Kindgo
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- (Bill Koenig)
Friday, December 20 – Bill Koenig
http://watch.org/showart.php3?idx=3...owsubj=1&mcat=1
December 16, 2002
Representatives of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States (the Quartet) meet in Washington D.C. with Secretary of State Colin Powell this coming Friday, Dec. 20 to adopt the Middle East Road Map.
The Quartet leaders are also scheduled to meet with President Bush at the White House that afternoon at 2:30.
French President Jacques Chirac said last Wednesday he wants the Middle East "road map" to be adopted and published on December 20 when they gather.
The two Jerusalem Post articles below stated the EU representatives felt the road map should be made public before the January 28 Israeli elections, but the US has hinted that it would agree to Israel's request to delay doing so until after the elections.
"The EU position reflects our own position, and it is very positive ... now the EU, Russia, and the UN are pushing for declaring the road map on December 20," PA Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nabil Shaath said.
The article also stated the European Union blasted the settlements on Friday at the end of a summit on the Mideast in Copenhagen, issuing a sharply-worded statement saying the settlements "inflame" a volatile situation and indicate Israel's lack of commitment to ending the occupation.
In last Sunday's race for the Likud Knesset candidate list, nine of the top 10 Likud vote getters were from the Netanyahu camp. Sharon was first, Netanyahu was second and then eight Netanyahu backers who all follow Netanyahu in opposing a Palestinian state.
Today Arutz Sheva stated the Likud Party platform continues to negate a Palestinian state. The party's campaign office says that Prime Minister Sharon, whose position in favor of arrangements leading to a Palestinian state is well known, agreed to leave the platform as is. "Although he feels that there is no alternative other than the establishment of such a state," staffers said, "the matter is not practical now and therefore there is no reason to change the platform."
You can count on more spirited exchanges in the Knesset regarding a Palestinian state and the settlements, especially in light of the new Road Map.
The big question is: when will the Lord rebuke the Quartet plan? Will it happen when it is presented for the first time in secret or when it is presented publicly? We will know that answer very soon!
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EU blasts settlements in harsh statement
Jerusalem Post - December 15, 2002
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satell...d=1039853912868
The European Union blasted the settlements on Friday at the end of a summit on the Mideast in Copenhagen, issuing a sharply-worded statement saying the settlements "inflame" a volatile situation and indicate Israel's lack of commitment to ending the occupation.
Five of the 22 sentences in the European Council statement on the Middle East were devoted to the settlements, while two addressed terrorism. The EU, according to the statement, "reiterates its strong and unequivocal condemnation of all acts of terrorism. Suicide attacks do irreparable damage to the Palestinian cause." While recognizing Israel's "legitimate security concerns," the statement called upon Israel to "stop excessive use of force and extra-judicial killings, which do not bring security to the Israeli population."
On the settlements, the statement read: "The European Council is alarmed at the continuing illegal settlement activities, which threaten to render the two-state solution physically impossible to implement.
"The expansion of settlements and related construction...violates international law, inflames an already volatile situation, and reinforces the fear of Palestinians that Israel is not genuinely committed to end the occupation. It is an obstacle to peace."
Furthermore, the statement says, "The European Council urges the government of Israel to reverse its settlement policy and, as a first step, immediately apply a full and effective freeze on all settlement activities. It calls for an end to further land confiscation for the construction of the so-called security fence."
Victor Harel, the Foreign Ministry's deputy director-general who heads the Western Europe department, reacted to the statement by saying "once again the European Council, for the sake of 'balance,' is more alarmed by the settlements than by the real problem - Arab terrorism." The statement also said the European Council attaches priority to the adoption on December 20 "of a joint road map with clear timelines for the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005."
The road map issue has become a source of friction between the Europeans and the White House. The New York Times reported Friday that the Bush administration has rebuffed European pressure, including a personal call from French President Jacques Chirac, to act on the road map proposal this coming Friday at a Quartet meeting in Washington.
Israel has been lobbying the White House to push the road map off until at least after the January 28 elections, and optimally until after the looming US campaign against Iraq.
Israeli officials have said in recent days they have received clear signals from the White House that the Bush administration is willing to postpone the road map until after the elections.
