Peru recognizes Palestinian state
– Mon Jan 24, 7:27 pm ET
LIMA, Peru – Peru has joined a growing number of South American countries in recognizing an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.However, the decision announced by Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde does not recognize Palestine's borders pre-dating the Six-Day War of 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza.Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia have recently recognized those borders.Peru's position is similar to that of Chile. Both governments say the issue must be worked out between Israelis and Palestinians.Garcia said Monday that Peru also recognizes Israel's indisputable right to exist without any threats to its people.Its announcement comes ahead of a mid-February summit in Lima of South American and Arab leaders.
Secret files expose Palestinian offers to Israel
by Hazel Ward – Mon Jan 24, 3:21 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Palestinians offered Israel major concessions on the thorny issues of annexed east Jerusalem and refugees in 2008 peace talks, in leaked documents angrily dismissed as distortions on Monday.Details of the proposals emerged as Al-Jazeera news channel began late Sunday to release the first of some 1,600 documents known as the Palestine Papers on more than 10 years of secret US-brokered Middle East peace talks.The files, shared with Britain's Guardian newspaper, caused surprise and anger among Palestinian leaders, with chief negotiator Saeb Erakat saying they contained lies and president Mahmud Abbas saying they distorted the issue.Described by Al-Jazeera and the Guardian as the most important leak in the history of the conflict, the papers include hundreds of official Palestinian transcripts from private meetings with the Israelis.Central to the revelations is a series of far-reaching Palestinian offers regarding Jewish settlements in occupied east Jerusalem, the scope of which have never been made public.What is in that paper gives them the biggest Yerushalaim in Jewish history, Erakat said in one of the documents, using the Hebrew name for the Holy City.
He was talking about a Palestinian offer in 2008 which would allow Israel to keep all but one of its settlements in east Jerusalem as well as the walled Old City's Jewish Quarter and part of the Armenian Quarter.The offer was made during talks between Condoleezza Rice who was US secretary of state at the time, Israel's then foreign minister Tzipi Livni, former Palestinian premier Ahmad Qorei and Erakat, according to the documents.We proposed that Israel annexes all settlements in Jerusalem except Jabal Abu Ghneim (Har Homa), Qorei is quoted as saying.But Israel turned down the offer, refusing to even place Jerusalem on the agenda, let alone offer the PA (Palestinian Authority) concessions in return for its historic offer, the papers show.In other papers to be released in the days ahead, Erakat was also said to have offered to accept the return of only 100,000 refugees who fled or were forced out when Israel was founded in 1948.
They now number -- with their descendants -- almost five million.The report comes as world powers seek ways to haul Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table after direct peace talks broke down last September in a dispute over Jewish settlements.The revelations prompted a furious reaction from the Palestinians, with Erakat accusing Al-Jazeera of a smear campaign.Al-Jazeera's information is full of distortions and fraud, he told AFP from Cairo where he was accompanying Abbas, saying the revelations were taken out of context and contain lies.Erakat, who was widely quoted in the papers, later issued a statement that the two sides had discussed many ideas... including some we could never agree to as part of the negotiation process.Speaking after meeting Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, Abbas accused the Doha-based satellite channel of deliberately mixing up the Palestinian and Israeli positions.Their goal is to mix things up, he charged, suggesting the channel had attributed Israeli positions to the Palestinians.The United States acknowledged that the release of the secret Palestinian files made the Middle East situation more difficult. but said a framework peace deal remained possible. None of this changes our understanding of what is at stake and what needs to be done, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.
We don't deny that this release will, at least for a time, make the situation more difficult than it already was, but again, we are clear-eyed about this, we always recognised that this would be a great challenge but it doesn't change our overall objective.We continue to believe that a framework agreement is both possible and necessary, so we continue to work and engage the parties as we've done throughout the process, he said.The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, who has been involved in Israeli-Palestinian talks since 2007, said that some of the commentary he has seen conveys an inaccurate impression, a UN spokesman said.Serry said he could personally attest to the commitment of Palestinian leaders to secure the full rights of their people, spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters at the United Nations.But Gaza's Hamas rulers said the revelations revealed the ugly face of Abbas's leadership, with spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri saying it was cooperating with the occupation.Israel offered no official reaction, and Livni, now the opposition leader, said only she would continue to maintain discretion of the talks, in order to protect Israeli interests.
Al-Jazeera reveals historic concession on Jerusalem
– Sun Jan 23, 11:03 pm ET
DUBAI (AFP) – Palestinian negotiators offered in 2008 to cede vast swathes of annexed east Jerusalem in peace talks with Israel, Al-Jazeera news channel reported, citing secret documents.Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, however, questioned on the Doha-based channel, said the Palestinian leadership had nothing to hide and dismissed most of the report as a pack of lies.Al-Jazeera said the Jerusalem areas offered were where Jewish settlements have been built, including French Hill, Ramat Alon and Gilo, as well as the Jewish Quarter and a part of the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem?s Old City.Israel, the Arab satellite channel added, offered nothing in return for what it called the historic concession from the Palestinians, in the documents which Britain's The Guardian newspaper said it was also leaking.Al-Jazeera said the concessions came at a June 2008 meeting in Jerusalem between Condoleezza Rice, then US secretary of state, then Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni and ex-Palestinian premier Ahmad Qorei, and Erakat. This last proposition could help in the swap process, Qorei is quoted as saying in the Palestine Papers.We proposed that Israel annexes all settlements in Jerusalem except Jabal Abu Ghneim (Har Homa),he said in the documents, as cited by the news channel.
