Netanyahu basically tells the US to shut up
Pepe Silvia
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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 42,00.html
PM: Building in Jerusalem is like building in Tel Aviv
Several hours before leaving for Washington, Netanyahu clarifies that his message to American administration will be sharp and clear: 'Our policy on Jerusalem is like the policy in the past 42 years.' Defense Minister Barak hopes 'this week will put Israel on the course of negotiations'
Roni Sofer
Published: 03.21.10, 10:56 / Israel News
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting with a promise to his ministers: "Israel's message during the visit to the United States will be sharp and clear. Our policy on Jerusalem is like the policy in the past 42 years (since the capital was united after the Six Day War).
"As far as we are concerned, building in Jerusalem is like building in Tel Aviv, and we have made this clear to the Americans.
The prime minister said he planned to raise several issues during his upcoming visit to Washington: Peace, security, Iran and Jerusalem.
"We will be able to raise any issue for negotiation, and have clarified that we will be able to do this better in direct negotiations. Only by sitting this way and talking will we be able to come to real negotiations," Netanyahu said.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak met earlier with Quartet envoy to the Middle East Tony Blair. "We are at the beginning of a week which I hope will lead to a course of peace negotiations with the Palestinians," Barak said after the meeting.
"This evening's trip us very important," he added. "I hope that in our actions we have supported putting Israel, finally, on a course of serious and thorough negotiations with the Palestinians."
Core issues on negotiating table
The price Israel would have to pay following the crisis with the US was reported Saturday. Ahead of Netanyahu's departure to Washington on Sunday evening for an American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) meeting in Washington, Israel and the US agreed that the core issues would be included in indirect talks with the Palestinians, construction in east Jerusalem will be delayed and Israel will ease the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The agreement was reached following the diplomatic crisis, which broke out following an a plan to build 1,600 new housing units in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo, which was announced during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel.
Israel's original request was to discuss formalities only ahead of direct negotiations, while the Palestinians wanted to discuss the core issues. The Biden crisis worked in favor of the Palestinians. According to explicit remarks made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the weekend, the core issues will be discussed.
The American administration has been pressuring Israel recently to start discussing the borders as the first core issue. The argument was that when the borders are agreed on, there will be no building freeze problem.
US Special Envoy George Mitchell will be arriving in Jerusalem on Sunday and will meet with Netanyahu. The prime minister will inform Mitchell, and possibly the Israeli public as well, of the series of gestures he agreed to in order to facilitate the proximity talks with the Palestinians.
The gestures will apparently include much stricter supervision by the PM himself over east Jerusalem construction. According to senior government ministers, this would mean a slowdown in Jewish construction - both government-funded and private - beyond the Green Line in Jerusalem. The gestures will also include several steps meant to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, such as a prisoner release upon the start of the negotiations.
Before leaving for Washington, Netanyahu is also expected to meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for discussions on the Jerusalem building crisis and the indirect talks with the Palestinians.
Over the weekend, the prime minister worked on drafting his speech at the AIPAC Conference next week, where he will arrive with Ministers Ehud Barak and Uzi Landau. Opposition Chairman Tzipi Livni is also expected to address the pro-Israel lobby.
Netanyahu's aides said that the speech will be "powerful and significant" and will likely deal with Israel-US ties in an effort to allay the recent tensions as result of Israel's construction announcement in east Jerusalem during President Joe Biden's visit.
In Washington, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and possibly with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama.
PM: Building in Jerusalem is like building in Tel Aviv
Several hours before leaving for Washington, Netanyahu clarifies that his message to American administration will be sharp and clear: 'Our policy on Jerusalem is like the policy in the past 42 years.' Defense Minister Barak hopes 'this week will put Israel on the course of negotiations'
Roni Sofer
Published: 03.21.10, 10:56 / Israel News
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting with a promise to his ministers: "Israel's message during the visit to the United States will be sharp and clear. Our policy on Jerusalem is like the policy in the past 42 years (since the capital was united after the Six Day War).
