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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (29331)	5/12/2002 3:52:58 PM
From: Elsewhere	Respond to of 281500

Israeli Officials See Hopeful Signs From Palestinian Officials Bloomberg 05/12 13:14 By James Rowley quote.bloomberg.com Washington, May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Israeli officials signaled a willingness to put off a planned military incursion into Gaza and exercise restraint amid ``hopeful'' signs Palestinians were willing to work harder for peace. Israeli tanks remained poised outside the Gaza strip and ready to enter the Palestinian enclave if there are more terrorist attacks, said the officials, including Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. The operation, planned in response to a suicide bombing that killed 15 Israelis last week in a pool hall near Tel Aviv, was delayed for military and operational reasons, they said. In the meantime, the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has seen ``developments going on the Palestinian side that have us a little bit more hopeful,'' Dore Gold, an adviser to Sharon said on NBC's ``Meet the Press.'' ``We're seeing more evidence of introspection on the part of Palestinian leaders. We're seeing also more evidence of talk of reform in the Palestinian Authority,'' Gold said. Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said he was willing to give the peace process a chance. ``We will give all of our skill, we are ready to give any chance to the peace process if someone at the other side'' reciprocates, Ben-Eliezer said on CNN's Late Edition. Quiet Period? ``I want to see actions'' by the Palestinian leaders to stem more terrorism, he said. ``I hope things will be controlled there by the leaders there in Gaza. I hope to see and to feel that everyone is moving to a quiet period.'' The issue of Israeli settlements in Gaza and the West Banks would be part negotiable if ``we are beginning to move into some direction that might lead to some political process.'' Settlements would be part of negations ```whether we like it or don't like this,'' the Israeli defense minister said. Jordan's King Abdullah II hailed Israel's military restraint as ``a positive and encouraging step, especially in light of the Arab conference'' in Cairo to discuss a Middle East peace plan advanced by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. ``I presume the Israeli restraint has created an even more positive atmosphere,'' the Jordanian king said in an appearance on Meet the Press. Gold said Israel delayed sending troops into Gaza ``for military and operational reasons'' and would continue to defend itself against fresh terrorist attacks. Israel was looking for ``tangible signs of greater transparency, greater accountability among the Palestinian leadership'' to end the cycle of suicide bombers and Israeli military attacks on Palestinian cities and refugee camps. ``We can do business'' with the Palestinian leadership once it `internalizes one single message, that terrorism is not a legitimate instrument for advancing political interest,'' Gold said. Likud Vote The Bush administration has begun diplomatic efforts to organize a regional peace conference to discuss creation of a Palestinian state. The Saudi plan calls for Israel to return to 1967 borders after withdrawing from the West Bank and Gaza. Sharon's Likud Party, meanwhile, was scheduled today to vote on a resolution proposed by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to oppose creation of the Palestinian state. Gold sought to downplay the significance of the party vote sought by Sharon's rival, saying the prime minister ``has termed the whole issue of the Palestinian state premature at this time.'' Any ``consensus position'' on the issue would have to be developed by ``elements of Likud, elements from the Labor Party'' he said.

To: LindyBill who wrote (29331)	5/12/2002 4:58:13 PM
From: jcky	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 281500

Well, at least you are frank about the Israelis being colonialists.

To: LindyBill who wrote (29331)	5/12/2002 5:04:23 PM
From: art slott	Respond to of 281500

In defending their people from the Arab aggressors Israel kept part of the land that once belonged to them. In doing so they reduced Israel's chances of its populace being attacked in future wars.

To: LindyBill who wrote (29331)	5/12/2002 5:22:05 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

have never researched this, but I assume it would be, "Hey, we won it in a war, it's ours, why not settle on it? We, and every other country that has taken over property by this method, has done the same thing. That's one reason. Another is, "The Arabs have tried to wipe us off the map four times how. Let's acquire some defensible borders" Those are the secular reasons. The religious reason also comes into play, "This is our land, the land our ancestors are buried in, the land that G-d gave us. The Torah says so." Religious Jews are deeply attached to Hebron (the home turf of the House of David) and Shechem (aka Nablus, the site of Joseph's Tomb, which was torched in 2000). And all Jews, religious or not, are attached to Jerusalem.