US envoy in Mideast in latest bid to relaunch peace talks
by Patrick Moser APR 23,10 9:30 AM
JERUSALEM (AFP) – US envoy GeorgeMitchell met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday on his latest trip to the region aimed at convincing Middle East leaders to restart peace negotiations.Despite a recent cooling of relations with Washington, Netanyahu said he looked forward to working with US President Barack Obama and his envoy to advance peace.We're serious about it. We know you're serious about it. We hope the Palestinians respond,Netanyahu told Mitchell at the start of the meeting in Jerusalem.We have to move this process forward.In a brief statement after the talks, Netanyahu's office said the two had a good meeting that dealt with kickstarting the peace process -- which was broken off in late 2008 -- and that they will meet again on Sunday.
Mitchell also held talks with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
Later in the day, he planned to head to Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, for talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and other officials.Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina stressed that any concrete proposal for a restart of talks with Israel would have to be discussed with Arab leaders.Any decision to participate in any negotiations will be taken in consultation with the Arabs, he said.Abu Rudeina also strongly criticised Israel's rejection of international demands for a halt to settlement construction in annexed Arab east Jerusalem.The statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Israel?s intention to continue settlement activities in Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories show that his government is placing hurdles in the way of negotiations, whether direct or indirect, he said.A frequent visitor to the region, Mitchell had managed last month to convince the Palestinians to hold indirect talks, only to see the agreement collapse when Israel announced plans to build 1,600 new settler homes in east Jerusalem.The plan, announced just as US Vice President Joe Biden was in Jerusalem to promote the peace talks, infuriated Washington and sparked a bitter row between the two allies.But Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted he has no intention of caving in to Western pressure to halt settlement activity in east Jerusalem.There will be no freeze on construction in Jerusalem, Netanyahu reiterated on Thursday.Everyone knows it,he told Channel Two television.There is perfect agreement on the fact that there cannot be preconditions to negotiations, he added, in an apparent reference to Palestinian demands that settlement construction be halted before direct talks can resume.Israel captured the Arab part of the city in the 1967 Middle East War and then annexed it, claiming the whole of Jerusalem as its eternal and indivisible capital.
The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state.The issue of settlements, alongside that of Jerusalem's status, are among the thorniest in efforts to achieve a resolution of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The international community considers all Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, to be illegal. Peace talks, revived in late 2007 after a seven year hiatus, collapsed again after Israel launched a devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip in December 2008. The Palestinians have insisted they will not return to the negotiating table unless there is a total freeze on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem. In November, Netanyahu's government announced a partial, 10-month moratorium on construction of settlement construction in the West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem.
Lebanon lodges complaint with UN over Israeli memorial
Fri Apr 23, 5:54 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon has lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council over a memorial Israel inaugurated this week in the disputed Shebaa Farms border region, the foreign ministry said Friday.The ministry said the memorial was inaugurated on Wednesday but did not specify the nature of the edifice.This is a flagrant violation of international law and UN Security Council Resolution 1701,the ministry said.
Resolution 1701 helped bring an end to a devastating war between the militant group Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.The Shebaa Farms, a mountainous sliver of land rich in water resources measuring 25 square kilometres (10 square miles), is located at the junction of southeast Lebanon, southwest Syria and northern Israel.The area has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war and caught in a tug-of-war over ownership ever since.
Tracking smuggled Scud missiles not so simple: experts
by Dan De Luce – Thu Apr 22, 7:43 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – As Syria faces charges it may have supplied Hezbollah with Scud missiles, experts say spotting the weapons is no easy task -- which US and British forces learned in the first Gulf war.Smuggling missiles and mobile launchers into Lebanon without US or Israeli intelligence agencies noticing would be possible, but difficult,one US defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
All you have to do is separate the tail from the missile, which is something you can do easily. And then move it to some other vehicle,said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.Moble launchers could also be taken apart to avoid detection, analysts said.Israel has accused Syria of arming Hezbollah with the ballistic missiles, a charge Damascus vehemently denies. US officials meanwhile say they cannot confirm if the weapons have been delivered to the Lebanese Shiite militia.In the 1990-91 Gulf war, allied aircraft -- along with US and British special forces on the ground -- struggled to track and take out Saddam Hussein's mobile Scuds, which were hidden in gullies and culverts and quickly shifted out of sight after any launch.
