LISTEN TO JACK KINSELLA AND JAN ABOUT PROPHECY & STUXNET HR2 JAN 8,11
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Israeli PM defends east Jerusalem construction By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press - JAN 10,11 10:30AM
JERUSALEM – Israel's prime minister on Monday defended the construction of a new Israeli enclave in an Arab neighborhood in east Jerusalem, rejecting a wave of international condemnation.The Palestinians, the European Union and the U.S. have all condemned the planned building of 20 apartments for Israelis on the site of an empty hotel in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. The project, approved in 2009, began in earnest Sunday with the demolition of the Shepherd Hotel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed off the criticism, saying the construction was a private project carried out in accordance with Israeli law.There should be no expectation that the state of Israel will impose a ban on Jews purchasing private property in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said in a statement. No democratic government would impose such a ban on Jews and Israel will certainly not do so.Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been stalled for more than three months, in large part because of Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.The Palestinians refuse to negotiate as long as Israel continues to build new homes in these areas, captured territories on which the Palestinians hope to establish an independent state. Netanyahu has called for peace talks without preconditions.During a trip to the Persian Gulf, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday she was very concerned about the east Jerusalem project, saying it contradicts the logic of a negotiated peace between Israelis and Palestinians.The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, condemned the illegal settlement and said such projects undermine trust between the parties and constitute an obstacle to peace.
The dispute over east Jerusalem is the most explosive issue in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Israel annexed the area, home to sensitive Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites, after the 1967 war.Although that move has never been internationally recognized, Israel considers the entire city its capital and has ringed east Jerusalem with a series of Jewish neighborhoods meant to solidify its control of the area. In addition, several thousand nationalist settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves inside Arab neighborhoods like Sheikh Jarrah.The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their capital and consider all Israeli residents in the area to be illegal settlers.The Shepherd Hotel was built in the 1930s as the residence of the mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin Husseini, a Nazi sympathizer who was forced to flee Jerusalem's British rulers at the end of the decade.The building was later controlled by Jordan, which ruled east Jerusalem after 1948, and then taken over by Israel when it captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Israeli government sold the plot to Jewish American businessman Irving Moskowitz, a longtime patron of Jewish settlers, in 1985.After years of bureaucratic delays, Moskowitz received the necessary permits to proceed with his development in 2009. The project's backers say an additional 50 apartments are planned for the site.
Envoys urge EU backing for Palestinians in Jerusalem
JAN 10,11
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli policies are undermining chances of making East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state, local European Union diplomats said in a report recommending more visible EU diplomacy in the city.Proposals in the confidential paper obtained by Reuters on Monday include the dispatch of EU observers to the scene of Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and a possible ban on the entry of violent settlers to EU countries.The past year, wrote the heads of EU missions in Jerusalem the West Bank city of Ramallah, had again seen a further deterioration of the overall situation in East Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the West Bank in a 1967 war.The report to EU headquarters in Brussels highlighted problems faced by Palestinians in East Jerusalem, including difficulty acquiring Israeli permission to build and restrictive measures governing their residency status.These require Palestinians to regularly prove that Jerusalem is the center of their life. Palestinians who fail to do so risk losing their Israeli-issued permit to live in the city.If current trends are not stopped as a matter of urgency, the prospect of East Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state becomes increasingly unlikely and unworkable, the paper said, citing Israeli settlement on occupied land in and around Jerusalem.This, in turn, seriously endangers the chances of a sustainable peace on the basis of two states, with Jerusalem as their future capital, the diplomats said.Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of the state they intend to create in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim that has not won international recognition.