This is the first time in history that we make such a proposition; we refused to do so in Camp David, he added, referring to the US-hosted 2000 Camp David peace talks attended by late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.But the Israeli side refused to even place Jerusalem on the agenda, let alone offer the PA (Palestinian Authority) concessions in return for its historic offer, the report said.Qorei told Livni at the June 2008 meeting, however, there would be no concessions on Jewish settlements in the West Bank, according to the Palestine Papers.The report comes as world powers seek ways to haul Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table after direct peace talks broke down last September in a dispute over Jewish settlements.
The United States on Sunday said it was reviewing the alleged Palestinian documents.
We cannot vouch for their veracity, said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley in a Twitter post.The Palestinians refuse to resume negotiations while Israel builds on land they want for a future state of their own.In what it termed shocking revelations, Al-Jazeera said it had obtained more than 1,600 internal confidential documents from a decade of US-brokered peace negotiations.They were to be disclosed in installments on the channel and its website.We are offering you the biggest Yerushalayim in Jewish history, chief negotiator Erakat is quoted as telling Livni, using the Jewish name for the Holy City.Erakat also offered concessions on the status of Jerusalem's Temple Mount, which houses the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, according to the Palestine Papers.
On refugees, he is said to have offered to accept the return of only 100,000 out of the Palestinians who fled at the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and their descendants, now numbering almost five million.But Erakat scoffed at the reports.We have not gone back on our position. If we had given ground on the refugees and made such concessions, why hasn't Israel agreed to sign a peace accord? he asked.Observers said the Al-Jazeera report revealed little new as details of the land swap proposals had long been an open secret.In Britain, The Guardian said on its website that the cache of confidential Palestinian documents obtained by Al-Jazeera was to be shared exclusively with the daily.The documents also show how PA leaders had been privately tipped off about Israel's 2008-2009 war against the Gaza Strip ruled by the Islamist movement Hamas, the paper said.The overall impression... is of the weakness and growing desperation of PA leaders as failure to reach agreement or even halt all settlement temporarily undermines their credibility in relation to their Hamas rivals.The Guardian said the papers also reveal the unyielding confidence of Israeli negotiators.The leaked documents were drawn up by PA officials and lawyers working for the British-funded PLO negotiations support unit and include extensive verbatim transcripts of private meetings,it said.Many of them had been independently authenticated by The Guardian and corroborated by former participants in the talks and intelligence and diplomatic sources.
Israel probe okays flotilla raid, Turkey stunned
by Sara Hussein – Sun Jan 23, 7:31 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – An Israeli probe ruled on Sunday that a May 2010 raid on Gaza-bound aid ships that killed nine Turks was in keeping with international law, a finding which stunned and dismayed Ankara.In its preliminary findings released the same day, a Turkish investigation said Israeli troops had used disproportionate force in boarding the flotilla of ships to prevent them from reaching Israeli-blockaded Gaza.The assault earned the Jewish state international censure, prompting Israeli MPs to appoint a commission to examine both the military operation's legality and Israel's blockade.In its report, Israel's six-member commission concluded that both the raid and the blockade of the impoverished Palestinian territory complied with international law.The naval blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip ... was legal pursuant to the rules of international law, the panel said.The actions carried out by Israel on May 31, 2010 to enforce the naval blockade had the regrettable consequences of the loss of human life and physical injuries, the report said.Nonetheless ... the actions taken were found to be legal pursuant to the rules of international law.The commission said Israeli troops encountered extreme violence when they boarded the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, a ferry carrying around 600 people that led the six-ship flotilla.A group of activists from the Turkish Islamist IHH organisation on board the ship used firearms against the soldiers during the hostilities, the report said, repeating an allegation denied by the activists.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embraced the findings.I hope that those who hurried to judge Israel, who hurried to judge the soldiers and condemn them, I hope they will read this report and learn the truth about the incidents, Netanyahu said.The truth is simple. The soldiers defended their country and they defended themselves and that is not only their right, but their duty, Netanyahu said.The state of Israel stands behind them and thanks them for their courage.But Turkey reacted angrily, with Netanyahu's counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan charging that the Israeli report lacked any credibility, quoted by Turkey's Anatolia news agency.How can a report ordered and prepared in the same country have any value? the Turkish premier told journalists in Ankara. This report has no credibility.And a separate probe by Turkish investigators concluded that Israeli troops had used excessive force.The force used to intercept the Mavi Marmara exceeded the limits of what was appropriate and necessary, said Turkey's commission, which interviewed Turkish and foreign activists on the flotilla.It called on Israel to pay compensation to families of the victims.The Turkish commission, in a separate statement, said it was stunned and dismayed by the conclusions of the report of the Israeli commission, which included two international observers.
