IRAN CALLS FOR ATTACKS ON ISRAEL
October 5, 2000 - Special to World Tribune.com - Middle East Newsline Nicosia - Iran continues to call for an intensification of attacks on Israel. Iranian leaders have urged Hamas to attack Israeli targets both in the Palestinian territories as well as inside the Jewish state.
"The only solution to the current conflict is to continue the holy war against the enemies of Islam, and that will not stop," Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei told Hamas leaders in Tehran. "The uprising continues. It will not stop at anything -- not at threats, not at bullets."
Later, Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal called for strikes against Israeli interests abroad. "Before the 1987 uprising, Israel would not even recognize the Palestinian nation," Mashaal said. "This shows we have no option but armed struggle. Lebanon was not liberated from Israeli occupation by negotiations but by war." .. (1)
U.S. CLOSES EMBASSIES IN ARAB WORLD
October 5, 2000 - Reuters - The United States closed all its embassies and consulates in the Arab world on Thursday for four or five days for fear of violent demonstrations in support of Palestinians fighting Israeli forces. The State Department said the missions would stay closed until after the Columbus Day holiday, which some observe
on Sunday and some on Monday.Thousands of Syrians stoned the U.S. embassy in Damascus on Wednesday in protest against the killing of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers. Demonstrations against Israel and the United States, its ally, have taken place in other Arab cities.ROMAN CATHOLIC LEADER CALLS FOR ARAB CONTROL OF EAST JERUSALEM
October 5, 2000 - AP - Talks leading to Israel's withdrawal from east Jerusalem are the only hope for peace there, the Roman Catholic church's highest official in Jersusalem says.
The Vatican's missionary news service Fides carried excerpts Wednesday from an open letter by Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, a Palestinian. "The only way to return to a time of peace is to return to peace talks, and to see how to restore the situation that prevailed prior to 1967," Sabbah wrote.
BIGGEST MEETING OF ITS KIND IN MIDDLE WAST ABOUT WORLDWIDE WATER
October 5, 2000 - CNN - AMMAN, Jordan -- The world's biggest environmental network launched a $30 million initiative on Thursday to provide fresh water for communities around the world that are facing shortages. Water is a major focus of the IUCN's eight-day congress from October 4-11. Scarcity of water is one of the world's most serious environmental threats. Nearly a quarter of the world's six billion people have no access to safe drinking water and water- related diseases kill up to four million people a year. In the Middle East, where water is a scarce natural resource, access to water has been a key point in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The IUCN
congress is the biggest meeting of its kind ever held in the Middle East. About 2,500 delegates from 140 countries are attending the meeting.SYRIA WARNS ISRAEL WILL PAY "EXORBITANT PRICE" FOR PA DEATHS
10 Oct 2000 - Voila News DAMASCUS (AFP) - - Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara said in Damascus that Israel will "pay an exorbitant price" for Palestinian loss of life. In a statement at the end of a visit by his Egyptian counterpart Amr Mussa, he said Syria wanted the United States and the European Union to make a clear condemnation of Israel for causing the crisis. (2)
PALESTINIANS FORMING ARMED MILITIAS
10 Oct 2000 The Palestinians are forming "armed militias" that will train throughout the territories, Israel TV reports. The Palestinians say the militias will prepare for the "Battle of Jerusalem." (3)
KING ABDULLAH CONFRONTED WITH FAMILIAR JORDANIAN DILEMMA
October 11, 2000 - by Zvi Bar'el: Neighbors 'The Intifada is in Palestine, not here' King Abdullah is currently confronted with a familiar Jordanian dilemma: How to support the Palestinian struggle without hurting the integrity of the kingdom.
