When we say Israel should stop building settlements, it's not a Palestinian condition. It's an Israeli commitment that should be respected, Erakat said.We want a credible peace and we will continue to do our best and cooperate with the United States, but Israel should respect its commitments.Earlier in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said after meeting Mitchell that the envoy had presented new ideas about how to relaunch the peace process, without elaborating.I expressed my hope that these new ideas will lead to the renewal of the peace process if the Palestinians themselves show similar interest,he added.The United States has been trying for months to convince both sides to return to the negotiating table, but the Palestinians have refused to do so unless Israel halts all settlement growth in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories it occupied in 1967.Washington initially backed that demand but has more recently pressed both sides to return to the talks immediately and praised a limited 10-month settlement slowdown enacted by Netanyahu in November.The Palestinians have rejected the moratorium on building starts because it excludes mostly Arab east Jerusalem -- which they demand as their capital -- as well as public buildings and projects already under way.After meeting Mitchell, Netanyahu attended a symbolic tree planting ceremony at Gush Etzion, a major West Bank settlement bloc that Israel plans to keep in any future peace deal.Our message is clear. We are planting trees here, we will remain here, we will build here. This place will remain part of Israel for ever. There is a national consensus on this issue," his office quoted him as saying.
Israel has insisted it will not give any more ground and has blamed the Palestinians for the impasse. Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said on Sunday it was time to say clearly and unequivocally that there will be no further concessions from Israel for the launching of negotiations.The method of the Palestinians is to refuse to resume negotiations to force the United States to exert pressure on Israel, he told public radio. The ball is in the Palestinian court.Mitchell held a first round of talks with Netanyahu on Thursday and met Abbas on Friday. Last week he also visited Lebanon and Syria. Later on Sunday he flew to Cairo for a two-day visit during which he would meet officials, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported without elaborating.
Egypt's Mubarak defends Gaza border barrier
Sun Jan 24, 12:15 pm ET
CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday defended the construction of an underground barrier on the border with the Gaza Strip as a matter of national security and sovereignty.The works and reinforcements on our eastern border are a matter of Egyptian sovereignty. We do not accept a debate on the issue with anyone, Mubarak said in a speech to mark Police Day.It is the right of the Egyptian state, and even its duty, its responsibility. It is the right of every state to control and protect its borders,he added.Khaled Meshaal, exiled leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement which has controlled Gaza since June 2007, recently called on Egypt to halt construction of the barrier.What we do not accept, and will not accept, is that we take our borders lightly, or that our territory is violated or that our soliders or installations are targetted, Mubarak said.We continue with the construction and reinforcements on our border, not to please anyone, but to protect our national security from violations and from terrorist acts such as those in Taba, Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab and Cairo,he added.A series of bombings from 2004 to 2006 killed a total of 130 people in Red Sea resorts on the Sinai peninsula and a 2009 bomb attack at a Cairo bazaar killed a French teenager.Egyptian authorities started building the underground steel barrier in a bid they say to stop the smuggling of goods and weapons into the Gaza Strip via a network of underground tunnels, but officials have remained tightlipped about the details of the construction work.Egypt has also been more vocal in its pressure on Hamas, which it accuses of refusing a reconciliation agreement with the Palestinian Authority.Israel has sealed the Gaza Strip off to all but very limited supplies of basic goods ever since the Islamist group seized control in 2007, ousting forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.On January 6, an Egyptian policeman was killed and five people wounded during clashes on the Egypt-Gaza border after Palestinian demonstrations to protest at the construction of the barrier.
Israel to rebut Gaza war report By Dan Williams – Sun Jan 24, 9:07 am ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has prepared a rebuttal to a U.N. report censuring its conduct in the Gaza war, Israeli officials said on Sunday, arguing the United Nations' findings were so unfair as to have fueled a global wave of anti-Semitism.
Issued in September by a panel under South African jurist Richard Goldstone, the non-binding report cited evidence Israel had unlawfully targeted Palestinian civilians and gave it six months to investigate -- or risk prosecution in foreign courts.
Israel had boycotted the panel and brushed off its findings, calling them biased in favor of Gaza's Hamas rulers.But Israeli officials have voiced worry that the suspicions raised, if unaddressed, could hobble future military operations.Cabinet minister Yuli Edelstein said Israel would make do with internal army probes of last year's war that resulted in a handful of courts-martial over minor offences, but would deliver a formal response to the Goldstone report on Thursday.It is certainly already clear that, for many of the incidents and crimes described in the report, no proof was found, Edelstein told Israel Radio.Noting that Wednesday is U.N.-designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Edelstein said he would meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon in New York and suggest that the report had triggered recent attacks on Jews worldwide.When you light a match in the name of freedom of expression and human rights and even the fight against war crimes, when the double-standard is so salient ... sometimes it is translated in a manner far more extreme than the U.N. may have intended,Edelstein said.
FROM HOLOCAUST TO HAMAS
Israel said it attacked Gaza to stem years of Palestinian rocket salvoes and in the absence of peace prospects with Hamas, an Islamist group that refuses to recognize the Jewish state and spurns Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for his diplomacy.
Israeli shelling in Gaza's cramped precincts killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians. They were the focus of the Goldstone report, though it also rebuked Hamas for its rockets -- which killed 10 Israeli civilians in the war. Three troops also died.An Israeli diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the response to the Goldstone report aimed to disprove allegations that Israel wreaked deliberate damage on Gaza's impoverished and aid-dependant civilian infrastructure.Israel will pass this document on to the relevant U.N. officials, but still insists that it remains outside of the Goldstone process,the diplomat said.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Poland, site of Nazi death camps. He similarly linked the Gaza war's fallout to anti-Semitism.The fight against anti-Semitism is more crucial than ever, as there is a significant increase in the manifestations of anti-Semitism since Operation Cast Lead, he told his cabinet, using Israel's codename for the Gaza offensive.This anti-Semitism comes with a new tack, which is the bid to deprive the Jewish state of the right to self-defense.Goldstone is himself Jewish and has publicly identified as a Zionist. Israeli officials say they regard his ethnicity as irrelevant to the substance of the report.
US envoy meets Israeli defence minister in push for peace
Sat Jan 23, 4:41 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – US envoy George Mitchell met Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Saturday as he pursued his efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.A brief statement from the defence ministry said discussions between Mitchell and Barak had centred on the means of relaunching the peace process.The meeting came a day after Mitchell held talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and the day before with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid pessimism of any breakthrough.Israelis and Palestinians have been blaming each other for the stalemate with Mitchell able to convince them to return to the negotiating table.On Friday chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said Israel was responsible for the lack of progress and also acknowledged there were differences between the Palestinians and US administration.The American side wants to resume negotiations now without a complete halt to settlements, Erakat said.We want to resume negotiations on the basis of defining the borders of the Palestinian state on all Palestinian lands occupied since 1967 including east Jerusalem, and a complete halt to all settlement activities, he said.A statement from Netanyahu's office blamed the Palestinians for blocking the resumption of peace talks, suspended since Israel's devastating 22-day war on the Gaza Strip last winter.Israel is not making any conditions for the resumption of negotiations. The Palestinians are undermining this resumption by making conditions which they had never made before,it said.Officials in Netanyahu's office said the prime minister could meet again with Mitchell on Sunday.
