BORDER OPENING BRINGS LITTLE RELIEF

In Gaza, border opening brings little relief
By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press – JUNE 21,11 7AM

RAFAH, Gaza Strip – The reopening of the Gaza Strip's main border crossing with Egypt brought widespread relief to Palestinians suffering from a four-year blocakade. But one month later, some 20,000 people are on a wait list and despair is growing in this crowded territory.Residents still must apply for travel permits, and the first available dates to cross are in late August. Frustrated travelers gather at the crossing each day, clutching medical reports, foreign residency permits and university registration documents in hopes of persuading the authorities to let them through.And after a brief period of goodwill, many are openly asking whether Egypt's new government is truly committed to improving relations with the Palestinians.It seems nothing has changed and we are still locked in this big jail, said Ghassan al-Jaabri, a 35-year-old man who originally had been scheduled to visit his in-laws in Ukraine on June 11.The Rafah terminal has traditionally been Gaza's main gateway to the outside world, used by residents who need to travel abroad for medical care, business purposes, studies or family visits. In an area with an estimated 45 percent unemployment rate, many want to leave in search of work elsewhere in the Arab world.Movement through the terminal was greatly restricted after the Hamas militant group seized power in Gaza in June 2007. Following the takeover, Egypt and Israel imposed a strict blockade on the territory, arguing the closure was needed to prevent weapons and militants from moving in and out of the area.Under the closure, Egypt allowed no more than 300 or so people to exit each day, primarily those traveling abroad for university studies, medical procedures unavailable in Gaza or religious pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia.Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist group, allowed just a few dozen through its crossing at the other end of Gaza on any given day, mostly medical patients and a select group of businessmen who trade with Israel. Both borders were frequently closed on security grounds.The situation was expected to change after the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last February. The caretaker military government promised to improve relations with Hamas, and in its first tangible gesture to the Palestinians, announced in May that it was permanently opening Rafah.

Egypt promised longer operating hours and said it was dropping most travel restrictions, meaning that virtually anyone could leave Gaza within days. Most critically, it promised to more than triple the number of people allowed to leave each day, with the aim of reducing the lengthy wait that Gazans face.Even on the May 28 reopening of Gaza, there were early signs of trouble. As scores of jubilant travelers lined up at the border, fewer than 400 were allowed to cross. Since then, residents say, there has been little improvement.Even those who do have permits are often refused entry by Egypt without explanation.The Palestinians can no longer bear the humiliation of the Rafah border crossing, said Yousef Rezqa, a top adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in an op-ed article.We want free and dignified travel.Hamas has becoming increasingly vocal in its criticism of Egypt. The militant group shut the border for several days earlier this month to protest the repeated delays.We have about 20,000 people on our waiting list, said Salma Barka, director of the Palestinian side of the Rafah terminal. With only 300 people crossing each day, it will be impossible to clear the backlog anytime soon, he said.The solution should come from the Egyptian side. They should speed up the process and keep the promises they made a few weeks ago,he said.A senior Egyptian intelligence official said that Egypt is working with the Palestinians to try to improve movement across the border. But he said Egypt believes it is legitimate to maintain a blacklist of people banned from crossing, and made clear that Egypt is not happy with Hamas' pressure tactics.

Hamas is exercising pressure on us through demonstrations at the other side to give the impression that Egypt was on the negative side,said the official, who, spoke on condition of anonymity because of Egyptian security rules.Al-Jaabri was among hundreds of people, including women and children, gathered at Rafah on Monday in hopes of being allowed to pass. Hamas border police slowly called out the names of a lucky few who were allowed to board a pair of buses and cross into Egypt.Al-Jaabri's name was not called, and around 3 p.m., he picked up his handbag and waved down a taxi to take him home. He said authorities told him to try again Wednesday, but he was skeptical.If you are a citizen who wishes to leave Gaza, you are forced to wait for many hours, sometimes even days, with no clear explanation,he said.I don't know who to blame anymore. I blame my luck that I am a resident of Gaza.Associated Press writer Ashraf Sweilam in Rafah, Egypt contributed to this report.

63% of Israelis back swap deal to free Shalit
– JUNE 21,11

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Nearly two-thirds of Israelis back a prisoner exchange deal which would see 1,000 Palestinians inmates released in order to free captured soldier Gilad Shalit, a poll showed on Tuesday.The poll, conducted by the Rafi Smith Institute and published in Haaretz newspaper, asked respondents if they would back such a deal even if it meant the release of 450 prisoners with blood on their hands, with 63 percent in favour and 19 percent against.Another 18 percent of the 600 respondents had no opinion.The results showed an increase in support from an earlier survey conducted in February, in which 61 percent backed such a deal, while 25 were opposed, Haaretz said.The poll was conducted on behalf of the campaign for the release of the captive soldier who has been held by Palestinian militants in Gaza for nearly five years. It did not give a margin of error.Shalit was snatched on June 25, 2006 by three armed Palestinian groups, including the Islamist movement Hamas, and held at a secret location in Gaza, which since 2007 has been ruled by the Islamists.Until now, they have not permitted visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross.Egyptian- and German-mediated talks to push through a swap deal stalled in autumn 2009, although three weeks ago a Cairo newspaper suggested a breakthrough in negotiations to free Shalit in exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.But the report was denied by officials in Cairo and Gaza as well as by Israel, which on Saturday will mark the fifth anniversary of his capture.The last confirmation of his well-being emerged in October 2009 when Hamas released a videotape of the young soldier calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do everything to free him.

