IF THE WORLD WOULD NOT HATE ISRAEL SO MUCH THERE WOULD BE PEACE AT THE UN. LET THE EU LEAD THE PEACE PROCESS LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS HAS TO HAPPEN...GET OUT LUKEWARM U.N.
U.S. queries value of U.N. council's Mideast meetings By Patrick Worsnip MAR 25,08
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday questioned the value of monthly public meetings of the U.N. Security Council on the Middle East, saying the angry speeches delivered often made the problem worse. The polarization and divisions of the United Nations membership over the conflict all too often manifest themselves as heated political statements, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told this month's meeting.These do little to help advance the cause of peace or help the Palestinian people in any tangible way, he told the 15-nation council.The meetings have been held for the past six years and focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Lebanon. They typically consist of a briefing from a senior U.N. official followed by speeches from council members and other parties with a direct interest in the situation.Khalilzad said the United States wanted to see a difference on the ground in the Middle East and an effort to negotiate creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
If these types of meetings do not contribute to that effort, or worse, if they fuel the tensions that impede constructive engagement, then we need to ask ourselves whether the public format of debates in New York truly helps create the environment necessary for a solution, he said.Khalilzad told reporters later that some countries used the meetings for posturing, for finger-pointing, for further polarizing, for scoring points ... We have to really ask ourselves what useful purpose a format like this serves.The United States is a strong supporter of Israel and Khalilzad's comments appeared mainly aimed at Arab speakers. He stopped short of calling for the meetings to be stopped, urging countries to use them instead to promote peace.
CRITICAL SITUATION
This month's council president, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, made light of Khalilzad's comments, telling reporters the U.S. envoy should have made them at the beginning of the meeting rather than towards the end.At Tuesday's meeting, Palestinian representative Riyad Mansour lashed out at the illegal and destructive policies of Israel in the Palestinian territories.
Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas of wreaking havoc and daily terror by firing rockets at Israel from Gaza, where it seized control last year. But he paid tribute to the moderate, legitimate Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank.Both speakers called on the international community to do more to support peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, which have shown little progress since they were relaunched at a conference in the United States last November.
Mansour told journalists the peace process was in a very critical situation.Opening the meeting, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he hoped the talks could achieve their goal of an agreement by the end of this year.This process is too important to be allowed to lose momentum though inaction or indifference, or to be overwhelmed by violence. It is essential that it receives the support of the international community, including this council, Ban said.The council has been paralyzed this year in trying to make formal statements about violence between Israelis and Palestinians by disagreements between the United States and new member Libya. Such statements have to be unanimous.Mansour expressed support for recent efforts by Russia to convene a new Middle East conference in Moscow and said he had heard it could take place in June. (Editing by John O'Callaghan)
THE ONLY TROOPS THAT WILL BE SUCCESSFUL IN ISRAEL WILL BE EU OR NATO TROOPS. THE BIBLE SAYS THE EU GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR PROSPERITY AND NO OTHER ARMY UNTIL EU TROOPS COME IN WILL WORK OUT.
Palestinian force to deploy in West Bank By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer Tue Mar 25, 1:22 PM ET
JERUSALEM - Israel's defense minister on Tuesday said he would soon allow 600 foreign-trained Palestinian police to take up positions in a volatile West Bank town in a gesture aimed at helping the moderate Palestinian government restore law and order. Palestinian officials, however, said the town, Jenin, does not require additional forces. And they said Israel is still not doing nearly enough to bolster moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his life-and-death showdown with the militants of Hamas — such as removing roadblocks, dismantling illegal West Bank outposts or releasing prisoners.Defense Minister Ehud Barak's announcement came at a sensitive time in peace efforts. U.S.-backed peace talks have made little visible progress since they were launched last November, and Israel has come under growing international pressure to help prop up Abbas. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected in the region next week to check up on progress.Speaking to reporters at an army base in the West Bank, Barak said the Palestinian officers would be deployed in Jenin, a town in the northern West Bank where Israeli soldiers frequently clash with Palestinian militants.He did not say when the police would arrive, but said he would discuss the issue at a meeting Wednesday with the Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad.
