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UNITED NATIONS (AP) Aug 5 — The United States and France agreed on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for a “full cessation” of fighting between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, but would allow Israel to defend itself if attacked.
The draft, obtained by The Associated Press, “calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations.”
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton and French President Jacques Chirac’s office confirmed that agreement had been reached. The full 15-nation Security Council was to meet later Saturday to discuss the resolution, and it was likely to be adopted in the next couple of days.
The resolution asks that Israel and Lebanon agree to a set of principles to achieve a long-term peace. One crucial element is an arms embargo that would block any entity except the Lebanese government from buying weapons.
Other principles spelled out in the resolution include the disarmament of Hezbollah; the creation of a buffer zone from the U.N.-demarcated border between Israel and Lebanon north to the Litani River; and the delineation of Lebanon’s borders, especially in the disputed Sheba’a Farms area.
The resolution would call for the current U.N. force in Lebanon, known by its acronym UNIFIL, to monitor the cessation in fighting. Once Israel and Lebanon have agreed to the series of principles, the Security Council would then authorize a new peacekeeping force for the region.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
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Maybe I’m missing something but reading some of the language that’s supposedly in this Truce Pact signifies nothing…and slanted toward Israel..they have the right to defend themselves, and Hizbollah must stop all its ‘attacks’ while Israel is supposed to stop it’s ‘defensive military operations’…that language right there is for shit. I’m guessing other wording is going to be basically that Hizbollah is bad/Israel good..how is that going to go over? And Hizbollah is required to completely disarm….maybe when hell freezes over-and an arms embargo against Lebanon except for Lebanese army buying equipment….
Just how is anyone going to get both sides to quit fighting?..and nothing mentioned about working on prisoner exchange-which was supposed to have started this whole shooten match…
Really am I missing something or is this just an exersize in futility so far from the UN-who have been stymied by the US/Bolton.
And as far as I’m concerned Israel should have to pay for say the whole oil spill cleanup for starters.
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Too much speculation by AP journalist in this BREAKING NEWS article. Need to wait for the exact wording of final draft which the U.S. and France agreed upon. Israel has to stop all offensive actions, but as soon as Hezbollah launches its missiles into Northern Israel, Israel can counterattack into Lebanon.
This is a first fase to cease all hostilities and expand UNIFIL forces in Southern Lebanon, but an enduring settlement will cover all points as discussed previously ::
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
That and map of all the land mines Israel left behind when they finally left Lebanon in 2000-continuing to kill Lebanese people.
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MISSION, Texas (AP) Aug. 3 — President Bush got a tour of border patrol efforts in his home state — a “look-see,” as he called it — before settling down on his ranch for a 10-day summer vacation.
With violence boiling in the Middle East and his party’s control of Congress up for grabs in elections this fall, Bush is forgoing his typical monthlong break from the White House. Instead, he planned to spend 10 days in Crawford, Texas, before returning to work in Washington — his shortest summer vacation since taking office.
The White House was taking pains to make sure it didn’t appear that the president was tuned out from the world’s problems, even temporarily.
Bush broke away from his ranchhouse for a spin around his 1,600 acre ranch. Reuters/Eric Draper"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
My first thought when I heard Cindy Sheehan had bought property almost right next to georgie’s ‘ranch’ was that he was going to find a way to not spend his whole vacation there(I bet he is royally pissed)..cowardly shithead…and now press reports say that he will also spend time at Camp David and Kenebunkport..can I say cowardly shithead again. While the pr spin is that he’s concerned about events happening in Mid East and elsewhere so will be cutting vacation short…as if his whole presidency isn’t one long vacation for him anyway, no matter where the fuck he is.
Oh yeah his summer reading list was put out also-2 whole books supposedly-can’t remember the names as if I believe it anyway. One is on polio-WTF..how bout reading something on the Mid East you moron.
I just glanced over at tv screen and saw headline saying that Lebanon rejects Truce Pact…as Gomer Pyle might say-surprise surfucken suprise…what a shocker right.
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By Joris Luyendijk
For Dutch journalist Joris Luyendijk, six years of news reporting from the Middle East were a disheartening experience. He learned that the news we receive from the region is manipulated on all sides and that it is almost impossible for an individual journalist not to participate in this circus.
Dictatorship is not the only filter. When reporting the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Luyendijk discovered what the term ‘media war’ really means. Newspapers and TVs are not neutral windows on the conflict, but stages where important battles are fought. The perspectives of both parties are so far apart, that impartiality is almost impossible. It starts with the choice of words to use: terrorist or freedom fighter? Peace process or pacification process? All parties involved do their utmost to manipulate the news and get their version of the story across.