Latest developments in Arab world's unrest
By The Associated Press – Mon Jun 20, 4:41 pm ET

SYRIA-Syria's president promises a national dialogue to consider political reforms, but his vague overtures to a pro-democracy uprising fall flat as protesters take to the streets shouting Liar! and demanding his ouster. In only his third public appearance since the revolt erupted in March, Bashar Assad blames the unrest on saboteurs,offers modest potential reforms, but gives no sign he'd move toward ending the Assad family's political domination.

LIBYA-Libya's government says a NATO airstrike west of Tripoli destroyed a large family compound belonging to a close associate of Moammar Gadhafi, killing at least 15 people, including three children. The alliance says the strike hit a command and control center. Gadhafi's regime has repeatedly accused NATO of targeting civilians in an attempt to rally support against international intervention into Libya's civil war. The alliance insists it tries to avoid killing civilians.

EGYPT-Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was treated last year for cancer in his gallbladder and pancreas, and may be suffering a recurrence that spread to his stomach, his defense lawyer says. However, two senior Egyptian medical officials — one of them the head of Mubarak's team of doctors — says he does not have cancer. Mubarak, 83, has been hospitalized since early April. He is set to face trial in August on charges he ordered the killings of protesters during the 18-day uprising that ousted him on Feb. 11. A conviction could carry the death penalty, and activists suspect he may be using health problems as a ruse to sway public opinion and perhaps even win amnesty.

YEMEN-Tens of thousands take to the streets of the capital, demanding that the president's sons leave Yemen, as pressure rises for the wounded leader being treated in Saudi Arabia to step down. Ahmed Saleh, 42, is a one-time heir apparent to his father, who was badly wounded in an attack earlier this month. Ahmed Saleh commands the elite Presidential Guard, the country's best equipped and trained military unit.

TUNISIA-Tunisia's former ruler and his wife are convicted in absentia on embezzlement and other charges after $27 million in jewels and public funds were found in one of his palaces. They are sentenced to 35 years each in prison and fined. The conviction of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Leila Trabelsi follows a daylong trial before the Tunis criminal court. The couple went into exile on Jan. 14 in Saudi Arabia after a monthlong uprising that sparked a string of other uprisings in the Arab world.

ALGERIA-About 200 former military conscripts demonstrate in downtown Algiers calling for greater pensions and benefits after taking part in the fight against the Islamist insurgency the 1990s. The conscripts say they were never properly compensated for their years of service in the bloody battles that claimed an estimated 200,000 lives.

American Jews to join Gaza flotilla
– Mon Jun 20, 2:43 pm ET

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – Several American Jews are to board a US boat planning to join a flotilla of about 10 ships seeking to breach Israel's naval blockade of Gaza later this month, an organizer said Monday.We are seeking justice for Gaza, Leslie Cogan told reporters, noting the boat will have 36 passengers, four crew and nine journalists when it sets sail for the tiny Palestinian enclave.She said 28 percent of the passengers were American Jews.It's important that Jews are in this boat... The Jewish lobby in this country is so powerful, said New York labor attorney Richard Levy, himself Jewish.We cannot support an Israeli blockade which is morally and juridically unsupportable... No more people should be slaughtered in the name of the Jews.The US boat, The Audacity of Hope, will sail from Athens to join around 10 ships carrying some 500 to 600 pro-Palestinian activists from 22 countries, Cogan said.The boats are expected to leave various Mediterranean ports around June 20 as part of the so-called Freedom Flotilla II aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade.

Cogan said the American ship will carry some 3,000 messages from the American people to the people of Gaza in what she called a cargo of friendship, a cargo of peace.They will try and reach the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip a year after a previous attempt ended when Israeli troops stormed the lead ship and shot dead nine Turkish activists.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged all governments concerned by the plans to try to discourage the new flotilla from being launched out of fear it could degenerate into violence.

