PEACE TALKS RESUME OCT 23,11

Israel accepts EU talks invitation
Today OCT 11,11 @ 09:15 By EUOBSERVER

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an EU offer to meet Palestinian leaders, his office announced Monday. The EU is trying to kickstart talks that have been frozen for over a year, with Israel refusing to accept a Palestinian demand that it halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

Quartet Says Talks to Resume on October 23-Int'l mediators have set a date for the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the PA, but it's not clear either side will attend.By Gavriel Queenann First Publish: 10/12/2011, 4:08 AM

International mediators have set October 23rd as the date for officials from Jerusalem and Ramallah to resume negotiations, the Associated Press reported Monday.
The move, seen by many as putting the diplomatic cart before the real politick horse, comes as Palestinian Authority officials continue to insist Israel stop construction in the disputed territories - Judea, Samaria, and east Jerusalem - and accept the pre-1967 lines as a basis for negotiations.So incensed have PLO officials been over the Quartet position that they have called for its spokesman, former British prime minister Tony Blair, to be replaced, saying he is unwelcome in PA administered enclaves.For its part, Israel has said it accepts the Quartet proposal to renew talks without preconditions and that reservations harbored by the two sides should subject to talks during negotiations.But a Foreign Ministry official who spoke to Arutz Sheva on condition of anonymity was quick to point out no formal consultations were made, saying it seemed premature to discuss a meeting when Abbas refuses to drop his preconditions.The Quartet - the European Union, Russia, United States, and United Nations - demanded the two sides return to the negotiating table on the eve of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas' unilateral bid for statehood outside the accepted bilateral framework of the Oslo Accords at the United Nations in September.

Israeli and US officials maintain no lasting peace can be imposed and that the road to a lasting peace runs through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York.State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland told reporters international mediators are very hopeful the meeting will take place. She added officials from the U.S., the U.N., the European Union and Russia want both sides to meet in Jordan on Oct. 23.That is exactly one month after those mediators set a 30-day deadline for the Israelis and Palestinians to hold preliminary talks aimed at resurrecting negotiations. The Quartet wants a peace deal by the end of 2012.Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, however, cautioned EU lawmakers on Monday that trying to force an agreement between Israel and the PA is an illusion that will not work.

Op-Ed: Turkey Threatens Med. Area Security, Not Just Israel Published: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 2:34 PM

Remarks by the representative of the Dutch delegation to the October 9th OCSE Conference in Dubrovnik. He writes to A7: This was not received well (an understatement) by the delegates from 56 countries. But what I said was true.MP Wim Kortenoeven, Holland

(Sent to Arutz Sheva by the speaker)Mister Chairman,I am addressing this meeting on behalf of the Dutch Party for Freedom.As we speak, the peace in the Mediterranean is being threatened by Turkish imperialism, by dangerous dreams to re-establish the Turkish Caliphate that was abolished in 1923.We are witnessing the death of Kemalism, the positive ideology that transformed Turkey into a valuable, responsible and respected member of the international community.But now, Turkey is sliding into the abyss of Islamic extremism and authoritarianism. This is visible on the inside and on the outside.For instance: the freedom of speech in Turkey is increasingly suppressed. Many journalists have been jailed for speaking out. The Turkish cartoonist Bahadir Baruter is to be tried for renouncing Allah in a cartoon. He might get a year in jail for that.Cyprus, a member State of the European Union, has been partly occupied by Turkey since the brutal invasion of 1974.And now the Erdogan regime is turning Turkey into a predator state, a rogue state, that apparently also wants to seize the oil and gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean. Reserves that it does not own.Threats are being issued in the direction of Cyprus. Strong Turkish military forces have been deployed on and near Cyprus.

Mister chairman,Turkey, a member state of NATO, is also increasingly belligerent towards the Jewish State of Israel. Threats and baseless accusations are issued against Israel - ever more frequently. And provocations are rampant. Israeli freighters are harressed by Turkish warships.Turkey also objects to Israel's legitimate desire to drill for natural gas in its own exclusive economic zone. Turkish warships are backing up threats against Israel's sovereignty.A simple mistake in this combustible situation might spark a military confrontation.Also troubling and dangerous are Turkey's sympathy for the Hamas terror organization and Turkey's attempts to undermine Israel's legitimate right to supervise the maritime routes to Gaza.Mr. Chairman,The situation is extremely dangerous.This irresponsible Turkish policy of threats, insults and provocations, this macho bellegerency, needs to be urgently adressed. As it is a clear and present danger to peace and security in the Mediterranean and even beyond.Therefore, I urge you to ad this Turkish threat to peace and security to the agenda of the Winter session of the OSCE.Thank you.