US President Barack Obama has admitted his drive for a deal may have been overambitious and told the latest edition of Time Magazine: This is as intractable a problem as you get.Obama said if his administration had anticipated the political problems, we might not have raised expectations as high.Washington had pressed hard for Israel to freeze settlement construction, which Abbas has demanded ahead of any resumption of talks.Mitchell has also visited Lebanon and Syria during his latest mission to the region which started Tuesday.
Israel's Netanyahu seeks to calm nerves on Lebanon
Sat Jan 23, 2:56 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday sought to calm regional nerves over fears of an imminent conflict with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas by saying Israel sought peace with its neighbors.In an unusual move, Netanyahu's office issued a statement quoting him saying that the Jewish state was not planning any imminent attack on Lebanon, from where Hezbollah launched some 4,000 rockets at it during a 2006 war.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarifies that Israel is not seeking any conflict with Lebanon ... Israel seeks peace with its neighbors, the statement read.An official at Netanyahu's office said the prime minister's statement came in response to fears expressed recently in Lebanon that Israel might launch an attack on Hezbollah.Earlier on Saturday, Israeli minister Yossi Peled, a former army general with past experience of the conflict on the northern border, said that another confrontation with Hezbollah was almost inevitable but he could not say when it might happen.In my estimation, understanding and knowledge it is almost clear to me that it is a matter of time before there is a military clash in the north,Peled said.(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Jon Boyle)
Sour words on Mideast peace as Obama admits setbacks By Douglas Hamilton – Thu Jan 21, 3:34 pm ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Israel and the Palestinians belittled each other's commitment to peace as U.S. President Barack Obama admitted on Thursday he had underrated the difficulty of reviving deadlocked Middle East negotiations.As his envoy George Mitchell began a fresh attempt to get the two sides talking to each other, Obama told Time Magazine: This is just really hard ... and if we had anticipated some of these political problems on both sides earlier, we might not have raised expectations as high.Obama said his administration had underestimated the internal political constraints preventing bold peace moves by either camp and 2009 had ended without the kind of breakthrough he set out to achieve at the start of his term.Moving forward, though, we are going to continue to work with both parties to recognize what I think is ultimately their deep-seated interest in a two-state solution in which Israel is secure and Palestinians have sovereignty and can start focusing on developing their economy and improving the lives of their children and grandchildren,the president said.In an inauspicious start to his first diplomatic shuttle of 2010 after a dozen fruitless visit last year, Mitchell flew into a war of words with each side accusing the other of cynicism.The U.S. envoy said before talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres that he recognized the complexities and difficulties of pursuing Middle East peace, but made no comment on the sour rhetoric that greeted him.
CONFIDENTIAL
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had on Wednesday imposed further conditions on negotiations and announced Israel's intention to continue its occupation of the West Bank whatever happens.
Benjamin Netanyahu has said No to a settlement freeze, No to sharing Jerusalem, No to the 1967 borders, No to the rights of Palestinian refugees. Now he wants to retain the Jordan Valley, Erekat said in a statement.He was referring to a comment by Netanyahu that Israel would retain military control around any future Palestinian state that included the West Bank.We had hoped to hear a clear commitment to negotiations without preconditions. What we got instead was Mr. Netanyahu again trying to dictate their terms and preempt their outcome, Erakat said.Addressing the foreign press late on Wednesday, Netanyahu attacked the Palestinian leadership for rejecting U.S. calls to relaunch negotiations suspended for over a year.The Palestinians have climbed up a tree, he said.And they like it up there. People bring ladders to them. We bring ladders to them. The higher the ladder, the higher they climb.
Mitchell, as usual, said little and there was no immediate clue as to whether the public rhetoric might mask a more positive atmosphere in closed-door talks, first with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and then on Friday with Palestinians in Ramallah.
Critics said Israel had placed another obstacle in Mitchell's path by agreeing to upgrade to university status a college built in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
The decision by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, formalizing a 2005 cabinet ruling, coincided with the envoy's visit. Erekat said it was part of the same policy of dictation rather than negotiation.Every time Senator Mitchell comes to the region, they greet him with such policies, Erekat added.Israel plans to keep the Ariel settlement under any peace deal to create a Palestinian state. Palestinians acknowledge some settlements could be annexed in return for land elsewhere.
WEAKER PARTNER
Diplomats say Mitchell seems to be seeking a face-saving way for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to drop his insistence that Netanyahu must stop all settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem before negotiations can be resumed. Netanyahu's right-wing coalition got off to a rough start 10 months ago with the Obama administration, rebuffing Washington's call for a total halt to Jewish settlement building. When Mitchell first visited, the Israeli leader was refusing even to talk about establishing a Palestinian state. But last June he embraced the two-state solution and in November he ordered a partial 10-month halt to settlement building. Western diplomats say Washington now seems increasingly frustrated with Abbas. One, speaking privately, said Abbas as the weaker partner was now the focus of U.S. efforts. There was an implicit threat of cuts in U.S. aid to the West Bank if Abbas held out against resuming talks, he said. Abbas hinted last week at a possible way out of the impasse, if Washington framed the talks in such a way as to set an endgame, with the goal of a Palestinian state within a couple of years, or to define the parameters of the deal. But Israel says that would prejudge the negotiations. (Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Allyn Fisher-Ilan. Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Paul Taylor)
JERUSALEM – Israel's leader declared his country's permanent claim to parts of the West Bank on Sunday, angering Palestinians again and complicating efforts by President Barack Obama's Mideast envoy — though the same claim was also made by previous, more moderate premiers.Timing and context lent weight to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to two Jewish settlements and his declaration that they would remain in Israel forever. He planted a tree at one of them — Maaleh Adumim, home to about 30,000 Israelis about two miles (three kilometers) from Jerusalem — a symbolic act of ownership.Our message is clear: We are planting here, we will stay here, we will build here. This place will be an inseparable part of the state of Israel for eternity, Netanyahu proclaimed, just as envoy George Mitchell was trying to restart peace talks after a yearlong stalemate.In his claim, Netanyahu was referring to what Israel calls its main settlement blocs, most of them close to Israeli population centers. Israel has long said it would keep the blocs, where about 80 percent of its 300,000 settlers live, and trade Israeli land to the Palestinians in exchange for the blocs.In failed negotiations with former, relatively moderate Israeli premiers like Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, Palestinians have indicated they might accept such a trade.
But Netanyahu is suspect in Palestinian eyes, since he has traditionally opposed ceding control of any of the West Bank and has backed settlement expansion. Only under heavy U.S. pressure did he express grudging acceptance of the idea of a Palestinian state in a speech last June.Netanyahu responded to Palestinian demands for a total construction freeze in the settlements by limiting new building in the West Bank but not in east Jerusalem, claimed by the Palestinians as their capital.