Leadership row delays Palestinian unity government
by Nasser Abu Bakr – Mon Jun 20, 2:07 pm ET

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Disagreement over who should be the next Palestinian premier is holding up the creation of a unity government agreed last month between old rivals Fatah and Hamas, Palestinian officials said on Monday.A meeting in Cairo on Tuesday between Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who heads Fatah, and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal has been postponed due to Hamas opposition to the reappointment of Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad, they said.The real reason for the delay in the forming and convening of the government is disagreement over Fayyad,an official told AFP on condition of anonymity.President Abbas insists on nominating Salam Fayyad, whose appointment Hamas categorically rejects,he added.That has led the two sides to postpone the meeting rather than announce the collapse of the reconciliation.Fayyad is not wanted because his name is linked to Palestinian division, the debt-ridden Palestinian economy and operations by the (Palestinian) security services against the resistance, Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said, referring to the group's armed campaign against Israel.Announcing the delay on Sunday, Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed made no mention of a leadership dispute.The meeting has been postponed until a new date is set in the coming days in order to assure the best atmosphere for the successful implementation of the reconciliation agreement,he told AFP.Ahmed said Fatah had requested the delay in the talks to create the right atmosphere and because of the commitments that have come up on the president's schedule in Turkey.He said Abbas would visit Turkey on Wednesday.

Samir Awad, a professor of political science at Bir Zeit University near Ramallah, said that while Fayyad has the personal backing of Abbas, he does not have universal support within Fatah.There are those who favour dropping his candidacy and putting other names forward, he said.Hamas has burnt all its bridges and continues to reject Fayyad.A change of heart by Hamas seems unlikely given that the Islamist group has already agreed other concessions that set off a row between Mahmud Zahar, its main Gaza ideologue and Syria-based political leader Meshaal.Zahar, who participated in discussions with Fatah in April, has criticised Meshaal for comments he made during the official ceremony of reconciliation on May 4, saying he had no mandate to make such statements.A member of Fatah's central committee confided to journalists last week that he too was surprised by some of Meshaal's words.He said We accept two states on the 1967 borders. We are not in favour of violence, Mohammed Shtayeh said, adding that Meshaal had also told Abbas that if he needed more time to negotiate with Israel, he would not object.What I heard from Khaled Meshaal... I never expected him to say,Shtayeh said.A poll published on Monday by the independent Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research showed broad public support for Fayyad with 45 percent of 1,200 respondents favouring him, as opposed to 25 percent approval for Jamal Khodari, who is widely believed to have Hamas's backing.Under the terms of the unity deal signed by Fatah and Hamas they must agree on independent figures to make up a government that will lay the groundwork for legislative and presidential elections within a year.

Settlers cultivate West Bank tourism to tighten grip on land By Maayan Lubell – Mon Jun 20, 12:27 pm ET

RECHELIM, West Bank (Reuters) – The bulletproof van is extra.Welcome to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Jewish settlements built on land Palestinians seek for a state are opening their gates to foreign tourists and Israeli visitors.A one-day tour, booked through a regional settler council, costs $50. An additional $80 secures the armored bus.Palestinians, or local Arabs in the words of settlers who spoke to one group of visitors, are not on the itinerary.We are not monsters,Ilana Shimon told a clutch of tourists this week, leading them through Havat Gilad, a small settlement outpost built without Israeli government authorization.I'm against violence. All we want is to sit on our land and we want you to be our ambassadors, Shimon told her visitors near her home in Havat Gilad, where she lives with 30 other families, making up about 250 people, most of them children.Her audience, comprised of seven non-Jewish tourists from Belgium, France, the United States and the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, seemed to agree.The world needs to know the truth, all they see is the violence,Aline Boyer from Reunion said.About 300,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank, occupied by Israel in a 1967 war and home to 2.5 million Palestinians. The World Court has ruled the settlements illegal.Although violence has mostly subsided since a 2000-2005 Palestinian uprising, clashes between settlers and Palestinians are not uncommon, along with mutual accusations of vandalizing crops, fields, private property and holy shrines.The placid vista presented to the tourists include organic farms offering an assortment of goat cheese and yoghurt, as well as flourishing vineyards that produce boutique wines.Palestinians see things very differently -- the settlements, they fear, will deny them a viable state, and an Israeli barrier is cutting through the West Bank, a project they condemn as a land grab and which Israel says is necessary for security.

ENDING IGNORANCE

The tour took the group through several small settlements, some of them built without official permission by settlers who see themselves as pioneers exercising their claim to a Biblical birthright to the land.Sitting round a wooden table eating a rustic meal of goat cheese, yoghurt and eggs, Daniel and Catherine Lippert from Belgium gave their impressions of their Israeli hosts in an organic dairy farm near the settlement of Itamar.The media portrays the settlers as crazy, violent obstacles to peace and we want to tell everyone at home what we saw,Catherine said.The tour group's members defined themselves as former Christians who believe Jesus is the saviour but also abide by some Jewish ritual laws.We love Israel and pray together every Sabbath on Skype,said Simone Van Goethem, from Belgium.Daniel Lippert said he and his wife come to Israel two or three times a year, but this was their first visit to the West Bank.We donated money to Havat Gilad last year because it is the right thing to do,Daniel said.God promised the land to the Jews. The Palestinians should become Israeli citizens or leave.Nati Yisraeli, tourism coordinator for the settlers' regional council, said he hoped the tours would end ignorance, by bringing people to see for themselves.We want people to know what they're talking about when they discuss the future of the settlements. We want them first to experience the place, the people.he said.

