Israel & Middle East Peace Conference

[Shammu]

Jerusalem is surely becoming a "burdensome" stone as the Bible predicted. I think the delay in the November summit could potentially cause things to go downhill. Assad and Syria have threatened to take the golan Heights by force if there was not an agreement soon. A delay would only seem to frustrate Syria and encourage them to make a move.

That's not to say or infer that Israel should go along and sign their own death warrant as a people and a nation, just that the time is apparently not yet "ripe" for the false peace to occur.

This is an interesting development here.

Either a delay in the Nov. summit will cause things to go downhill, or it is a signal that there may very well be further agreement, but it will take a bit more time. So lets delay the summit until this agreement seems more plausible.

Either way it goes..... I can believe I can see a couple different prophetic scenarios unfolding.

[Shammu]

Olmert seeks to dampen expectations for Mideast peace conference
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST    Oct. 25, 2007

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday played down expectations for an upcoming US-sponsored peace summit, saying the gathering would not produce a binding peace agreement with the Palestinians and might not even take place.

Speaking to a group of Jewish fundraisers, Olmert said he is committed to making the conference a success and said he would meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday to review preparations. The summit is expected to take place later this year in Annapolis, Maryland.

"If all goes well, hopefully, we will meet in Annapolis," he said. "(But) Annapolis is not made to be the event for the declaration of peace."

Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams have been trying to draft a joint declaration outlining a future peace agreement ahead of the conference. The teams met Wednesday, but no agreements were announced.

Olmert seeks to dampen expectations for Mideast peace conference

[Shammu]

Palestine seeks India's participation in Middle East peace meet
New Delhi, Oct 24, IRNA

India-Palestine-Abbas
The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday made a strong pitch for India's participation in the Middle East peace conference that may be held next month.

"We hope India will be invited. In fact all of us will work for this. India's participation will be important for the conference to succeed," Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said during a brief transit halt in Hyderabad, capital city of Andhra Pradesh.

During his refuelling stop-over in Hyderabad on his way home from Indonesia, Abbas held a meeting with Prime Minister's Special Envoy for West Asia Chinmaya Gharekhan at Hyderabad's Begumpet airport, Indian national TV news portal reported here.

Gharekhan, briefed him about India's position on the peace process and renewed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's invitation to him to visit India. Abbas accepted the invitation.

Noting that India is an 'important and most progressive non-aligned country', Abbas said New Delhi could play a greater role in facilitating a lasting peace in the Middle East.

"Our demand is that India should be invited for this conference," Abbas, who assumed office in January 2005, said.

Asked what role did he envisage for India in the peace process, he said, "India has been our friend for a long time, helping us in all spheres including economic and political. We expect their help here as well."
Abbas said: "The dream of an independent Palestinian state could become a reality 'by the end of this year' if Israel and Palestinians succeed in reaching a negotiated settlement during the Middle East peace conference."
He added, "Insha Allah, we will achieve it by the end of this year if agreement could be reached."
Sounding positive about the peace conference, to be hosted by the United States sometime in November, he said, "We have started the process with good intention and are keen on finding a permanent solution."
Asked about the confusion over the conference's schedule, Abbas said, "Probably, it will be held by the middle of November. If we fail to prepare the document by then, it might be postponed by one or two weeks."
Later, Gharekhan said he had conveyed to Abbas the prime minister's good wishes and support for the peace process.

Asked what role India would play, he said, "If invited, we will go (to the peace conference). We are willing to help in whatever way we can."
Replying to another question, he said: "Palestinians have no problem with India's growing relations with Israel.

"Our ties with Israel are not at the expense of our support for the Palestinian cause which remains as strong as ever."

Palestine seeks India's participation in Middle East peace meet

[Shammu]

Qureia warns Annapolis failure will lead to war

PA's lead negotiator warns of failure to reach viable agreement in Annapolis, says clear timetable must be set for talks. 'We need support from Israel, not with kisses but with the evacuation of settlements,' says Ahmed Qureia

Atilla Somfalvi
Published: 10.28.07, 21:34
Israel News

The top negotiator for the Palestinian Authority, Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala), warned on Sunday that the region would suffer greatly in the event that the upcoming Annapolis peace conference failed.

"If the summit fails – frustration will win out over everything else and it will have a negative affect on the region. I cannot predict exactly what will happen, but it may lead to more wars.

