A quick hit from THE ASSOCIATED PRESS via the New York Times a few days ago: Israeli Asks Abbas Not to Step Down:
That Israeli is Shimon Peres, Israel’s President.
November 7, 2009
TEL AVIV (AP) — President Shimon Peres of Israel urged the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, on Saturday to rescind his decision to step down.
Speaking at a public commemoration for Yitzhak Rabin, the assassinated Israeli prime minister, Mr. Peres recalled that along with Mr. Rabin, he and Mr. Abbas were among the signatories to the 1993 Oslo peace accord.
“We both signed the Oslo agreement,” Mr. Peres said. “I turn to you as a colleague, don’t let go.”
Mr. Abbas announced Thursday that he would not seek another term in an election scheduled for January. He cited deadlocked efforts to revive peace talks.
It is hard to believe this level of dishonesty concerning the Oslo accords, which in the early 90s essentially opened up the Palestinian territories for a land rush by Israeli settlers not seen before.
Just a few months ago, Stephen Zunes, Chair of Mid-Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco, writing for Huffington Post, clarified the Oslo peace process in a too-long-to-quote article, whose title says it all: How Clinton and the Democrats Made Possible Israel’s Settlements Expansion. Zune’s article tells the story of how America was complicit in creating the “settlements” impasse we have today, and how Oslo and the Clinton administration made it all happen.
Here are Zune’s last paragraphs:
Once filled with enormous hope with the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Palestinians have since seen more and more of their land confiscated and more and more Jewish-only settlements and highways constructed, all under the cover of a U.S.-sponsored “peace process.”
It was frustration over the failure of the peace process to end Israel’s colonization drive that contributed to large numbers of Palestinians rejecting the diplomatic approach of Fatah and other moderate nationalists and embracing Hamas. Indeed, prior to this dramatic growth in settlements during the 1990s, Palestinian support for Hamas was less than 15 percent. Now it is close to a majority.
Ironically, the Democrats’ criticism during the 2008 election campaign of the Bush administration’s handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was that they were not engaged enough, in contrast to the Clinton administration, whose policies were widely praised. It is important, however, to remember that it was the former Democratic administration’s policies on Israeli settlements that have largely contributed to the dangerous impasse we see today.
Peres’ claim of peace making via Oslo in the 90s is just more dishonesty from the man who permitted the first settlement to be established after 1967.
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(AlJazeera) – It lasted only for a moment, but in that brief instant their faces said it all. On stage right sat Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, grinning. In the middle was Barack Obama, the US president, smiling as camera flashes went off.
On stage left sat Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), looking sullen and abandoned, wondering why he was even there.
From left to right: Netanyahu, Obama and Abbas met briefly on Tuesday on the sidelines
of the United Nations annual General Assembly in New York [Gallo/Getty]
Schooled by Netanyahu?
Violence against Israel from the PA-controlled West Bank and even Hamas-controlled Gaza is practically zero and Israel retains unchallenged control of the land and airspace of the two territories.
This left Obama with not much to do but ask Palestinians “to do more to stop incitement” – as if outdated Palestinian history textbooks, periodic anti-Jewish diatribes (which are no worse than the routine anti-Arab, anti-Muslim rhetoric by Israeli politicians and commentators), and not the half a million settlers, are what stand between occupation and independence.
Media spin
For its part, the mainstream press, generally sympathetic to Obama, has accepted the administration’s spin on the meeting, and is describing Obama as acting the part of the “stern teacher lecturing two classroom miscreants,” as Haaretz described the meeting with more than a hint of irony.
In reality, however, it is not Netanyahu and Abbas who were sent to the principal’s office. Rather, to borrow a phrase from the president’s beloved game of basketball, it was Obama who got schooled by Netanyahu.
Netanyahy meet with Obama ahead of UJC/Jewish Federations conference
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
Sad that we are all being put through this staged deception once again; still how will Obama rectify it all with his Cairo speech. I think he must now having second thoughts about making it in the first place.
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Just had first Palestinian suicide mission on American soil.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
Still having difficulty interpolating all of these alleged religious motives into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As such it would seem to be irrelevant that Hasan was Palestinian; if the religious material implies motive, then possibly an Islamic angle.
But why slaughter a group of innocent soldiers?
Maybe the man will eventually speak for himself.
Time to take seriously the BDS Movement.
The US and European governments, as a force, will not end this conflict. But people like those below are multiplying.
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[Speech wasn’t well received on Rabin Square except on part in the end where Obama promised America would stand by Israel’s security. I can’t find any report in the news. – Oui]
Poem from a fallen soldier: “We leave you our deaths. Give them their meaning.”
Dalia Rabin, Chair of the Yitzhak Rabin Center, stated: “14 years ago, in this very square, the flag flown read: “Yes to Peace, No to Violence.” Years have passed and the Israeli society still struggles with a violence that we did not face in the past. Especially this week, in light of recent events, it is important to return to this square to remind everyone of the values of which he (Rabin) spoke at the rally and for which he fought.”