EU POLICY
Israel, the document said, was systematically undermining the Palestinian presence in the city and there should be a more active and visible implementation of EU policy on East Jerusalem.On Sunday, Israel drew U.S. and EU criticism after bulldozers demolished a derelict East Jerusalem hotel to make room for 20 new homes for Jews in a privately-funded settlement project. Israel said Jews had a right to live anywhere in the city.Speaking on condition of anonymity, EU diplomats said most of the recommendations in the report were not new but it was the first time they had been leaked.An Israeli official said: We are talking about an internal EU document that they have sent to Brussels, and we have no idea if Brussels is going to go with the idea or not.European people who are stationed in Jerusalem have a specific attitude that is well-known, the official added.The European Union views East Jerusalem as occupied territory and says the city's status should be decided in final status negotiations between the sides.But the U.S.-led peace process which the Palestinians have been hoping would deliver them independence has been paralyzed by a dispute over Israeli settlement building. The submissions made by the EU envoys had been drawn up in a spirit that aims to maintain the possibility of a two-state solution,their report said.They included ensuring EU intervention when Palestinians are arrested or intimidated by Israeli authorities for peaceful cultural, social or political activities in East Jerusalem.(Reporting by Tom Perry and Dan Williams; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)
Palestinians say they'll go to UN for recognition By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press - JAN 10,11
RAMALLAH, West Bank – The Palestinian foreign minister says he will seek United Nations recognition for a Palestinian state in September and is currently lobbying for votes worldwide.The move is part of the Palestinians' so-called Plan B of pursuing an alternative to a negotiated peace deal while talks with Israel remain stalled. Riad Malki's announcement Sunday followed Chile's recognition of Palestine, making it the fifth South American country to do so recently.While a majority for Palestine in the General Assembly seems possible, recognition by the Security Council — whose decisions are legally binding — would likely face an American veto.
The September target date has the month shaping up to be a crucial one for the Palestinians. It also marks the time frame for President Barack Obama's goal of reaching a peace deal and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's hope of having the foundations of the future state ready.U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said progress in the development of Palestinian governmental institutions may help forestall the moves to declare statehood or seek U.N. action against Israel.
We continue to believe strongly that New York is not the place to resolve the long-standing conflict and outstanding issues between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Clinton said, during a visit to Abu Dhabi. We do not think that that is a productive path for the Palestinians or anyone to pursue.Fayyad has acknowledged that the recognition drive at the U.N. will not necessarily bring realization of a state. But it helps the Palestinians enshrine their demand that the 1967 borders serve as the basis for drawing their nation's shape. The Palestinians want their state in the lands Israel captured in the Mideast war that year — the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.Such recognition would create political and legal pressure on Israel to withdraw its forces from the land of another state that is recognized within the '67 borders by the international organization,Malki, the foreign minister, told reporters in Ramallah.He said the Palestinian Authority is working to attain as much recognition as possible for a state by September, when it will call for a U.N. vote. It will initially seek Security Council recognition but, failing that, will turn to the General Assembly, where the decisions are not binding but there is no veto.The Palestinians have made South America a priority. Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador recognized Palestinian statehood last month, and Uruguay, Paraguay and Peru are expected to join Chile on that list in the coming weeks.
Malki said Asia, Africa and the Caribbean were next in line.In the Caribbean there are 12 small states ... but these countries have the same vote that China has in the U.N. General Assembly, he said.About 100 other countries have recognized statehood — most of them developing nations — after the Palestinians declared independence in 1988, and a few others, mostly former Soviet republics, did so after the 1993 Oslo peace accords. In the mid- and late-2000s, Venezuela and Costa Rica followed suit.
Malki said the Palestinians have been talking to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador as well, and that Spain has promised to recognize Palestine in September.Spain would be the first western European country to do so. Former Communist countries in eastern Europe, including Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, were among those who recognized Palestine in 1988.The Palestinians appear to have a majority in the General Assembly, but are unlikely to get the go-ahead in the Security Council.The U.S. routinely vetoes measures Israel considers hostile, and the U.S. House of Representatives last week passed a resolution condemning unilateral measures to declare or recognize a Palestinian state.Israeli officials have called the recognition declarations meaningless and counterproductive to the peace process. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines, though he says he remains committed to negotiating a partition of the land.
Israel launches twin air strikes on Gaza
– Mon Jan 10, 2:25 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli warplanes launched twin air strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight in response to rocket and mortar fire from the Hamas-controlled territory, an army spokesman said on Monday.The strikes targeted centres of terrorist activities, which have been hit, said the spokesman, referring to projectiles fired from Gaza over the weekend.Israel considers the Islamist Hamas movement as the only organisation responsible for the firing of the missiles even if it does not claim responsibility, said the spokesman.In December 2008, Israel launched its devastating Operation Cast Lead into the Gaza Strip in response to rocket and mortar fire.The 22-day war, which ended in a ceasefire on January 18, 2009, killed 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.In its wake the number of Palestinian attacks dropped significantly, although 230 rockets and mortar rounds were fired at Israel during 2010, according to army figures.Right wingers in the Israeli government called on Sunday for tough military action against Gaza militants after a violent weekend on Israel's border with the Palestinian coastal enclave.