On Monday, Emir Tallal bin Muhammad officially launched a blood donation campaign in Jordan. Tallal was filling in for King Abdullah, who had given his patronage to the campaign. It is a continuation of the directive issued by the king regarding aid to the Palestinians, which included sending a Jordanian medical delegation in a special plane to Ramallah to bring injured Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan, where they are receiving medical treatment at the kingdom's expense.The king's gesture has prompted an inter-Arab competition. The Saudi king ordered that injured Palestinians continue to be brought to Saudi Arabia for treatment at his expense, whereas President Mubarak sent two medical delegations to Gaza, headed by Egyptian Health Minister Ismail Salaam, to bring injured Palestinians to Egypt for treatment. At the beginning of this week, Mubarak received widespread media coverage when he visited and joked with the wounded recuperating in Nasser hospital on the outskirts of Cairo. (4)
ITALY OFFERS ROME FOR MIDEAST SUMMIT
October 11, 2000 - by Kelly - Reuters - Italy formally offered on Wednesday to host a summit in Rome to bring an end to a spiral of violence that has killed at least 92 people. The offer, announced unexpectedly by Prime Minister Giuliano Amato to a session of parliament, came a few hours after an urgent appeal for peace by Pope John Paul. "We have offered Rome if it can be seen as useful. There is complex diplomatic work going on and we are awaiting responses about this," he said. Amato made the announcement during question time a day after he and Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini held talks in Rome with former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres.
A well-informed non-Italian diplomat said the Foreign Ministry had already appointed someone to make preparations. "We hear the Italians want to go about it very fast and they are hinting they would be willing to take concrete steps even before the responses are given," the source said. Shimon Peres told reporters on Tuesday night that he believed Rome would be a good venue for a summit. Amato spoke some three hours after Pope John Paul told tens of thousands of pilgrims in St Peter's Square that the loss of life and desecration of holy sites anguished him greatly.
"Faced with such a dramatic situation, I can only beg everyone to put an end to this spiral of violence without delay," the Pope said during his weekly general audience. "At the same time I invite all believers to pray to God so that peoples and leaders of the region may see how to get back on the path of dialogue in order to rediscover the joy of being sons and daughters of the same God," he said. The Pope's appeal appeared to be the result of a request Peres is believed to have made on Tuesday night while meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano and the papal foreign minister, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran.
JEWISH LEGISLATURE CANCELED DUE TO FEAR OF FIST FIGHTS
Oct 11, 2000 - AP - The hostility in Israel is so intense these days that dialogue seems impossible. Israel's parliament canceled a session Wednesday out of fear that Arab and Jewish legislators would slug it out on the Knesset floor. A "town hall" meeting in Jerusalem given a day earlier by ABC's "Nightline" deteriorated into shouting matches.
MOSCOW FORMS NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC "EURASIAN UNION"
Oct 11,2000 -- Moscow unites Central Asia in 'new international economic organization' Moscow is forming a "new international economic organization" comprising most of the land mass of the former Soviet Union, and those states joining Moscow will engage in "cooperation in all spheres," according to official Russian sources. A report on the new Eurasian Union was carried by the Voice of Russia World Service, the official broadcasting service of the Russian government. Russia, Belarus and the Central Asian former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kirgizia and Tajikisatan are the participants in the newly formed "Eurasian Union." Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has stated that "a new economic community... is coming into being," which will provide for "cooperation in all fields," with "coordination of their (member states') economic, social, industrial, and monetary policies."
A draft treaty establishing the new "community" has just been agreed upon and is scheduled to be signed by the presidents of the respective states today. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Central Asia has become a contested area with NATO and Islamic fundamentalist rebels seeking to oust Russia from an area it has controlled since the 19th century. At stake is a vast region with remarkable mineral wealth -- including substantial reserves of natural gas and oil -- that is also strategically located along a land route connecting Europe, the Middle East, and Far East. (5)
INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS CALLED IN TO DETERMINE IF MUSLIM OR JOSEPH BURIED IN HOLY SHRINE NAMED JOSEPH'S TOMB
October 11, 2000 by Jamie Tarabay - NABLUS, West Bank (AP)--Israelis and Palestinians contest holy shrine. Israel fought to hold on to a holy site where many Jews believe a biblical figure is buried. Palestinians, determined to rid their town of an Israeli presence, drove the soldiers away.
Now the mayor of Nablus has called for international experts to determine who is really buried at the site: a Muslim sheik or Joseph, son of the biblical Jacob... Some archaeologists say the tomb is only a few centuries old and may be the resting place of a Muslim sheik. Others say they believe Joseph was buried at the site. "Let's find out who this tomb really belongs to so we can reach a solution,'' said Shakaa. "If it's Sheik Yousef, we will turn it into a Muslim shrine,'' he said. (6)
THOUSANDS OF YEMENI FIGHTERS READY TO DEFEND PA
October 18, 2000 - SANAA, (AFP) - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Wednesday he was ready to send thousands of Yemeni fighters to defend the Palestinians and the holy sites in Jerusalem. "We have everything. We are ready to send hundreds, thousands of Yemeni fighters to defend the Palestinians and the holy sites in Jerusalem," Saleh said in an interview with the Qatari-based satellite television channel Al- Jazira. "I am not in favour of war, but you have to call for war if the holy sites in Jerusalem are soiled," the Yemeni head of state added. On October 7, Saleh called for the opening of Arab borders to allow arms and troops to be sent to help the Palestinians. [Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse ].
