Stand-off over Palestinian demo in Jerusalem
Thu Dec 17, 9:37 am ET
JERUSALEM (Israel) (AFP) – Israeli police surrounded the French cultural centre in mostly Arab east Jerusalem on Thursday, apparently to detain the organiser of a Palestinian cultural event, a French diplomat said.Around 50 people, including officials from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA), took part at an event at the centre in honour of Jerusalem's selection as the 2009 capital of Arab culture by UNESCO and the Arab League.The cultural counsellor at the French consulate, Benoit Tadie, said police were looking for one of the Palestinian organisers of the event, who left the centre through a back door to avoid being arrested.As police arrived at the scene, participants gave up plans to stage a demonstration outside the centre, but a few dozen people later took part in a protest at nearby Damascus Gate.Israel bans all PA events in the Holy City, which it views as its eternal, undivided capital.The French consul general, Frederic Desagneaux, arrived at the scene after the police showed up.
Israeli police did not immediately comment on the incident.Israel seized east Jerusalem along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six Day war and then annexed the eastern sector of the city.The Palestinians have demanded east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state, and the international community has never recognised Israel's claim to it. Foreign embassies in Israel are located in Tel Aviv.
Hardline Israeli settlers start building W.Bank outpost
Thu Dec 17, 6:36 am ET
ALON SHVUT, West Bank (AFP) – Hardline Jewish settlers have started rebuilding an outpost in the occupied West Bank in an act of defiance against Israel's partial moratorium on settlement construction.About 50 settlers, among them children, started building a brick house on a hill close to the Alon Shvut settlement near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.This is our response to the construction freeze decided by the government,hardline settler leader Yehudit Katzover told AFP on Wednesday.If authorities stop us, we will come back as many times as possible to restart construction,she said, pointing out that on several occasions police had previously demolished outposts built on the hilltop.
The international community considers all settlement in the West Bank illegal.Under US pressure, the Israeli government last month announced a 10-month moratorium on new building permits in settlements.The settlement issue is one of the thorniest in Middle East peace efforts and the Palestinians have said they would not resume negotiations, which came to a halt almost one year ago, unless there is a total settlement freeze.A growing number of Israelis are opposed to a settlement freeze, according to poll results broadcast on Wednesday by Channel 10 television, a private Israeli station.It said 46 percent answered that they were opposed, 31 percent were for and 23 percent gave no opinion, in a survey of 500 Israelis that had a margin of error of 4.5 percent.A similar poll in September, before the moratorium, found 44.7 percent in favour and 38 percent opposed.
Israeli MPs threaten boycott of British products
Thu Dec 17, 3:11 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli MPs on Thursday threatened to call a boycott of British products unless London withdraws an advisory allowing retailers to state whether West Bank products were made by Palestinians or Jewish settlers.So far, 40 of Israel's 120 MPs have signed the petition which is to be sent to the British parliament, according to an aide to MP Ronit Tirosh of the centrist Kadima party.
Tirosh, leading the initiative, said the petition threatens to call on Israelis to think twice before buying British products if the decision is not rescinded by the British government.
She also called on officials to boycott British airlines.
I urge official Israeli representatives to abstain from using British airlines as long as the British government treats Israel as though two states existed, one within the green line and another outside,Tirosh said in reference to the border between the occupied West Bank and Israel.She said parliamentary president Reuven Rivlin had expressed support for the petition.Earlier this month the British government issued an advisory suggesting retailers could use labels distinguishing whether West Bank items are Israeli settlement produce or Palestinian produce.The move infuriated the Israeli government, which said it would encourage extremism among Palestinians.Tirosh likened the measure to the Nazi persecution of Jews. We intend to protest anything that singles out Jews as this kind of method brings back very bad memories,she told Israeli radio.The international community considers the Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal and a major hurdle to peace efforts.Relations between Britain and Israel soured further after an arrest warrant was issued against former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni for her role in the devastating military offensive in the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year.But British officials expressed opposition to the warrant, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday told Livni over the telephone that she would always be welcome in Britain.
The arrest warrant was understood to have been issued by a London court at the weekend.