Luyendijk elaborates on the fact that the Israelis are far more successful at this than the Palestinians. While covering an incident on the West Bank, he found out the Israelis maintained an enormous press centre there, where journalists were provided with the Israeli version of events in several languages, accompanied by ready-made quotes and route descriptions. He tried calling the Palestinian press officer, but no one answered the phone.
Nor do the western media escape Luyendijk’s scorn. Most western journalists in the Middle East do not speak Arabic. They lead isolated lives in hotels and luxury apartments, far removed from the poverty of the ordinary people. They socialise mainly with each other and fail to make or maintain contacts with the local population which might put them in touch with the country they’re writing about.
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By Bernard-Henri LévyAs seen from Haifa, this is what is at stake in the operation in southern Lebanon. Israel did not go to war because its borders had been violated. It did not send its planes over southern Lebanon for the pleasure of punishing a country that permitted Hezbollah to construct its state-within-a-state.
It reacted with such vigor because the Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s call for Israel to be wiped off the map and his drive for a nuclear weapon came simultaneously with the provocations of Hamas and Hezbollah. The conjunction, for the first time, of a clearly annihilating will with the weapons to go with it created a new situation. We should listen to the Israelis when they tell us they had no other choice anymore.
● Ra’anan Gissin: It’s Iran, stupid
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Even before finishing the military operation, Israel needs to hammer home “the Iranian-Hizbullah-Syrian axis of terror” message. By doing so, he said Israel would create legitimacy for future action against Hizbullah, or even against Iran.
“Iranian’s President Ahmadinejad doesn’t only want to erase Israel off the map, he wants to erase the map and build Islamic components. Lebanon is the clearest example, and we need to show that.”
Jerusalem Post
Ra’anan Gissin, prime minister Ariel Sharon’s recently sidelined, gravel-voiced spokesman, may be watching the current crisis from his living room, but he had advice for how Israel should be waging the public relations campaign: “Emphasize Iran, Iran and Iran.”
≈ Cross-posted from Londonbear’s diary —
Israel’s “Talking Points” for Bloggers ≈
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The Council commends the Lebanese Government for its seven point plan for peace as a good basis for a lasting solution. Any solution must include the return of abducted soldiers and prisoners, a settlement of the international borders of Lebanon, deployment of the Lebanese armed forces through the whole of its territory, backed by an international force and the implementation of the Ta’if Accords and UNSCRs 1559, 1680.
The Council calls on all parties in the region with influence to help bring to an end the violence and the suffering it brings.
The EU reiterates its determination to work with the wider international community to bring humanitarian relief to the people of Lebanon. The EU calls on all parties to grant secure and efficient passage for the delivery of humanitarian assistance especially in southern Lebanon.
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The Council deplores the continuing violence in Gaza and the West Bank that has led to an equally distressing humanitarian situation. The Council reiterates its call for the parties to return to the peace process on the basis of the Roadmap. The unequivocal commitment by all parties to a viable Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours is a key to stability and security in the whole region.
An immediate and comprehensive cease-fire and a declaration of agreement on the following issues:
[Links added – Oui]
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BEIRUT, Lebanon (Haaretz) Aug. 6 — The Reuters news agency admitted that it had published a doctored photograph of Beirut after an Israel Air Force strike on Saturday morning.
In the original image, thin smoke can be seen rising over the Lebanese capital, but in the second photograph, thick, black smoke can be seen billowing over the buildings.
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By Danny Rubinstein
KIBBUTZ KFAR GILADI, Israel (Haaretz) Aug. 7 — Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah and his followers occasionally mention the fact that in 1948 the “Zionist entity” annexed several Lebanese villages, expelled their residents, stole their property and destroyed their homes. He is referring to seven villages that were part of Mandatory Palestine, and whose inhabitants were Shiite Muslims. At the time they were called Metawalis, a name almost certainly derived from the word wali, which in Arabic means “to be loyal and holy”; the loyalty is to Caliph Ali and his descendants, who are central to Shiite Islam.
Although Nasrallah’s principal demands are Israeli withdrawal from the Shaba’a Farms and the release of Lebanese prisoners, it is clear that when circumstances allow, he will demand the return of these villages to Lebanon and the return of the refugees to their lands.
«« click on image for mapKibbutz Kfar Giladi GalileeBetween 1916 and 1923, struggles, mainly diplomatic, took place over setting the northern border of Mandatory Eretz Israel, which is the present border line. The main players in the dispute were France, which had received the mandate over Syria and Lebanon, and Britain, which had received the mandate over Palestine-Eretz Israel. Other political groups also were involved, such as the Zionist Histadrut and representatives of the Arab National Movement, which was then just starting out …
≈ Cross-posted from my diary — The Borders of Auschwitz ≈
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