The State Department acknowledged on Friday that a road map for Middle East peace being prepared by the US and international partners would not be completed by the time the Quartet convenes in Washington on Friday.
"I'm sure the Quartet leaders will continue to discuss and develop the road map" when they meet in Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
US, UN, EU, and Russian representatives have been working in recent weeks to finalize a draft that could propel Israel and the Palestinians back to negotiations. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - while he has endorsed the principles outlined in the road map, principally Palestinian statehood - has indicated that he will not pay much attention to the draft until after the election.
"We will continue to make progress, whether it's on road maps or other items, wherever we can, as we can, even though we do understand that there is an election going on," Boucher said.
The Quartet is expected to meet with President George W. Bush when it convenes in Washington.
Sharon has made it clear he wants to get away from the road map, with its firm timelines, and move back to the proposal laid out in Bush's June speech, calling for developments toward the establishment of a Palestinian state to be based on performance - not time-linked - benchmarks.
In addition to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the other participants slated to take part in Friday's meeting in Washington on the road map are EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to make his first trip abroad in his new position this week, leaving on Wednesday for Italy, Germany, and possibly England. The road map, according to an Israeli diplomatic official, is certain to be high on the agenda.
Janine Zacharia contributed to this report.
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Chirac wants 'road map' adopted on Dec. 20
Jerusalem Post – Dec. 12, 2002
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satell...d=1039580580210
French President Jacques Chirac said Wednesday he wants the Middle East "road map" to be adopted and published on December 20 when representatives of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States (the Quartet) gather in Washington.
The Quartet wants to adapt the road map as its blueprint for reaching a peace agreement between Israel and the PA.
Chirac's wishes were expressed at the close of a meeting in Paris with Palestinian Legislative Council speaker Ahmed Qurei, also known as Abu Ala.
"The international community must remain mobilized," said the presidential palace through a spokesman who was not named. "That is why we want the rapid adoption of the road map ... and its publication."
Qurei urged the Quartet to announce the plan as soon as possible during his visit to Paris.
"We want the adoption of a road map with a clear route, without any checkpoints on the road, and a clear map of the Palestinian state," he said.
"The French are very eager for a peace plan from the Quartet calling for the proclamation of a Palestinian state in 2005 at the latest, and they don't want it postponed, as some do," he added.
Palestinian Authority officials welcomed a European Union decision to push for the presentation of the US road map at the meeting of the Quartet in Washington, but were skeptical that the EU would enter a political confrontation with the US over the issue. EU representatives said they felt the road map should be made public before Israeli election, but the US has hinted that it would agree to Israel's request to delay doing so until after the elections.
"The EU position reflects our own position, and it is very positive... now the EU, Russia, and the UN are pushing for declaring the road map on December 20," PA Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nabil Shaath said.
But the final decision will be up to the US, "and there is a debate within the Bush administration whether to announce the road map on December 20 or delay it until after the Israeli election," he added PA Minister of Local Government Saeb Erekat said the EU statement was positive, but he doubted that the US would go along with the European demand and introduce the peace plan before the election. Erekat accused the Bush administration of acting as "[Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon's election campaign manager." PA sources said they believe that presenting the peace plan ahead of the election, together with efforts to implement a cease-fire, would move Israeli voters back toward the center and help the Labor party gain more votes - jump-starting the peace process. They also accused the Bush administration of favoring Sharon over Labor's Amram Mitzna.
"The Americans feel Mitzna cannot win the election and do not want to pressure Sharon, who may feel that by backing him they may be compelling him to work with them on their political horizon after winning the election," one PA source said.
The PA does not trust that Sharon has an acceptable peace offer and is trying to convince the Americans that they are betting on the wrong candidate, he added. The PA source charged that US President George W. Bush was influenced by right-wing administration officials, such as Elliot Abrams, the newly-appointed head of the National Security Council's Near East and North African Affairs division. The PA source claimed Abrams is a Likud sympathizer and is pushing the administration to support Sharon.
All the Palestinians can do, meanwhile, is explain why they feel the road map should be presented as soon as possible, Shaath said.
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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