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

To: thames_sider who wrote (100506)	6/6/2003 9:36:11 AM
From: KyrosL	Respond to of 281500

At first glance it seems like an excellent plan.

To: thames_sider who wrote (100506)	6/7/2003 12:51:21 AM
From: Jacob Snyder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

re: Forget the Road Map The basic problem I see with this plan, is that it has the same defects as the Road Map. There doesn't seem to be a realistic provision for making the various players do things they very much don't want to do. Who is going to disarm Hamas? Who is going to lean on the Israelis, to make them give up their settlements? 1. The idea of U.S. troops replacing Israelis, in the Occupied Territories, is a non-starter. Hamas would see no difference between the two armies. Could the U.S. Army do what the Israelis can't: attack and destroy Hamas? Is there any chance they would be willing to take on that thankless task? I doubt it. 2. <almost all Israeli settlements, with the exception of those in the immediate proximity of Jerusalem, would be dismantled> That's more than the Israelis offered at Taba, and I doubt they are willing to offer more, now. Not unless a lot of pressure is applied, pressure that only a U.S. President could apply. Again, this seems unlikely. 3. the third proposal, with WB and IMF funding, would not be enough to "assure" the viability of the Palestinian State. Those institutions have repeatedly failed, at the same goals, and after wasting vast amounts of money, in other nations. Truth is, under almost any concievable future, any Palestinian State is going to live in the economic shadow of Israel, and their main export will be workers. 4. The idea that Palestinian refugees will give up their "right of return", and Israeli colonists will give up their settlements, with economic inducements, is utopian. The only way the Jewish settlements will come down, is if the Israeli government goes in, with soldiers and bulldozers, and uses force. Like they did in Sinai.

To: thames_sider who wrote (100506)	6/7/2003 1:08:40 AM
From: Jacob Snyder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Road map under threat after Hamas breaks off ceasefire talks Chris McGreal in Jerusalem Saturday June 7, 2003 The Guardian Hamas delivered a blow to the Palestinian prime minister's attempts to end attacks on Israel yesterday by breaking off all talks hours before a fresh round of negotiations aimed at establishing a ceasefire. The Islamic fundamentalist group also issued a hard-hitting statement denouncing this week's summit between President George Bush, the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, as an American attempt to dictate and impose peace terms on the Palestinians. Hamas called on the Palestinian people and the Arab world to unite against the US-led "road map" embraced by Mr Abbas. The move was unexpected, even though the Islamic fundamentalist group, with its principal power base in the Gaza Strip, had said it would continue the armed struggle after Israeli pledges to establish a Palestinian state at this week's summit in Aqaba. For weeks Mr Abbas, who is better known as Abu Mazen, has said he expected to win agreement for a ceasefire from Hamas and other militant groups such as Islamic Jihad. But Hamas objected to his recognition of Israel and de facto surrender of claim to land within Israel's 1967 borders. "The dialogue is over. Abu Mazen has gone too far with the Israelis," said Abdel-Aziz al-Rantisi, a Hamas leader in Gaza. "He gave away to Sharon and Bush what the Palestinians said they would never do, so how can he claim to represent the Palestinian people?" guardian.co.uk