Palestinians rejected the partial freeze as insufficient to get them back to the negotiating table.Israel countered that by demanding a total freeze in construction in the settlements and east Jerusalem's large Jewish neighborhoods — also considered settlements by the Palestinians — they have climbed out on a limb and are trapped by their own conditions.On Sunday, claiming Maaleh Adumim and the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem, Netanyahu once again provided fuel for Palestinian outrage.This is an unacceptable act that destroys all the efforts being exerted by Senator Mitchell in order to bring the parties back to the negotiating table, said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.This came as Mitchell was conducting his latest round of talks in the region to try to get peace talks back on track.In Amman, Jordan, Mitchell appeared unmoved by Netanyahu's declaration on Maaleh Adumim, restating the U.S. goal of a Palestinian state living next to Israel in peace.We intend to continue to pursue our efforts until that objective is achieved,he said after meeting Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II.On the eve of Mitchell's arrival last week, Netanyahu said Israel would demand a presence on the Jordanian border of the West Bank to stop weapons and rocket smuggling even if a peace deal is reached, in order to protect Israel's heartland from militant attacks like those from Gaza.Palestinians rejected that as well. They want a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem and say they will not accept any Israeli presence there — soldiers or settlers.After his meeting with Mitchell, Netanyahu told his Cabinet he had heard a few interesting ideas on renewing peace talks. No details were forthcoming.Even Mitchell's boss, Obama, has been sounding pessimistic about the prospects.Last year, Obama took office with the ambitious aim of putting Mideast peacemaking on a fast track. Instead, the peace mission has stalled over Israel's settlements on occupied lands and the refusal by the Palestinians to return to peace talks.
Obama acknowledged in an interview published last week that he underestimated the domestic political forces at play in the region and overreached in expecting a quick breakthrough. Also Sunday, a Belgian official protested after Israel prevented him from visiting Gaza. Development Minister Charles Michel said European officials must be able to visit the territory because they have aid projects there. This situation is unacceptable,he told RTL TV. Israel routinely bans foreign officials from crossing into Gaza, maintaining that such visits bolster the Islamic Hamas rulers of Gaza. Officials can enter Gaza from Egypt. Associated Press Writer Jamal Halaby contributed to this report from Amman, Jordan.
US envoy in peace shuttle between Israelis, Palestinians by Ahmad Khatib – Sun Jan 24, 12:46 pm ET
AMMAN (AFP) – US Middle East envoy George Mitchell on Sunday shuttled between Jerusalem and Amman in his second attempt this week to persuade Israeli and Palestinian leaders to relaunch peace talks.Mitchell met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem before heading to Amman to see Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as part of a tour aimed at reviving talks suspended during the Gaza war more than a year ago.President (Barack) Obama, Secretary of State (Hillary) Clinton and the United States are fully committed to comprehensive peace in the Middle East... Mitchell said after meeting Abbas in joint remarks to reporters with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat.The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which includes the creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state... we believe it's the only realistic solution to the conflict.He said that such a solution also includes agreements between Israel and Syria, Israel and Lebanon and full normalisation of relations among all countries in the region.
Mitchell said Washington would pursue our efforts until that objective is achieved.
Erakat said the Palestinians have not set preconditions for a resumption of talks.We don't have any conditions to resume negotiations. It's time for Israel to drop its conditions,he said.If Israel thinks that by finger-pointing at us and blaming us (the conflict) can be solved, it won't be solved.What really obstructs the efforts by Senator Mitchell and President Obama is Israel and its settlements, incursions and assassinations. When we say Israel should stop building settlements, it's not a Palestinian condition. It's an Israeli commitment that should be respected, Erakat said.We want a credible peace and we will continue to do our best and cooperate with the United States, but Israel should respect its commitments.Earlier in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said after meeting Mitchell that the envoy had presented new ideas about how to relaunch the peace process, without elaborating.I expressed my hope that these new ideas will lead to the renewal of the peace process if the Palestinians themselves show similar interest,he added.The United States has been trying for months to convince both sides to return to the negotiating table, but the Palestinians have refused to do so unless Israel halts all settlement growth in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories it occupied in 1967.Washington initially backed that demand but has more recently pressed both sides to return to the talks immediately and praised a limited 10-month settlement slowdown enacted by Netanyahu in November.The Palestinians have rejected the moratorium on building starts because it excludes mostly Arab east Jerusalem -- which they demand as their capital -- as well as public buildings and projects already under way.After meeting Mitchell, Netanyahu attended a symbolic tree planting ceremony at Gush Etzion, a major West Bank settlement bloc that Israel plans to keep in any future peace deal.Our message is clear. We are planting trees here, we will remain here, we will build here. This place will remain part of Israel for ever. There is a national consensus on this issue," his office quoted him as saying.
Israel has insisted it will not give any more ground and has blamed the Palestinians for the impasse. Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said on Sunday it was time to say clearly and unequivocally that there will be no further concessions from Israel for the launching of negotiations.The method of the Palestinians is to refuse to resume negotiations to force the United States to exert pressure on Israel, he told public radio. The ball is in the Palestinian court.Mitchell held a first round of talks with Netanyahu on Thursday and met Abbas on Friday. Last week he also visited Lebanon and Syria. Later on Sunday he flew to Cairo for a two-day visit during which he would meet officials, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported without elaborating.
Egypt's Mubarak defends Gaza border barrier
Sun Jan 24, 12:15 pm ET
CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday defended the construction of an underground barrier on the border with the Gaza Strip as a matter of national security and sovereignty.The works and reinforcements on our eastern border are a matter of Egyptian sovereignty. We do not accept a debate on the issue with anyone, Mubarak said in a speech to mark Police Day.It is the right of the Egyptian state, and even its duty, its responsibility. It is the right of every state to control and protect its borders,he added.Khaled Meshaal, exiled leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement which has controlled Gaza since June 2007, recently called on Egypt to halt construction of the barrier.What we do not accept, and will not accept, is that we take our borders lightly, or that our territory is violated or that our soliders or installations are targetted, Mubarak said.We continue with the construction and reinforcements on our border, not to please anyone, but to protect our national security from violations and from terrorist acts such as those in Taba, Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab and Cairo,he added.A series of bombings from 2004 to 2006 killed a total of 130 people in Red Sea resorts on the Sinai peninsula and a 2009 bomb attack at a Cairo bazaar killed a French teenager.Egyptian authorities started building the underground steel barrier in a bid they say to stop the smuggling of goods and weapons into the Gaza Strip via a network of underground tunnels, but officials have remained tightlipped about the details of the construction work.Egypt has also been more vocal in its pressure on Hamas, which it accuses of refusing a reconciliation agreement with the Palestinian Authority.Israel has sealed the Gaza Strip off to all but very limited supplies of basic goods ever since the Islamist group seized control in 2007, ousting forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.On January 6, an Egyptian policeman was killed and five people wounded during clashes on the Egypt-Gaza border after Palestinian demonstrations to protest at the construction of the barrier.
Israel to rebut Gaza war report By Dan Williams – Sun Jan 24, 9:07 am ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has prepared a rebuttal to a U.N. report censuring its conduct in the Gaza war, Israeli officials said on Sunday, arguing the United Nations' findings were so unfair as to have fueled a global wave of anti-Semitism.
