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Politics : The Castle -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (2397)	1/9/2004 6:03:50 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 7936

But it's time for me to move on. I am unclear how you can possibly learn anything by moving on. Your understanding of the situation is typical of most Americans and its why we are so far over on the wrong side when it comes to this conflict. American ignorance of the ME is killing our soldiers in Iraq.

To: The Philosopher who wrote (2397)	1/10/2004 1:44:26 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 7936

Jan. 8, 2004 It's Sharon's duty Ariel Sharon could hardly have been more explicit this week when he looked thousands of Likud activists in the eyes and said in a familiarly loud and resolute tone: Settlements will have to be evacuated. Following the prime minister's early pronouncements, back in 2002, favoring the establishment of a Palestinian state, a lively public debate emerged, focusing on the roots and nature of Sharon's political transformation. However, few so far have said much in terms of the most obvious repercussion that Sharon's plan has in store, namely the stranding of thousands of Israelis beyond the separation fence, in the midst of a hostile Palestinian population. The reasons for this silence are understandable. First, it took a long time for Sharon to make plain his embrace of the fence idea, and longer yet for the public to realize that this idea is actually fast becoming fact. Then, the people who could be expected to raise the loudest outcry in the face of the approaching separation, namely the settler leaders themselves, have failed to focus on the threat it poses to them personally. Yet the plan obviously exposes the settlers to serious dangers, and it is imperative that those be perceived and treated as a national challenge. In the longer term, judging by what Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said in recent weeks, the plan is apparently to have all settlers somehow gravitate within the fence, itself a very unclear proposition that sooner or later will have to be made clearer. In the shorter term, however, thousands of settlers will soon realize that in addition to the ideological wall that has long separated them and some Israelis, a physical wall has arisen to separate them as well. By all criteria, this might prove to have been a recipe for catastrophe. Militarily, it might complicate the IDF's defense of the settlements beyond the fence; emotionally, it is likely to further deepen the abyss that is already yawning between some settlers and some Israelis; and politically, it might generate pressures that will destabilize coalitions. For our part, we are not averse to the principle of territorial compromise. We are, however, opposed to national schism. If we have arrived at a point where we must undergo some kind of territorial retreat, this does not mean we should risk a civil war, much less treat the settlers as outcasts. And the settlers, all of them, are a limb of this nation. The people who went to live beyond the Green Line did so on behalf of 13 successive governments, six of them Labor-led. That alone is reason enough for them to be offered serious information, and solutions, for the challenges that await them once they are stranded beyond the fence. Moreover, the people who went to live beyond the Green Line were some of Israel's most dedicated idealists. Abandoning them would send a message to future idealists that in Israel, idealism, pioneering, and self-sacrifice are no longer appreciated. Conversely, if treated generously by the government and respectfully by the public, the settlers' moral dignity and positive energies can be preserved. As the man who more than anyone else built and populated the settlements, Ariel Sharon has a particular responsibility. If he is to keep the settlers in their place, he must defend them with every political, diplomatic and military tool he's got. If he's going to ask them to leave, he must ensure they have as good a deal going out as they had going in. jpost.com

To: The Philosopher who wrote (2397)	1/11/2004 12:52:27 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7936

Palestinian prime minister urges world leaders to halt Israel's West Bank barrier LARA SUKHTIAN, Associated Press Writer Sunday, January 11, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (01-11) 05:48 PST QALQILIYA, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia on Sunday urged the international community to pressure Israel to halt construction of its West Bank separation barrier, saying time is running out on chances for a negotiated peace settlement. Qureia toured a section of the barrier in Qalqiliya, a Palestinian town near the line with Israel that has been largely enclosed by the structure. "This is the racist separation wall that intends to turn the areas of the West Bank into isolated cantons that are not acceptable to any form of Palestinian government or any form of Palestinian state," Qureia said. Meanwhile, violence continued in the West Bank. A Palestinian man was killed when a bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely, Israel radio reported. The Israeli military said the bomber apparently had been en route to Israel. Also, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy was killed in a confrontation with the Israeli army in a West Bank village. Palestinian witnesses said soldiers fired at Palestinian stone throwers, while the military said the teenager was about to throw a firebomb when he was shot. Israel says it needs the 450-mile separation barrier as protection from suicide bombers and other Palestinian attackers. The Palestinians say the barrier, which dips deep into the West Bank, is a massive land grab that will prevent them from establishing a future independent state. About one-quarter of the barrier has been built. "We turn our direction to the United States, to President Bush, to Europe, to Russia, to the United Nations," Qureia said during his tour of the barrier. "Does this leave an opportunity for the creation of a Palestinian state?" Israel and the Palestinians have committed themselves to the "road map" backed by the United States, United Nations, Russia and European Union, but the peace plan has been stalled for months. "Where is the road map?" Qureia asked later in a speech to Qalqiliya's community leaders. "Will it be that under the shadow of the road map this racist separation wall will continue to be built?" The road map, which seeks an independent Palestinian state by 2005, calls for the Palestinians to disarm militant groups and requires Israel to freeze settlement in the West Bank and Gaza. Neither side has fulfilled these obligations, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he will take unilateral steps to separate Israel from the Palestinians if there is no progress in peace talks in the coming months. Sharon has said the steps would include dismantling some Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, but said the Palestinians would receive much more territory in a negotiated deal. The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot said Sunday that Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, the incoming director of Sharon's National Security Council, has already asked a number government ministries to begin preparations for the separation plan. The Palestinians have sent mixed messages in recent days about how they might respond to Sharon's plan. On Saturday, Palestinian leaders reasserted their right to unilaterally declare an independent state in the absence of a peace deal with Israel. But Qureia said last week that if Sharon carries out his go-it-alone plan, the Palestinians would give up their dream of an independent state alongside Israel and instead seek a single state of Arabs and Jews. Qureia said at the time he was expressing his personal view, not official policy. Qureia tried to clarify his statements on Sunday, saying the single-state solution is one of several "options." "Now we have the two-state option, and we accepted it," he told reporters. "But convince me the two-state solution still stands and is still viable and that the independent Palestinian state is a serious project" for Israel and the road map sponsors, he said. A single, binational state would spell disaster for Israel's Jewish character, because the Palestinians' higher birthrate would soon put Arabs in the majority. Israel would face a choice between giving Palestinians the right to vote or becoming a minority-ruled country like apartheid South Africa. The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said Sunday that the Palestinians still remain committed to a two-state solution, based on Israel's borders before it captured the West Bank and Gaza in 1967. "If the Israeli government continues with the settlement activities, walling us, building walls around our towns, villages and refugee camps, turning them into big prisons ... these actions will undermine and destroy the two-state solution, leaving the option of the one state available," Erekat told Israel Army Radio. Meanwhile, supporters of Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza were preparing for a large demonstration Sunday night against any territorial concessions to the Palestinians. Israeli media said tens of thousands of people were expected. sfgate.com