We flew thousands of missions to try to destroy Saddam?s Scuds which he was firing at Israel and Saudi Arabia. After the war we discovered we had missed every single time,said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Sensors and other military technology have improved since then, and Lebanon offers a smaller area to monitor than Iraq.Moreover, Israel has very good intelligence there, Riedel said, so they would probably do better.Once inside Lebanon, the missiles and launchers could be reassembled and hidden until Hezbollah was ready to use them.The missiles are most vulnerable when they are preparing to launch. Still it would be difficult to destroy every launcher before they fired, he said.Scud-type missiles, originally designed and produced by the Soviets, are usually about 11 meters (yards) long and have a range of roughly 300 kilometers (186 miles), though some versions can strike beyond 500 kilometers.Adding Scuds to Hezbollah's arsenal of rockets would strengthen the militia's position even though Israel would retain its military edge, analysts said.It does not dramatically change the equation but it means Hezbollah can fire at any target in Israel, Cordesman said.
A much bigger concern for Israel would be if the Scuds came with chemical warheads, experts said, but no one has made that allegation so far.Whether or not Scuds have been delivered, the Obama administration is convinced that Syria is stepping up military support to Hezbollah, US officials said.There's a narrow question of Scuds but there is a much broader concern about advanced weaponry,a US official, who asked not to be named, told reporters.The cooperation between Syria and Hezbollah is escalating and we think that is potentially destabilizing and adds risks in a region that already has more risks than it knows what to do with.It remained unclear why the accusation against Syria was leveled by the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, and not by military or intelligence officials offering details or evidence, analysts said. It's unusual for someone like Peres to make such an announcement,Cordesman said. Some lawmakers in Congress have seized on the allegations to argue against US efforts to promote dialogue with Syria. President Barack Obama in February appointed Robert Ford as the first US ambassador to Damascus in five years, although the Senate has yet to confirm him. Opting to supply Hezbollah with more powerful weaponry would fit in with a recent pattern in which Syria appears to have adopted a triumphalist mindset,wrote Steven Heydemann at the US Institute of Peace.
US and European diplomacy has failed so far to persuade Syria to move away from Iran's orbit and forge stronger ties to the West, he wrote on the Foreign Policy website. Instead, Syria's leaders have pocketed their gains and raised the stakes, strengthening Hezbollah's arsenal and deepening its strategic ties with Iran," Heydemann wrote.
Spain urges Israel to support Mediterranean Union
Thu Apr 22, 4:13 pm ET
MADRID (AFP) – Spain called on Israel Thursday to support the nascent Mediterranean Union as well as efforts to reach peace in the Middle East during a visit to Madrid by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos asked Lieberman for Israel's full cooperation with the Mediterranean Union, which is of maximum interest to Spain and all of its Euro-Mediterranean partners,the foreign ministry said in a statement.Moratinos also reiterated Spain's full support for the efforts of the administration of US President President Barack Obama to reach peace in the Middle East, it added.The 43-nation Mediterranean Union, whose headquarters is in Barcelona, was established in 2008 in Paris by France and Egypt.It groups all 27 EU member states with countries in North Africa, the Balkans, the Arab world as well as Israel in a bid to foster cooperation in one of the world's most volatile regions.Earlier this month talks in Barcelona between Mediterranean Union members aimed at adopting a water management strategy for the region ended in failure due to a row between Israel and Arab countries over a reference to the Palestinian territories.The stalemate was seen as a strong blow against the body, which will hold its first summit in Barcelona in June.
Netanyahu: Iran provoking Israel-Syria conflict
Thu Apr 22, 1:57 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran is trying to provoke a war between Israel and Syria.Netanyahu says Iran is trying to convince Syria that an Israeli attack is imminent, which he says is a lie.Tensions have been high recently between Israel and Syria. The sides have traded threats, and last week Israel accused Syria of smuggling powerful rockets to the Lebanese guerillas of Hezbollah. Syria denied the charge.Speaking in an interview Thursday with Israel's Channel 2 TV, Netanyahu repeated the charge that Syria and Iran are arming Hezbollah.
The Israeli leader also called on the U.S. to impose sanctions to block Iran's nuclear program.