The government must consider afresh a policy of zero tolerance, exert a heavy price, not let this situation deteriorate, National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau told journalists at the weekly cabinet meeting.It needs to stop, added Landau, from the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party.The military said two rockets had slammed into southern Israel on Sunday, one shortly after midnight and a second later in the morning, bringing the number of rockets and mortar rounds fired across the border this year to 20.On Saturday, three people on an Israeli kibbutz were wounded, two of them seriously, by mortar fire from the Gaza Strip, for which the militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.That followed a border firefight between militants and Israeli troops on Friday in which an Israeli soldier was killed by so-called friendly fire.Israel has so far responded to nearly every instance of projectile fire with air strikes on the Gaza Strip.
Most nations to recognise us in 2011: Palestinians
by Hossam Ezzedine – Sun Jan 9, 2:07 pm ET
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Most of the world's nations will announce recognition of a Palestinian state by September 2011, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said on Sunday.The majority of the international community will recognise an independent Palestinian state by September, Malki told a group of Palestinian journalists in the West Bank city of Ramallah.Malki said the European Union had already expressed its intention to recognise a Palestinian state by September, which would mark one year since the restart of direct peace talks that have stalled over continued Israeli settlement construction.The Spanish foreign minister (Trinidad Jimenez) told me that the European Union will recognise a Palestinian state at the beginning of September, Malki said, without specifying when the conversation occurred.And if the European Union doesn't take this decision then Spain will be the first European country to announce its recognition of the Palestinian state, and we're optimistic, he added.Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians began September 2 in Washington, ending nearly two years without direct negotiations.But the talks ground to a halt just weeks later, with the expiry of an Israeli ban on settlement building in the West Bank.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas demanded a new ban, saying he would not negotiate while Israel builds on land the Palestinians want for their future state.But US efforts to secure a new freeze failed, with Israel declining to impose any new restrictions on Jewish construction in the West Bank or east Jerusalem.Washington has called on both sides to engage in indirect, US-mediated talks, and Palestinian and Israeli negotiators were expected in the United States this week.But Abbas has insisted there will be no real negotiations.In recent weeks, a string of Latin American nations have announced their recognition of an independent Palestinian state on the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war.The Palestinian leadership has touted the new recognitions from countries including Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Other nations, including Paraguay and Uruguay are reportedly planning to recognise the state soon.Malki said the Palestinian leadership was working to convince Mexico and several Latin and Central American nations to recognise the Palestinian state.Until September, we will work to secure as much recognition as we can, he said, adding increased international recognition would strengthen the Palestinian position in new talks or if it sought UN recognition for statehood.Malki also addressed plans by the Palestinian Authority to seek a United Nations Security Council resolution on Israeli settlement construction, saying Palestinian diplomats were seeking US support for a final text.We want a unanimous decision to be issued and we don't want a US veto to be used against this resolution, he said.The Palestinian delegation has the support of all the members except the American delegation, he added.
Comatose ex-Israeli PM moved back in hospital
– Sun Jan 9, 11:31 am ET
JERUSALEM – Officials say the comatose former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon was quietly returned to the hospital just days after he was moved home in November.
Two months ago Sharon was moved with great fanfare to his family ranch in southern Israel, but Tel Hashomer Hospital spokesman Amir Marom said Sunday the plan was always for a brief stay.Marom says that less than 48 hours after medical teams took the former leader home he was returned to the long-term care unit of a hospital outside Tel Aviv.The 82-year-old Sharon is a former war hero who led Israel from 2001until the 2006 stroke that left him in a vegetative state.Doctors say there has been no change in Sharon's condition.