UNITED NATIONS ARAB-ISLAMIC RESOLUTION CONDEMNS ISRAEL FOR "WAR CRIMES"
October 19, 2000 - Reuters GENEVA - UN human rights body condemns Israel for crimes. The main United Nations human rights forum Thursday adopted an Arab-Islamic resolution condemning Israel for "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity" in the occupied Palestinian territories. Nineteen states voted in favor, 16 against, with 17 abstentions and one delegation absent from the 53-member body, the Nepalese chairman announced after the public roll-call vote. "The draft resolution is adopted by a vote of 19 in favor, 16 against, with 17 abstentions," he said. The UN Commission on Human Rights wrapped up a special three-day session in Geneva on recent violence in the Middle East as an Israeli and a Palestinian were killed in a firefight that raged for hours near Nablus. © copyright 2000 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved (7)
UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY VOTING DETAILS
October 20, 2000 [Source: UN website] UN General Assembly Voting Details - Resolution Against Israel. The Assembly adopted the resolution on illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory (document A/ES-10/L.6) by a recorded vote of 92 in favour to 6 against, with 46 abstentions, as follows:
In favour: Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chile, China, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Libya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syria, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Against: Federated States of Micronesia, Israel, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Tuvalu, United States.
Abstain: Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Barbados, Benin, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Germany, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Romania, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tonga, United Kingdom.
Absent: Afghanistan, Angola, Bahamas, Belarus, Bhutan, Cambodia, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Honduras, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Solomon Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu.
THE THIRD TEMPLE SCENARIO - SUMMITS AND TREATIES
October 20, 2000 - ..Now, we are in what might be a nightmare scenario. The deepest Israeli fear is that the Third Temple will fall and another holocaust will ensue. More than just a fear, the Israeli military has long feared such a scenario and planned much of its doctrine around it. The scenario, which dates back more than 25 years, goes like this. First, a massive uprising occurs on the West Bank and the Gaza. Second, this rising spreads to Arab citizens of Israel. Strained to its limits by internal threats, the Israeli military may be unable to deal with an external threat.
What makes events of the past few weeks fundamentally different from anything that has happened before is the substantial violence within Israel proper, involving the country's Arab citizenry. This did not happen during the Intifada of the 1980s; in fact it has not occurred on any similar scale since the 1948 war for independence. Distributed throughout the country, Israeli Arabs live next to major Israeli cities like Haifa while others reside in coastal villages and in Galilee. An outright uprising of Israeli Arabs would pose a nightmarish security concern like nothing in the West Bank or Gaza.
This would only be the beginning. An uprising inside Israel would make the movement of troops and supplies difficult and perhaps impossible. It would immeasurably complicate mobilization and movement toward the frontier. The difficulty of defending Israel would rise by orders of magnitude. If bordering Arab states choose to attack during such a rising, Israel could face defeat.
But here is the important caveat: The Arab states cannot defeat Israel without the help of Egypt's military. In this crisis, Egypt has emerged at the eye of the storm, with entreaties by all parties for help. Egypt is the center of gravity of the Arab world. And luckily for Israel, Egypt has a peace treaty with Jerusalem.