Jordan confirms blast near Israeli city
Thu Apr 22, 11:15 am ET
AMMAN (AFP) – A blast hit the outskirts of the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba on Thursday, a minister told AFP, adding the kingdom had no information of reported rocket fire on the nearby Israeli resort of Eilat.An explosion occurred on Thursday morning in a refrigeration warehouse in the northern part of the city of Aqaba, causing no casualties and minimal damage,Information Minister Nabil Sharif said.
An investigation is under way to determine the cause of the explosion, added the minister.Earlier, a senior Jordanian official said on condition of anonymity that the blast occurred in a plant on the outskirts of Aqaba at about 7:00 am (0400 GMT).
We know of no rockets in Eilat, he said.Other Jordanian officials told AFP that contacts had been made with Israeli authorities and that they made no mention of any rockets having fallen onto the Jewish state's territory.Israel's private Channel 10 television station reported that two Katyusha rockets fell near Eilat, one of them landing in the Red Sea off the port city and the other exploding outside Aqaba.The channel said it was also possible that the rockets were launched from Egypt's Sinai peninsula.
Neither the Israeli army nor the police would immediately confirm the incident.
The plant contains rubber products and lies on the northern outskirts of Aqaba, which belongs to a special economic zone established by the Jordanian city's authorities in 2001.Aqaba and Eilat are the neighbouring Red Sea ports of Jordan and Israel, which signed a peace agreement in October 1994 after decades of strained ties and conflict.The two ports are nestled in the Gulf of Aqaba, a narrow stretch of water bordered on one side by Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the other by Saudi Arabia.In August 2005, three Katyusha rockets were fired in Aqaba, missing two US warships docked in the port but one hit a warehouse killing a Jordanian soldier while another landed across the border in Israel.
Mideast peace would thwart Iran ambitions: Obama aide By Matt Spetalnick – Wed Apr 21, 10:30 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama's administration said on Wednesday that progress toward Middle East peace would help thwart Iran's ambitions by preventing it from cynically using the conflict to divert attention from its nuclear program.Drawing an explicit link between Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and Washington's drive to isolate Iran, Obama's national security adviser, Jim Jones, urged bold steps to revive long-stalled Middle East negotiations.U.S. officials hope that shared Arab-Israeli concerns about Iran can be exploited to spur old foes to help advance Israeli-Palestinian peace and restrain Tehran's nuclear activities and rising influence in the region.Jones coupled an appeal to Israel and its Arab neighbors to take risks for peace with a warning to Iran that it would face real consequences for its nuclear defiance. Obama is leading a push to tighten U.N. sanctions on Tehran.One of the ways that Iran exerts influence in the Middle East is by exploiting the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict,Jones told the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.Advancing this peace would ... help prevent Iran from cynically shifting attention away from its failures to meet its obligations, he said.The Israeli government, locked in a dispute with the United States over Jewish settlement policy, has made clear it sees confronting Iran as more of a security priority for Washington, and Middle East peace should be handled on a separate track.
Jones -- while voicing disappointment over the failure to jumpstart U.S.-sponsored indirect peace talks -- insisted progress toward peace is a U.S. interest as well.
That seemed to echo Obama's assertion last week that a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict was a vital national security interest,adding to speculation that he was considering his own broad peace proposal.
U.S.-ISRAELI BOND UNBREAKABLE
While acknowledging disagreements with Israel, Jones said the U.S. commitment to its ally was unbreakable.There is no space -- no space -- between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel's security,he said.Still, he urged all sides to avoid provocative actions, including Israeli actions in East Jerusalem and Palestinians' incitement that fuels suspicion rather than trust.Jones reasserted that Washington is determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons,saying U.S. efforts are aimed at avoiding a nuclear arms race in the region and the proliferation of nuclear technology to terrorist organizations.Israel is the only assumed nuclear weapons power in the Middle East. Western powers accuse Tehran of seeking to develop a bomb, but it insists its nuclear activities are peaceful.The Obama administration's Middle East peace moves have been stymied by a dispute over Jewish settlement construction in and around Jerusalem and by divisions among the Palestinians.Washington has tried to get Israel and the Palestinians to launch proximity talks but has made scant headway. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave little ground in White House talks with Obama last month.(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart; editing by Chris Wilson)
US: Syria missile reports deeply troubling By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer – Wed Apr 21, 4:38 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration said Wednesday it has warned Syria numerous times in recent weeks that transferring ballistic missiles to Lebanon's Hezbollah militia could lead to a new war in the Middle East.The administration's top diplomat for the region, Jeffrey Feltman, told a congressional committee that the message had been conveyed to senior Syrian officials at least five times since late February.