Yisraeli said the number of tourists rose to almost 100,000 in 2010 from 45,000 in 2008. These include large Israeli groups which come mostly on Jewish holidays, as well as foreign tourists.Yisraeli's eyes lit up each time he pointed out ancient sites. A quick detour through rolling hills dotted with olive groves and grape vines took the group near the Palestinian city of Nablus, where they admired, from a distance, Joseph's Tomb, believed by worshippers to be the burial site of the Jewish patriarch.The group's next stop was the settlement of Itamar. As the vehicle approached, the driver checked that all had heard of the Fogel family, a couple and three of their children killed in the settlement in March. The killing was the most serious attack in years and shocked Israel, which has charged two Palestinian men with the murder.

WINE TASTING

In the small settlement of Rechelim, Vered Ben Saadon, owner of its Tura winery, said she lets her award-winning Cabernets and Merlots do the talking when it comes to winning hearts and minds.Talking politics sullies the wine's flavor. Our visitors, after getting to know the place, leave a little confused. They see a quality product and nice people who make it. It throws them off balance,Ben Saadon said.In May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said any future peace deal with the Palestinians would leave some settlements beyond Israel's borders suggesting that places like Rechelim, in remote areas, could be abandoned.But Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been frozen since last year in a dispute over construction in Jewish settlements, with little sign of revival soon.There is no other explanation to our success other than divine providence,Ben Saadon said.We didn't come here to make a business profit, we came here for the love of the land and as the years go by we see God is rewarding us.(Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Israel okays expansion of 2,000 settler homes
– Sun Jun 19, 10:39 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Jerusalem's municipal council on Sunday approved the expansion of 2,000 homes in the settlement district of Ramat Shlomo, allowing each home to add a room, the interior ministry said.Jerusalem's planning and urbanisation committee on Sunday authorised the enlargement of 2,000 homes in the neighbourhood of Ramat Shlomo, it said in a statement.An additional room will be built in each of these 2,000 homes in response to the needs of the numerous families suffering from housing problems in this area,it added.The Ramat Shlomo neighbourhood lies in an area of Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel captured during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed in a move not recognised by the international community.Israel considers Jerusalem to be its undivided capital, but the Palestinians, with the support of much of the international community, want to make east Jerusalem the capital of their future state.Israel's construction or expansion of homes in the area has drawn criticism from European capitals and Washington in the past, and settlement building in Ramat Shlomo led to a crisis in relations with the United States last year.In March 2010, Israel announced approval for the construction of 1,600 homes in the settlement neighbourhood just as US Vice President Joe Biden visited the Jewish state for meetings with Israeli officials.The announcement angered Biden, and prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offer an apology for the unfortunate timing.That announcement came as US officials laid the groundwork for the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the first in nearly two years.The talks were launched later that year in Washington, but ground to a halt shortly after they started when Israel declined to renew a moratorium that froze settlement construction in the West Bank, though not in Jerusalem.The Palestinians have refused to hold talks while Israel builds on land they want for their future state, and negotiations have remained on hold since late September 2010 because of the issue.

Abbas calls on EU to recognise Palestine
– Fri Jun 17, 6:42 pm ET

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas urged European Union nations on Friday to separately or collectively recognise the state of Palestine.During a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Abbas affirmed that the Palestinian position was to resume the peace process with Israel, expecting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept to talk of two states and to halt Jewish settlements, especially in Jerusalem, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said.We are calling on the European Union to help us on the question of moving the United Nations to accept Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders, Erakat was quoted as saying by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.Ashton arrived in Israel on Thursday and met Friday with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.She later met Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad and president Abbas in the West Bank.She is due to hold talks with Netanyahu on Sunday.

EU, Israel spar over peace prospects
by Hazel Ward – Fri Jun 17, 9:04 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – The EU's top diplomat had a terse exchange with Israel's Avigdor Lieberman on Friday after he told her there was zero chance of reviving talks given the Palestinians' bid for UN recognition.The exchange occurred during an early breakfast briefing during which EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held talks with the Israeli foreign minister over ways to resume talks ahead of September when the Palestinians are planning to approach the UN to recognise their state on the 1967 borders.But Lieberman told her there was zero chance of resuming peace talks given the Palestinians determination to seek UN support for their state, and that if it happened, it would render null and void the 1993 Oslo Accords and all the other agreements reached since.The unilateral declaration at the United Nations would mean the end of the Oslo Agreement and a violation of all the agreements that were signed up to today,Lieberman was widely quoted as saying by all the mainstream Israel news websites and radio stations.Israel would no longer be bound to the agreements that were signed with the Palestinians over the past 18 years.In a tersely-worded statement released hours after the talks, Ashton said the European Union was well aware that September is fast approaching and stressed the urgency of resuming talks given the ongoing regional upheaval and last month's call by US President Barack Obama for talks to be based on the 1967 borders.With the events of the Arab Spring and following President Obama's speech, it is more urgent than ever to engage in meaningful negotiations and move the peace process forward, she said, noting that the message was passed on very clearly.Lieberman also launched an attack on Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, claming he does not want an agreement, he wants conflict with Israel.