Rabin’s widow calls Netanyahu a ‘nightmare’ in decade-old letter
French FM: It seems Israel no longer wants peace
PARIS, France (Haaretz) – Speaking on France Inter radio, Kouchner made clear he was not expecting any swift break through in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
“What really hurts me, and this shocks us, is that before there used to be a great peace movement in Israel. There was a left that made itself heard and a real desire for peace,” Kouchner said.
“It seems to me, and I hope that I am completely wrong, that this desire has completely vanished, as though people no longer believe in it,” he added.
When Sarkozy took office in 2007 he worked hard to improve sometimes frosty French relations with Israel, believing Paris would never be a credible partner in Middle East peace talks if it was seen as biased in favour of the Arab world.
However, relations with the Netanyahu government have not been easy and France has been especially vocal in demanding that Israel halt Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank.
Obama recently eased U.S. pressure on Israel over the settlements, calling for restraint in construction where he had earlier pushed for a freeze. But Kouchner signalled no such softening of French opposition.
“There is a real difference of opinion on this [between Sarkozy and Netanyahu],” he added.
Underlining their sometimes problematic ties, Kouchner belatedly cancelled a trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories last month. No official reason was given, but one French diplomat said Israel was making access to Gaza difficult.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
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TE AVIV (PeaceNow) – Saturday evening’s rally in Tel Aviv was dominated by Peace Now, Meretz and a sea of blue-shirted members of the Habonim Dror socialist-Zionist youth movement.
Signs slamming the government were present throughout the square, with Peace Now’s massive balloon-held signs bearing the message “The Netanyahu Government Refuses Peace.”
There was an air of hope throughout the rally, marked by pro-peace messages on stickers, banners and in discussions with some of the attendees, many of whom sat in large circles in the middle of the square.
Lily Sowin from Tel Aviv said the evening was “not sad, but bitter. There is a hope for peace here, but there are no charismatic leaders to achieve peace. I hope there will be new Israeli and Palestinian leaders, because there is a need for a change, there is a need for hope and a peace that both sides have never had.”
Michael Mylrea, a Fulbright scholar developing a peace paradigm for the region at Tel Aviv University, said, “During a time when peace seems distant, as polarization moves Israeli and Palestinian parties away from peace, Rabin’s vision and dedication to a lasting peace is needed now more than ever.”
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
Mr. Israel to Abbas: We have invested so much in you my son so much time resource and energy and where will we find a better puppet? And dont worry if your people dont like you and dont vote for you. We ignored the last Palestinian election and will do so again as will all free (sic) people of the world and their righteous governments. There is no need to give up my son we are partners together and together we can do great things”
Cynicism, and well deserved!
Precisely!
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(Jerusalem Post) – At Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, the flagship educational institution of Orthodox Zionism, there was a small sign in the entrance advertising the sale of Torat Hamelech: Dinei Nefashot Bein Yisrael Le’Amim (The King’s Torah: Laws of Life and Death between Jews and the Nations) at a price of NIS 30.
Part of the reason for the interest was a front-page headline in Ma’ariv on Monday outlining the most shocking items from the book, such as halachic license to kill innocent children in battle situations in which their presence endangers Jewish lives, or even if there is concern that these young children will grow to become mortal enemies of Jews.
The timing of the book’s publication might also have something to do with the extensive media exposure it received.
Distribution of the books came just over a week after it became known that Ya’acov Teitel, a settler from Shvut Rahel, had been arrested for allegedly murdering two Palestinians and severely wounding a Christian who belongs to a messianic Jewish community in Ariel.
And even if the students at Mercaz Harav did not hear about the book from Ma’ariv, the subject of killing gentiles, and more specifically Palestinians as part of the ongoing battle against terrorism, is particularly relevant for students at the yeshiva who have served, are presently serving or plan on serving in the IDF.
After all, a large portion of Torat Hamelech is dedicated to exploring Jewish “rules of engagement” according to the authors’ interpretation of Jewish law.
LIVES OF NON-JEWS ARE WORTH LESS
According to the book, gentile noncombatants, including innocent children and babies, can be killed in situations in which their presence endangers, even indirectly, the lives of Jews.
The book cites sources from the Bible, Talmud and later rabbinical literature to argue that the lives of non-Jews are worth less than those of Jews. Therefore, gentiles’ lives can be forfeited if this reduces danger to Jewish lives.
The book opens with the prohibition against killing gentiles. This prohibition is based primarily on the principle that Jews, out of a desire to protect themselves, should not incite non-Jews by killing them.
The killing of non-Jews also causes a desecration of God’s name.
However, the 230-page book goes on to detail cases in which, according to the authors, Halacha permits killing non-Jews, for instance when they endanger, either directly or indirectly, the lives of Jews.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
Another example of the scourge of ethnocentricism, the valuation of life based on the superiority of a group, however it is defined. There are too many instances during the 20th century to name them all.
So who will be even pointing out these fundamentalist extremist Jewish groups let alone condemning them? No they need some land some new land