Feltman would not confirm reports that Syria has sent Scud missiles to Hezbollah, but said such giving such weapons to Hezbollah would be an incendiary, provocative action that could affect war and peace in (the) region. He said the U.S. viewed the matter with the gravest concern and would keep all options open to deal with it.The dire warning comes as Israel, which regards Hezbollah as a major threat, has accused Syria of providing the group with Scuds. Scuds have a far longer range and can carry a much bigger warhead than rockets Hezbollah has used in the past and could reach anywhere in Israel from Hezbollah bases in southern Lebanon. Syria has denied the charge, as has Lebanon's Western-backed prime minister.If these reports turn out to be true, we're going to have to review the whole range of tools that are available for us in order to make Syria reverse what would be an incendiary, provocative action,Feltman told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.I expect that all options are going to be on the table looking at this.He did not elaborate.Beginning on Feb. 26, U.S. officials summoned Syria's U.S. ambassador because we were so concerned with information we had that Syria was passing increasingly sophisticated ballistic weapons to Hezbollah,Feltman said. Similar warnings were passed to the ambassador or his deputy on March 1, March 10 and March 19, he said.In addition, Feltman said he had raised the matter earlier Wednesday in a phone call with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem. He added the concerns underscored the need to send a new U.S. ambassador to Damascus to ensure that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad understands the situation.
When President Assad is taking decisions that could affect war and peace in his region he needs to have clear understanding of what the implications are, what the U.S. positions are and what the red lines are,Feltman said.Some lawmakers are threatening to hold up the confirmation of the administration's choice to be the first U.S. ambassador Syria in five years, career diplomat Robert Ford, because of the Scud reports.Feltman argued that limiting American access to Assad would be a mistake since the Syrian president is speaking with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.President Assad is making decisions in a very volatile and dangerous region, he said.Syria has made mistakes before and Syria has, in fact, paid the consequences for those mistakes.He is listening to people like Hassan Nasrallah, he is listening to people like Ahmadinejad,Feltman said.We need to be making our message to him loud and clear and directly.
Jerusalem reopens popular Old City gate By GRANT SLATER, Associated Press Writer – Wed Apr 21, 11:34 am ET
JERUSALEM – Israel reopened a 16th-century gate to Jerusalem's Old City on Wednesday, completing a two-month renovation and cleaning project that drew criticism from Palestinian officials.Jaffa Gate, one of four main entrances to the Old City, was built by Jerusalem's Ottoman rulers and inaugurated in 1538. It is the most common entrance for tourists entering the walled Old City — home to key holy sites in Christianity, Islam and Judaism, as well as a popular outdoor marketplace.
The restoration was part of a $4 million project launched by the Israel Antiquities Authority in 2007 to spruce up all two and a half miles (four kilometers) of the Old City's walls.The authority replaced broken stones, reattached an elaborate inscription above the gate and cleaned the facade with lye. Because Jaffa Gate provides one of the few entrances for vehicles, the stones had a decades-old coating of car exhaust residue, said Yoram Saad, who headed the renovation.The portal stands at a right angle to the western exterior wall of the Old City, made of the same large, 16th-century sand-colored hewn stone blocks. The entrance is about 20 feet (6 meters) high, and the wall rises another 20 feet (6 meters) above it.The renovation project has proven challenging because of the difficulty in restoring ancient stones and the project's political and religious overtones.It's very sensitive of course and very complex from a logistical point of view, Saad said. The organization is saving the Damascus Gate, which leads from the Muslim Quarter to a bustling Arab neighborhood, for last.The Old City is in east Jerusalem, the section of the city claimed by the Palestinians as their future capital. It is also home to the most sensitive holy site in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — a hilltop compound revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.Even the smallest changes to the appearance of the Old City can raise tensions or even spark violence, as evidenced by recent Arab protests that erupted after Israel renovated an ancient synagogue in the Jewish Quarter.
