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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (23205)	7/24/2003 8:24:58 PM
From: epicure	Respond to of 89467

Israeli-U.S. Misunderstanding Over Fence Growing: FM "A misunderstanding is developing with the Americans on this fence,” Shalom WASHINGTON, July 24 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - As Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas began his first landmark trip to Washington for talks with President George W. Bush on Thursday, July 24, Israel said a "misunderstanding" is developing with the U.S. administration over the construction of the so-called "separation fence". "A misunderstanding is developing with the Americans on this fence because of ignorance of the specifics of this project," Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said from Washington, where he met Secretary of State Colin Powell. The meeting was designed to prepare the July 29 talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Bush, Agence France-Presse (AFP). "The Palestinians have launched an extensive opinion campaign against this fence to make believe it will harm their interests, create facts on the ground and will risk torpedoing the peace process," Shalom told military radio. On his part, Powell said: "My colleague is aware of the concerns that we have about the fence" and it needs to be asked if "it (the fence) helps the process as we move forward" towards peace with the Palestinians. In his talks Wednesday with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Shalom was told that the U.S. wants Israel to halt construction of the fence and alter its route, Israel Radio reported. "Problematic" Rice also told Shalom that Israel had to display greater flexibility on the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and had to remove more illegal West Bank settlement outposts, Israeli daily Haaretz reported. During a visit to the region in June 2003, Rice admitted the fence was "problematic" because it would "create a fait accompli" but Sharon had denied the fence was politically motivated. According to the New York Times, Washington will exert pressure on Israel to halt the project or at least change its route. The fence loosely follows the 1967 Green Line division between Israel and the West Bank, but it dips deep into occupied Palestinian territory at several points under the pretext of protecting settlements. It also leaves several Palestinian villages cut off from the rest of the West Bank. The Palestinians accuse Israel of using the fence to unilaterally determine the borders of a future Palestinian state and of wanting to "ethnically cleanse" the West Bank with a de facto annexation of its most fertile regions. Construction of the fence was launched in June 2002. It is also expected to cut annexed the east of occupied Jerusalem off from the rest of the West Bank and a first 145-kilometre (90-mile) section is due for completion in July 2003. Abbas’ First Trip “My colleague is aware of the concerns that we have about the fence," Powell In the meanwhile, the Palestinian premier will try during his talks in Washington to win support for a broad Israeli release of the 6,000-estimated detainees. The issue was likely to be a main topic at talks between Abbas and Bush at the White House on Friday, with the Israelis and Palestinians still poles apart over the numbers that should be freed. Israel agreed only to the release of 350 detainees with the exclusion of Hamas and Islamic Jihad members, the stance which irked Palestinians hoping to see all detainees no longer behind bars. Palestinian Prisoners affairs minister Hisham Abdelrazeq said Abbas would urge Washington to persuade Israel to first agree in principle to the release of all the Palestinian detainees before then drawing up a schedule for their release. "If America succeeds, there will be progress in the peace process but if they do not, the political process could be destroyed," Abdelrazeq said. He was speaking ahead of a rally in Gaza City where about 500 members of Palestinian resistance factions such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as Abbas's Fatah, called for the release of all of their members held in Israeli jails. They gathered in front of the United Nations headquarters in Gaza where they demanded the immediate release of all prisoners without preconditions. An Israeli ministerial commission Wednesday ruled out the immediate release of any members of the movements, although it did rubberstamp earlier proposals to release several hundred so-called administrative detainees. "Freedom For All Prisoners" Some demonstrators carried banners with slogans such as: "Freedom for all prisoners" and "No conditions on releases", while others burnt an Israeli flag. Palestinian officials said the political leadership of Abbas rests on winning support in Washington talks for an Israeli release of all detainees. He could face a confidence vote in parliament on his return if he fails during meeting with Bush to win increased pressure on Israel to make the release, the officials were quoted by Reuters as saying. In another blow to the roadmap, which calls for a freeze on all Jewish settlement activity, Israeli Interior Ministry figures released Thursday showed the number of settlers living in the West Bank and Gaza has risen by 5,400 in the past year to a record 231,443. A fatal shooting by an Israeli border guard of a Bedouin in southern Israel on Thursday also inflamed sentiment on the ground. Following the incident, dozens of Bedouins gathered near the scene of the incident in the Negev desert to protest, accusing Israeli policemen of being "trigger-happy" when it comes to Israeli Arabs. On Tuesday, Israeli policemen killed another Israeli Arab near the West Bank after "mistaking" him for a Palestinian activist preparing an attack. "According to preliminary findings, the driver refused to stop at a roadblock and was killed by a bullet which a border guard fired," police spokesman Gil Kleiman said.