Showing posts with label Abbas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abbas. Show all posts
Friday, March 13, 2015
Thursday, March 21, 2013
If we split God's land, he will split our land! Palestinians deserve an independent and sovereign state and an end to occupation by Israel – Obama
End Of Days News
American President Barack Obama confirms the US is committed to creating two independent states, Israel and Palestine, whatever time it takes to reach the goal. Obama stressed direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis is the only way to do so.
Obama spoke at a news conference in the West Bank with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
He confirmed the US is committed to creating two independent states, Israel and Palestine, however long it takes. Obama stressed direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis is the only way to reach the goal.
He says Palestinians should not have to confront the daily indignities that come with occupation.
Obama says the US needs a “viable and contiguous” Palestinian state co-existing alongside the state of Israel.
The US president condemned construction of new Israeli settlements on Palestinian territories.
"I told Mr. Netanyahu that it has been US policy not to consider settlement activity to be constructive, appropriate or advance the cause of peace,” criticized Obama.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Abbas by fomenting Palestinian unrest risks losing control
End Of Days News
Day by day, Palestinian fury on the West Bank is stoked by one charge against Israel after another. The protesters of Hebron, Nablus and other West Bank towns and villages are in no mood to hear Israel’s version of the facts. Sunday, Feb. 24, Palestinian Authority officials alleged that Israeli mistreatment caused the death of a 30-year old Palestinian Arafat Jaradat in custody after taking part in rocking-throwing clashes with Israeli troops. Israel denied he was beaten and said he had died of heart failure. Israel’s forensic institute conducted an autopsy with a Palestinian physician in attendance with uncertain results. But the Palestinian street, demonstrating violently for the past week in solidarity with four Palestinian inmates on hunger strike, weren’t waiting. Tomorrow, there will be another trigger for protest and Israeli troops will disperse the rioters and stone-throwers with crowd dispersion measures.
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials keep the heat up by accusing Israel of “murder, racism, and brutality.”
Clearly, Abbas (Abu Mazen) and his henchmen are prepared to risk matters getting out of hand on the West Bank.
debkafile examines their motives.
Abbas appears to count on reining in the violence whenever he decides it has exhausted its political usefulness. The Palestinian Authority chairman seems to believe that he only has to give the order for the seven special commando battalions subservient to the PA for the forces to go into action and restore order to the Palestinian street. But Western and Israeli military circles familiar with the situation in Ramallah think his calculus is flawed, because he is doesn’t seem to realize that parts of the PA commando force have established relations with Hamas, the rival group which rules the Gaza Strip.
This takes the Palestinian military structures into a period of uncertainty which recalls the early months of their second uprising (intifada) in 2000. It was hard then to make out which Palestinian units and security arms served which Palestinian strongman. The militias of the day, including the one under the command of Jibril Rajoub – a close Abbas aide today – divided their loyalties and their time between different Palestinian masters. At times, this was contingent on how much they were paid.
debkafile’s military sources estimate that if the current unrest is allowed to continue unchecked, Abbas will be swept aside by the turbulence. Faceless officers will take over and the force will break up into militias and the Palestinian Authority sink into anarchy.
Already Abbas’s relevance among the Palestinians at large is ebbing along with the welcome mat and donations extended him in most Arab capitals.
Even if Abbas does manage to squeeze another settlement construction freeze out of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, along with the release of jailed prisoners, and even revive the stalled flow of funds to the bankrupt Palestinian Authority, he will still face a tough impediment from the Gaza Strip.
To solve it, he would have to turn the clock back to November, 2012 and reverse a process launched then after the Israel Gaza Operation. The US, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Hamas and Israel, struck a deal, which ended the operation with a ceasefire and boosted Hamas domestically and internationally by ending the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip and promoting cooperation between the Palestinian fundamentalists and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Mahmoud Abbas clearly hopes that by fostering spiraling anti-Israel unrest on the West Bank, he can catch up with Hamas’s enhanced standing and recover a strong bargaining position for resumed talks with Israel in time for US President Barack Obama’s visit next month to Jerusalem and Ramallah. But he is skating on very thin ice.
This visit in any case may be postponed if Netanyahu fails to set up a post-election government coalition by March 20.