Wednesday's ceremony proceeded without incident, though recent improvements around Jaffa Gate, including an upscale pedestrian mall, have fueled Palestinian concerns that city officials are trying to shift commerce away from the bustling Damascus Gate.It is an attempt to hit hard at commercial life in the Old City, especially the Muslim Quarter,said Hatem Abdel Qader, an adviser on Jerusalem affairs to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Jerusalem's mayor, Nir Barkat, said city authorities have a duty to repair and restore the walls of the Old City, calling them a national asset and a place for pilgrims.The most important thing is that it's the right thing to do. That's the only angle people should view it from, Barkat said.
Jaffa Gate was not used heavily until the end of the 19th century when part of the wall nearby was torn down to allow Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II to enter the Old City in his carriage.It was the scene of intense fighting in 1948 and remained closed while Jerusalem was a divided city until 1967, when Israel captured the city's eastern sector and annexed it. The antiquities authority left the pockmarked stones from firefights in place.
I WOULD ASK THE QUESTION? WHAT IS A ONE STATE SOLUTION? A ISRAEL WITHOUT ISRAEL IS MY GUESS ON THE PALESTINIANS PART OR WAY OF THINKING.
Growing number of Palestinians back one-state solution: poll
Wed Apr 21, 4:18 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – A growing number of Palestinians support the establishment of a single state for Jews and Arabs including Israel and the occupied territories, according to a poll released on Wednesday.The survey by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre (JMCC) found that support for a bi-national state in which Israelis and Palestinians would have equal rights had grown to 33.8 percent from 20.6percent in June 2009.During the same period, support for a negotiated two-state solution dropped from 55.2 percent to 43.9 percent, while 32.1 percent of respondents said the peace process is dead in response to a separate question.Most Palestinians, 43.7 percent, support peaceful negotiations, while 29.8 percent support armed struggle and 21.9 percent support peaceful resistance as the best strategy for ending the Israeli occupation, the poll found.Concerning internal politics, the poll found that 39.7 percent of voters would back the secular Fatah movement if elections were held this year, compared to just 14.4 percent would would vote for the Islamist Hamas.The Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas remains the most popular leader, and would receive 19.1 percent of the vote compared to his closest Hamas rival Ismail Haniyah, who would receive 11.2 percent.However, nearly 30 percent of Palestinians said they would not vote in legislative or presidential elections if they were held now.
Pollsters conducted face-to-face interviews with 1,198 adults throughout the West Bank and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on April 10-15. The survey had a margin of error of three percent.The international community along with Israeli and Palestinian leaders formally committed to a two-state solution with the 2003 roadmap agreement, and the idea of a single state has little support outside of academic circles.Israel adamantly opposes a one-state solution because it would most likely have a Palestinian majority and result in the end of Israel as a Jewish state.
Hezbollah probably has Scud missiles: US senator
Tue Apr 20, 6:02 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has most likely acquired Scud missiles and improved its rocket-firing technology to the point of real danger for Israel, a top US senator warned Tuesday.I believe there is a likelihood that there are Scuds that Hezbollah has in Lebanon. A high likelihood, Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, told AFP.
The rockets and missiles in Lebanon are substantially increased and better technologically than they were and this is a real point of danger for Israel, Feinstein added.There's only one thing that's going to solve it, and that's a two-state solution,she said, referring to stalled international efforts to create an independent, viable Palestinian state living at peace with Israel.Israeli President Shimon Peres on April 13 accused Syria of providing Hezbollah with Scud ballistic missiles, prompting Washington to warn that the trade potentially puts Lebanon at significant risk.
Syria has strongly denied the accusations.The US State Department says it is yet to determine the veracity of the claims but summoned a senior Syrian diplomat Monday to demand an immediate end to arms transfers to Hezbollah.Feinstein spoke after Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri likened Israel's charges to false weapons of mass destruction claims that fed the US case for invading Iraq in 2003.Asked about the alleged arms transfer, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry told AFP on Tuesday: that has not been confirmed.I think it's safe to say we're inquiring and trying to get more information about it. I wouldn't comment on what it is, or isn't, at this point in time, he said.There are concerns about rocketry in general, and clearly Hezbollah has been rearmed, but I don't think there's clarity as to which weapons yet, with specificity, and where. Where is very important in this question.