But a treaty is ultimately an expression of political will and the nightmare in the Israeli military right now is that President Hosni Mubarak -- heir to Anwar Sadat, the architect of the treaty -- might fall in a popular, anti-Israeli uprising or coup. Alternatively, Mubarak, fearing such an evolution, might decide to abrogate the treaty. If that happens, the geopolitics of the region would revert to the same conditions as 1973. (8)
LIBYANS WALK OUT OF SUMMIT MEETING IN CAIRO
October 21, 2000 by Bassem Mroue - CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Arab leaders stopped short of calling for breaking ties with Israel, Libyan delegates said Saturday after walking out of an Arab summit because they wanted strong action against the Jewish state.. (9)
ARAB LEADERS DENOUNCED ISRAEL
October 21 3:11 CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) - Arab leaders denounced Israel and declared solidarity with Palestinians at a rare Arab League summit.. (10)
IDF FEARS ARAFAT IS PUSHING FOR WAR
21 Oct 2000 by Amos Harel - The defense establishment is becoming increasingly convinced that Yasser Arafat does not intend to return to the Oslo process. This leaves him with two choices: The first, and the one he apparently prefers at the minute, is controlled violence that will lead in the end to new diplomatic initiatives, but with increased international involvement. The second, which Arafat has not ruled out, is a full-scale regional war. (11)
ARAFAT WANTS ANOTHER KOSOVO
21 Oct 2000 - ..In Arafat's preferred scenario, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would resemble Kosovo: increasing international involvement, foreign observers and troops, and finally an imposed settlement - which would be better for the Palestinians than what the Americans offered at Camp David. The minute parties other than the Americans are involved, Arafat profits. An Israeli mistake (bombing civilians, a massacre by settlers) or a new, more hesitant American administration would also help. And if Plan A does not achieve its goals, Arafat would still have the option of a regional conflict. His hope is that once the smoke clears, a Palestinian state will emerge, perhaps with better borders than Ehud Barak and Bill Clinton have offered him.. (12)
ARAFAT CALLS FOR WITHDRAWAL TO PARTITION LINES
22 Oct 2000 Arafat calls for withdrawal to Partition lines and return of refugees to Israel by Aaron Lerner- In his speech yesterday at the Arab summit in Cairo, Yasser Arafat presented the following demand:
"Israel should lift the siege on our cities and people and withdraw from all the Palestinian and Arab territories, including holy Jerusalem, the capital of our independent Palestinian state. I reiterate that our goals are the liberation of our land, the establishment of our independent state on the blessed land of Palestine with holy Jerusalem as its capital, and the return of refugees based on international legitimacy resolutions, especially Resolutions 181 and 194."
U.N. General Assembly Resolution 181 from November 29, 1947 - before the creation of the State of Israel, calls for the partition of Palestine into an Israeli and Arab state with the Israeli state divided into three small segments. Ashdod, Jaffa (part of Tel Aviv-Jaffa), Nazareth, Acre, Naharia and other areas part of a Palestinian state and Jerusalem internationalized.
U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194 from December 11, 1948, calls for Holy Places to be under U.N. supervision; a special status and "international regime" for the Jerusalem area - stretching as far as Ein Kerem and Motza; and the return to within Israel of "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors. . .at the earliest practical date."
The Oslo process was based on 242, a resolution that calls for withdraw to "secure and recognized borders" rather to a specific border. The Americans, British and even Russians involved in the preparation of this U.N. resolution made it clear that it provided Israel with considerable latitude.
While the above Palestinian demand is a position that is not acceptable to any Israeli Jew - even the members of the extremist Gush Shalom - for some reason there has been very little coverage of these demands in the Israeli media and the morning news/interview programs have completely ignored it. (13)
ARAFAT SNUBS PRESIDENT CLINTON
OCTOBER 26 2000 Palestinian snub greets Clinton call for peace talks in US from Sam Kiley in Jerusalem - PRESIDENT CLINTON has invited Yassir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, and Ehud Barak, the Israeli Prime Minister, to separate Washington meetings in the hope of rekindling the peace process. "I think the violence can be dramatically reduced," the President said.
The invitation was immediately snubbed by the chief Palestinian negotiator, who demanded that Russia, the United Nations and China should now be involved. The Russians have indicated a willingness to try to revive their influence in the Middle East. The Palestinians claim that outside parties are needed to guarantee the "principles" of any agreement, meaning observance of UN resolutions. They believe that the US has thrown its weight too heavily behind Israel..
PALESTINIAN PEACE ACTIVIST DISILLUSIONED
October 25, 2000 - Focus - by Danny Rubinstein - In a mirror-image reflection of the emotional and ideological fracture among Israeli leftists, which has been caused by weeks of fighting and bloody events, Palestinian peace activists are now troubled by anger and dismay.
