Tag Archive for settlements

| June 3, 2013
No comments

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.

By

 

 

 

 

 

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 »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , ,
| May 24, 2013
No comments

Hague: Israel losing its support in UK & EU over settlement construction

UK’s Foreign Secretary in interview with Sky News says window for 2-state solution closing fast, adding failure to progress may jeopardize Israel’s Jewish, democratic character.

By Ynet

As the minister charged with negotiations with the Palestinians, Livni said that the next few weeks will be critical for negotiations. “I hope the Palestinians realize that the goal is to restart talks and be focused,” she added. British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is currently visiting Israel, said in an interview with Sky News that Israel has lost some support in Britain and in other European countries due to its settlement construction policy. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| April 12, 2013
No comments

Unnamed gov’t source: Israel’s planning to freeze settlement construction

Officials in Jerusalem suggest that while there won’t be a de jure freeze, expansion outside of major settlement towns will be halted.

‘It’ll take a while, but eventually talks will resume’ 

By Attila Somfalvi

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the Mid-East may have ended without any obvious results, but official sources involved in the preliminary talks said Thursday night that “eventually the negotiations will resume. Israel is expected to quietly freeze construction outside of the major settlement blocs in order to resume bilateral talks.”

Settlement construction - Photo Ynet Archives

Settlement construction – Photo Ynet Archives

A few days ago Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas demanded that Prime Minister Netanyahu present a permanent agreement border outline. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| March 14, 2013
No comments

Abbas seeks peace talks with Israel in 2013

Meeting with Russian President Putin PA President Abbas expressed caution but hopes peace talks with Israel will resume in 2013, leading to a 2-state solution.

By Reuters

 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday he hoped peace talks with Israel would restart this year although the chances of a resumption seemed slim.

Mahmoud Abbas Photo by Marc Israël SellemAbbas made his comments during a meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said Russia would do all it could to promote peace in the region.

“We … hope that substantive peace talks will start this year, although the hopes are probably not very high,” Abbas said through an interpreter at talks at a state residence outside Moscow. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| February 27, 2013
No comments

Unreleased EU report blames Jewish settlements for area violence

 

EU diplomats say Jewish settlements in area E-1 & east Jerusalem threaten peace & are calling for economic sanctions against Israel.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

A copy of a report written by EU heads of mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah condemns recent Israeli settlement building and recommends that EU member states place economic sanctions on settlements, AFP reported on Wednesday.

E-1The report referred to Israel’s settlement construction in east Jerusalem as “systematic, deliberate and provocative” and stated that Jewish settlement construction was “the biggest single threat to the two state solution.”

The report singled out as problematic Israeli development in the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Har Homa, Gilo, and Givat Hamatos, as well as Israeli settlement plans in the area known as E1.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| February 22, 2013
No comments

Foreign media workshop: ‘Don’t call it a settlement, when it’s a community’

Residents from Judea & Samaria met to receive tips on dealing with the hostile int’l press, which often depicts them as usurpers of land & religious fanatics

By Sigal Arbitman

 

 

 

The famous Chinese philosopher Confucius once said, “Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Let me do and I understand.” This quote served as the core of the message that was imparted to participants of a “foreign media workshop” held two weeks ago at the main visiting hall of the Binyamin regional council.

A community in Judea and Samaria. [Illustrative] – Photo: Yehoshua Yosef

On a cold, rainy night, 30 residents from all over Judea and Samaria, gathered in an auditorium for a three-hour learning session, during which they received tips on dealing with a hostile international press that is covering the daily events unfolding in their own backyards.

Continue Reading »
Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| January 6, 2013
No comments

‘Illegal Settlement’ Made Kosher, Thanks to the Left

An anti-Zionist lawsuit against the “unauthorized settlement” of Rachelim resulted in it decreed a legal Israeli town by the courts.

By Maayana Miskin

 

The Samaria (Shomron) town of Rachelim has finally become a fully authorized community, following a lawsuit from the far-left group Yesh Din.

Rachelim

The town, Rachelim – Samaria Regional Council website

Rachelim, a Jewish village built in honor of victims of terrorism, was established with the government’s full cooperation and assistance. The Housing Ministry even built many of the homes through the Amidar company.

The community had all the right paperwork and signatures as well – save for one. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| January 4, 2013
No comments

European settlements & their double standards for Israel

 

Ironically, while the EU releases harsh statements against Israel for any construction activity in West Bank settlements, it has nothing to say about tens of thousands of Turkish settlers that have moved into Northern Cyprus.