By looking to secure a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, Mahmud Abbas is acting out of his own personal interests, without taking into account Palestinian interests nor the advice of many officials in the Palestinian Authority who are opposed to his initiative,public radio quoted him as saying.Lieberman was referring to a growing number of media reports suggesting there is division within the Palestinian leadership over the UN strategy.Later on Friday, Ashton will meet Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad then have dinner with Abbas before flying to Cairo on Saturday.Ashton is hoping to convene an urgent session of the Middle East Quartet in the coming weeks, with diplomatic sources in Brussels telling AFP she was pushing for a meeting in Washington which would take place by early July at the latest.On June 10, she wrote to her fellow Quartet principals -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon -- calling for the adoption of statement consolidating elements of Obama's May 19 speech.It is critical that we make a gesture before the summer, because we need to contribute to a calming of a volatile situation, she wrote in her letter, adding: This is no time for unilateral moves on either side, since this could lead to escalation.Ashton is just one of a number of world leaders working to find a way to head off potentially volatile developments in September when the Palestinians approach the United Nations to request membership and recognition by the 192-member body in a move fiercely opposed by Israel.After visiting Cairo, Ashton will return to Israel on Sunday for a joint meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Quartet envoy Tony Blair, an EU spokesman said.She will then fly to Luxembourg to brief the EU's 27 foreign ministers on Monday.

Israel to stop Gaza flotilla regardless of cargo
By Crispian Balmer – Thu Jun 16, 1:16 pm ET

TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israel will do everything necessary to prevent a planned international flotilla from reaching Gaza, despite the fact the ships will probably not be carrying weapons, a senior military source said.The source, who declined to be named, said Israel's maritime blockade would only be deemed legal if it imposed a total exclusion zone around the small Palestinian enclave and urged the flotilla organizers not to challenge the navy.No ship will get into Gaza, the source said, adding that the military had drawn up new tactics in an effort to avoid last year's bloodshed, when Israeli marines killed nine activists after intercepting their group of six ships in international waters.Pro-Palestinian groups are planning a new flotilla, which they say will carry humanitarian aid to Hamas-controlled Gaza, and hope to set sail this month. The senior security source said he expected 10-15 ships to take part.I believe that with this flotilla there won't be any arms smuggled into Gaza, he told a group of reporters.But a maritime security blockade can only be legal if it is effective and complete. You cannot keep a selective maritime blockade under international law. You can't say who gets in and who doesn't,he added.Israeli officials have long argued that aid flotillas could be used as a cover to help supply weapons to Hamas, an Islamist group which refuses to recognize Israel and regularly fires rockets and mortars into the adjoining Jewish state.Palestinians believe the Israeli sea blockade is illegal and say it is helping strangle the underdeveloped Gazan economy.

MILITARY OPERATING IN A PR WORLD

The Israeli military came under fierce criticism for its assault on a Turkish-sponsored flotilla in May 2010.It said its soldiers had not expected the violent resistance they faced when they boarded the lead vessel, and had to open fire in self-defense, killing eight Turks and one American-Turk.On Wednesday, Israel carried out a large simulation exercise at sea to prepare for any new confrontation and the source said everything possible would be done to prevent direct clashes.We are being asked to do a military operation in a PR arena. We are trying to find better tactics to keep injuries of activists to a minimum,he said.Critics said the navy should have used water cannon to try to halt the ships or done more to disable the engines. Video footage from Wednesday's exercise broadcast by the military showed Israeli ships practicing the use of water cannon.Israel has said the activists can unload their cargo either at its Ashdod port or in Egypt, where it could be checked before being delivered by truck to the Gaza Strip.Israeli officials argue that deliveries of many goods into Gaza from its two neighbors means there is no humanitarian crisis in the enclave and therefore no need for aid shipments.If the sea line is opened, then Gaza will be flooded with arms and rockets, the senior official said.Palestinians say rigid controls are preventing the import of badly needed materials and warn that the prolonged isolation of Gaza plays into the hands of Islamist militants.(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis)

Peres: Palestinians' UN move an illusion By DAN PERRY and JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press – Thu Jun 16, 10:02 am ET

JERUSALEM – Israeli President Shimon Peres urged a resumption of Middle East peace talks Thursday, dismissing the Palestinians' plan to instead ask the United Nations for recognition as an illusion and arguing that a peace deal — despite widespread skepticism on both sides — was possible within months.In a strange way the differences are rather psychological than material, the 87-year-old head of state and Nobel laureate said in an interview with The Associated Press.I don't exclude that in spite of the shortage of time we can conclude an agreement with the Palestinians before September, Peres said, referring to the month the Palestinians, in the absence of a peace deal, plan to ask the United Nations for recognition as a state.Peres warned the U.N. gambit could backfire. The U.S. is expected to veto the measure in the powerful Security Council, forcing the Palestinians to turn to the General Assembly, where a majority seems likely but any decision would have no legal force.It will remain (on) paper and it will raise false hopes,Peres said. Israel would simply ask: Can you stop terror, United Nations? Can you stop the politics of Iran that finances Hezbollah and finances Hamas? Can you stop the smuggling of arms? ... And if the United Nations cannot answer it, so what is the value of their resolution?