Israelis celebrate Jewish state's 62nd birthday
Tue Apr 20, 12:37 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israelis fired up barbecues in packed campgrounds and beaches across the country on Tuesday as they celebrated the 62nd anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state.The air force and navy held displays, including a helicopter overflight of the president's residence in Jerusalem.President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Ehud Barak and chief of staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi staged a singalong of Israeli songs at the presidential residence.Celebrations kicked off at sundown on Monday with fireworks in honour of Israel's founding on May 14, 1948, corresponding this year to April 20, according to the Jewish calendar.The occupied West Bank was sealed off from Israel and annexed Arab east Jerusalem for the duration of Israel's only secular public holiday.US President Barack Obama released a statement to honour the anniversary and affirm his country's unbreakable bond with Israel.He said he looked forward to continuing our efforts with Israel to achieve comprehensive peace and security in the region, including a two-state solution with the Palestinians.We once again honour the extraordinary achievements of the people of Israel, and their deep and abiding friendship with the American people,he said.
Ties between Israel and its main ally have been deeply strained as Netanyahu has rebuffed US and Palestinian demands for a halt to settlement construction in annexed Arab east Jerusalem.President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, one of just two Arab states to have signed peace treaties with Israel, also used the occasion to call for renewed peace efforts.I am pleased to congratulate you on the occasion of your Independence Day celebrations, he said in a letter to Israeli President Shimon Peres.I would like to take this opportunity to call on you once again to redouble your efforts to get the Middle East peace process back on track in order to end the cycle of violence and bloodshed.Meanwhile, thousands of Israel's Arab citizens marked the Nakba, or catastrophe,that attended the Jewish state's creation, when some 750,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
Protesters carrying Palestinian flags and signs with the names of destroyed Arab villages marched to the site of the village of Maskah, emptied in 1948, to demand the right of return for those exiled following Israel's birth.Today more than 4.7 million UN-registered refugees live in camps in the occupied territories, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, and their fate is one of the thorniest issues in the decades-old Middle East conflict.
THIS WILL HAPPEN I BELIEVE.THE FAKE PEACE PLAN WILL BE FORCED ON ISRAEL THAT WHY WW3 KILLS 1/2 OF EARTHS POPULATION FOR DIVIDING JERUSALEM.
Imposed Mideast solution would stoke violence: Israel FM
Tue Apr 20, 4:21 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – In a veiled warning to President Barack Obama, Israel's foreign minister said on Tuesday that any move to impose a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians would lead to greater conflict.Any attempt to force a solution on the parties without establishing the foundation of mutual trust will only deepen the conflict, Avigdor Lieberman told the assembled diplomatic corps at an event marking Israel's Independence Day.Though he made no reference to the United States, the remark appeared to be a response to recent speculation in Washington that Obama may consider proposing a peace settlement in the absence of a negotiated deal between the Palestinians and Israel.Lieberman, who leads a far-right, pro-settler party in the coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that before negotiating a final settlement of the 62-year-old conflict, it would be necessary first to establish a new reality in which Israel enjoys security, the Palestinians greater prosperity and both sides more stability.He also told the assembled ambassadors in the grounds of the presidential residence in Jerusalem that Israel would never give up its control of all of Jerusalem, a city at the heart of the conflict.Many foreign powers support a negotiated settlement of the dispute over Jerusalem that would satisfy Palestinian aspirations to have the capital of their future state in East Jerusalem, which Israel seized in a war in 1967.(Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; editing by Andrew Roche)
U.S. warns Syria on weapons transfers By Andrew Quinn – Mon Apr 19, 9:52 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States summoned the senior Syrian diplomat in Washington on Monday to address provocative behavior regarding the potential transfer of Scud missiles to Hezbollah that it said could be a threat to both Lebanon and Israel.The United States condemns in the strongest terms the transfer of any arms, and especially ballistic missile systems such as the SCUD, from Syria to Hezbollah, the statement, issued by State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid, said.
The transfer of these arms can only have a destabilizing effect on the region, and would pose an immediate threat to both the security of Israel and the sovereignty of Lebanon.The U.S. statement stopped short of confirming the alleged transfer of long-range Scud missiles to Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, which if true could cast doubt on U.S. President Barack Obama's diplomatic outreach to Syria.The State Department said this was the fourth time in recent months that Washington has raised the issue with the Syrian Embassy.U.S. officials said last week they believed Syria intended to transfer the weaponry, but had doubts about whether the missiles were delivered fully assembled or had actually been transferred to Lebanon.Damascus has denied the transfer and said Israel might be using the accusation as a pretext for a military strike against Syrian targets.