Britain says Livni welcome despite arrest warrant By IAN DEITCH, Associated Press Writer – Wed Dec 16, 12:02 pm ET
JERUSALEM – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown phoned former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Wednesday to say she is still welcome in Britain, despite a recent attempt by pro-Palestinian activists to have her arrested during a planned visit to London.Livni's office said the British premier called on Wednesday afternoon to say he objects to the arrest warrant and that he intends to act to change the law that allowed it to be issued.A Downing Street spokesman confirmed the phone call. Brown "said it was a disappointment she couldn't visit, and that she would be welcome in the U.K. at any time, the spokesman said.The gesture did little to calm an uproar in Israel over the attempt to arrest Livni — the latest in a string of Israeli leaders to be threatened with legal action in Britain.Livni told reporters in Jerusalem that the warrant put other world leaders and countries at risk. This isn't just a warrant against me or the state of Israel, this is against every democratic country that is fighting terrorism, Livni said.The terrorists should be charged, not those fighting against them, Livni said.This is a challenge to the whole free world and not just Israel or Britain.Several Israeli officials have recently canceled visits to Britain because of efforts by Palestinians to bring Israelis before British courts under a law that allows trial for noncitizens accused of crimes committed elsewhere.Livni apparently was targeted because she was foreign minister during Israel's war against militants in the Gaza Strip in January. She has been opposition leader since a new government took office in March.The military campaign has drawn strong international condemnation because hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed, and a U.N. investigation has said that both Israel and Hamas militants committed war crimes. Israel denies wrongdoing, saying it did its best to avoid civilian casualties and that Hamas used civilians as human shields.
Livni's office said she was supposed to appear at a Jewish National Fund convention in Britain on Sunday, but canceled her visit two weeks ago for reasons unconnected with any legal action against her. Israel's Foreign Ministry says the warrant has since been canceled.Israel's president, Shimon Peres, angrily denounced the arrest attempt against Livni as one of the greatest political mistakes that could be done and urged Britain to quickly change its laws.Basically you could put any world leader on trial,he said in a statement. Everything is based on unilateral informants, on a hostile majority public opinion. The British promised they would fix this and it is time that they do so. Britain has to decide where it stands on our matter.British lawyers working with Palestinian activists have in recent years sought the arrest of senior Israeli civilian and military figures under terms of universal jurisdiction. This ill-defined legal concept empowers judges to issue arrest warrants for visiting officials accused of war crimes in a foreign conflict.
The threat of arrest has forced several former security officials to call off trips to London, including a former general who remained holed up on an airplane at Heathrow Airport in order to avoid arrest. Earlier this year, Defense Minister Ehud Barak fended off an arrest attempt by successfully arguing he enjoyed diplomatic immunity.British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Tuesday announced that Britain would no longer tolerate legal harassment of Israeli officials in this fashion.After meeting Israel's ambassador, Miliband said the British law permitting judges to issue arrest warrants against foreign dignitaries without any prior knowledge or advice by a prosecutor must be reviewed and reformed.
Israeli navy briefly detains five Gaza fishermen
Wed Dec 16, 9:36 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – The Israeli navy detained five Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Gaza and held them for several hours, witnesses and the military said on Wednesday.A military spokeswoman said the five were arrested on Tuesday afternoon when they left a designated area for fishing and did not respond to warning shots. They were released Wednesday, she said.Palestinian witnesses and an official in the Hamas-run police, however, said the arrests took place early Wednesday morning close to the shore.Israel and Egypt have sealed the Gaza Strip off from all but limited humanitarian aid since the Islamist Hamas movement seized power in June 2007.Under the blockade, Israel prevents fishermen from venturing more than five kilometres (three miles) offshore, even though a 2002 agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority set the boundary at 22 kilometres (13.5 miles).Before the embargo, some 3,500 fishermen plied their trade off Gaza's 40-kilometre (25-mile) Mediterranean coastline, with around 30,000 people relying on the fishing industry.
US backing lets Israel stall peace: Saudi FM
Wed Dec 16, 7:26 am ET
RIYADH (AFP) – Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said that US backing for Israel gave the Jewish state the option of not making peace, in an interview published on Wednesday.Absolute US backing... has made Israel see the option of living in the area without the acceptance of the people of the area, Prince Faisal was quoted as saying in the International Herald Tribune.This has led to many years of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.The prince also lamented the failure of his efforts to establish a Palestinian state and regional peace during his tenure of almost 35 years as foreign minister.During this period, we have seen only moments of crisis, we have seen only moments of conflict, Prince Faisal said.And how can you have any pleasure in anything that happens when you have people like the Palestinians living as they are? he asked.Peace until now is like holding water or sand in your hand. You see the amount of water, you think you can hold something, but it falls away. Sand is the same thing.