With his comments, Peres joined a chorus of world leaders, including President Barack Obama and European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, urging the Palestinians not to follow through with the U.N. resolution. Palestinian officials have acknowledged they are having second thoughts, but insist they will press forward if peace talks don't resume.The Israeli president dismissed skepticism about the gaps between any Palestinian leadership and the current right-leaning Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:I know a little bit about negotiations, said Peres, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the 1993 Oslo interim peace accords with the Palestinians. The opening position is extremely loud and very maximalist ... But then you have to go down, quietly.Would the Palestinians give up the so-called right of return by refugees and their millions of descendants — a persistent and principled demand that Israelis across the spectrum reject out of hand as demographic suicide?I think so, he said, insisting a creative solution is possible.Among the obstacles to talks even beginning is Israel's rejection of an emerging Palestinian unity government between Fatah, the moderate grouping of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas which controls Palestinian autonomy zones in the West Bank, and the Hamas militant group, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.The sides reached a reconciliation agreement last month and are still laboring to implement it, wrangling over issues like the appointment of a prime minister. But Netanyahu has already made the deal an obstacle to talks, saying he cannot negotiate with a government even partly backed by a sworn enemy like Hamas.Peres noted the United States and other world powers have insisted that Hamas recognize Israel, renounce terrorism and accept previous agreements. Hamas' acceptance of these terms, Peres suggested, would enable such talks between Israel and a unified Palestinian leadership.

As president, Peres is a figurehead, but his words carry weight because of an elder statesman status achieved over six frequently turbulent decades in Israeli public life — a period marked by achievement and electoral futility in seemingly equal measure.As leader of Israel's center-left Labor Party, Peres lost an improbable string of elections — in 1977, 1981, 1988, and 1996 — and managed only a tie in 1984, with Israel's economy mired in hyperinflation and its army in a costly and unpopular war in Lebanon.Despite these difficulties, he has managed to serve in practically every top government position, including three brief stints as prime minister.Peres' dogged pursuit of peace has made him a regular at global gatherings such as the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where his penchant for visionary pronouncements and his extraordinary longevity have given him a somewhat iconic status.Alert, jocular and surrounded by adoring aides, Peres spoke to the AP at his presidential compound as he prepared to host his own version of Davos — the third annual Israeli Presidential Conference — an event which he said would this year attract 1,700 figures from outside Israel.The diverse guest list ranges from Colombian singer Shakira and U.S. comedienne Sarah Silverman to Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, advertising magnate Martin Sorrel and European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet, in addition to a cluster of leaders and government ministers.Peres said the three-day event next week will focus on the issues of tomorrow — in Jewish life, in world affairs, in Israeli development, in all domains — science, technology, politics.He said he had special interest in exploring the workings of the brain, cybernetics, and what he perceived as an unprecedented type of generation gap.Youngsters are equipped with ... Facebook and the Internet. They don't want their parents to get involved in their own way of life. They respect the parents but without much admiration. They say: ... The world you have handed over is full of blood and suffering and mistakes. Let us have our own future.Peres credited Facebook-wielding youth for the current upheavals in the Arab world and offered his neighbors free advice: If you don't give equal rights to (women) you're half a nation ... No money can compensate (for) this mistake.Peres clearly feels the changes in the region belatedly vindicate the optimism he espoused 18 years ago in a book titled The New Middle East — which earned him some derision at the time by critics who considered him naive.He dismissed the concerns of many Israelis today that Arab democracies would elect Islamists and authoritarians:The moral call is the right one and the preferred one. Don't make too many calculations. I shall be a happy person when the Middle East will become free and democratic.Peres predicted that the unusual Israeli presidential conference — despite its association with him personally — would continue after he leaves office, because the Jewish state has a global role in advancing knowledge.A good Jew cannot be satisfied,Peres said.All the time he feels he has to improve ... which creates, in a way, creativity and imagination.