"As far as we are concerned, building in Jerusalem is like building in Tel Aviv, and we have made this clear to the Americans.
The prime minister said he planned to raise several issues during his upcoming visit to Washington: Peace, security, Iran and Jerusalem.
"We will be able to raise any issue for negotiation, and have clarified that we will be able to do this better in direct negotiations. Only by sitting this way and talking will we be able to come to real negotiations," Netanyahu said.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak met earlier with Quartet envoy to the Middle East Tony Blair. "We are at the beginning of a week which I hope will lead to a course of peace negotiations with the Palestinians," Barak said after the meeting.
"This evening's trip us very important," he added. "I hope that in our actions we have supported putting Israel, finally, on a course of serious and thorough negotiations with the Palestinians."
Core issues on negotiating table
The price Israel would have to pay following the crisis with the US was reported Saturday. Ahead of Netanyahu's departure to Washington on Sunday evening for an American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) meeting in Washington, Israel and the US agreed that the core issues would be included in indirect talks with the Palestinians, construction in east Jerusalem will be delayed and Israel will ease the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The agreement was reached following the diplomatic crisis, which broke out following an a plan to build 1,600 new housing units in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo, which was announced during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel.
Israel's original request was to discuss formalities only ahead of direct negotiations, while the Palestinians wanted to discuss the core issues. The Biden crisis worked in favor of the Palestinians. According to explicit remarks made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the weekend, the core issues will be discussed.
The American administration has been pressuring Israel recently to start discussing the borders as the first core issue. The argument was that when the borders are agreed on, there will be no building freeze problem.
US Special Envoy George Mitchell will be arriving in Jerusalem on Sunday and will meet with Netanyahu. The prime minister will inform Mitchell, and possibly the Israeli public as well, of the series of gestures he agreed to in order to facilitate the proximity talks with the Palestinians.
The gestures will apparently include much stricter supervision by the PM himself over east Jerusalem construction. According to senior government ministers, this would mean a slowdown in Jewish construction - both government-funded and private - beyond the Green Line in Jerusalem. The gestures will also include several steps meant to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, such as a prisoner release upon the start of the negotiations.
Before leaving for Washington, Netanyahu is also expected to meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for discussions on the Jerusalem building crisis and the indirect talks with the Palestinians.
Over the weekend, the prime minister worked on drafting his speech at the AIPAC Conference next week, where he will arrive with Ministers Ehud Barak and Uzi Landau. Opposition Chairman Tzipi Livni is also expected to address the pro-Israel lobby.
Netanyahu's aides said that the speech will be "powerful and significant" and will likely deal with Israel-US ties in an effort to allay the recent tensions as result of Israel's construction announcement in east Jerusalem during President Joe Biden's visit.
In Washington, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and possibly with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama.
don't compete; coexist
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
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Binyamin Netanyahu flies to US for talks with Barack Obama as killings raise tension in West Bank
Israeli PM still defiant on East Jerusalem settler homes after four Palestinians shot dead in West Bank
* Rory McCarthy in Nablus
* guardian.co.uk, Sunday 21 March 2010
The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, will hold talks in Washington on Tuesday with President Barack Obama as tension escalates in the Middle East after a weekend of violence and with little sign of an imminent return to direct peace talks with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu sounded a defiant tone today, refusing to back down on settlement construction in East Jerusalem, but he faced a new round of criticism after four Palestinian teenagers were shot dead on the occupied West Bank in the space of 24 hours, in what Palestinian officials condemned as an Israeli military escalation.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, travelled to Gaza, where he denounced the Israeli economic blockade and the "unacceptable suffering" it causes.
Netanyahu was to fly to Washington tonight to speak at the annual meeting of the powerful pro-Israel lobby Aipac before his meeting with the president. His trip comes at a time of rare crisis in relations between Israel and the US, triggered by Israeli approval earlier this month for the construction of hundreds of settler homes in Jerusalem.
