Tag Archive for Middle East peace

| December 5, 2013
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Palestinians immediately rejected U.S. ‘security proposal’ for Israel

The American security plan would ‘lead to prolonging & maintaining the occupation,’ unnamed Arab official explained.

By Reuters

 

 

The Palestinian Authority rejected ideas raised by visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday for security arrangements under a possible future peace accord with Israel, a Palestinian official said.

Abbas and Kerry

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, speaks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013. – Photo: AP

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity and declined to elaborate on the proposals, said Kerry presented them to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after discussing them separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Continue Reading »

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| November 6, 2013
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Kerry meets Natanyahu in J’lem, told of concerns over lack of progress

 

U.S. Sec of State Kerry promises the Arabs an additional $75 million in aid to create Palestinian jobs.

Prime Minister says Abbas ‘continues to run away from the historic decisions needed to make a genuine peace.’

By , , Reuters and

 

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday peace talks with the Palestinians had failed to make real progress and he hoped U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry‘s visit could get them back on track.

Kerry and Netanyahu

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Nov.

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| September 26, 2013
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Abbas at UN urges Israel to abandon “security obsessions”

State of Palestine President, Mahmoud Abbas, urged Israel to abandon “security obsessions and pretexts,” and to “sow the seeds of good neighborliness.”

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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday in New York, saying that the Palestinians refuse to enter into  “a vortex” of new interim agreements with Israel.

Abbas speaks at the UN General Assembly.


Abbas speaks at the UN General Assembly. – Photo: AFP

Speaking for the first time in the name of the State of Palestine, Abbas said raising the status of Palestine was not aimed at deligitimizing Israel, but “to consecrate the legitimacy of a State that must exist, which is Palestine.” Continue Reading »

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| August 25, 2013
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Caroline Glick’s Column One: The Resetting of US foreign policy

 

Never since America’s establishment has the United States appeared so irrelevant, destructive, untrustworthy and totally impotent.

By CAROLINE GLICK
 

 

Aside from the carnage in Benghazi, the most enduring image from Hillary Clinton’s tenure as US secretary of state was the fake remote control she brought with her to Moscow in 2009 with the word “Reset” in misspelled Russian embossed on it.
US President Barack Obama (R) meets with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia June 29, 2010.

US President Barack Obama (R) meets with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia June 29, 2010. – Photo: REUTERS/Larry Downing

Clinton’s gimmick was meant to show that under President Barack Obama, American foreign policy would be fundamentally transformed.

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| July 26, 2013
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Steinitz: Israel prepared for ‘serious territorial concessions’ for peace deal

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz says his gov’t ready to make ‘serious territorial concessions’ since the only possible solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a 2-state solution with demilitarized Palestinian state.

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Intelligence and Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told the Daily Telegraph Friday that Israel is willing to make “considerable concessions” within the framework of an agreement with the Palestinians. Steinitz also said that a demilitarized Palestinian state is the only possible solution.

Minister Yuval Steinitz speaks to Daily Telegraph - Screenshot

“At the end of the day, we will have such a situation. It’s going to be difficult to achieve it – there are many obstacles in the way – but I think there is no other solution to the problem,” Steinitz told the Telegraph. Continue Reading »

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| July 11, 2013
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Computer analysis: 2-state solution best way to reduce Arab-Israel violence

Computer program developed jointly by Israeli & Swiss social scientists finds best way to reduce violence in Jerusalem is by separating the Arabs & Jews as part of a 2-state solution.

By DPA

Separating Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem as part of a two-state solution could offer the best way to reduce violence in the disputed city, according to a computer simulation developed in Switzerland and Israel.

The Old City of Jerusalem

The Old City of Jerusalem. – Photo: Michal Fattal

Social scientists mapped population groups in Jerusalem and analyzed their relationships in order to develop a computer model, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich said Thursday. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| June 3, 2013
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American official: Kerry will drop peace process if Israelis & Palestinians aren’t serious

Abbas isn’t responding to American or Jordanian pressure. Abbas reiterated to Judeh that a freeze on settlement construction  AND the release of Palestinian prisoners is the way to restart negotiations.

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If U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry determines that Israelis and Palestinians are not serious about the peace process, he will abandon his efforts on the matter, a senior U.S. official told Reuters.

John Kerry (C) with President Shimon Peres (L) and President Mahmoud Abbas.


John Kerry (C) with President Shimon Peres (L) and President Mahmoud Abbas at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa on May, 26. – Photo: Reuters

 

In an article by Arshad Mohammed, the Reuters journalist responsible for covering the State Department in Washington, the reporter cited those who called Kerry a “Lone Ranger” condemning the Middle East peace process, and that many involved call Kerry “naive.” Continue Reading »

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| May 24, 2013
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White House appoints Gen. John Allen the U.S. security envoy for peace talks

Former NATO forces commander in Afghanistan has been appointed to formulate U.S. security policy in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

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Gen. John Allen has been appointed special U.S. envoy on security issues in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He will not mediate between the parties; his work will almost exclusively involve contacts with Israel. Allen will deal with the U.S. position on Israeli security needs and the security arrangements that would accompany the establishment of a future Palestinian state.

Gen. John Allen, in a July 2012 photo.