As part of the peace process, the Palestinians have pledged to crack down on militant groups. While Fayyad says he is capable of reining in gunmen, Israel maintains a large troop presence throughout the West Bank, saying Palestinian forces are not yet ready to take charge.The 600 Palestinian officers have been receiving special training in neighboring Jordan since January under a program funded by the U.S.Jenin is known as a stronghold of West Bank militants and Israel frequently conducts military raids to hunt down wanted men. But Palestinian security officials say they have largely restored quiet to the town and already have some 2,000 officers there, adding they were perplexed by Barak's gesture.
We didn't apply for more forces in Jenin. We have enough, said Diab al-Ali, a top Palestinian security commander in the West Bank. "The only demand we have for Jenin is that Israel hand the city over to us.Palestinian officials say what matters is not the number of Palestinian forces deployed in a particular area, but whether Israeli troops refrain from carrying out arrest raids in West Bank towns.Israeli forces routinely enter West Bank towns, including Jenin, in search of wanted men, prompting Palestinian complaints that Israel is undermining their efforts to restore control.
Palestinian Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yehiyeh told The Associated Press that Palestinian forces are indeed being trained in Jordan, but there was no need to send them to Jenin.Also Tuesday, Israel hooked up 27 villages in the Jenin area to its electricity grid. It now provides power to about 15,000 villagers who had been depending on their own generators. France funded the $18 million project.Barak said he is considering other measures to bolster the Palestinians and improve the negotiating climate. Among them are allowing Palestinian forces to obtain additional vehicles and non-lethal weapons, such as rubber bullets, and helping Palestinian businessmen move freely between the West Bank and Israel.However, Barak has made similar pledges in the past without taking action. And on Monday, he rejected a key Palestinian demand, saying he would not remove any of the hundreds of Israeli military checkpoints in the West Bank for now.
The Palestinians and the international community, including Mideast envoy Tony Blair, say the travel restrictions are stifling the West Bank economy. Israel says the measures are needed to prevent attacks.Blair has been leading an international effort to build up the Palestinian economy to lay the groundwork for a future independent Palestinian state.On Tuesday, the European Union said it has begun providing the Palestinians with $463 million in promised aid for public infrastructure, economic programs and refugees. A poll released Tuesday showed both Israelis and Palestinians deeply skeptical about peace efforts. The poll showed 53 percent of Israelis believe the peace talks now under way should be halted. Only 39 percent said they should continue. Among Palestinians, opposition was even higher: 75 percent, with support at only 21 percent. The poll was carried out by two independent think tanks, one Israeli and one Palestinian: the Hebrew University's Truman Center in Jerusalem and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah. Palestinian pollsters interviewed 1,270 people, and their poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. On the Israeli side, 597 people took part, and the margin of error was 4 percentage points. AP correspondent Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, the West Bank, contributed to this article.
EU releases 300 million euros in aid for Palestinians Tue Mar 25, 8:57 AM ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Commission released 300 million euros (467 million dollars) in aid for the Palestinian Territories Tuesday, from the 440 million euros the EU executive has pledged for this year. Of the total, 71 million euros is earmarked to go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), a commission spokeswoman said.The rest is to go to a new EU mechanism -- dubbed PEGASE -- intended to channel aid to help build a Palestinian state, with 176 million euros destined for supporting public services.At the Paris donors' conference last December, Europe pledged more than half of the total 7.481 billion dollars (4.8 billion euros) in aid commitments to support the Palestinian Authority and recently revived peace talks.At the time, the commission pledged 440 million euros in aid for the Palestinians this year.Last Wednesday, the United States granted 150 million dollars to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's West Bank government in a first installment of the 555 million dollars Washington pledged at the donors' conference.
Blair: rethink of Gaza strategy needed By JAN SLIVA, Associated Press Writer MAR 25,08
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Middle East envoy Tony Blair said Tuesday that the international community must rethink its strategy toward Gaza to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian area. In an appearance before a European Parliament panel, Blair did not call for direct talks with Hamas, which seized Gaza in June and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.But he said it was urgent for more food and other goods to reach Palestinians living under desperate conditions in the Gaza strip.If we have learned anything from the past few months it is that the present strategy in Gaza is not working, said Blair. The former British prime minister is now a special envoy for the so-called Quartet of Mideast peacemakers, comprised of the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations.We need a strategy which isolates the extremists and helps the people, he added. At the moment, if we are not careful, we got the opposite .... That is not intelligent.