The attack carried out by Israel was a violation of rights, in times of peace or of war, and was also against all international principles, rules and norms, the commission said.Israeli rights groups also reacted with dismay. Israel's Physicians for Human Rights accused the commission of moral and legal blindness.In Gaza, the ruling Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas dismissed the Israeli report as a desperate attempt ... to improve the image (of Israel) by covering up the crime.The Mavi Marmara was the biggest of the vessels that in the group attempting to break Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, imposed in June 2006 after Gaza militants kidnapped an Israeli soldier.The Israeli commission heard testimony from high-ranking Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, Defence Minister Ehud Barak and army chief General Gabi Ashkenazi.None of the soldiers who actually participated in the raid were authorised to testify.Two other panels are examining the incident.The United Nations Human Rights Council quickly formed its own inquiry panel, with which Israel refused to cooperate on the grounds that it was biased against the Jewish state.And in August 2010, UN chief Ban Ki-moon named his own panel to investigate, chaired by New Zealand former premier Geoffrey Palmer, and with representatives from both Israel and Turkey.UN spokesman Martin Nesirky, in an email sent to AFP, said on Sunday that the panel would review material provided by both sides, Israel and Turkey.
Israel's FM eyes temporary Palestinian state
– Sun Jan 23, 3:37 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Israeli foreign minister is drawing up a plan that would establish a Palestinian state within temporary borders, a source at his ministry said on Sunday.The plan being drafted by Israel's controversial Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is still in its preliminary stages but envisions leaving talks on the final shape of a Palestinian state for future negotiations.The idea is one Lieberman has floated publicly before, although the Palestinians have rejected the possibility of any interim state, saying they want a comprehensive deal that will guarantee them a real nation.The foreign ministry source had no details on the substance of Lieberman's plan, which was first reported by Israeli daily Haaretz on Sunday morning.The paper said Lieberman had drafted a map of the transitional state's boundaries but had not yet shown it to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has spoken in favour of a long-term interim agreement with the Palestinians.
According to Haaretz, Lieberman's plan would give the Palestinians around 40 percent of the Israeli-occupied West Bank to form their initial fledgling state.That could subsequently expand to up to 50 percent of the West Bank, according to Haaretz's description of the plan, which reportedly makes no mention of the Gaza Strip, ruled by the militant Islamic Hamas movement.Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat dismissed the reported plan of Israel's ultra-nationalist foreign minister.About the new invention of Lieberman; he is busy preparing for what he calls a state with provisional borders, Erakat said on Israeli army radio, adding with a laugh, I don't know what's happening to Israel.It's coming, the Palestinian state is coming, he said. Israel cannot stop it anymore.Israeli Information Minister Yuli Edelstein, of Netanyahu's Likud party, was cautious in his response to the report, saying only that any initiative should be arrived at in talks between the two sides.No plan should be unilateral, he told reporters at a cabinet meeting. Even temporary borders should only be decided in negotiations.Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians in September collapsed over Israeli settlement-building in the West Bank and occupied east Jerusalem.US envoys are currently meeting both sides in a bid to mediate indirect talks, but the Palestinians rule out dialogue with the Israelis while Jewish construction continues on land they want for their future state.
France urges resumption of Middle East peace talks
– Sat Jan 22, 9:35 pm ET
AMMAN (AFP) – France is ready to host another donor conference for Palestinians if the Palestinian-Israeli peace process is resumed, Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie has said.France is available to organise a second conference of donors, and we are ready to host them in Paris, Alliot-Marie said during a meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.France had hosted a donors conference in December 2007.The minister urged a resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, saying peace in the Middle East is indispensable.What is possible today might be impossible in a few months. That is why we must move forward, Alliot-Marie told reporters in Amman.
She was addressing a joint news conference with Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki after a dinner with Abbas in the Jordanian capital.France is committed to three principles: the creation of a Palestinians state, guaranteed security for Israel and Jerusalem as the capital of two states with free access to holy places for all those who come to practise their religions, she said.This is essential, she added.The Palestinians have refused to take part in US-brokered direct talks with Israel since late September when Israel refused to extend a moratorium on settlement construction.Alliot-Marie, who is on a regional tour, said in Tel Aviv on Thursday that France would vote for a UN Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements drafted by Arab states if it were moderate and did not halt a resumption of peace talks.We are ready to go back to the negotiations once there are clear references in line with the 1967 borders, Maliki said.We are looking forward to seeing a Quartet meeting in February. We hope it will issue a clear and strong political declaration that would tackle the references for the peace talks with Israel, he added.The Quartet's members -- Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations -- are to meet on February 5 in Munich, Germany.In an interview with the Palestinian daily Al-Quds newspaper, Alliot-Marie reaffirmed that the European Union views the 1967 borders as the basis on which to conduct peace talks.
The European Union reaffirmed its position very clearly in December 2009, indicating it would not recognise any modification of the 1967 borders unless it was agreed by both parties, including east Jerusalem, she said.She also reiterated France's commitment to seeing through the creation of an independent Palestinian state by the end of this year.Alliot-Marie, who met with her Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh on Saturday, holds talks with King Abdullah II on Sunday.