Issued in September by a panel under South African jurist Richard Goldstone, the non-binding report cited evidence Israel had unlawfully targeted Palestinian civilians and gave it six months to investigate -- or risk prosecution in foreign courts.
Israel had boycotted the panel and brushed off its findings, calling them biased in favor of Gaza's Hamas rulers.But Israeli officials have voiced worry that the suspicions raised, if unaddressed, could hobble future military operations.Cabinet minister Yuli Edelstein said Israel would make do with internal army probes of last year's war that resulted in a handful of courts-martial over minor offences, but would deliver a formal response to the Goldstone report on Thursday.It is certainly already clear that, for many of the incidents and crimes described in the report, no proof was found, Edelstein told Israel Radio.Noting that Wednesday is U.N.-designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Edelstein said he would meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon in New York and suggest that the report had triggered recent attacks on Jews worldwide.When you light a match in the name of freedom of expression and human rights and even the fight against war crimes, when the double-standard is so salient ... sometimes it is translated in a manner far more extreme than the U.N. may have intended,Edelstein said.
FROM HOLOCAUST TO HAMAS
Israel said it attacked Gaza to stem years of Palestinian rocket salvoes and in the absence of peace prospects with Hamas, an Islamist group that refuses to recognize the Jewish state and spurns Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for his diplomacy.
Israeli shelling in Gaza's cramped precincts killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians. They were the focus of the Goldstone report, though it also rebuked Hamas for its rockets -- which killed 10 Israeli civilians in the war. Three troops also died.An Israeli diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the response to the Goldstone report aimed to disprove allegations that Israel wreaked deliberate damage on Gaza's impoverished and aid-dependant civilian infrastructure.Israel will pass this document on to the relevant U.N. officials, but still insists that it remains outside of the Goldstone process,the diplomat said.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Poland, site of Nazi death camps. He similarly linked the Gaza war's fallout to anti-Semitism.The fight against anti-Semitism is more crucial than ever, as there is a significant increase in the manifestations of anti-Semitism since Operation Cast Lead, he told his cabinet, using Israel's codename for the Gaza offensive.This anti-Semitism comes with a new tack, which is the bid to deprive the Jewish state of the right to self-defense.Goldstone is himself Jewish and has publicly identified as a Zionist. Israeli officials say they regard his ethnicity as irrelevant to the substance of the report.
US envoy meets Israeli defence minister in push for peace
Sat Jan 23, 4:41 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – US envoy George Mitchell met Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Saturday as he pursued his efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.A brief statement from the defence ministry said discussions between Mitchell and Barak had centred on the means of relaunching the peace process.The meeting came a day after Mitchell held talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and the day before with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid pessimism of any breakthrough.Israelis and Palestinians have been blaming each other for the stalemate with Mitchell able to convince them to return to the negotiating table.On Friday chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said Israel was responsible for the lack of progress and also acknowledged there were differences between the Palestinians and US administration.The American side wants to resume negotiations now without a complete halt to settlements, Erakat said.We want to resume negotiations on the basis of defining the borders of the Palestinian state on all Palestinian lands occupied since 1967 including east Jerusalem, and a complete halt to all settlement activities, he said.A statement from Netanyahu's office blamed the Palestinians for blocking the resumption of peace talks, suspended since Israel's devastating 22-day war on the Gaza Strip last winter.Israel is not making any conditions for the resumption of negotiations. The Palestinians are undermining this resumption by making conditions which they had never made before,it said.Officials in Netanyahu's office said the prime minister could meet again with Mitchell on Sunday.
US President Barack Obama has admitted his drive for a deal may have been overambitious and told the latest edition of Time Magazine: This is as intractable a problem as you get.Obama said if his administration had anticipated the political problems, we might not have raised expectations as high.Washington had pressed hard for Israel to freeze settlement construction, which Abbas has demanded ahead of any resumption of talks.Mitchell has also visited Lebanon and Syria during his latest mission to the region which started Tuesday.
Israel's Netanyahu seeks to calm nerves on Lebanon
Sat Jan 23, 2:56 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday sought to calm regional nerves over fears of an imminent conflict with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas by saying Israel sought peace with its neighbors.In an unusual move, Netanyahu's office issued a statement quoting him saying that the Jewish state was not planning any imminent attack on Lebanon, from where Hezbollah launched some 4,000 rockets at it during a 2006 war.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarifies that Israel is not seeking any conflict with Lebanon ... Israel seeks peace with its neighbors, the statement read.An official at Netanyahu's office said the prime minister's statement came in response to fears expressed recently in Lebanon that Israel might launch an attack on Hezbollah.Earlier on Saturday, Israeli minister Yossi Peled, a former army general with past experience of the conflict on the northern border, said that another confrontation with Hezbollah was almost inevitable but he could not say when it might happen.In my estimation, understanding and knowledge it is almost clear to me that it is a matter of time before there is a military clash in the north,Peled said.(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Jon Boyle)
Sour words on Mideast peace as Obama admits setbacks By Douglas Hamilton – Thu Jan 21, 3:34 pm ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Israel and the Palestinians belittled each other's commitment to peace as U.S. President Barack Obama admitted on Thursday he had underrated the difficulty of reviving deadlocked Middle East negotiations.As his envoy George Mitchell began a fresh attempt to get the two sides talking to each other, Obama told Time Magazine: This is just really hard ... and if we had anticipated some of these political problems on both sides earlier, we might not have raised expectations as high.Obama said his administration had underestimated the internal political constraints preventing bold peace moves by either camp and 2009 had ended without the kind of breakthrough he set out to achieve at the start of his term.Moving forward, though, we are going to continue to work with both parties to recognize what I think is ultimately their deep-seated interest in a two-state solution in which Israel is secure and Palestinians have sovereignty and can start focusing on developing their economy and improving the lives of their children and grandchildren,the president said.In an inauspicious start to his first diplomatic shuttle of 2010 after a dozen fruitless visit last year, Mitchell flew into a war of words with each side accusing the other of cynicism.The U.S. envoy said before talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres that he recognized the complexities and difficulties of pursuing Middle East peace, but made no comment on the sour rhetoric that greeted him.
CONFIDENTIAL
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had on Wednesday imposed further conditions on negotiations and announced Israel's intention to continue its occupation of the West Bank whatever happens.
Benjamin Netanyahu has said No to a settlement freeze, No to sharing Jerusalem, No to the 1967 borders, No to the rights of Palestinian refugees. Now he wants to retain the Jordan Valley, Erekat said in a statement.He was referring to a comment by Netanyahu that Israel would retain military control around any future Palestinian state that included the West Bank.We had hoped to hear a clear commitment to negotiations without preconditions. What we got instead was Mr. Netanyahu again trying to dictate their terms and preempt their outcome, Erakat said.Addressing the foreign press late on Wednesday, Netanyahu attacked the Palestinian leadership for rejecting U.S. calls to relaunch negotiations suspended for over a year.The Palestinians have climbed up a tree, he said.And they like it up there. People bring ladders to them. We bring ladders to them. The higher the ladder, the higher they climb.