Directors of independent associations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank announced yesterday that they are curtailing all joint projects with Israelis, including major undertakings designed to nurture understanding between the two peoples that have been organized by the Peres Center for Peace and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
A statement released by these independent Palestinian associations declared that in light of the "proliferation of phenomena reflecting Israeli fascism and prejudice," they have decided to boycott joint endeavors with Israelis. The Palestinian organizational leaders call on counterparts in the Arab world to refrain from contacts with the state of Israel until it withdraws from all conquered areas, including East Jerusalem. (14)
SHARON DEMANDS POWERFUL ROLE IN ISRAEL GOVERNMENT
25 October 2000 Middle East: - by Phil Reeves in Jerusalem - Beleaguered Barak could be thrown out of office next week as Likud raises the price of co-operation and threatens to force elections. The stakes were raised sharply yesterday in the jockeying for power in conflict-torn Israel when the opposition Likud leader, Ariel Sharon, issued an ultimatum to the beleaguered prime minister, Ehud Barak. The message was stark: either forge an emergency government of national unity, including Likud, or face being thrown out of office when the Knesset returns next week. (15)
HUNDREDS OF CHRISTIAN FAMILIES FLEEING PA AREAS
October 25 2000 - JERUSALEM - by Margot Dudkevitch - Since the outbreak of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, hundreds of Christian Arab families have left with the assistance of the Foreign Ministry and foreign embassies, such as those of England, Canada, and Cyprus, Shlomo Dror, spokesman for the coordinator of activities in the territories, said yesterday.
In some cases, embassies sent cars to pick up the families from their homes in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Gaza, Nablus, and Tulkarm, granting passports to spouses and grandparents and offering financial assistance or air tickets to leave Israel, he said. In many cases the embassies eased restrictions and granted passports where only one of the couples had citizenship, to assist in their departure. A small number of those seeking to leave were Moslems, he added. (16)
US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES VOTE IN FAVOR OF ISRAEL BY 2/3 MAJORITY
25 Oct 2000 - House Resolution Concerning the Violence in the Middle East (H. CON. RES. 426) passed by 2/3 majority. The US House of Representatives passed a resolution late Tuesday October 24 that places sole blame for the recent violence in the West Bank and Gaza on the Palestinians... calls on the United States to prohibit assistance for the Palestinian Authority and for programs, projects, and activities in the West Bank and Gaza.
Text follows:
Whereas the Arab-Israeli Conflict must be resolved by peaceful negotiation;
Whereas since 1993 Israel and the Palestinians have been engaged in intensive negotiations over the future of the West Bank and Gaza;
Whereas the United States, through its consistent support of Israel and the cause of peace, made the current peace process possible;
Whereas the underlying basis of those negotiations was recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) by Israel in exchange for the renunciation of violence by the PLO and its Chairman Yasser Arafat, first expressed in a letter to then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin dated September 9, 1993, in which Mr. Arafat stated: `[T]he PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence, and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their compliance, prevent violations and discipline violators.';
Whereas as a result of those negotiations, the Palestinians now fully control over 40 percent of the West Bank and Gaza, with over 95 percent of the Palestinian population under the civil administration of the Palestinian Authority;
Whereas as a result of peace negotiations, Israel turned over control of these areas to the Palestinian Authority with the clear understanding and expectation that the Palestinians would maintain order and security there;
Whereas the Palestinian Authority, with the assistance of Israel and the international community, created a strong police force, almost twice the number allowed under the Oslo Accords, specifically to maintain public order;
Whereas the Government of Israel made clear to the world its commitment to peace at Camp David, where it expressed its readiness to take wide-ranging and painful steps in order to bring an end to the conflict, but these proposals were rejected by Chairman Arafat;
Whereas perceived provocations must only be addressed at the negotiating table;
Whereas it is only through negotiations, and not through violence, that the Palestinians can hope to achieve their political aspirations;
Whereas even in the face of the desecration of Joseph's Tomb, a Jewish holy site in the West Bank, the Government of Israel has made it clear that it will withdraw forces from Palestinian areas if the Palestinian Authority maintains order in those areas; and
Whereas the Palestinian leadership not only did too little for far too long to control the violence, but in fact encouraged it: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress--
1. expresses its solidarity with the state and people of Israel at this time of crisis;
2. condemns the Palestinian leadership for encouraging the violence and doing so little for so long to stop it, resulting in the senseless loss of life;
3. calls upon the Palestinian leadership to refrain from any exhortations to public incitement, urges the Palestinian leadership to vigorously use its security forces to act immediately to stop all violence, to show respect for all holy sites, and to settle all grievances through negotiations;
4. commends successive Administrations on their continuing efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East;
5. urges the current Administration to use its veto power at the United Nations Security Council to ensure that the Security Council does not again adopt unbalanced resolutions addressing the uncontrolled violence in the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority; and
6. calls on all parties involved in the Middle East conflict to make all possible efforts to reinvigorate the peace process in order to prevent further senseless loss of life by all sides. (17)
EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DECLARES THE END OF THE PEACE PROCESS
October 25, 2000 - Amr Moussa declares the end of the peace process. 'New standards' needed to form a new basis for negotiations, says Egyptian Foreign Minister - by Daniel Sobelman Ha'aretz Correspondent
Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa has announced that the peace process is finished. Interviewed by the Lebanese newspaper A-Sapir, Moussa threatened that Egypt is liable to take measures against Israel should it believe that they will promote Arab interests.