"I warn now against failure there, which will open the door for extremists and extremism – and that door will be very difficult to close," said Qureia at a conference held by Meretz activists.

Qureia said that the key to the success of the conference lay in reaching an agreement that would serve as the basis for any final accords, including a clear timetable.

His adamant insistence on the establishment of a timetable came in response to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's comments earlier on Sunday in which he said no detailed timetable would be made for the negotiations.

The Palestinians, Qureia said, will not settle for an agreement they deemed unfair. "We are not as weak as some in Israel would like to think. We will continue to work diligently to ensure the success of the conference. I came here to say that our hands are outstretched in peace and our hearts are open despite the suffering. I have come to express the hope of my people that peace is still possible.

"But we need support from Israel, not with kisses but with the evacuation of settlements. That is the real challenge."

'This is a historic moment'

The former PA prime minister also stressed the importance of implementing the first stage of the road map. "If we do this, then we will be in good shape. Within a week we will deploy Palestinian troops into Nablus – but if Israel tries to kill someone in Nablus or conquer Nablus – this will create a problem."

The Annapolis conference is an opportunity that may not return, he said, "we face many challenges and we stand on the verge of either success or failure."

Qureia said he wished to say to the Israeli public that this is a historic moment that cannot be missed and "that we refuse to miss. The pain and suffering have not driven away our hope for peace and we are determined to reach an honest and viable peace.

"We need wisdom and courage to seize this opportunity. Chances have been missed in the past and the price of missing this one will be heavy.

"But we are not starting from square one, we are beginning the negotiations with a far better understanding of our hopes and illusions – elements we were lacking 15 years ago," he said.

Qureia also noted that the negotiations enjoy the support of the international community and the Arab world.

Qureia warns Annapolis failure will lead to war

[Shammu]

Israel seeks deal with Palestinians within a year
Fri Nov 2, 2007 7:33am EDT

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hopes to agree a peace deal with the Palestinians before President George W. Bush leaves office, an Israeli government official said on Friday.

"There are big advantages to reaching an agreement before the end of Bush's term. This is the right thing to do. It is the best thing to do for both sides," an official quoted Olmert telling German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Olmert expressed hope an agreement on core issues, including refugees, borders, and the fate of Jerusalem, could be reached, but stopped short of saying such a deal would be possible.

The official said Olmert wanted to seize the opportunity because it was impossible to know how committed the next U.S. administration would be to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Olmert wants to take advantage of a commitment by the Bush administration that Israel could keep control of large West Bank settlement blocks in any peace deal.

Olmert also sees the current Palestinian leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as another reason to push forward now.

Palestinians are seeking a timeline for a peace deal, but Israel is opposed to such a condition, fearing renewed violence should the talks collapse.

The Palestinians have said they want an agreement reached by August, when the campaign for the U.S. election in November 2008 heats up. Bush will leave office in January 2009.

Israel seeks deal with Palestinians within a year

[Shammu]

Saudis signal doubts over Middle East peace talks called by US

Ian Black, Middle East editor
Friday November 2, 2007
The Guardian

Saudi Arabia has signalled that it will not attend the Middle East peace conference scheduled by the US for this month unless there is significant agreement in advance on the core issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians.

But Prince Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister, also held out a vision of normalisation between the Arab world and Israel - "not just the absence of war" - if the conflict could be resolved.

"We need a successful meeting. To be successful it must deal with the main issues of peace in the Middle East: Jerusalem, borders, the return of the Palestinians," he told reporters at the end of the Saudi state visit to London yesterday.

The US and Britain have been working hard to persuade their Saudi allies to attend the event in Annapolis, Maryland, although no formal invitations have yet been issued and there are signs the timing may slip. Israeli and Palestinian officials have been trying to agree a joint document amid fears that failure could trigger new violence. Saudi Arabia has led an Arab League initiative calling peace with Israel "a strategic option". Its attendance is considered vital by the US and Israel to create a sense of wider legitimacy.

"We have been negotiating for 70 years and we are still at first base," said Prince Saud. "This is now the oldest conflict in the world. It is becoming more rather than less complicated over time. We need to move expeditiously in a reasonable amount of time."

In a measure of changing attitudes in the conservative heartland of the Arab world, he characterised the conflict merely as "a border dispute [with] two sides fighting over the same territory".