Mitchell, as usual, said little and there was no immediate clue as to whether the public rhetoric might mask a more positive atmosphere in closed-door talks, first with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and then on Friday with Palestinians in Ramallah.
Critics said Israel had placed another obstacle in Mitchell's path by agreeing to upgrade to university status a college built in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
The decision by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, formalizing a 2005 cabinet ruling, coincided with the envoy's visit. Erekat said it was part of the same policy of dictation rather than negotiation.Every time Senator Mitchell comes to the region, they greet him with such policies, Erekat added.Israel plans to keep the Ariel settlement under any peace deal to create a Palestinian state. Palestinians acknowledge some settlements could be annexed in return for land elsewhere.
WEAKER PARTNER
Diplomats say Mitchell seems to be seeking a face-saving way for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to drop his insistence that Netanyahu must stop all settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem before negotiations can be resumed. Netanyahu's right-wing coalition got off to a rough start 10 months ago with the Obama administration, rebuffing Washington's call for a total halt to Jewish settlement building. When Mitchell first visited, the Israeli leader was refusing even to talk about establishing a Palestinian state. But last June he embraced the two-state solution and in November he ordered a partial 10-month halt to settlement building. Western diplomats say Washington now seems increasingly frustrated with Abbas. One, speaking privately, said Abbas as the weaker partner was now the focus of U.S. efforts. There was an implicit threat of cuts in U.S. aid to the West Bank if Abbas held out against resuming talks, he said. Abbas hinted last week at a possible way out of the impasse, if Washington framed the talks in such a way as to set an endgame, with the goal of a Palestinian state within a couple of years, or to define the parameters of the deal. But Israel says that would prejudge the negotiations. (Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Allyn Fisher-Ilan. Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Paul Taylor)
Thursday, January 21, 2010
SPAIN (EU) PUSH PEACE TALKS
EU to push for new Mideast peace talks: Spain
Thu Jan 21, 12:53 pm ET
MADRID (AFP) – The Spanish EU presidency pledged Thursday to make every effort to ensure that Middle East peace negotiations resume as soon as possible.Our aim as the rotating EU presidency in these important times ... is to make efforts so that the negotiations and a return to the table can come about as soon as possible, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.It's important that the parties meet but it is up to the two sides to decide when and how,he told a joint news conference with visiting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad ahead of talks between the two.Spain has always had a important role to play in the Middle East as far as the process is concerned, and it is important for Spain to continue to play a role,said Fayad.It should not be forgotten that this is where the peace process began. Madrid is and must continue to be an integral part of the terms of reference of the peace process, if that peace process is capable of delivering what needs to be delivered.
Middle East peace efforts are currently at a standstill.The talks, which resumed in 2007 after a seven-year hiatus, came to a halt again when Israel launched a military offensive against the Gaza Strip in late 2008.The Palestinians insist they will not return to the negotiating table unless there is a complete freeze on Jewish construction in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.The EU is the world's biggest aid donor to the Palestinians but holds limited influence over the Israeli government.Moratinos, a former EU envoy to the Middle East, said Spain would provide 75-80 million euros (105-112 million dollars) in aid to the Palestinians in 2010, a similar amount to that granted by Madrid last year.He said said he saw in Fayad a desire to use the diplomatic way as the unique instrument for the Palestinians ... to properly defend their aspirations and their rights, and of course Spain as the rotating president of the European Union will do all it can to push forward and accelerate this negotiation process.Fayad is also scheduled to hold talks Thursday with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Palestinians reject Israeli presence in future state
Thu Jan 21, 7:52 am ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) – The Palestinians on Thursday rejected the idea of an Israeli presence on the eastern border of their future state, which was mooted by Israel's hawkish prime minister.The Palestinian leadership will not accept the presence of a single Israeli soldier in the Palestinian territories after the end of the occupation," Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for president Mahmud Abbas, told AFP.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said Israel would patrol the eastern border of any future state to prevent the smuggling of weapons, especially rockets like those fired from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.The ability to proliferate into contiguous areas thousands of rockets and missiles... is something that creates a monumental security problem, he told foreign reporters in Jerusalem.But the Palestinians said they would insist on the full sovereignty of any future state.We will not accept anything less than a completely sovereign Palestinian state on all the territories with its own borders, resources and airspace, Abu Rudeina said.We will not accept any Israeli presence, either military or civilian, on our land, and we will not accept that our state be under Israeli protection.Abu Rudeina added that Netanyahu's insistence on an Israeli border guard would place more obstacles in the way of restarting peace talks.
The dispute erupted as US Middle East envoy George Mitchell made his latest in a series of visits to the region aimed at convincing both sides to relaunch negotiations suspended during last year's Gaza war.The Palestinians have said they will not return to the negotiating table without a complete halt of settlement growth and have rejected a limited 10-month moratorium imposed by Netanyahu in November as insufficient.
Israel to remain on eastern border of Palestinian state: PM
Wed Jan 20, 3:51 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel will maintain a security presence along the eastern border of a future Palestinian state in order to prevent weapons smuggling, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.The ability to proliferate into contiguous areas thousands of rockets and missiles... is something that creates a monumental security problem, he said at a news conference with foreign reporters in Jerusalem.
We must ensure that in that entry there is a way to stop the infiltration of weapons.
In the case of the future settlement with the Palestinians, this will require an Israeli presence on the eastern side of the prospective Palestinian state, he said, refusing to elaborate on the nature of such a presence.This was Netanyahu's first public comment since coming to power last year on the issue of borders of a future Palestinian state, and comes amid intensive US efforts to restart the peace negotiations which were suspended a year ago.Netanyahu's comment is bound to anger the Palestinians who have repeatedly demanded an independent state along the borders of 1967 before Israel occupied the West Bank.
Israel has in recent years struggled to deal with the issue of thousands of rockets fired from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and from southern Lebanon.And despite two massive military offensives, both Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia continue to hold thousands of projectiles, most of which have been smuggled into the territories in recent years.Based on recent experience, we can't afford to have that replicate a third time... we have to have something to interdict the flow of weapons, Netanyahu said.And as US Middle East envoy George Mitchell again visited the region, Netanyahu urged the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table, accusing them of setting preconditions.The Palestinians have climbed up a tree. People bring ladders, we bring them ladders, and the higher the ladder the higher they climb, he said.The Palestinians have refused to renew negotiations short of a full Israeli halt of settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and despite an Israeli decision to implement a partial construction freeze in the West Bank.The Palestinians are piling demand upon demand. They should be told fair and square get into the tent and start negotiating for peace, Netanyahu said.