"The peace process, as we have known it during recent years, is finished," Moussa declared. "Nobody among the Arabs, and especially among the Palestinians, will agree to return to the negotiating table on the basis of the old criteria and standards. Right now, the resolute stance taken by the Palestinian people, and its resistance to Israel's conquest, is the top priority." Moussa referred to the establishment of "new standards" to serve "as the basis for continued negotiations." These standards, he said, will be determined by the Arabs.
Decisions reached at the recent Arab League summit, Moussa told A-Sapir, are "not routine," and "Israel isn't pleased with them at all." From this point onward, the foreign minister declared, Egypt will not establish new relations with Israel, unless a re-designed peace process restores rights to Arabs. Moussa added that all necessary steps will be taken to prevent Israeli "infiltration" into the Arab world and spoke of Israel's "loathsome violations of human rights."
He said that Arabs should assist the Palestinian Intifada in four ways:
l By taking a firm, pan-Arab position in support of the Palestinian people;
l By providing material support and delivering money to alleviate economic problems in the conquered territories;
l By lobbying in the international arena for an end to the siege which Israel is enforcing against the Palestinians;
l By a refusal to return to the old negotiation frameworks.
Moussa told the Lebanese newspaper that Egypt supports Hezbollah's campaign against Israel, since the Israel Defense Forces have not pulled out of all Lebanese territory.
Since Israel continues to keep Lebanese prisoners behind bars, he said, it bears responsibility for any retaliatory measures that Hezbollah might attempt. (18)
PALESTINIANS SEEK UN PROTECTION FORCE
Oct 25, 2000 UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The Palestinian representative at the United Nations on Wednesday demanded that the Security Council meet to consider sending a UN force to protect Palestinians citizens from Israeli violence.
In a letter to council president Martin Andjaba of Namibia, Palestinian representative Nasser Al-Kidwa requested that the meeting consider sending UN troops to protect Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, scene of nearly four weeks of Israeli-Palestinian clashes that have left some 140 people dead.
On Sunday, an emergency Arab summit in Cairo urged the United Nations to "guarantee the protection" of the Palestinian people against Israel. Last week, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning Israel's excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians. (19)
EDITOR'S NOTE: Arafat was hightly rewarded for this episode with another billion dollars. This time it did not come out of the US taxpayer's pockets.
- ________________________________________
- Bibliography:
- (1) http://www.worldtribune.com/tout-4.html
(2) http://www.voila.co.uk/News/afp/top/001010125308.39q7mlym.html
(3) http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/10/10/LatestNews/LatestNews.13507.html
(4) http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=5&datee=10/11/00&id=96234
(5) http://216.219.160.226/cgi-bin/readnews.cgi?day=00_10_11&item=#971309035
(6) http://philologos.org/bpr
(7) http://www2.haaretz.co.il/breaking-news/intifada/331802.asp
(8) http://www.stratfor.com/
(9) http://www0.mercurycenter.com/world/worldwire/docs/543440l.htm
(10) http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001021/ts/mideast_leadall_dc_273.html
(11) http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/htmls/kat6_3.htm
(12) http://www.discerningtoday.org/today's_newsbytes.htm#top
(13) http://www.imra.org.il
(14) http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=10/25/00&id=97909
(15) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Middle_East/2000-10/sharon251000.shtml
(16) http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/10/25/News/News.14287.html
(17) "IMRA Newsletter" imra-l@lyris.vcix.com
(18) http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=10/25/00&id=97911
(19) http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/world/article.html?s=
- asia/headlines/001026/world/afp/Palestinians_seek_UN_protection_force.html
BACK