Palestinians want UN seat even if talks start
– Thu Jun 16, 9:33 am ET

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The Palestinians will seek UN recognition and membership regardless of whether there is a resumption of peace talks, negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh said on Thursday.His comments were made as the international community pushes a raft of new peace initiatives in a bid to head off the Palestinian push for UN membership.But Shtayeh said the Palestinians were determined to seek recognition and that talks could proceed alongside their bid.We are by all means going to the United Nations, whether there are negotiations or no negotiations, he told reporters in Ramallah, adding that he thought there was little chances talks would resume.We think that is not either/or -- we think that going to the United Nations and negotiations can go hand in hand and they are complementary to each other, Shtayeh said.Negotiations have been on hold since late September 2010, when they ground to a halt after a partial freeze on Israeli settlement construction expired.The Israelis refused to renew the freeze and the Palestinians have said they will not talk while Israel builds on land they want for their future state.As the talks remained stuck in a stalemate, the Palestinians have sought international backing for a plan to seek recognition and membership at the United Nations during the General Assembly in September.The United States and several European countries have stated their opposition to the plan, and are reportedly seeking a new peace initiative that could relaunch talks and convince the Palestinians to abandon the UN push.We are ready to live with any proposal. But the problem is, we don't want anybody to believe that these sort of proposals are actually initiatives that are an alternative to us going to the United Nations,he said.We are going to the United Nations.Shtayeh said the Palestinians were actively seeking support, particularly in Europe, for bid to get UN recognition of a state on the lines that existed before the 1967 Six Day War.For us and the Israelis the battle is over Europe because the issue is not how many states, the issue is also quality states, with all respect to everybody,he said.So it is important for us that Europe recognises Palestine and I think that the Europeans obviously are trying to come up with initiatives so that they are not politically embarrassed in one way or another.

Palestinians urge Spain, EU to recognise state
– Thu Jun 16, 9:30 am ET

MADRID (AFP) – Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki on Thursday urged Spain and the rest of the European Union to recognise a Palestinian state with borders from before the 1967 Six Day War.Since the collapse of peace talks with Israel last year, the Palestinians have campaigned to gain recognition of statehood and UN membership when the General Assembly meets in New York in September.We hope the European Union will take a decision to collectively recognise a Palestinian state with the 1967 borders, Malki told a conference in Madrid during an official visit that began Friday.We have the hope that Spain will lead the EU countries in the official recognition of the Palestinian state, he said, calling on Madrid to take an active role in persuading other members.Recognition of statehood would guarantee the two-state solution and provide a firm and solid basis for the immediate start of negotiations with Israel, Malki said.Peace negotiations have been on hold since late September 2010 when the Israelis refused to renew a partial freeze on building Israeli settlements on land that the Palestinians want for their future state.The question of recognising a Palestinian state at the UN looks set to divide EU nations, with Germany for the moment opposed and France not excluding recognition.If there is no unanimity in the European Union, each EU country should have the right to decide whether it is ready to recognise the Palestinian state,as had happened with Kosovo, Malki said.Spain's secretary of state for foreign affairs, Juan Antonio Yanez Barnuevo, said Thursday that Madrid unreservedly supported efforts to return to the negotiating table and achieve peace.Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh said in Ramallah that the Palestinians will seek UN recognition and membership regardless of whether there is a resumption of peace talks.

Spain wants Mideast talks to resume this year
– Wed Jun 15, 3:12 pm ET

MADRID (AFP) – Spain supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and wants the two sides to resume peace talks this year, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez met with her Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Malki on Wednesday, during his official visit which ends on Friday.Jimenez reiterated Spain's support in favour of a two-state solution...as the only path to a global and long-standing peace in the Middle East,a statement said.
Spain is in favour of a solution under the auspices of the United Nations and wants the negotiations to resume this year, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said.The talks have been on hold since September 2010, when they ground to a halt over Israeli settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land.Jimenez however did not speak on Palestine's bid for a United Nations membership based on 1967 borders, the official said.The European Union is divided over Palestine's membership in the United Nations. Numerous nations, including France, have said they would vote for and recognise a Palestinian state if talks restart by September.

EU's Ashton due in Mideast over stalled peace talks
– Wed Jun 15, 2:17 pm ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton flies to the Middle East this week for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials, hoping to break the impasse in peace talks, her office said Wednesday.Ashton kicks off the trip in Jordan on Thursday before meeting Israeli and Palestinian officials on Friday and then going on to Egypt to discuss events in Libya on Saturday.She will head back to Israel on Sunday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then brief the EU's 27 foreign ministers on the mission at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.I look forward to meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders and encouraging them to seize the opportunity and engage in negotiations,Ashton said in a statement.With the momentous events going on in North Africa and following (US) President (Barack) Obama's speech last month, it is more urgent than ever that we kickstart the Middle East peace process.I have proposed a meeting of the Quartet to help relaunch negotiations and will be looking for positive signs from all sides,she added.

Her visit comes just days after she sent a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, a copy of which was seen by AFP.The letter, sent on June 10, calls for a gesture before the summer from the diplomatic Quartet of Middle East peacemakers, which comprises the European Union, the United Nations, Russia and the United States.
In the document, Ashton calls for a meeting of Quartet principals to adopt a statement which would consolidate elements of Obama's call for negotiations to resume on the basis of 1967 borders with mutual land swaps, coupled with firm security guarantees.This is no time for unilateral moves on either side, since this could lead to escalation,she wrote in what appeared to be a reference to the Palestinians' plan to seek UN recognition for a state of their own this September.