But Israel, said the prince, had not produced "an honest proposal" on how to resolve it. "The Arabs have come with one: total peace for a total withdrawal, with all the security necessary for both sides, with full recognition: a peace that is not just an absence of war but a peace of normalisation, of open borders, of exchanges between Israelis and their neighbours."

Israel, he insisted, had to stop building settlements on occupied land. "It would be foolhardy for the Palestinians to negotiate a return of their territories while the Israelis are building more settlements. How can they negotiate when there is a wall being built that takes away much of the West Bank?"

An effort was needed too to reunite the Palestinians - bitterly divided since the Islamist movement Hamas took over the Gaza Strip last summer. "Peace cannot be made by one man," - an apparent reference to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and Fatah leader. "It cannot be made by even half a people. There must be some form of consensus among the Palestinians in this regard, as there must be among the Israelis who want peace."

Prince Saud revealed that his country and the other five members of the Gulf Cooperation Council had suggested setting up a consortium, possibly based in Switzerland, to provide enriched uranium to Iran to defuse its confrontation with the west over its nuclear plans. "They [Iran] have responded that it is an interesting idea and they will come back to us," he said. He warned that any US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would further destabilise the Gulf. The only solution was for the whole region, including Israel, to be declared free of weapons of mass destruction.

Saudis signal doubts over Middle East peace talks called by US

[Shammu]

Saudi Arabia has signalled that it will not attend the Middle East peace conference scheduled by the US for this month unless there is significant agreement in advance on the core issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians.
But Prince Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister, also held out a vision of normalisation between the Arab world and Israel - "not just the absence of war" - if the conflict could be resolved.

"We need a successful meeting. To be successful it must deal with the main issues of peace in the Middle East: Jerusalem, borders, the return of the Palestinians," he told reporters at the end of the Saudi state visit to London yesterday.

That's because they've already had meetings with the Pope and Palestine and China and who knows who else... King Abdulla has probably used up all his frequent flyer points by now.

[Littleboy]

That's because they've already had meetings with the Pope and Palestine and China and who knows who else... King Abdulla has probably used up all his frequent flyer points by now.

AMEN Brother!
Isreal is surrounded by it's enemies...

[Littleboy]

 Rice says Israeli-Palestinian document unlikely soon By Sue Pleming
Sat Nov 3, 3:33 PM ET
 


TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Saturday she did not expect Israel and the Palestinians would agree in a weekend of talks with her on a joint document for a conference on Palestinian statehood.

Arriving in Israel for a new round of meetings with both sides, Rice said "knotty discussions" on the paper, intended to lay down the principles by which a Palestinian state can be established, were still ahead.

"I absolutely don't expect there will be agreement on a document," she told reporters traveling with her, referring to chances a paper would be finalized by the end of her visit.

The United States has not officially set a date for the conference slated for Annapolis, Maryland, an indication of the difficulties in bridging gaps between the two sides on the paper that will set the tone for the gathering.

Both sides have said they want the conference to serve as a launching pad for negotiations on core issues of their conflict, such as borders and the future of Jerusalem and millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

But Israel has balked at Palestinian demands for a timeline for dealing with those issues, saying failure to meet deadlines could touch off new violence.

"The document is important. Annapolis is important, but there is also going to have to be a day after," she told reporters traveling with her to Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who will meet Rice on Sunday, faces stiff opposition within his own coalition to any concessions on borders or a division of Jerusalem as long as Israelis feel threatened by Palestinian militants.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet Rice in the occupied West Bank on Monday.

He is under pressure to show his people he can deliver an end to Israeli occupation and can also withstand a challenge to his authority from Hamas Islamists, hostile to Israel, who seized control of the Gaza Strip five months ago.

PROPER LANGUAGE

"It's between finding the proper language without causing either one of them political problems domestically," said a senior U.S. official who was traveling with Rice in Turkey, before she flew on to Israel later in the day.

"This is a very painstaking process which we need to approach with the right discretion," the senior U.S. official said. "But there is a growing urgency about this."

Both sides have said they want a deal before U.S. President George W. Bush steps down in a little over a year.

But Olmert has said implementation of any accord will be conditional on Abbas ensuring there is no threat to Israel -- a condition few Israelis believe he can fulfill with his Fatah faction weakened by Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip.

U.S. officials have said they hope to host the conference over two days in the week starting November 26.