Israel to push ahead with settlement university
Wed Jan 20, 2:54 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Defence Minister Ehud Barak decided Wednesday to push ahead with plans to transform a college in the West Bank settlement of Ariel into a university, Israeli officials said.The decision sparked outrage among many who viewed it as provocative at a time when Israel is pushing to enter talks with the Palestinians over the fate of the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.A decision to transform the college into a university was taken five years ago but frozen. On Wednesday, Barak decided to grant the institution an intermediate status of a university centre, a senior defence ministry official told AFP.Full recognition as a university -- planned for an unscheduled date -- would entitle it to significant additional funding and the ability to grant advanced degrees.Opponents said the move would also hurt the international standing of Israel, which has faced several academic boycotts over the continued occupation of the West Bank.It is a decision that will harm all the universities in Israel.It's not right that in a place where you have occupation and military rule, they want to establish an institution of higher education that teaches knowledge and values, said Yariv Oppenheimer of the anti-settlement Peace Now group.The announcement came several hours ahead of the expected arrival of US Middle East envoy George Mitchell in Israel.The United States has for months been pressing Israel and the Palestinians to relaunch peace negotiations suspended during the Gaza war in December 2008-January 2009.The Palestinians have been refusing to talk until Israel completely freezes construction in the West Bank settlements and annexed east Jerusalem.
After months of US pressure, Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November ordered a partial 10-month moratorium on new construction in the West Bank, but excluded public buildings and projects already under way.The university decision was seen by some as an attempt to mollify Jewish settlers angry over the construction slowdown.The government today injected some encouragement to the settlers of Judaea and Samaria and to higher education in Israel, lawmaker Alex Miller of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party told the Ynet news website.
U.S. seeks progress on Syria-Israel deal: George Mitchell By Khaled Yacoub Oweis – Wed Jan 20, 2:49 pm ET
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – A U.S. official discussed reviving peace talks between Israel and Syria on Wednesday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who said Israel had to declare frankly it wants peace.George Mitchell, President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, said the U.S. sought what he described as comprehensive Middle East peace that included a deal between Syria and Israel and the normalization of relations between the two foes.Syria, certainly, has an important role to play in all of these efforts... and that was the topic of our discussion today, Mitchell said in a brief statement.He said he looked forward to making tangible progress on our efforts toward peace and on the bilateral relations between the United States and Syria.
Ties between Syria and the United States improved after President Barack Obama took office and Mitchell met Assad twice last year. Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal al-Mekdad, a leading figure in Syrian foreign policy, also visited Washington.
Differences, however, persisted.
Damascus has not hidden its frustration with the pace of ties with Washington. Syrian officials have said Obama should lift sanctions first imposed in 2004 for its support of militant groups and exert pressure on Israel to renew the peace talks.The indirect talks, which were mediated by Turkey, broke down during the Israeli offensive on Gaza a year ago without defining the boundary of the Golan Heights, the Syrian plateau that Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East War.The official Syrian news agency said Assad told Mitchell that Turkey had an important role to play in reviving the talks and Israel had to declare frankly that it wants peace.Syria improved its ties with Turkey as tension mounted between Ankara and Israel during the past few months, which made Israeli officials wary of Turkey resuming a mediation role.Syria wants an Israeli commitment to withdraw from the whole of the Golan based on a U.N. resolution stating the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force. Israel said it was willing to resume the talks without preconditions.Israel and its chief ally, the United States, want Syria to cool its ties with Iran as well as stop supporting the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, and help sideline them as armed players.A Syrian source said Assad would continue to show flexibility with Washington but only up to a point.The late Hafez al-Assad used to say that the Americans want us to commit suicide. Bashar has limits to what he can give the United States, the source said.
Bashar succeeded his father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, in 2000, months after the elder Assad, who ruled Syria for three decades, rejected a U.S.-supervised deal that did not restore what he considered as a the whole of the Golan.(Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
In Saudi, Erdogan voices support for Palestinians
Tue Jan 19, 3:27 pm ET
RIYADH (AFP) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed support for the Palestinians and called on Saudi businessmen to invest in his country during a trip to the Middle Eastern oil giant.There is nothing more natural than for Turkey to show concern for the Palestinians and Gaza, not because we are Muslim but because we are humans, he told a meeting of businessmen in the Saudi capital.Would we not send aid to Haiti because they are Christian? he added on the first full day of his visit to the kingdom, according to the Turkish Anatolia news agency.Meanwhile Erdogan urged a meeting of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce to take advantage of the investment environment provided by the Turkish government for foreign investment in all fields, in particular agriculture.The official SPA news agency said he pledged to boost bilateral trade, which reached nearly five billion dollars in 2008 but reportedly slowed last year.The Turkish leader is on an official three-day visit with plans for talks with Saudi King Abdullah on bilateral and regional issues, including the Middle East peace process.He also is due to travel to Jeddah on Wednesday to meet the Turkish head of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
Erdogan was recently honored by the Saudis with the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam.He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, State Minister Zafer Caglayan, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, Energy, Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz and other officials and businessmen.
Mideast bishops convened amid exodus, violence By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jan 19, 10:31 am ET
VATICAN CITY – A Vatican document released Tuesday blamed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the occupying of lands for fomenting most of the conflicts in the Middle East, driving Christians out and making life difficult for those who remain.
The document is a guide for discussions for an Oct. 10-24 meeting of Mideast bishops convened by Pope Benedict XVI to discuss the plight of the Christian minority in the overwhelmingly Muslim region. The exodus of Christians from the region and religious discrimination faced by those who remain are main issues on the table.Synod organizer Monsignor Nikola Eterovic said about 150 bishops, most of them from Eastern rite churches, are expected to attend the meeting, which follows a 2009 Vatican meeting of bishops on Africa.The meeting document made clear that bishops in the Middle East believe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be the root cause of several conflicts in the region. But it also singled out the growth of political Islam in countries like Egypt, and said the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict had been exploited by radical terrorism in recent years.In Iraq, the war has unleashed evil forces within the country, religious confessions and political movements, making all Iraqis victims, it said. However, because Christians represent the smallest and weakest part of Iraqi communities, they are among the principal victims, with world politics taking no notice.It criticized the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, saying it had made life difficult both for daily life and religious life since access to holy places are restricted.
Citing both the Israeli-Palestinian and Iraqi conflicts, it said:The solution to conflicts rests in the hands of the stronger country in its occupying and inflicting wars on another country.Violence is in the hands of the strong and weak alike, the latter resorting to whatever violence is within reach in order to be free, it said.
Asked at a news conference if the document was referring specifically to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and construction in east Jerusalem, Eterovic said the Vatican wasn't making policy decisions or recommendations in the document.But he noted that the paper was drafted by the bishops of the region, who know the situation well and that regardless the Vatican adheres to U.N. Security Council resolutions on the matter. The Security Council has endorsed the Mideast Road Map which calls for an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel and a freeze on all Israeli settlement activity.Israel said in November that construction in West Bank settlements would slow down for 10 months, but that building in east Jerusalem would proceed without restrictions.Eterovic said there are currently about 17 million Christians from Iran to Egypt, and that while many Christians have fled, new Catholic immigrants — mostly from the Philippines, India and Pakistan — have arrived in recent years in Arab countries to work as domestic or manual laborers, bolstering the church's numbers in areas where there had previously been little or no Christian presence.