Israel is fiercely opposed to the step, with Netanyahu looking to convince at least 30 countries to vote against the proposal, media reports said.I believe that what is needed now is a clear signal to the parties, and a reference framework that should enable them to return to the negotiating table,Ashton wrote.It is critical that we make a gesture before the summer, because we need to contribute to a calming of a volatile situation.In Amman, Ashton meets counterpart Nasser Judeh before talks the next day with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and opposition Leader Tzipi Livni, followed by a West Bank visit to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas.Diplomatic sources in Brussels told AFP that Ashton hoped for a swift Quartet meeting, by early July at the latest, in Washington.But Ashton has limited room to manoeuvre,one source said, believing that Netanyahu does not want to relaunch the negotiations and is busy campaigning for support against the recognition of a Palestinian state.The question of recognising Palestine at the UN looks set to divide EU nations, with Germany for the moment opposed, Spain in favour and France not excluding recognition.In Egypt, Ashton will attend a meeting of the Cairo Group, bringing together international organisations supporting a democratic transition in Libya.The talks will be hosted by Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa and bring Ashton together with the UN's Ban, by video-link, African Union commission president Jean Ping, and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

Israel holds drill for next Gaza-bound flotilla
– Wed Jun 15, 4:51 am ET

JERUSALEM – The Israeli military says it's holding a drill ahead of the next Gaza-bound flotilla with pro-Palestinian activists who could try to breach Israel's naval blockade of the territory.Last year, an Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla left nine activists dead and propelled the blockade controversy to center stage of international politics. Israel said its soldiers were defending themselves.
A military spokeswoman would not provide details of the drill under way Wednesday.
Israel's Army Radio says commandoes were practicing the takeover of a ship and that troops have been trained to board vessels more quickly than they did last year to minimize any violent confrontations.The flotilla is to depart at the end of June from various European ports.

Palestinian rivals to finalise unity govt next week
– Tue Jun 14, 1:16 pm ET

CAIRO (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will meet Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in Cairo next week to finalise a new government put together by the two factions, a top official of his Fatah movement said Tuesday.The meeting was announced as Palestinian factions were in Cairo for reconciliation talks aimed at choosing a prime minister to head the unity government.Today, during the talks between the Fatah and Hamas delegations, a meeting was scheduled for next Tuesday between President Abbas and Meshaal to finalise the formation of the new government, said Azzam al-Ahmad, who heads the Fatah delegation at the talks.They also decided that this meeting will be the last to finalise the issue of the government, he told AFP.Fatah met a Hamas delegation headed by Mussa Abu Marzuk at the Egyptian intelligence headquarters.It has said it wants to retain prime minister Salam Fayyad to head the government, but the nomination was immediately rejected by the Islamist movement.A Fatah member who attended the talks told AFP that negotiations stumbled over the list of names (for prime minister) which were put forward by Fatah, particularly Fayyad.Hamas strongly rejected Fayyad as head of the next government and officially notified us of their rejection and said the issue was not open for discussion, asking us to abide by the reconciliation agreement which says that all names in the government must be agreed by consensus,the member said.

The Cairo agreement stipulates that all the issues must be resolved by agreement and that no party imposes any person on the other, and this was stressed again during the meeting today (Tuesday),he said.He said that, because there was disagreement over Fayyad, it was agreed that the leaders of Fatah and Hamas would meet in Cairo on June 21.Hamas has not put forward any new suggestions and we agreed that both sides would choose the government ministers after agreeing on the head of the unity government,he said.Fayyad told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that he would not want to be a stumbling block in the reconciliation deal.I assure you that there is no way I can accept that the formation of the unity government be delayed because of me,Fayyad said.I will not impose myself on anyone, and I do not want any side to perceive me as being imposed on them. But if there is an agreement on my (nomination), I will be willing to take on the task,he added.Both Fatah and Hamas said they were optimistic they would come to an agreement.God willing, this will be the last round of talks regarding the formation of the government,Ahmad told AFP ahead of the meeting.

The Egyptian-sponsored talks are the fruit of a reconciliation agreement signed in Cairo in May aimed at ending years of bitter feuding and laying the groundwork for presidential and parliamentary elections within a year.Fatah's central committee agreed on Saturday to throw their support behind Fayyad, a former World Bank official and preferred candidate of the international community.But Hamas has rejected Fayyad, blaming him for the arrest and alleged torture of its leaders, and plunging the Palestinian Authority into debt.Izzat al-Risheq, a member of the Hamas politburo, said ahead of the Cairo talks that the best way forward in forming the unity government was to exclude controversial candidates.A main principle we have agreed on is that thorny issues or disagreements be dealt with by both sides through consensus. Therefore the government will be one of consensus and no side will impose its view on the other,Egyptian state news agency MENA quoted Risheq as saying.We feel the best way is to exclude controversial choices,he said.On Sunday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri reiterated his movement's rejection of Fayyad.Hamas informed Fatah during the last meeting of its rejection of the choice of Salam Fayyad to head the new government,Abu Zuhri told AFP.Hamas has yet to put forward a candidate for the prime minister's post.