[Shammu]

Israeli FM Admits to 'Problems' with Talks
CBNNews.com
November 5, 2007

CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM - On Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that "problems" still existed in producing a joint statement prior to a peace summit in Annapolis, Md.

"There is no tension, but there are problems," Livni told reporters before the meeting began. "There are differences of opinion over the Road Map. We must reach a basic understanding that the creation of a Palestinian state should occur only after Israel's security is established."

"The situation is complicated," Livni said. "One must understand that we have a shared interest with the moderates in the Palestinian Authority, and they need to understand that first there must be security and only then a Palestinian state," she said.

"The problem is not over making a joint declaration, but what its content would be," she said.

While the Israeli government is committed to reaching a negotiated peace with the Palestinians, it has refused to include timetables for PA demands, which include drawing permanent borders, dividing Jerusalem and resolving the so-called Palestinian refugee problem.

Rice arrived for her sixth visit in the region without the anticipated invitations to the U.S.-sponsored peace initiative, which has been postponed until late November or early December.

Livni purportedly told Rice hat any agreement with the Palestinian Authority must be based on the U.S.-backed Road Map, first present four years ago, which requires the dismantling of the terror infrastructure in PA-controlled areas.

The foreign minister also stressed that under no circumstances would Israel sign a document that compromises Israel's security.

Speaking with reporters traveling with her to Turkey, Rice said she is no longer hopeful the two sides will produce a document prior to the Annapolis conference.

"I absolutely don't expect there will be agreement on a document," Rice said.

"They are still working and, like with anything of this kind, they are going through some knotty discussions, and I think those knotty discussions are going to continue for awhile," she said.

Meanwhile, in their last meeting 10 days ago, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' suggestion that the U.S. arbitrate discussions on the implementation of the Road Map.

Olmert, who is facing mounting opposition on the division of Jerusalem, met with Rice Sunday.

Israeli FM Admits to 'Problems' with Talks

[Shammu]

Mashaal: Annapolis a US 'distraction' for war

Hamas leader dismisses US-sponsored Mideast peace conference planned for later this year, saying it is meant to distract region as Washington prepares for attack against Tehran. 'Strategically, the US is setting the stage and covering up for the upcoming American war in the region,' he says

Associated Press
Published: 11.05.07, 17:01
Israel News

The leader of Hamas on Monday dismissed a US-sponsored Mideast peace conference planned for later this year, saying it was meant to distract the region as Washington prepared for an attack against Iran.

"Strategically, it (the US) is setting the stage and covering up for the upcoming American war in the region," Khaled Mashaal told a press conference at a forum of Palestinian intellectuals in Damascus, where the political chief of the militant Palestinian faction has his headquarters.

"There are preparations for an aggression against Iran, and could include other parties — Syria, Lebanon  and Hizbullah.

 
Therefore, America is distracting us with a false game and is preparing itself for the real one," he said.

 

He spoke as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Monday in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Mashaal's rival, to prepare the ground for the conference.

 

The meeting is expected to be held later this year in the US to try to restart Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.

At a news conference with Rice, Abbas said he was receiving "encouraging signs" from Israel that pointed to a "real possibility" for achieving a peace deal.

Meanwhile, Mashaal said he feared "voluntary concessions by the Palestinians and the Arabs" during the upcoming conference without reciprocal moves by the Israelis.

The Hamas leader warned Arab states to stay away from the conference and advised Abbas against making any concessions.

"No one is authorized to continue with negotiations like he wishes" while the Palestinians are divided, he said. "No one is authorized to give up an inch of land, exchange it or give up the right of return."

Mashaal: Annapolis a US 'distraction' for war

[Shammu]

Thousands Demonstrate in Jerusalem Against Annapolis Summit
(There are quite a few pictures from the demonstration on the news site.)

by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) Knesset Members, prominent rabbis and leaders of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) addressed thousands of Jews Sunday night protesting against discussions being held between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Quartet Mideast envoy Tony Blair, who represented the U.S., Russia, United Nations and European Union.

The mass demonstration began with a march from the U.S. Consulate to the King David Hotel, where the three were meeting to discuss plans for the upcoming U.S.-sponsored Middle East summit to be held in Annapolis.

Many of the protestors carried signs saying, "The Olmert-Abu Bluff Agreement Will Blow Up in Our Faces!"
MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) spoke at the rally, saying, “Ehud [Olmert], Ehud [Barak], and Tzipi [Livni] are deceiving an entire people and leading all of us to the Annapolis trap while ignoring the facts on the ground.”