Gen. John Allen – Photo: Reuters

 

Senior U.S. and Israeli officials note that while U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made the appointment it was coordinated with U.S. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| May 20, 2013
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Lapid to NYT: I oppose construction freeze & Abbas isn’t partner for peace

Yair Lapid, in New York Times interview, addressed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for 1st time since becoming finance minister, suggesting that Abbas, as a founding father of the ‘victimizing’ concept of the Palestinians, isn’t a partner for peace.

By

 

Finance Minister Yair Lapid opposes a freeze on Israeli settlement construction as a gesture to jump-start negotiations with the Palestinians.

Yair Lapid

Yair Lapid poses for a portrait at his house, January 16, 2013. – Photo: AP

In an interview with The New York Times, Lapid admitted that he has not spoken to nor met with any senior Palestinian officials, but claimed that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is not a partner for peace. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| May 9, 2013
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Chinese president urges Palestinian & Israeli leaders to start ‘building trust’

Chinese media reported the visit this week of both Netanyahu and Abbas, emphasize China’s ‘active involvement in Middle East affairs.’

By DPA

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to “build mutual trust” and resume dialogue, saying China wanted to promote peace in the Middle East.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu clinking glasses with his Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang, May 8, 2013. – Photo: AP

“We hope Israel and Palestine can work together, take feasible measures, gradually build mutual trust, restart the peace talks as soon as possible and make substantial progress,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Xi as telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Continue Reading »

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| April 30, 2013
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Pope Francis accepts President Peres’ invitation to visit Jerusalem

The Vatican’s new pontiff accepted an invitation by Israeli President Shimon Peres to visit Israel ‘with willingness & joy,’ says spokesman.

By Reuters

 

President Shimon Peres invited Pope Francis on Tuesday to visit Israel, at his first meeting with the new pontiff who has appealed for peace in the Middle East.

Israeli President Shimon Peres meets with Pope Francis - Photo by Kobi Gideon , GPO

Israeli President Shimon Peres meets with Pope Francis – Photo by Kobi Gideon , GPO

The pope accepted the invitation “with willingness and joy,” a Vatican spokesman said, but there was no indication when a trip would be made.

“I am expecting you in Jerusalem, not just me but the whole country of Israel,” Peres told the pope in the presence of reporters after 30 minutes of private talks in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| April 4, 2013
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Jewish leaders urge Netanyahu to make ‘painful territorial sacrifices’

Applauding Netanyahu’s ‘leadership’ on Turkey, the Israel Policy Forum letter, signed by 100 American Jewish leaders, urge collaboration with Kerry & ‘concrete confidence building measures’ with the Palestinians.

 

In the wake of President Obama’s visit to Israel and on the eve of Secretary of State John Kerry’s return, 100 prominent American Jews have sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging him to “work closely” with Kerry “to devise pragmatic initiatives, consistent with Israel’s security needs, which would represent Israel’s readiness to make painful territorial sacrifices for the sake of peace.”

Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a meeting of the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors in Jerusalem

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a meeting of the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors in Jerusalem, February 18, 2013.

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Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| March 26, 2013
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We are f***ing powerless: Jon Stewart mocks Obama’s visit to Jerusalem

WATCH as the Daily Show’s takes on U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent trip to Jerusalem & the failures of past American presidents on peace between Israel & the Palestinians.

 

Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show returned after two weeks off the air by poking fun at the outcome of President Barack Obama’s recent trip to Israel and the West Bank, and lamenting the failures of past U.S. presidents in the peace process.

A screen shot of Jon Stewart on the Daily Show.

A screen shot of Jon Stewart on the Daily Show.

Stewart mocked Obama’s Jerusalem speech, in which the president combined what Stewart described as “a stunning declaration of American support for Israel’s right to exist,” with a call for recognition of “the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, right to justice.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| March 3, 2013
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Leaked: Netanyahu secretly visited Jordan to advance peace with the Palestinians

The Israel’s PM traveled last week to meet Jordan’s King Abdullah II, according to AFP, to discuss ways to advance peace with the Palestinians.

The PM’s office refused to confirm that meeting took place.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly visited Jordan last week and met with King Abdullah II to discuss ways to advance Middle East peace, AFP reported on Saturday.

King Abdulla II and Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Jordan’s King Abdulla II, right, meets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Royal Palace at Port City of Aqaba, May 14, 2009. – Photo by Reuters

An unnamed diplomatic source told the French news agency that the two heads of state discussed ways to renew peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , ,
| February 4, 2013
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Arab politics; Palestinians suffering draws int’l aid & political clout

Pressure for peace exerted by the int’l community seems to fall only on Israel. Achieving peace will require putting more pressure on many Arab gov’ts to make them willing to share the burden for regional stability in the form of support for their fellow Arabs.

By MUDAR ZAHRAN

 

Several Arab countries have expressed passionate support for direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Still, this verbal support is compromised by apparently questionable practices on the ground executed by many Arab countries with a Palestinian population. Those countries have been emphasizing their refusal to integrate them.

Arab League conferenceThis stance has posed a major obstacle to peace talks for years, as many of the Arab countries with Palestinian populations still officially insist that they must exercise “the right of return to Palestine.” Continue Reading »

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