The international community does not recognise Israel's occupation and annexation of East Jerusalem, and settlements on occupied land are regarded as illegal under international law. The approval for the construction meant indirect talks with the Palestinians collapsed before they had even begun.
At first Washington was strongly critical of Israel, but the administration soon tempered its language and has instead reportedly pressed for concessions from the Israelis in private.
However, Netanyahu refuses to concede on the main issue: he told his cabinet today he would not give up building in East Jerusalem. "From our point of view, construction in Jerusalem is like construction in Tel Aviv," he said. "These are the things which we have made very clear to the American administration." He did concede that all key issues could be discussed in any indirect "proximity" talks involving Israel and the Palestinians, but there have been no talks between the two sides since Israel's war in Gaza, more than a year ago.
George Mitchell, the US special envoy, was in Jerusalem again today hoping to start at least indirect talks. Speaking before meeting Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, Mitchell said US relations with Israel were "unshakeable".
The diplomacy was overshadowed by growing concerns about violence on the ground. Two Palestinian teenagers, Muhammad and Salah Qawariq, were shot dead today by Israeli troops near Nablus. The military said the two had tried to stab a soldier; Palestinian officials said the pair had been farming and were detained by the troops for some minutes before they were shot.
The incident happened as Palestinians in another village near Nablus buried two boys, Mohammad Qadus, 15, and Osaid Qadus, 17, who were shot dead by Israeli troops on Saturday. It marked the most serious violence in the occupied West Bank for more than a year. A Thai worker was also killed in southern Israel last week by a rocket fired by Gazan militants.
Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, said there had been a "military escalation" by Israeli which "has serious risks and puts in jeopardy the Palestinian authority's achievements of security and stability".
Mustafa Barghouti, an independent Palestinian politician, said the latest killings were a "provocation", and that Palestinians should not return to negotiations without a halt to all settlement building. "Without a total and complete freeze of settlements immediately, both in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, any negotiations will be a cover for Israeli measures," he said.
The UN secretary general, Ban, crossed into Gaza and again called for an end to the three-year economic blockade of the strip and its 1.5 million Palestinian residents. Israel has finally allowed in window frames and construction materials to allow the UN to complete 151 apartments, but there are still tens of thousands of homes awaiting repair after last year's war. The supplies were "a drop in a bucket of water", Ban said. The blockade "undercuts moderates and encourages extremists", he said.
Demonstration deaths
X-ray reveals teenager shot with live ammunition
It was mid-afternoon on Saturday when Mohammad Qadus, 15, and Osaid Qadus, 17, returned by bus to their village, Iraq Burin, near Nablus. They arrived during a demonstration that took their lives. Israelis from the nearby Brakha settlement, built in part on the village's land, had come down on to Iraq Burin's farmland, as they do most Saturdays, according to Palestinian witnesses. The villagers began protesting and Israeli troops were deployed, entering the village. Palestinian boys threw stones at the soldiers; the soldiers fired teargas and rubber-coated bullets.
The two Qadus boys, friends but not close relatives, were at the end of the village furthest from the settlement and did not join in the stone throwing, witnesses said. But an Israeli army vehicle approached, and a soldier fired two rounds in quick succession at the boys. Mohammad was hit in the chest and died within minutes. Osaid was hit in the head, slipped into a coma and died hours later in hospital.
Amir Aref, 16, a friend of both boys, tried to drag them to safety. He described how he saw Osaid sitting on the ground in front of a store. "I was telling him: 'Stand up, stand up.' But he refused to answer," Aref said. "I looked at him. Blood was coming down from a small hole in his forehead, his brains were coming out."
He then turned to Mohammad and saw him lying on the road nearby. He had been hit in the chest: photos of his corpse later showed a small entry wound near his heart and a larger exit wound in his back.