Op-Ed: Sarkozy's Monumental Mistake
Published: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 1:25 PM

Until President Sarkozy unequivocally retracts his anti-Zionist comment and embraces Ben-Gurion's statement - he will surely be tarred with uttering one of the most damaging comments ever made by a head of state on the Jewish-Arab conflict.David Singer

France’s President - Nicolas Sarkozy - has made a mistake of historic proportions - possibly dashing any hope of the two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs coming to fruition - after he told the French magazine Le Canard Enchaîne:It is silly to talk about a Jewish state,President Sarkozy made this comment while referring to the Israeli demand that the Palestinian Arabs recognize Israel as the Jewish state in any peace agreement.He compounded this act of gross political ineptness by continuing:It would be like saying that this table is Catholic. There are two million Arabs in Israel.On the figures alone - President Sarkozy is demonstrably wrong.Latest statistics show the Arab population of Israel is 1,610,000 (20.5%). The President also fails to mention that the Jewish population numbers 5,874,300 (75.3%) and there are 323,000 not identified as Jews or Arabs (4.2%).Tables cannot be offended - but people certainly can. President Sarkozy’s statement is extremely offensive to the overwhelming majority of Jews wherever they live - but no doubt will be met with resounding applause by Jew-haters world wide.

His statement will also offend those tens of millions of Christians who support the right of the Jewish people to establish their own independent state in their ancient ancestral and legally recognized homeland.President Sarkozy in this one brief comment has abandoned French foreign policy pursued over the last 90 years - whilst also rejecting international law principles formulated during that period - which France was instrumental in establishing.In so doing President Sarkozy has caused great damage to France’s reputation and honor. He is coming up for re-election soon.
It was France - together with Britain, - that laid down the legal framework for the Jewish people’s right of return to Palestine pursuant to the Treaty of Sevres signed on 10 August 1920 - which allocated 99.999% of the captured Ottoman Empire to the Arabs and provided for the remaining 0.001% be set aside as a national home for the Jewish people.Article 95 of the Treaty specifically provided:The High Contracting Parties agree to entrust, by application of the provisions of Article 22, the administration of Palestine, within such boundaries as may be determined by the Principal Allied Powers, to a Mandatory to be selected by the said Powers. The Mandatory will be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2, 1917, by the British Government, and adopted by the other Allied Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

France endorsed this decision together with all other 50 other countries in the League of Nations by unanimously approving the creation of the Mandate for Palestine in 1922 - which recognized:the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.France signed the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 and subsequently ratified its coming into operation on 24 October 1945.The Charter contains article 80 - which preserved the rights vested in the Jewish people under the Mandate - to ensure they did not disappear with the pending demise of the League of Nations - which finally occurred on 12 April 1946..France was among the 33 countries that voted in favor of the UN Partition Plan on 29 November 1947 calling for the partition of Palestine into a Jewish State and an Arab State.President Sarkozy is apparently unsympathetic to Israel’s demand to be recognized as the Jewish State - just as Article 20 of the Charter of the Palestine Liberation Organization denies the Jews any such right in the following dismissive and highly offensive terms:Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history and the true conception of what constitutes statehood. Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong.The Chairman of the PLO - Mahmoud Abbas - is a frequent visitor to Paris and is received with full honors by President Sarkozy who can now only be seen to be openly endorsing this despicable and racist viewpoint - which Chairman Abbas resolutely refuses to change.

Hamas is as equally strident in wanting to destroy the Jewish State.How can a peace agreement between Jews and Arabs be successfully concluded whilst such attitudes are maintained by the PLO and Hamas? What effect will President Sarkozy’s viewpoint have in encouraging the PLO and Hamas to maintain their rejectionist stances? Should President Sarkozy not be urging the Palestinian Arabs to accede to Israel’s request if they ever hope to attain their own independent State? President Sarkozy needs to read and digest what David Ben-Gurion told the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine on 7 July 1947:What is the meaning of a Jewish State? As I told you before, a Jewish State does not mean one has to be a Jew. It means merely a State-where the Jews are in the majority, otherwise all the citizens have the same status. If the State were called by the name Palestine, - I said if, - then all would be Palestinian citizens.If the State would be given, another name - I think it would be given another name, because Palestine is neither a Jewish nor an Arab name. As far as the Arabs are concerned, and we have the evidence of the Arab historian, Hitti, that there was no such a thing as Palestine at all: Palestine is not an Arab name. Palestine is also not a Jewish name.When the Greeks were our enemies, in order not to annoy the Jews, they gave different names to the streets. So, maybe the name of Palestine will be changed. But whatever the name of the country, every citizen of the country will be a citizen. This is what we mean. This is what we have to mean.We cannot conceive that in a State where we are not in a minority, where we have the main responsibilities as the majority of the country, there should be the slightest discrimination between a Jew and a non-Jew.Until President Sarkozy unequivocally retracts his comment and embraces Ben-Gurion's statement - he will surely be tarred with uttering one of the most damaging comments ever made by a head of state on the Jewish-Arab conflict - effectively prolonging the dispute rather than helping to resolve it.