Day by day, Palestinian fury on the West Bank is stoked by one charge against Israel after another. The protesters of Hebron, Nablus and other West Bank towns and villages are in no mood to hear Israel’s version of the facts. Sunday, Feb. 24, Palestinian Authority officials alleged that Israeli mistreatment caused the death of a 30-year old Palestinian Arafat Jaradat in custody after taking part in rocking-throwing clashes with Israeli troops. Israel denied he was beaten and said he had died of heart failure. Israel’s forensic institute conducted an autopsy with a Palestinian physician in attendance with uncertain results. But the Palestinian street, demonstrating violently for the past week in solidarity with four Palestinian inmates on hunger strike, weren’t waiting. Tomorrow, there will be another trigger for protest and Israeli troops will disperse the rioters and stone-throwers with crowd dispersion measures.
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials keep the heat up by accusing Israel of “murder, racism, and brutality.”
Clearly, Abbas (Abu Mazen) and his henchmen are prepared to risk matters getting out of hand on the West Bank.
debkafile examines their motives.
Abbas appears to count on reining in the violence whenever he decides it has exhausted its political usefulness. The Palestinian Authority chairman seems to believe that he only has to give the order for the seven special commando battalions subservient to the PA for the forces to go into action and restore order to the Palestinian street. But Western and Israeli military circles familiar with the situation in Ramallah think his calculus is flawed, because he is doesn’t seem to realize that parts of the PA commando force have established relations with Hamas, the rival group which rules the Gaza Strip.
This takes the Palestinian military structures into a period of uncertainty which recalls the early months of their second uprising (intifada) in 2000. It was hard then to make out which Palestinian units and security arms served which Palestinian strongman. The militias of the day, including the one under the command of Jibril Rajoub – a close Abbas aide today – divided their loyalties and their time between different Palestinian masters. At times, this was contingent on how much they were paid.
debkafile’s military sources estimate that if the current unrest is allowed to continue unchecked, Abbas will be swept aside by the turbulence. Faceless officers will take over and the force will break up into militias and the Palestinian Authority sink into anarchy.
Already Abbas’s relevance among the Palestinians at large is ebbing along with the welcome mat and donations extended him in most Arab capitals.
Even if Abbas does manage to squeeze another settlement construction freeze out of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, along with the release of jailed prisoners, and even revive the stalled flow of funds to the bankrupt Palestinian Authority, he will still face a tough impediment from the Gaza Strip.
To solve it, he would have to turn the clock back to November, 2012 and reverse a process launched then after the Israel Gaza Operation. The US, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Hamas and Israel, struck a deal, which ended the operation with a ceasefire and boosted Hamas domestically and internationally by ending the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip and promoting cooperation between the Palestinian fundamentalists and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Mahmoud Abbas clearly hopes that by fostering spiraling anti-Israel unrest on the West Bank, he can catch up with Hamas’s enhanced standing and recover a strong bargaining position for resumed talks with Israel in time for US President Barack Obama’s visit next month to Jerusalem and Ramallah. But he is skating on very thin ice.
This visit in any case may be postponed if Netanyahu fails to set up a post-election government coalition by March 20.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
PA hopes Obama visit will mark beginning of new US policy
End Of Days News
The Palestinian Authority Wednesday welcomed US President Barak Obama's plan to visit the region next month and expressed hope that it would mark the beginning of a new US policy toward the Israeli-Arab conflict.
However, PA officials said it was still unclear whether Obama would meet with PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
The officials said that the meeting could take place in Jericho or Bethlehem for "security reasons."
Nabil Abu Ridaineh, spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said that the Palestinians hope that the visit would eventually lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Mohammed Shtayyeh, member of the Fatah Central Committee, said that the peace process would not move forward unless Obama was personally involved in the negotiations.
US Secretary of State John Kerry was scheduled to visit Ramallah in the coming weeks to prepare for Obama's visit, the PA officials said.
"Obama needs to understand that the ball remains in the Israeli court," one official told The Jerusalem Post. "We expect Obama to exert pressure on the Israeli government to stop building in the settlements, including east Jerusalem, and release Palestinian prisoners in order to pave the way for the resumption of the peace talks." Hanan Ashrawi, member of the PLO Executive Committee, also welcomed Obama's planned visit.
