Middle East News
Palestinian premier calls for Israeli settlement freeze
Mar 14, 2008, 16:25 GMT
Ramallah - Acting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad Friday called on Israel to freeze all settlement activities, warning that settlements undermine efforts to create a Palestinian state.
Following a three-hour meeting of a US-headed trilateral committee in Jerusalem, Fayyad expressed frustration at Israel's failure to abide by its obligation to freeze settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory.
'Israel is eroding the very possibility of the two-state solution. A freeze on settlement activity is crucial to preserving the possibility of a Palestinian state. And by freeze, I mean not one more brick,' he said.
At the Annapolis Conference in November, Palestinians and Israelis agreed to form a trilateral mechanism, headed by the United States on behalf of the Mideast peace quartet, to address implementation of their road map obligations. Friday was its first meeting.
The Israeli defence minister and Palestinian prime minister are the two other members in the committee headed by Lt. Gen. William Fraser. However, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak failed to attend the meeting and sent instead one his top aides, Amos Gilad.
The quartet, composed of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, proposed in 2003 a road map for peace in the Middle East that calls in its first phase on Israel to freeze settlement activities and remove settlement outposts as well as allow more freedom of movement for the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
The Palestinians, on the other hand, have to dismantle all armed militia groups and prevent any hostile activity against Israel in addition to other obligations.
Fayyad welcomed the mandate of Fraser, who was appointed by the United States to head the trilateral mechanism. 'Lt. Gen. Fraser has shown seriousness and commitment throughout this process. I hope the information he has gathered will be put to good use by the quartet to ensure that Israel stops settlement activity,' he said.
'New tenders are being issued. New plans are being announced and old ones resurrected. And most of this is happening at the heart of the future Palestinian state: East Jerusalem,' stated Fayyad.
In the five weeks after Annapolis, Israeli authorities issued tenders for some 747 housing units in settlements, as compared with 138 units tendered in the 11 months preceding Annapolis. Most recently, Israel announced a decision to resume construction on some 750 housing units in Giv'at Ze'ev settlement, he said.
Meanwhile, numerous construction projects in many settlements are continuing every day. 'This is not a freeze by any standard,' said Fayyad.
'We have obligations in governance and security that we have to live up to, and we are making serious and sustained efforts to do that. And we are achieving successes,' Fayyad stated.
'However, ongoing Israeli raids and attacks and incessant Israeli settlement activity undermine our efforts. Israel knows that, our people know that, and now, the whole world knows that,' he said.
The parties issued a statement after the meeting that said, 'In Annapolis we agreed to establish an American-led trilateral (United States, Palestinian and Israeli) mechanism to follow up on the implementation of the roadmap.
'The goal of this mechanism is to create improved conditions on the ground for both sides, build confidence, and give impetus to political negotiations that will lead to two states living side by side in peace and security.'
The statement added: 'During today's trilateral meeting we reviewed where we stand on all these goals. We examined areas where the parties are not meeting their commitments and the reasons why, and explored ways to accelerate the process and make the parties' implementation of their road map obligations more effective.
'We had a cordial but frank exchange of views that helped the participants attain a better understanding of some very complex issues. Our goal remains the fulfilment of the parties' road map obligations.'
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Older Talkback
page: 1
Nicely said. None can dispute pure facts. Time for once and for all to address the jew question.
The Banking system which has not changed since Jesus threw the Money changers out of the Temple (Usury Economics) is in melt down .. time to institute a new system .. time to throw off the Jewish Bankers Yoke.
Time to clean out the Academic Augean Stables of its Zionist paymasters .. Israel with its Genocide, rape, baby killing and land theft must be placed before a War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague .. the International Terrorists such as Olmert, Blair, Bush, Cheney, Cherthoff. Bolton, Rice et al should be the first in the Dock to answer for what they have done in Europe and Palestine.
This is not going to go away until it is tackled at its root and this poisonous entity is neutralized for the benefit of the rest of the world.
I hope the Jews take every inch of sand from the Mediterranean to the Indian ocean.