So unless there is something to hold in your hand and to point to as a success and as an achievement, you have done nothing.Separately, the prince said Lebanon would be denied true sovereignty as long as the Shiite militia Hezbollah owns more arms than the military forces of the country.He added he was suspicious of Iranian claims its nuclear programme is peaceful, and that Tehran should never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, the IHT reported.Many countries in the West accuse Iran of trying to obtain nuclear weapons, a charge it vehemently denies, saying its program is for peaceful energy purposes.The Saudi prince said Israel should also give up its nuclear arsenal, the existence of which it neither confirms nor denies.
PLO keeps Abbas as Palestinian president: officials
By Mohammed Assadi – Wed Dec 16, 7:14 am ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Wednesday extended until further notice the tenure of Mahmoud Abbas as president of the Palestinian Authority, PLO officials told Reuters.Members of the PLO Central Council said Abbas, whose term ends on January 25, will stay on until elections can be held, extending the tenure of the Western-backed leader who heads the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.Presidential and legislative elections called for January 24 were canceled due to a ban imposed by the Islamist Hamas group on participation in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, which controls the coastal enclave, disputes Abbas's legitimacy.The PLO Central Council also decided to extend the term of the Palestinian Legislative Council -- a dysfunctional parliament in which Hamas won a majority in 2006 elections.The chamber, whose term also expires in January, has not met since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.Abbas had repeatedly said he will not run again for the presidency but no date has been set for a future vote.The president has decided to stay in his post, Tawfiq al-Tirawi, a PLO Central Council member, told Reuters.Hamas, which is not part of the PLO, has already declared as illegitimate any extension of the 74-year-old's tenure.The Central Council also decided there should be no resumption of peace talks with Israel until a full halt to its settlement building in the occupied West Bank, Tirawi said.We will not go to negotiations until Israel fully halts settlement activities and agrees to a term of reference for such negotiations, he said.Abbas has been under pressure from the United States and the European Union to resume talks, frozen for the past year.He has said a partial, 10-month freeze on West Bank settlement building announced by Israel last month is not enough for a resumption of peace negotiations.
Abbas replaced Yasser Arafat as head of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority after his death in 2004.Founded in 1964 and recognized internationally as the representative of the Palestinians, the PLO is dominated by the Fatah party. The PLO Central Council created the Palestinian Authority in 1993 under interim peace accords with Israel. (Writing by Tom Perry)
Peace possible with full settlement freeze: Abbas
Wed Dec 16, 3:06 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel and the Palestinians could clinch a peace deal within six months if the Jewish state halted all settlement growth, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said in an interview published on Wednesday.I spoke with Defence Minister Ehud Barak twice over recent weeks, Abbas told Israel's left-leaning Haaretz daily.I suggested to him three weeks ago that Israel freeze all settlement construction for six months, including in east Jerusalem, without declaring it, just carrying it out in practice.During this time, we can return to the negotiating table and perhaps even achieve a final-status agreement. I have yet to receive an answer, the moderate Western-backed president said.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month announced a 10-month construction freeze in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank in the hope it would help kick-start peace talks suspended nearly a year ago.But the Palestinians have rejected the move, saying it fell far short of their demand for a complete halt of settlement activity in the whole West Bank, including annexed east Jerusalem.Netanyahu's moratorium does not include east Jerusalem or the 3,000 homes already under construction in the West Bank, or public buildings.In the interview, Abbas once again accused Israel of violating the 2003 roadmap agreement adopted by the international community, which calls on the Jewish state to freeze settlements.The roadmap makes demands of all parties. We were required to stop terror attacks, recognise Israel and even stop incitement. So come and see what we did,Abbas said.They said there is a problem with incitement in speeches in mosques during Friday prayers. Today there is no more incitement at any mosque... The security situation in the West Bank is excellent.The most recent round of peace talks between the two sides was suspended nearly a year ago at the start of Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli policewoman wounded in clash with settlers
Tue Dec 15, 1:00 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – An Israeli border policewoman was wounded on Tuesday in clashes with Jewish settlers protesting a 10-month moratorium on new building permits for settlers in the occupied West Bank, officials said.The officer was part of a group protecting inspectors trying to enforce the new building restrictions in the settlement of Tsofim in the northern West Bank.During work by the security forces to enforce the freeze in Tsofim some 60 youths rampaged, wounding one policewoman, said border police spokesman Moshe Finsi.Two of the youths, who allegedly punched her in the stomach, have been arrested, he said, adding that she was hospitalised in a moderate condition.