The former British prime minister also suggested the current peace process — launched at a summit in Annapolis, Md., last fall — was starting to run on empty.He said the Middle East was approaching crunch time, adding there must be visible results by May if there is to be an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by year's end, as planned.This is a decision-making time about whether people are serious about this process or not, Blair told the panel.The briefing by him, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, the French deputy foreign minister, and Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere followed a December donors conference that generated $7.7 billion for humanitarian assistance and development projects for the Palestinians.Blair said for the peace to become a reality, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators must do better by the time President Bush visits the region in May.Some parliamentarians spoke out against the continuing isolation of Hamas, with whom the EU and the U.S. refuse to negotiate because it has not renounced violence and recognized Israel.The politics of isolating Hamas has not brought any benefits. You cannot make arrangements with just one part of the other side, said Spanish lawmaker Josep Borrell, former president of the European Parliament who now presides the assembly's development committee.
Israeli police ban Palestinian event By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Writer MAR 25,08
JERUSALEM - Israeli police on Tuesday broke up a Palestinian event meant to promote Jerusalem as the world's next Arab Cultural Capital.The Palestinians want next year's celebrations to strengthen their claim to the disputed city. But Tuesday's crackdown sent a strong signal that Israel will not go along with the decision by the 22-member Arab League to bestow its cultural prize on Jerusalem.We want to exploit this for Jerusalem, said Ahmad al-Ruweidi, head of the Jerusalem unit in the office of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Two years ago, the Arab League quietly designated Jerusalem its 2009 Arab Cultural Capital, an honor that rotates among Arab countries. Winners typically use the occasion to showcase their attachment to Arab culture, sponsoring poetry, music, dance performances, lectures, school activities and sporting events.
In Jerusalem, it's not that simple. Israel says the entire city is its undivided and eternal capital. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem — captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and site of key Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites — as the capital of a future state.The dispute over Jerusalem is the most contentious issue in peace talks, and a Palestinian cultural celebration could easily be seen as a political message, angering Israel.On Tuesday, Palestinian organizers planned to announce the winner of a contest to design a logo for the cultural campaign at the Palestinian national theater in east Jerusalem. But when they arrived, the doors were locked and police stood outside.Police arrived at the scene and showed them a warrant signed by the minister of internal security banning the convention, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.About 50 participants attempted to hold a news conference outside, but police broke it up. They said two people were briefly detained during a scuffle.We have the right to practice our culture in Jerusalem. We have the right to dance, said Bassem al-Masri, a campaign organizer.
Israeli government officials had no comment on next year's planned celebration, saying they were unaware of the Arab League's decision. But Israel forbids virtually all Palestinian political activity in the city.Illustrating the challenge, the logo competition winner, Khaled Hourani, could not attend Tuesday's event because he lives in the West Bank and didn't have time to apply for an Israeli permit to enter Jerusalem.His winning logo shows a multicolored 8-point Islamic star alongside a silhouette of Jerusalem's Old City, with barbed wire transposed over images of a mosque and a church.Since Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip need permits to enter the city, organizers concede it will be extremely difficult for performers and audiences to attend next year's event. About 180,000 Palestinians live in east Jerusalem.
On Monday, Israeli police detained al-Ruweidi, who said he was questioned for several hours about projects for next year's event. Police said he was questioned because he recently traveled to Lebanon, an enemy state.The event also won't attract Arab superstars — a key part of festivities in other Arab countries. Most Arab countries don't have relations with Israel, and their citizens are not allowed to visit Israel, which controls the city.
Performers from Jordan and Egypt, the only Arab countries at peace with Israel, refused to visit in protest against Israel's treatment of Palestinians.The Arab League annually rotates the title of Arab Cultural Capital among cities of the region. Damascus, the Syrian capital, currently holds the honor. The Arab League initially pegged Jerusalem as culture capital for 2011, but two years ago, the Iraqi government pulled Baghdad from the 2009 slot, citing security problems. Israeli and Palestinian leaders hope to reach a final peace agreement, including a deal on Jerusalem, by the end of the year. Since peace talks began last year, the Israeli government has emphasized its claim to the city by announcing plans to build hundreds of new homes in east Jerusalem neighborhoods built after 1967. Palestinians and the international community view the move as settlement building — forbidden under the terms of U.S.-backed road map peace plan. Israel must understand we are Arabs, said al-Ruweidi, the Palestinian presidential adviser. We listen to Arab songs, and our loyalty is to Arabic culture.