"I carried him and took him into the village in my arms," Aref said. "I looked at him and he said 'Amir', then blood came out of his mouth. He gasped and then he died."
Witnesses and doctors at the Nablus Speciality hospital, where the boys were taken, said both had been hit by what appeared to be live rounds.
The Israeli military said in a statement there had been a "violent and illegal riot" in the village and that soldiers "responded with riot dispersal means". It said troops fired teargas and rubber bullets but denied firing live rounds. "Live fire was not used," it said.
However, a hospital x-ray of Osaid Qadus, seen by the Guardian, showed a bullet lodged in his brain. Ahmed Hamad, a doctor at the Nablus hospital, said the x-ray showed a "classic, pure metallic bullet". He said both boys had injuries with small entry wounds indicating live rounds.
As the families buried their children today, the Brakha settlers were out on the hilltop with bulldozers clearing more farmland. The settlement, home to about 1,300 religious settlers, was built in 1983 and is deep inside the occupied West Bank.
Abdul Nasser Qadus, 51, father of Osaid, said it was "beyond doubt" that both children had been shot with live bullets. Standing next to him, Amar Qadus, 37, brother of Mohammad, said: "Do you believe a 15-year-old boy is threatening Israel's security?"
You're right..
more specificially, until the right wing faction of parliament is suppressed ... every recent prime minister has had to appeal to this faction ...
like i've been saying Israel does not want peace - especially with this gov't ... and based on the words of all the heads of US state - they've been "talked to" as predicted and they are basically gonna tow the line ...
seriously Obama, grow some balls.
what's the deal America? when did you become so afraid?
Fixed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8582190.stm
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Netanyahu reaffirms 'right to build' in Jerusalem
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted Israel's "right to build" in Jerusalem, amid a row with the US over plans for new homes in the city.
"Jerusalem is not a settlement, it's our capital," the Israeli prime minister said in Washington.
But he did not mention controversial plans to build 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem in his speech.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier urged Israel to make "difficult but necessary choices" for peace.
The Palestinian Authority is furious at Israel's insistence on building on occupied territory.
It sees it as a serious stumbling block to the resumption of talks, which have been stalled for more than a year.
In his speech to a convention of the influential pro-Israeli group Aipac (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), Mr Netanyahu said building in Jewish neighbourhoods in Jerusalem "in no way precludes the possibility of a two-state solution".
He said Israel wanted Palestinians to be "our neighbours, living freely".
He also called on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to "come and negotiate peace".
Mr Netanyahu added that said while the US could help resolve the problems with the Palestinians, peace could not be imposed from the outside.
Mrs Clinton earlier urged Mr Netanyahu to extend Israel's suspension of new building in the West Bank to include East Jerusalem.
Last week, the Israeli prime minister proposed a series of "trust-building measures" that represented "a real effort" to aid US peace efforts.
Although details have not yet been made public, Israeli officials say these include an agreement to discuss all outstanding issues in the indirect "proximity talks" being mediated by US special envoy George Mitchell.
Nearly 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
They are held to be illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
In other words, fuck international law. We will do as we please.
perhaps the US could help resolve the 'problems with the palestinians' by withdrawing all aid from israel and redirecting it to the occupied territories. how to resolve the 'problems with the israelis'... well thats another matter.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
america is run essentially as a large corporation now with various interests controlling policy ... the jewish lobby is powerful ... they control america ... not the other way around ...
anyhoo - maybe some will finally realize that israel doesn't want peace and what they really want now is more violence ... more rocket attacks so they can continue to take and oppress ...
or he could be reminding Obama of when he spoke to AIPAC while still campaigning and said:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/us/po ... wanted=all
he also told them
and who could NOT love this little gem:
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
i know who runs the country. any capitalist country for that matter. and anyone living in a democracy that actually thinks theyre living in a democracy is actually living in a delusion.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
End the siege.