Steinitz derided plans to divide Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, saying that such plans “would bring bloody riots in the Old City in place of peace.”

MK Uri Ariel (NU/NRP) told reporters from the rally, “We’re telling Olmert: Stop selling the land of Israel, do not divide Jerusalem, do not even think of destroying Jewish towns, the land of Israel belongs to us, to the people of Israel.  You have no mandate for this.”

Rice, Olmert and Blair, who attended the Saban Conference the same evening, were meeting to thresh out "a declaration of principles" to be presented at the summit that protestors said would include a return to Israel's pre-1967 borders, termed by the late Labor party leader Abba Eban as "The Auschwitz borders," due to their vulnerability to Arab attacks. Protestors also rallied against the proposed division of the capital.

Olmert is reportedly planning to release more terrorists --- this time with Jewish blood on their hands --- as another "good will gesture" to Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah gang leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).

PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has asked Israel to release 2,000 terrorist prisoners, but it is not clear how many of those Olmert will agree to free.

According to a source quoted by Haaretz, the prisoner release is needed partly "because in Annapolis there will not be solutions for the core issues." Since the "core issues" – such as the status of Jerusalem --- will not be on the table, said the source, the PA will need to show its population another accomplishment, such as the release of convicted terrorists.

Olmert said Sunday, however, that "core issues" will indeed be discussed in Annapolis.

Thousands Demonstrate in Jerusalem Against Annapolis Summit

[Shammu]

Israel - No peace before security

A two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians is now needed more urgently than ever, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said.

Ms Rice also urged Arab states to accept a peaceful and permanent home for Israel.

Israel has said there can be no deal for a Palestinian state unless its own security is guaranteed.

Ms Rice is in the region to prepare the ground for a planned peace conference in the US later this month.

But she said on Sunday that she was not yet ready to set a date for the conference.

Speaking at an event in Jerusalem, also attended by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and international envoy former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Ms Rice said the US would continue to work for a peaceful settlement in the region.

Mr Olmert expressed optimism that progress could be made on the issue before US President George W Bush left office in January 2009.

Earlier on Sunday Ms Rice met separately with both Mr Olmert and with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni for talks.

 At a joint press conference Ms Livni said that security for Israel had to come first before any deal could be reached.

Ms Livni insisted that progress could be made once the Palestinians agreed to implement their obligations under a long-stalled US-backed "road map" for peace.

"The meaning is security for Israel first and then the establishment of a Palestinian state," she said. "Nobody wants to see another terror state in the region."

Israel has been concerned about the takeover of Gaza in June by the Islamist movement Hamas, which does not recognise the state of Israel and is branded a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and the EU.

Low expectations

On Monday, Ms Rice will travel to the West Bank for talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah group remains in control there.

Ms Rice is on her eighth visit to the region this year, hoping to inject life into the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. But expectations of her visit and the Maryland conference are low.

The Palestinians want a clear timetable for resolving some of the most sensitive issues in the conflict, including the status of Jerusalem and the borders of a Palestinian state.

Israel has rejected written deadlines, saying the whole process can be damaged if they are missed.

The former Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya of Hamas, on Sunday urged President Abbas not to attend the Maryland conference.

In a speech in Gaza City, he said the meeting would not be in the Palestinians' interests and would have detrimental repercussions for the whole region.

Mr Haniya and Hamas have not been invited to the US-led talks.

Israel - No peace before security

[Shammu]

Arab delegates meet in Syria to discuss boycott of Israel
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST    Nov. 5, 2007

Delegates to a Syrian-based anti-Israel office began talks here Monday on ways to revive momentum for the Arabs' boycott of the Jewish state.

Eight Arab countries stayed away from the four-day meeting, including Egypt and Jordan which have signed peace treaties with Israel.

Those attending the gathering, held twice a year at the headquarters of the Central Boycott Office in Damascus, included delegates from 14 Arab states and Palestinian territories.

Topping the agenda was the boycott of companies that do business with Israel and ways to abort attempts by some Israeli companies to penetrate Arab markets.

Arab delegates meet in Syria to discuss boycott of Israel

[Shammu]

Topping the agenda was the boycott of companies that do business with Israel and ways to abort attempts by some Israeli companies to penetrate Arab markets.

They say its about a boycott............... I say its about the coming war.