UN chief urges international effort for Midest peace in 2008Tue Mar 25, 12:05 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged Israelis, Palestinians and the international community to step up efforts to reach a peace settlement in the Middle East this year. It is my hope that we can achieve this ambitious goal, Ban said at the opening of the UN Security Council's monthly debate on the Middle East.I believe all of us must ask ourselves, and the parties, two simple questions: If not this, what? If not now, when? Israeli and Palestinian leaders revived negotiations in November at a US-sponsored conference in Annapolis, Maryland, where they pledged to seek a settlement of their six-decade-old conflict by the end of this year.But the talks have been hampered by Israeli settlements and violence in and around the Gaza Strip.This (peace) process is too important to be allowed to lose momentum through inaction or indifference, or to be overwhelmed by violence, Ban said.It is essential that it receives the support of the international community, including this council.
The secretary general said he remained personally determined and committed to work for peace within the framework of previous initiatives, conferences and UN resolutions aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.This framework will lead to an end of conflict; the creation of a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel; and a comprehensive regional peace, he said.Ban told the council he will make unceasing efforts to press forward this agenda.Under an international roadmap for peace -- drafted in 2003 by the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union -- Israel is to freeze settlements and the Palestinians are to stop violence.
Israel grapples with severe water shortage Mon Mar 24, 11:41AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel's water authority was set to impose restrictions on household water consumption as the country grapples with one of the most severe water shortages in years, an official said on Monday. The situation is bad, it is very bad. There is an acute water shortage in the country, water authority spokesman Uri Shor said.With the rain quantities for this year's winter standing at 50 to 60 percent of the annual average, Israel's reservoirs today stand at a 10-year low, according to official figures.And a string of four dry winters has brought the country's main water source, the Sea of Galilee, to its lowest level in 46 years.The country's groundwater, including the western aquifer which it shares with the Palestinians, is also at a dangerously low level and the quality of its water is worsening.The water authority intends to introduce in the coming days new regulations restricting private water consumption, mainly by limiting the watering of lawns from May to October to between dusk and dawn, Shor said.
Shor also said no new public or private gardens will be built, and anyone violating the regulations will face severe fines.Anyone can save around 10 percent of his annual water consumption without any problem, Shor said. Israelis annually consume around 750 million cubic metres of water.Although Israel -- a world leader in desalination technology -- produces 140 million cubic metres of water suitable for both irrigation and drinking, the shortage remains acute, according to Uri Shamir, a professor at the Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa.Israel's water sector is facing an accumulated deficit of several years which today places us in a severe overdraft, Shamir said.In the coming year we can expect restrictions on water consumption, especially in the private and home sector watering, which counts for some 170 million cubic metres a year, he said.
Israel passes on U.S.-produced anti-rocket laser Mon Mar 24, 9:33 AM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has decided against buying a U.S.-produced anti-rocket laser for the border with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip because of the device's poor performance in field tests, a top Israeli defense official said on Monday. Israeli state arms firm Rafael is developing Iron Dome, which is designed to shoot down Palestinian rockets from Gaza with miniature missiles, but that system is not expected to be operational before 2010.Seeking a stop-gap countermeasure, Defense Ministry director-general Pinchas Buchris flew to the United States last week to re-evaluate Nautilus, an Israeli-U.S. invention that uses a laser to blow up rockets and mortar bombs mid-flight.Israeli experts had previously written off Nautilus -- which is being upgraded under a new name, Skyguard -- as unreliable, and Israel's Army Radio said Buchris had found little improvement.Were we to order it as is, to protect Sderot, we would create two things, Buchris told the station, referring to an Israeli border town under frequent Gazan rocket barrages.First, there would be the illusion, for Sderot residents, that it provides a response. Another thing, we would create a situation where Hamas felt it had scored an achievement in that ... we have no way of coping with the Qassams (rockets).
Israel has also been looking at Phalanx, an automated cannon made by U.S. firm Raytheon that shreds incoming shells.Rockets launched from Gaza -- which Israel quit in 2005, giving Hamas a major political boost -- cause relatively few casualties but have paralyzed Sderot and other border towns.The salvoes have ramifications for Israel's peace talks with Hamas's rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Barak would likely insist that any deal ceding the West Bank to Abbas be conditioned on deployment of a working anti-rocket apparatus.(Writing by Dan Williams, Editing by Michael Winfrey)
