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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Abbas in US to press for settlement freeze

2009-05-28

[Al Arabiya Latest] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Washington early Wednesday for his first official meeting with President Barack Obama as Jordan summoned the Israeli envoy in Amman to protest a reported Israeli proposal to set up a Palestinian state in Jordan. How can Israel do that? Jordan already is a Palestinian state, albeit with foreign Hashemite rulers. The presidential talks are expected to focus on Israel's continued building of settlements in occupied territory. The Palestinian Authority has ruled out restarting peace talks with Israel unless the Jewish states, removes all roadblocks and freezes settlement activity, top negotiator Ahmad Qorei told the Haaretz daily. He said Abbas would present the conditions during the White House talks with Obama Thursday. "Conditions"? I thought the point was negotiation. After all. Mr. Qorei is defined as a top negotiator. I think that means something different than what you and I think it means ... The discussions come just 10 days after Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has ignored calls from the United States for a complete freeze on settlement building in the occupied West Bank and rejected limits on building Jewish enclaves in Jerusalem. President Obama did want the U.S. to be seen as not dictating to other countries. How nice that he started with Israel.

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Israel-Palestine

Mahathir banned from Jerusalem

2005-05-17

Israel on Monday banned former Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohammad, whose comments have in the past infuriated Jews, from entering Jerusalem while visiting the West Bank. Mahathir was delayed for an hour at the Allenby crossing from Jordan into the West Bank where Israeli officials banned him from going to Jerusalem or the city of Jenin in the West Bank, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei said. "I want to say to the entire world that this is the political mind of the occupation," Qorei told a joint news conference with Mahathir in Ramallah. "This is an important man, an international man and the Israelis prevent him from going to Jerusalem, they prevent him from going to Jenin," he added. Israeli authorities, who control entrance into towns throughout most of the West Bank, as well as the border into Jordan, said they had received no warning of Mahathir's arrival. "We received no request to facilitate the visit. We weren't aware he was coming, so we didn't deal with it," said a foreign ministry spokesman, pointing out that Israel has no diplomatic relations with Malaysia.

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Israel-Palestine

PA outlines strategy for Gaza control

2005-04-27

The Palestinian Authority outlined plans on Tuesday to take immediate control of all land and property in the Gaza Strip vacated by Israeli settlers after their departure from the territory this summer. Hours after the announcement, two Qassam rockets exploded in the Israeli city of Sderot next to the Gaza Strip after nightfall, witnesses said. A spokesman of the Israeli rescue service said there were apparently no casualties. Speaking after a meeting of his Cabinet designed to prepare for this summer's historic pullout, Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei said the government would not allow anyone to profit personally. "We are preparing both at the administrative and security levels to take control of the situation on the ground," Qorei said. The Palestinian Authority would "take control of all the land, and all issues concerning private property will be examined by a special tribunal." Qorei also warned anyone tempted to try and buy a house directly from one of the 8,000 settlers that such a transaction would be considered illegal. "Any purchase by Palestinians or a third party of lands to be evacuated or on which settlements are built will be considered illegal," he said. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has predicted that the pullout, expected to start in July or August, will be followed by widespread looting. The Palestinians are determined to prove Sharon wrong, with one Cabinet member revealing that several plans drawn up to deal with the aftermath of the withdrawal have already drawn up by ministerial commissions.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Palestinian presence in Lebanon 'temporary'

2005-02-03

Anything less than eternal is temporary, I suppose... Mohammed Zohdi Nashashibi, member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) executive committee, said on Wednesday the Palestinian presence in Lebanon was temporary and that the PLO will never relinquish the Palestinians' right to return to their homeland. Which, I suppose is a reasonable stance, given that the Lebanese will never, ever allow them to become integrated into their country... Nashashibi indicated that Palestinian weapons in refugee camps in Lebanon will remain as "a legal means of self-defense," stressing that "those who passed Security Council Resolution 1559 should pressure Israel instead into stopping its attacks on Palestinians," rather than demanding a disarmament of militias. In other words, they're going to remain an uncontrolled and uncontrollable armed camp occupying a sovreign country and refusing to abide by its laws, while at least talking about carrying out attacks on another sovreign country... He made the comment during a visit to the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, Lebanon's largest, hosting 75,000 refugees in a space of 2 square kilometers, when he was inquiring about the status of refugees in Lebanese camps and trying to consolidate a dialogue between Palestinians and between Palestinians and Lebanese people. Palestinian sources familiar with the issue said the visit is a complementary step to a previous visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei. The visit also took place in order to clarify to concerned officials, the circumstances of the upcoming meeting between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and to discuss the possible "mitigation" of the situation in Palestine.