Previous attempts to stop the inspectors have ended with minor scuffles only.
Late last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a 10-month moratorium on new permits for house construction in West Bank settlements.Settlers and right-wing politicians expressed outrage that the government should limit Jewish construction on what they consider the biblical Land of Israel.The settlement issue has been one of the thorniest in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.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.
Egyptian, Turkish leaders discuss Mideast
Tue Dec 15, 12:39 pm ET
ANKARA (AFP) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul held talks here Tuesday on the impasse in the Middle East peace process and the rift between Palestinians factions.The two leaders discussed the threats posed to the peace process... by the Israeli government's practices in the West Bank and the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, Mubarak told reporters through an interpreter.
Gul said Ankara was closely following Egypt's great efforts on issues related to (securing) Palestinian unity and pledged Turkish support so that this issue is resolved as soon as possible.Instability in Iraq and Yemen as well as tensions over Iran's nuclear activities were also on the agenda of the talks, Mubarak said.
Gulf Arab states move closer to single currency
By TAREK EL-TABLAWY, AP Business Writer – Tue Dec 15, 8:34 am ET
CAIRO – Gulf Arab nations put into force a monetary pact Tuesday, moving a step closer toward the elusive goal of a single regional currency and greater integration between the mainly oil-rich states.The announcement by Kuwait's finance minister came as leaders from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council nations were wrapping up a two-day summit in which they launched a regional electricity project and discussed, among other issues, Iran's nuclear program and the war in Yemen.Mustafa al-Shimali told Kuwait's official KUNA news agency that the launching of the monetary pact would now allow the governors of the central banks of the six GCC nations to set up a timetable for the establishment of a regional central bank, with the aim of launching a unified Gulf currency.The GCC, which groups Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain, has been trying for years to develop a unified currency as part of a push for broader economic integration between their predominantly oil-rich nations.This is something that a lot of people were looking forward to,said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Banque Saudi Fransi-Credit Agricole Group. This is a good step forward, but we also need to have some clarity on the authority of the monetary council" such as the timeframe at which they will move ahead.The plan has hit repeated obstacles, however, with the United Arab Emirates and Oman saying they would not participate.
Still under review is whether the unified currency would be pegged to a basket of currencies, the U.S. dollar or some other currency. All GCC nations peg their currencies to the dollar except for Kuwait which relies on a basket of currencies.
Also unclear is whether the UAE — the second largest economy in the Arab world — will do an about-face and join the union. Oman has said it won't join because it is not ready.
Al-Shimali voiced hopes that the two nations would join in the near future.
The UAE, a federation of seven semiautonomous sheikdoms that includes glitzy and now debt-saddled Dubai, said it was pulling out shortly after GCC officials selected Saudi Arabia — the Arab world's largest economy and home to the world's largest proven reserves of oil — as the future headquarters of the new central bank.They have made it clear that they will move ahead without the UAE and Oman, said Sfakianakis. But one should be optimistic that at some later stage, the UAE and Oman ... or one of the two, will eventually become a participant in this.At this stage, I see it as highly unlikely,he said.
Israeli court bars Gazans from jail visits
Tue Dec 15, 8:34 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a government decision that bars Gaza Strip residents visiting relatives in Israeli jails, saying this is not a basic humanitarian need.Israel, which holds thousands of Palestinians in its prisons, has barred all travel from Gaza to Israel, except for humanitarian cases, since the Islamist group Hamas seized control of the coastal strip in June 2007.In its ruling Tuesday on a petition brought by a rights group, the court said it would not make an exception to this for prisoners' families as the decision was made in accordance with Israel's political and security needs.Allowing the entry of Gaza residents into Israel for this purpose is not included within the framework of the basic humanitarian needs of Gaza Strip residents that Israel is required to meet, the court wrote.The court also said it believed that the extra traffic of relatives passing through the Israel-Gaza border crossing posed a security threat given that the crossings have been a repeated target for terror attacks.Human rights groups criticised the decision, saying it was not only the rights of Gazans but also those of the prisoners themselves that were being violated.We argue that the rights to prison visits are a basic right under international law, said Joel Greenberg, spokesman for the Israeli group Moked, which filed the petition.
Greenberg also said the ban amounted to collective punishment for Gaza residents.
Because it is applied in a sweeping way and not on an individual basis it is a form of collective punishment, he said.Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2004 and since the Hamas takeover has regarded Gaza as a hostile territory,sealing it off to all but vital humanitarian supplies.