Orthodox Christians brave rain to mark Jesus's baptism
Mon Jan 18, 2:15 pm ET
JERICHO, West Bank (AFP) – Thousands of Orthodox Christians braved rain on the banks of the Jordan river on Monday to plunge into plastic tubs filled with its murky water to celebrate Jesus's baptism.Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III led a ceremony attended by the faithful from several eastern denominations on the river marking the heavily guarded West Bank-Jordan border.Theophilos tossed a cross adorned with flowers into the river and released doves at the site where Jesus is believed to have been baptised.Many followers then immersed themselves in the tubs or poured buckets of water over their heads as Israeli security forces prevented them from approaching the river itself.This is a very important day for us as Christians, and I came with my son to baptise him at this holy place where Christ was baptised, said Medina, 28, who came with a delegation of Eritreans and Ethiopians working inside Israel.The event marks the Feast of the Epiphany, when Jesus began his public ministry by receiving baptism from John the Baptist.The monastery and the riverside site where the baptism is thought to have taken place are located in what has been a closed Israeli military zone since the September 2000 outbreak of the latest Palestinian uprising.Western Christians celebrate Epiphany on January 6, 12 days after their Christmas. The Orthodox, who continue to use the old Julian calendar, mark the date on January 18.
Thu Jan 21, 12:53 pm ET
MADRID (AFP) – The Spanish EU presidency pledged Thursday to make every effort to ensure that Middle East peace negotiations resume as soon as possible.Our aim as the rotating EU presidency in these important times ... is to make efforts so that the negotiations and a return to the table can come about as soon as possible, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.It's important that the parties meet but it is up to the two sides to decide when and how,he told a joint news conference with visiting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad ahead of talks between the two.Spain has always had a important role to play in the Middle East as far as the process is concerned, and it is important for Spain to continue to play a role,said Fayad.It should not be forgotten that this is where the peace process began. Madrid is and must continue to be an integral part of the terms of reference of the peace process, if that peace process is capable of delivering what needs to be delivered.
Middle East peace efforts are currently at a standstill.The talks, which resumed in 2007 after a seven-year hiatus, came to a halt again when Israel launched a military offensive against the Gaza Strip in late 2008.The Palestinians insist they will not return to the negotiating table unless there is a complete freeze on Jewish construction in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.The EU is the world's biggest aid donor to the Palestinians but holds limited influence over the Israeli government.Moratinos, a former EU envoy to the Middle East, said Spain would provide 75-80 million euros (105-112 million dollars) in aid to the Palestinians in 2010, a similar amount to that granted by Madrid last year.He said said he saw in Fayad a desire to use the diplomatic way as the unique instrument for the Palestinians ... to properly defend their aspirations and their rights, and of course Spain as the rotating president of the European Union will do all it can to push forward and accelerate this negotiation process.Fayad is also scheduled to hold talks Thursday with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Palestinians reject Israeli presence in future state
Thu Jan 21, 7:52 am ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) – The Palestinians on Thursday rejected the idea of an Israeli presence on the eastern border of their future state, which was mooted by Israel's hawkish prime minister.The Palestinian leadership will not accept the presence of a single Israeli soldier in the Palestinian territories after the end of the occupation," Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for president Mahmud Abbas, told AFP.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said Israel would patrol the eastern border of any future state to prevent the smuggling of weapons, especially rockets like those fired from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.The ability to proliferate into contiguous areas thousands of rockets and missiles... is something that creates a monumental security problem, he told foreign reporters in Jerusalem.But the Palestinians said they would insist on the full sovereignty of any future state.We will not accept anything less than a completely sovereign Palestinian state on all the territories with its own borders, resources and airspace, Abu Rudeina said.We will not accept any Israeli presence, either military or civilian, on our land, and we will not accept that our state be under Israeli protection.Abu Rudeina added that Netanyahu's insistence on an Israeli border guard would place more obstacles in the way of restarting peace talks.
The dispute erupted as US Middle East envoy George Mitchell made his latest in a series of visits to the region aimed at convincing both sides to relaunch negotiations suspended during last year's Gaza war.The Palestinians have said they will not return to the negotiating table without a complete halt of settlement growth and have rejected a limited 10-month moratorium imposed by Netanyahu in November as insufficient.
Israel to remain on eastern border of Palestinian state: PM
Wed Jan 20, 3:51 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel will maintain a security presence along the eastern border of a future Palestinian state in order to prevent weapons smuggling, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.The ability to proliferate into contiguous areas thousands of rockets and missiles... is something that creates a monumental security problem, he said at a news conference with foreign reporters in Jerusalem.
We must ensure that in that entry there is a way to stop the infiltration of weapons.
In the case of the future settlement with the Palestinians, this will require an Israeli presence on the eastern side of the prospective Palestinian state, he said, refusing to elaborate on the nature of such a presence.This was Netanyahu's first public comment since coming to power last year on the issue of borders of a future Palestinian state, and comes amid intensive US efforts to restart the peace negotiations which were suspended a year ago.Netanyahu's comment is bound to anger the Palestinians who have repeatedly demanded an independent state along the borders of 1967 before Israel occupied the West Bank.
Israel has in recent years struggled to deal with the issue of thousands of rockets fired from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and from southern Lebanon.And despite two massive military offensives, both Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia continue to hold thousands of projectiles, most of which have been smuggled into the territories in recent years.Based on recent experience, we can't afford to have that replicate a third time... we have to have something to interdict the flow of weapons, Netanyahu said.And as US Middle East envoy George Mitchell again visited the region, Netanyahu urged the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table, accusing them of setting preconditions.The Palestinians have climbed up a tree. People bring ladders, we bring them ladders, and the higher the ladder the higher they climb, he said.The Palestinians have refused to renew negotiations short of a full Israeli halt of settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and despite an Israeli decision to implement a partial construction freeze in the West Bank.The Palestinians are piling demand upon demand. They should be told fair and square get into the tent and start negotiating for peace, Netanyahu said.
Israel to push ahead with settlement university
Wed Jan 20, 2:54 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Defence Minister Ehud Barak decided Wednesday to push ahead with plans to transform a college in the West Bank settlement of Ariel into a university, Israeli officials said.The decision sparked outrage among many who viewed it as provocative at a time when Israel is pushing to enter talks with the Palestinians over the fate of the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.A decision to transform the college into a university was taken five years ago but frozen. On Wednesday, Barak decided to grant the institution an intermediate status of a university centre, a senior defence ministry official told AFP.Full recognition as a university -- planned for an unscheduled date -- would entitle it to significant additional funding and the ability to grant advanced degrees.Opponents said the move would also hurt the international standing of Israel, which has faced several academic boycotts over the continued occupation of the West Bank.It is a decision that will harm all the universities in Israel.It's not right that in a place where you have occupation and military rule, they want to establish an institution of higher education that teaches knowledge and values, said Yariv Oppenheimer of the anti-settlement Peace Now group.The announcement came several hours ahead of the expected arrival of US Middle East envoy George Mitchell in Israel.The United States has for months been pressing Israel and the Palestinians to relaunch peace negotiations suspended during the Gaza war in December 2008-January 2009.The Palestinians have been refusing to talk until Israel completely freezes construction in the West Bank settlements and annexed east Jerusalem.
After months of US pressure, Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November ordered a partial 10-month moratorium on new construction in the West Bank, but excluded public buildings and projects already under way.The university decision was seen by some as an attempt to mollify Jewish settlers angry over the construction slowdown.The government today injected some encouragement to the settlers of Judaea and Samaria and to higher education in Israel, lawmaker Alex Miller of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party told the Ynet news website.