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Israel-Palestine

Fatah Old Guard Prepares to Run for President

2004-11-18

Meet the old guard, same as... ummm... the old guard. Convinced that former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is unable to unite the Palestinians, several members of the so-called "old guard" are preparing to announce their candidacy for the presidency in next January's elections. After four days of intense talks with all factions Abbas has failed to secure the level of support he needs to discourage others from standing. I actually consider that a good development... Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad have said unless the Palestine Liberation Organization is allowed to continue pushing Israel into the sea restructured to include them on the basis of a new program, they would boycott the election. The two radical groups, especially well entrenched in Gaza, are believed to have the support of between 25 and 40 percent of the electorate. Some of the old guard in Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization are trying to launch the candidacy of Hani Al Hassan, one of the founding fathers of the movement. They believe that Hassan, who has been ambivalent toward peace talks with Israel, might be able to draw support from both Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Abbas has won the support of most members of the current government headed by Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei. Muhammad Dahlan, the charismatic former security chief in Gaza, who had presidential aspirations of his own, also backs him. The biggest threat to Abbas' candidacy could come from Marwan Barghouti, the imprisoned militant leader who is seen by many as Palestine's "Nelson Mandela." The Israeli authorities have said they would not release Barghouti, thus trying to kill his electoral prospects.

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Israel-Palestine

'Post-Arafat Era Has Begun'

2004-11-11

Having decided that Yasser Arafat will not return to his functions since he's doorknob dead, the Palestinian leadership moved yesterday to shape the post-Arafat era. "The post-Arafat era has started," said Hannan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Legislative Council (parliament). "An interim government is in place, pending general elections." The new leadership decided that Arafat was incapacitated, thus triggering the constitutional mechanisms for choosing a new leadership. It also approved plans submitted by the Egyptian authorities for a state funeral to be held for Arafat in Cairo. The leadership also signed an agreement with the Israeli government to have Arafat put out on the curb in a recycle bag buried in Ramallah. The site of a mosque demolished by the Israelis in 2002, was chosen as the place where a national mausoleum will be built for Arafat. The new leadership, headed by Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei, quashed an effort by elements linked with Suha Arafat to amend the Basic Law, and prevent elections. The proposed amendment, backed by Farouq Kaddoumi, a favorite of Suha to become leader, would have allowed Arafat to continue as president of the Palestinian Authority for as long as he was not officially pronounced dead. Not until he coughs up those account numbers, anyways. The Palestinian leaders rejected suggestions that Arafat, who was even more dead in deepening coma for the fifth straight day, be subjected to euthanasia, or mercy killing, by having his life-support machine switched off. "We shall never allow that since there is no need, after all," said Tayssir Al-Tamimi, a Palestinian religious leader who visited the dying leader in his hospital room near Paris yesterday. "Mercy killing has no place in Islam." Okay, put a bomb vest on him and pull the string. Maybe Suha could do the honors.

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Middle East

US warns it will not tolerate fall of Abbas govt

2003-09-01

US envoy John Wolf has warned the Palestinians that Washington would not tolerate the collapse of the government of prime minister Mahmud Abbas, Palestinian sources said Sunday. Wolf, the man appointed by US President George W. Bush to oversee the implementation of the so-called road map for peace, talked to the speaker of the Palestinian parliament Ahmad Qorei over the weekend as a stand-off between Abbas and veteran leader Yasser Arafat showed no signs of abating. Qorei has been trying to mediate a compromise between the two one-time allies who have become involved in an increasingly public battle for control of the Palestinian security apparatus. Just hope we stick with that resolution. Since the Israelis are saying the same thing, I'm assuming the two positions have been coordinated...

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Middle East

Erekat resignation plunges Paleo Gov’t in crisis

2003-05-16

Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat resigned Friday, a day before a key meeting has been set between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas. His resignation further jeopardised the international roadmap for peace as tension on the ground remained high, with the Israeli army staging a massive military operation in the northern Gaza Strip. A large number of Israeli troops backed by 70 armoured vehicles and helicopters were sweeping areas of the northern Gaza Strip on Friday, a day after an army incursion in which five Palestinians were killed. The Jericho MP said he handed in his resignation to Abbas but refused to explain why. Official Palestinian sources said Erakat resented his exclusion from the meeting with Sharon, while interior security minister Mohammad Dahlan and parliamentary speaker Ahmad Qorei were invited. Maybe Abbas is smarter than we thought? Arafat was keeping him diminished, and Erekat was Yassers' boy

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