Hamas urges militant groups to stop attacking Israel
By Nidal al-Mughrabi – Sun Jan 9, 8:05 am ET
GAZA (Reuters) – Hamas said on Sunday it has begun talks with other militant factions in the Gaza Strip to urge them to stop firing rockets at Israel, attacks that have raised Palestinian fears of a new Israeli offensive.The talks are a signal that Hamas hopes to avert any large-scale Israeli military operation in the enclave similar to a three-week campaign that ended in January 2009 and in which 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.We began contacts with factions over the situation in the field. Hamas seeks to control the situation on the ground and urge factions to recommit to the national agreement, Hamas official Ayman Taha said.
He was referring to an understanding that Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, said it reached with militant factions two years ago to halt rocket and mortar bomb fire.In recent weeks, Palestinian militants have stepped up attacks along the Gaza border, answered by Israeli strikes that killed 13 Palestinians, most of them gunmen, in December.Israel has said Hamas has largely held its fire over the past two years but the surge in rocket attacks meant it was not doing enough to curb other groups, which say their strikes are in retaliation for Israeli raids in Gaza and the West Bank.Several Hamas leaders have said a new Gaza war would inflict heavy casualties on Israel, but they also have spoken of a willingness for a reciprocal truce to facilitate the rebuilding of homes and infrastructure destroyed in the 2009 conflict.
The Hamas Islamist group is shunned by the West over its refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept existing interim Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements.(Editing by Jon Hemming)
Israel envoy to discuss reviving peace talks in U.S.
– Sat Jan 8, 4:18 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – An envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Washington next week to discuss ways to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a statement from Netanyahu's office said on Saturday.(Netanyahu's representative) Yitzhak Molcho and a Palestinian representative will travel to Washington next week with the aim of advancing the diplomatic process, the statement said.When asked, a spokesman for Netanyahu declined to comment whether Molcho would meet his Palestinian counterpart.Palestinian officials in the West Bank town of Ramallah said they were unaware that any Palestinian official would be traveling to the United States to discuss peacemaking efforts next week.Direct U.S.-backed peace talks stalled three months ago with the expiry of a 10-month partial Israeli moratorium on settlement building in the occupied West Bank. All efforts to find a formula to restart them have so far failed.(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah, writing by Ori Lewis)
Chile says it recognizes a Palestinian state By Eva Vergara, Associated Press – Fri Jan 7, 4:52 pm ET
SANTIAGO, Chile – Chile recognized Palestinian statehood on Friday, joining other South American nations in a push for Palestinians and Israelis to keep negotiating toward a lasting peace in the Middle East.Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno says Chile is following U.N. resolutions with its decision to recognize the existence of the state of Palestine as a free, independent and sovereign state, coexisting in peace with the State of Israel.Chile's decision follows a meeting in Brazil between Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has been lobbying his counterparts to show their support. Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador recognized Palestinian statehood last month, and Uruguay and Paraguay are expected to join them in the coming weeks.Chile, whose Palestinian population of about 400,000 is among the largest outside the Arab world, also had been lobbied intensely Israeli representatives.About 100 other countries have recognized statehood — most after Palestinians declared independence in 1988, and a few others, mostly former Soviet republics, did so after the 1993 Oslo peace accords. In recent years, Venezuela (2005) and Costa Rica (2008) also provided recognition.
Israeli officials have reacted to the declarations by calling them meaningless and counterproductive to the peacemaking process.Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki recently told The Associated Press that the aim is to persuade more countries to endorse the 1967 boundaries, before Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. We are making efforts so that the rest of the countries will first recognize a Palestinian state in the '67 borders and secondly raise the level of Palestinian diplomatic representation to that of an embassy,he told the AP.But Chile's only mention of borders Friday came in support of Israel, noting that Chile has completely supported the right of the state of Israel to exist within secure and internationally recognized frontiers.Recognizing pre-1967 borders for a Palestinian state could undermine Chile's own position in a dispute over its maritime border with Peru, now before the International Court of Justice in the Hague. Chile maintains that the border was established by treaty after an 1879 war in which Chile seized a large slice of southern Peru and left Bolivia landlocked, and should not now be changed.The government's resolution also noted that both Jewish and Palestinian communities have been key to Chile's social, cultural, political and economic development for many years, working in harmony that should serve as a model for their both the Israeli and Palestinian states. It's a message that Pinera plans to make personally during a visit to the Middle East in March.Associated Press Writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Michael Warren in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.