WARNING TO DAMASCUS
The U.S. statement was a strong warning to Damascus, saying that weapons transfers were an obstacle to the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians and noting that Syria's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism was tied to its support for groups such as Hezbollah.The risk of miscalculation that could result from this type of escalation should make Syria reverse the ill-conceived policy it has pursued in providing arms to Hezbollah, the statement said.We call for an immediate cessation of any arms transfers to Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations in the region.
A senior U.S. official, while declining to confirm any U.S. intelligence related to the Scuds, said the statement was a sign that the allegations were being taken seriously.We wouldn't have called them in if we didn't think something was going on, the official said.The alleged deal to transfer the Scud missiles to Hezbollah has fueled cross-border tensions with Israel, which remains wary of the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Islamist group that it went to war with in 2006.With Iranian support, Hezbollah has replenished its arsenal beyond levels it had in the 2006 war with Israel, according to a Pentagon report on Iran's military sent to Congress and made public on Monday.Scud missiles in Hezbollah hands could strike deep inside Israel, while a partial transfer could involve weapons parts, documents or funding, according to U.S. officials.If the transfer is confirmed, it could create fresh obstacles to U.S. Senate confirmation of a new ambassador being returned to Damascus after a five-year absence.The Obama administration has said that improved U.S. diplomatic ties with Syria are an important part of the Mideast peace process. (Additional reporting by Joanne Allen, Editing by Philip Barbara)
Hamas leader vows to capture more Israeli soldiers
Mon Apr 19, 4:55 pm ET
DAMASCUS, Syria – The leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas has vowed to capture more Israeli soldiers to use in bargaining for the release of Palestinian prisoners.Khaled Mashaal accused Israel of obstructing a deal to trade Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit for hundreds of jailed militants.Gaza militants captured Schalit in a 2006 cross-border raid. A deal brokered by Egypt and Germany for his release had appeared close in November.The exiled Mashaal also said America's insistence that Hamas recognize Israel was to blame for the failure of talks to reconcile the Gaza militants with their moderate Palestinian rivals in the West Bank. The split has complicated peace efforts.Mashaal spoke Monday at a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria.
Israel celebrates independence, remembers fallen by Gavin Rabinowitz – Mon Apr 19, 2:41 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israelis celebrated 62 years since the founding of the Jewish state with fireworks and street parties after sundown on Monday.The festivities will continue until sundown on Tuesday, with thousands expected to flock to parks and nature reserves for traditional barbecues and family gatherings.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the day as a double miracle in the life of the Jewish people.The first miracle is the restoration of Jewish sovereignty, Netanyahu said in an Independence Day message.The second miracle is what we've done since the establishment of the Jewish state. Israel is fast becoming a regional economic power and one of the world's leading technological powers,he said.Israel was founded on May 14, 1948, which according to the Jewish calendar corresponds this year to April 20.Celebrations began after a state ceremony that marks the annual transition from a day of mourning for Israel's fallen to Independence Day celebrations.
Also Monday, about 1,000 people, mostly Israeli peace activists and Israeli Arabs, held an alternative ceremony in Jerusalem where they championed human rights and called on the Jewish state to end its occupation of the West Bank.Earlier in the day, traffic ground to a halt across Israel as drivers joined pedestrians in two minutes of silence while sirens wailed in commemoration of fallen soldiers and attack victims.The memorial day started at sunset Sunday and continues for 24 hours. For the duration, radio stations play sombre music and television channels replace regular entertainment programmes with documentaries on Israel's wars.The two minutes of silence was announced by air raid sirens at 11:00 am (0800 GMT) and official ceremonies were scheduled at dozens of military cemeteries and memorials.President Shimon Peres paid homage to the dead in a ceremony on Sunday at Judaism's holiest site, the Western or Wailing Wall in the Old City of east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed.As flags flew at half-mast, Peres called on Israel's enemies, including arch-foe Iran, not to underestimate Israel's capacity to defend itself.Israel, which has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, has never ruled out a resort to military action to prevent the development of an atomic bomb by Iran which, it regards as its principal strategic threat.Iran has repeatedly predicted Israel's demise and warned of a devastating response to any attack on its territory.
According to government data, 112 members of the Israeli security forces, including police and the Shin Bet internal intelligence agency, have died on active service in the past 12 months.