All right TBT, since you repeatedly copy and paste this post over and over, never addressing the current topic, I'll give you a response I can cut and paste for you...
Yes Israel does “respect the air space of its sovereign neighbors”, all those not engaged in “multitiered warfare” against it or harboring know combat assets.
Yes Israel does ”respect the borders of its sovereign neighbors”, as per above conditions.
Israel has the right to dispute the resolutions passed by the Arab biased UN general assembly and demand direct negotiations for resolution, which is what they have done.
Regrettably, however they do not TARGET civilians, as their opponents do, those civilians killed are unfortunately brought into harms way by the terrorists who admittedly use them as 'human shields'.
What proof can you offer that they “lie” more and differently than every other nation on the planet? None, moot point.
Again, always BELIEVED, but Israel has only ever claimed it has the means to defend itself at whatever scale is required, which has long been interpreted to mean a Nuclear response capability. the 200 number is an Arab propaganda number to attempt to make Israel seem to be the dominant power in the region, when their military is outnumbered still 5 to 1, and many of the hostile states around them are well armed with WMD capabilities.
Again, never proven, see above.
What an outrageous claim, where is your evidence that Israel targeted Civilians with WMD’s (tear gas is not a “Chemical Weapon”) which is what you imply.
Admittedly, all countries have 'spying' operations on each other, so what, again moot point.
There was an incident, which had been admitted and reparations paid, all involved upper Israeli officials are long dead. A black mark in Israel US relations, but long in the past, no longer relevant.
Is Israel the best ally of the US and most deserving of aid? YES, indisputably, however Israel gets less than the total of aid given to the powers hostile to it.
The Israeli lobby is no more influential than the lobbies of the powers hostile to it and all receive aid.
I no way is Israel a 'threat to the US'. They have been and continue to be our best ally and a symbol of freedom and democracy in the totalitarian and intolerant Middle East.
I no way is Israel a 'threat to the World'. See above.
Israel has been and continues to be a country under siege, their actions are completely reasonable in light of 60 years of continuous unwarranted hostility. Try learning some truth for a change...www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened/
Im a muslim clearly need to make fact clear
Respect the jews
It is zionism is that is the problem For example
When communism was taking over russia were all russians bad guys ???
Ofcourse not its communism that was bad
many jews are against the Zionist isreal
The real jews live among the muslims in peace
khaled,
In which Muslim country do Jews live with rights and freedoms as Musilms and Christians do in Israel? Under which Islamic regeme has there been care and respect shown to Jews and their beliefs, as is shown to Muslims and Christians in Israel.
By your use of the term 'Zionist isreal' you display you extreem bias against the rights of the Jews to their homelandand your acceptance of the myth of the palestinians as a distinct people.
Let us not forget the words of Zahir Muhsein, leader of the Syria-sponsored as-Sa'iqa faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in a March 31, 1977, interview with the Dutch newspaper Trouw:
'The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism.
For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa. While as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.'
damned by their own words....
page: 1
TBTMar 14th, 2008 - 17:59:33
They (zionist) wont stop the killing, land grab, torture etc.
Israel is the problem.
Does Israel respect the air space of its sovereign neighbors?
No.
Does Israel respect the borders of its sovereign neighbors?
No.
Has Israel abided ANY of the UN resolutions that state they should leave all occupied territories?
No.
Does Israel kill innocents each and every day?
Yes.
Does Israel lie to the international community?
Yes.
Does Israel possess over 200 Nuclear weapons and has threatened 'Nuclear Holocaust' against the Middle East/World?
Yes.
Does Israel possess Chemical and Biological weapons of mass destruction?
Yes.
Has Israel used Chemical and Bio weapons against CILIVLAINS?
YES.
Does Israel spy on its 'ally' the USA?
Yes.
Did Israel attack the US in 1967?
Yes. ( www.ussliberty.com for the truth on that matter)
Does Israel receive the greatest amount of US foreign Aid?
Yes
Does Israel use that 'US Aid' to lobby / bribe / extort US politicians to further its influence over US and US policy?
Yes.
Is Israel a threat to the US?
Yes.
Is Israel a threat to the world?
Yes.
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