U.S. seeks progress on Syria-Israel deal: George Mitchell By Khaled Yacoub Oweis – Wed Jan 20, 2:49 pm ET
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – A U.S. official discussed reviving peace talks between Israel and Syria on Wednesday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who said Israel had to declare frankly it wants peace.George Mitchell, President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, said the U.S. sought what he described as comprehensive Middle East peace that included a deal between Syria and Israel and the normalization of relations between the two foes.Syria, certainly, has an important role to play in all of these efforts... and that was the topic of our discussion today, Mitchell said in a brief statement.He said he looked forward to making tangible progress on our efforts toward peace and on the bilateral relations between the United States and Syria.
Ties between Syria and the United States improved after President Barack Obama took office and Mitchell met Assad twice last year. Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal al-Mekdad, a leading figure in Syrian foreign policy, also visited Washington.
Differences, however, persisted.
Damascus has not hidden its frustration with the pace of ties with Washington. Syrian officials have said Obama should lift sanctions first imposed in 2004 for its support of militant groups and exert pressure on Israel to renew the peace talks.The indirect talks, which were mediated by Turkey, broke down during the Israeli offensive on Gaza a year ago without defining the boundary of the Golan Heights, the Syrian plateau that Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East War.The official Syrian news agency said Assad told Mitchell that Turkey had an important role to play in reviving the talks and Israel had to declare frankly that it wants peace.Syria improved its ties with Turkey as tension mounted between Ankara and Israel during the past few months, which made Israeli officials wary of Turkey resuming a mediation role.Syria wants an Israeli commitment to withdraw from the whole of the Golan based on a U.N. resolution stating the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force. Israel said it was willing to resume the talks without preconditions.Israel and its chief ally, the United States, want Syria to cool its ties with Iran as well as stop supporting the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, and help sideline them as armed players.A Syrian source said Assad would continue to show flexibility with Washington but only up to a point.The late Hafez al-Assad used to say that the Americans want us to commit suicide. Bashar has limits to what he can give the United States, the source said.
Bashar succeeded his father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, in 2000, months after the elder Assad, who ruled Syria for three decades, rejected a U.S.-supervised deal that did not restore what he considered as a the whole of the Golan.(Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
In Saudi, Erdogan voices support for Palestinians
Tue Jan 19, 3:27 pm ET
RIYADH (AFP) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed support for the Palestinians and called on Saudi businessmen to invest in his country during a trip to the Middle Eastern oil giant.There is nothing more natural than for Turkey to show concern for the Palestinians and Gaza, not because we are Muslim but because we are humans, he told a meeting of businessmen in the Saudi capital.Would we not send aid to Haiti because they are Christian? he added on the first full day of his visit to the kingdom, according to the Turkish Anatolia news agency.Meanwhile Erdogan urged a meeting of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce to take advantage of the investment environment provided by the Turkish government for foreign investment in all fields, in particular agriculture.The official SPA news agency said he pledged to boost bilateral trade, which reached nearly five billion dollars in 2008 but reportedly slowed last year.The Turkish leader is on an official three-day visit with plans for talks with Saudi King Abdullah on bilateral and regional issues, including the Middle East peace process.He also is due to travel to Jeddah on Wednesday to meet the Turkish head of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
Erdogan was recently honored by the Saudis with the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam.He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, State Minister Zafer Caglayan, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, Energy, Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz and other officials and businessmen.
Mideast bishops convened amid exodus, violence By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jan 19, 10:31 am ET
VATICAN CITY – A Vatican document released Tuesday blamed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the occupying of lands for fomenting most of the conflicts in the Middle East, driving Christians out and making life difficult for those who remain.
The document is a guide for discussions for an Oct. 10-24 meeting of Mideast bishops convened by Pope Benedict XVI to discuss the plight of the Christian minority in the overwhelmingly Muslim region. The exodus of Christians from the region and religious discrimination faced by those who remain are main issues on the table.Synod organizer Monsignor Nikola Eterovic said about 150 bishops, most of them from Eastern rite churches, are expected to attend the meeting, which follows a 2009 Vatican meeting of bishops on Africa.The meeting document made clear that bishops in the Middle East believe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be the root cause of several conflicts in the region. But it also singled out the growth of political Islam in countries like Egypt, and said the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict had been exploited by radical terrorism in recent years.In Iraq, the war has unleashed evil forces within the country, religious confessions and political movements, making all Iraqis victims, it said. However, because Christians represent the smallest and weakest part of Iraqi communities, they are among the principal victims, with world politics taking no notice.It criticized the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, saying it had made life difficult both for daily life and religious life since access to holy places are restricted.
Citing both the Israeli-Palestinian and Iraqi conflicts, it said:The solution to conflicts rests in the hands of the stronger country in its occupying and inflicting wars on another country.Violence is in the hands of the strong and weak alike, the latter resorting to whatever violence is within reach in order to be free, it said.
Asked at a news conference if the document was referring specifically to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and construction in east Jerusalem, Eterovic said the Vatican wasn't making policy decisions or recommendations in the document.But he noted that the paper was drafted by the bishops of the region, who know the situation well and that regardless the Vatican adheres to U.N. Security Council resolutions on the matter. The Security Council has endorsed the Mideast Road Map which calls for an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel and a freeze on all Israeli settlement activity.Israel said in November that construction in West Bank settlements would slow down for 10 months, but that building in east Jerusalem would proceed without restrictions.Eterovic said there are currently about 17 million Christians from Iran to Egypt, and that while many Christians have fled, new Catholic immigrants — mostly from the Philippines, India and Pakistan — have arrived in recent years in Arab countries to work as domestic or manual laborers, bolstering the church's numbers in areas where there had previously been little or no Christian presence.
Orthodox Christians brave rain to mark Jesus's baptism
Mon Jan 18, 2:15 pm ET
JERICHO, West Bank (AFP) – Thousands of Orthodox Christians braved rain on the banks of the Jordan river on Monday to plunge into plastic tubs filled with its murky water to celebrate Jesus's baptism.Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III led a ceremony attended by the faithful from several eastern denominations on the river marking the heavily guarded West Bank-Jordan border.Theophilos tossed a cross adorned with flowers into the river and released doves at the site where Jesus is believed to have been baptised.Many followers then immersed themselves in the tubs or poured buckets of water over their heads as Israeli security forces prevented them from approaching the river itself.This is a very important day for us as Christians, and I came with my son to baptise him at this holy place where Christ was baptised, said Medina, 28, who came with a delegation of Eritreans and Ethiopians working inside Israel.The event marks the Feast of the Epiphany, when Jesus began his public ministry by receiving baptism from John the Baptist.The monastery and the riverside site where the baptism is thought to have taken place are located in what has been a closed Israeli military zone since the September 2000 outbreak of the latest Palestinian uprising.Western Christians celebrate Epiphany on January 6, 12 days after their Christmas. The Orthodox, who continue to use the old Julian calendar, mark the date on January 18.
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