Israeli PM dismisses Jerusalem settlement freeze
Mon Apr 19, 10:44 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed demands for a freeze on Jewish settlements in annexed east Jerusalem as a non-starter, in a US television interview aired Monday.The issue of settlements, and construction in east Jerusalem in particular, have caused a rare public row between the Israeli and US governments, and soured Netanyahu's visit to Washington last month.The Palestinian demand is that we prevent Jews from building in Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem, Netanyahu told the ABC News show Good Morning America.You know, that is an unacceptable demand. If we made it in London or made it in New York or in Paris, people would cry foul.Netanyahu was careful in the interview to attribute calls for a halt to such settlements to the Palestinians, and not the United States, which has also condemned such activity in east Jerusalem.Washington has reportedly called on Netanyahu to embrace a four-month settlement freeze in east Jerusalem, one of several demands to improve the chances of relaunching peace talks with the Palestinians.But the Israeli leader argued in the interview that the status of Jerusalem would only be decided in final status talks with Palestinians on a two-state solution to the conflict.
This demand that they've now introduced, the Palestinians, to stop all construction, Jewish construction in Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem, is totally, totally a non-starter.Palestinians, however, counter that Israeli settlement construction is an attempt to establish facts on the ground before final status talks, and have demanded a total freeze on such activity.Israel in November announced a 10-month halt to new construction in the occupied West Bank following months of US pressure on both sides to relaunch peace talks suspended after the outbreak of the Gaza war in late 2008.The Palestinians dismissed the move as insufficient because it left out east Jerusalem -- which they view as their future capital -- as well as public buildings and housing projects already underway.Israel occupied east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it, in a move not recognised by the international community. It views all of Jerusalem as its capital.The United States has warned that new construction in east Jerusalem or the West Bank endangers the prospect of proximity talks it is trying to broker between the two sides.
Israel must tackle core Mideast issuest: Barak
Mon Apr 19, 9:46 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel must tackle the core issues of its conflict with the Palestinians in order to close a rift with top ally the United States, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday.The tension that is developing with the United States is not in Israel's interest, he told public radio.We must radically alter this situation through a political initiative dealing with the core issues at the heart of the conflict with the Palestinians, he said.The so-called core issues of the decades-old conflict include the future status of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, Jewish settlements and final borders.Israel and the US administration have been locked in a bitter spat since last month's announcement that 1,600 new settler homes would be built in Arab east Jerusalem, which coincided with a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden.Barak stressed Israel must realise the international community is not willing to accept decades more of Israeli rule over the Palestinians.He also dismissed concerns voiced by Jordan's King Abdullah II over the risks of a new conflict in the region.I believe and think that there is no reason for war to break out,Barak said.Certainly we have no intention of starting something like that, and I hope there will be no deterioration from other directions.In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Abdullah said last week that if there is no Middle East peace process by the summer there's a very good chance for conflict.
Barak said he did not interpret Abdullah's words as a threat.Obviously he doesn't mean that Jordan will start it. It's a very important peace-loving country,he said.
Jordan became the second Arab state after Egypt to conclude a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.The Middle East peace talks were halted in December 2008 when Israel launched its devastating Gaza offensive aimed at halting Palestinian rocket fire.The Palestinians had reluctantly agreed to hold indirect talks with the Israelis last month, but that deal collapsed days later when the new east Jerusalem settlement plans were announced.
Israel population nears 7.6 million
Sun Apr 18, 9:55 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's population is nearing 7.6 million, official figures showed on Sunday ahead of the 62nd anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state.
Of the 7,587,000 population, 5,726,000, or 75.5 percent, are Jews and 1,548,000, or 20.4 percent, are Arabs, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.The population has grown by 137,000 people in the past year, a 1.8 percent increase.The official statistics for Israel's Arab population include 270,000 Palestinians living in east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in a move not recognised by the international community.They carry permanent residency IDs but the vast majority have declined citizenship of Israel, which this year celebrates its independence from sunset on Monday to sunset the following day.Israel's nearly 1.3 million Arab citizens are descendants of the 160,000 Palestinians who remained in the Jewish state after the Middle East war that erupted following Israel's creation in 1948.About 750,000 Palestinians fled or were driven out during the conflict, and now more than 4.7 million UN-registered refugees live in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and neighbouring Arab countries.