By Dore Gold

Anyone flipping through cable television channels with his or her remote control has undoubtedly come across programs about British and other retirees from Northern Europe seeking to escape the harsh climate where they live by venturing to one of the well-known vacation spots along the Mediterranean coast. The difficult problem that these buyers face is the soaring prices of properties over the last decade in places like Marbella, Spain, the French Riviera, or Italy’s Amalfi Coast, which leads many to look for more economical alternatives.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| December 28, 2012
No comments

5 policemen wounded when Magav & IDF try to evacuate illegal West Bank ‘outpost’

IDF forces likely to return with reinforcements on Saturday evening after unsuccessful attempt to evacuate the Oz Tzion outpost situated between Jerusalem & Ramallah.

 

Five Border Patrol policemen were lightly wounded on Friday at the outpost of Oz Tzion in the West Bank, as dozens of policemen and soldiers tried to evacuate it before the Sabbath.

Mobile homes at the West Bank settlement outpost Ramat Gilad.

Mobile homes at the West Bank settlement outpost Ramat Gilad. – Photo by Alon Ron

Oz Tzion is a new outpost situated between Jerusalem and Ramallah, near the Givat Assaf outpost. Its founder is Daniela Weiss, the former head of the Kedumim Local Council, and it includes a few wooden structures. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| December 22, 2012
No comments

Israel’s PM: I will ignore int’l condemnation of building homes in Jerusalem

PM Netanyahu says Israel will continue to build in east Jerusalem despite condemnation from UN and the international community.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, HERB KEINON

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday said he would ignore the international community’s condemnation of prospective building plans for Jerusalem across the Green Line, in an interview aired in part on Channel 2.

The interview is scheduled to air in full on Saturday.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu - Photo: Pool/Haim Zach

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – Photo: Pool/Haim Zach

“The Western Wall is not occupied territory, and I don’t care what the United Nations says,” Netanyahu declared in reference to the plans.

“We are living in the Jewish State,” Netanyahu said, and “The capital of the Jewish state, for 3,000 years, has been Jerusalem.

Continue Reading »
Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| December 21, 2012
No comments

PM Netanyahu: I don’t care what the UN says about settlement construction

With int’l criticism of Israel’s planned construction in E. Jerusalem, Judea & Samaria peaking, the PM says in a television interview it is Israel’s right to build in Jerusalem.

 

Amid increasing international criticism of Israel’s recent approval of construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a television interview on Friday that he doesn’t “care what the UN says.”

PM Netanyahu speaks at UN General Assembly Sept 27, 2012.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu seen through the glass of a television booth as he addresses the 67th UN General Assembly in New York, Sept. 27, 2012. – Photo by Reuters

In the wake of the UN vote on Palestinian non-member state status, Israel announced plans to advance a long-frozen project for the E-1 corridor, which links the city of Jerusalem with the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| December 11, 2012
No comments

EU: Our agreements with Israel only apply to products limited to pre-’67 lines

EU foreign ministers dismayed at E-1 construction plans, say it would “seriously undermine the prospects of a negotiated resolution”

PM: On building houses in our capital, the EU is the first to protest. Where was the world’s censure when Hamas called for Israel’s destruction?

 

European Union foreign ministers strongly stated that all of the body’s agreements with Israel only applied to the pre-1967 lines, as they spoke out on Monday against Israeli settlement plans including the development of E1.

The European Parliament building in Strasbourg - Photo: REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

The European Parliament building in Strasbourg – Photo: REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

A diplomatic source told The Jerusalem Post that he feared some of the language in the council statement was placed there to lay the groundwork for labeling and possibly banning settlement products in the future.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| December 9, 2012
No comments

More pre-conditions: Abbas suggests 6 month talks with settlement freeze

In Qatar, Abbas says negotiations should resume, but from where Olmert left them, with all final status issues “on the table.”

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday proposed holding negotiations with Israel for six months, during which time the Israeli government would freeze construction in the settlements.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks - Photo: REUTERS/Mohamad Dabbouss

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks – Photo: REUTERS/Mohamad Dabbouss

Abbas said that the negotiations should start from the point where they ended during the era of former prime minister Ehud Olmert.

The negotiations would lead to agreement on the core issues and an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines, he said.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| December 6, 2012
No comments

EU has no intention of boycotting settlement products

EU Official says bloc “continues to oppose boycotts, including boycotts of settlement products” besides, there has to be action at the level of the UN Security Council before the EU places boycotts on countries.

Boycotting products from the settlements is not a sanction the EU is considering to demonstrate its displeasure with Israel’s recent decision to construct 3,000 new units in the settlement and push forward planning in E1, the EU’s delegation in Tel Aviv clarified Thursday.

Euro symbol near European flags - Photo: REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

Euro symbol near European flags – Photo: REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

A spokesman at the EU delegation was responding to an article in Ma’ariv that said EU ministers scheduled to meet Monday to discuss Israel’s recently announced settlement plans were considering “accelerating, in a full and effective measure, the implementation of legislation on labeling and boycotting settlement products.”

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
  Recent Entries »