“We welcome President Obama’s visit, if it signals an American promise to become an honest and impartial peace broker," she said. "The US can play this positive role by engaging in an effective and constructive manner rather than by repeating the same policy of negotiations for their own sake.”
Ashrawi said that such an engagement "requires decisive curbs on Israeli violations and unilateral measures, particularly settlement activity and the annexation of Jerusalem, as well as its siege and fragmentation policies. It also requires the implementation of all prior agreements and a clear commitment to international law, human rights and multilateral participation. Any initiative must have defined objectives and a binding time frame. This must happen before Israel succeeds in finally destroying the two-state solution and hence the chances of peace.”
Ashrawi added: “Maintaining Israel’s impunity and sense of exceptionalism, while denying the Palestinian people’s rights to sovereignty, freedom and dignity, has been lethal to any meaningful pursuit of a viable and just peace. We therefore expect that this visit will rectify the failures of the past, demonstrate a new-found political will, and lead to urgent, substantive and serious action that will bring the Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine to an end."
However, PA officials said it was still unclear whether Obama would meet with PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
The officials said that the meeting could take place in Jericho or Bethlehem for "security reasons."
Nabil Abu Ridaineh, spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said that the Palestinians hope that the visit would eventually lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Mohammed Shtayyeh, member of the Fatah Central Committee, said that the peace process would not move forward unless Obama was personally involved in the negotiations.
US Secretary of State John Kerry was scheduled to visit Ramallah in the coming weeks to prepare for Obama's visit, the PA officials said.
"Obama needs to understand that the ball remains in the Israeli court," one official told The Jerusalem Post. "We expect Obama to exert pressure on the Israeli government to stop building in the settlements, including east Jerusalem, and release Palestinian prisoners in order to pave the way for the resumption of the peace talks." Hanan Ashrawi, member of the PLO Executive Committee, also welcomed Obama's planned visit.
“We welcome President Obama’s visit, if it signals an American promise to become an honest and impartial peace broker," she said. "The US can play this positive role by engaging in an effective and constructive manner rather than by repeating the same policy of negotiations for their own sake.”
Ashrawi said that such an engagement "requires decisive curbs on Israeli violations and unilateral measures, particularly settlement activity and the annexation of Jerusalem, as well as its siege and fragmentation policies. It also requires the implementation of all prior agreements and a clear commitment to international law, human rights and multilateral participation. Any initiative must have defined objectives and a binding time frame. This must happen before Israel succeeds in finally destroying the two-state solution and hence the chances of peace.”
Ashrawi added: “Maintaining Israel’s impunity and sense of exceptionalism, while denying the Palestinian people’s rights to sovereignty, freedom and dignity, has been lethal to any meaningful pursuit of a viable and just peace. We therefore expect that this visit will rectify the failures of the past, demonstrate a new-found political will, and lead to urgent, substantive and serious action that will bring the Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine to an end."
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Netanyahu chastises Abbas for meeting with Hamas leader
‘That’s not how someone striving for peace behaves,’ charges prime minister
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded
Thursday to news of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal meeting in Cairo for reconciliation talks by
reiterating his accusation that Abbas is not acting like a partner for
peace.
The PA president and the leader of Hamas held talks Wednesday in a bid to leverage some recent goodwill between their rival factions and reach a long-elusive reconciliation agreement, a senior Palestinian official said.
“Abbas embraced the head of a terrorist
organization that called, only a month ago, for wiping Israel off the
map,” Netanyahu said. “That’s not how someone striving for peace
behaves.”
The meetings between Abbas and Mashaal marked
the latest attempt by the rival Palestinian leaders to bridge the gap
between their groups. But many obstacles remain before the sides can
settle their differences, chief among them how to deal with Israel.
Several rounds of reconciliation talks over
recent years focused on finding ways to share power have failed to yield
results, and the official, speaking before the talks, said no immediate
breakthrough was expected in the meetings Wednesday in Cairo. Hamas
also is not ready since it will hold internal elections to replace
Mashaal, the official said.
The official said that Abbas will call upon
all Palestinian factions to hold a larger meeting in Cairo at a later
date to discuss reconciliation.
The two Palestinian groups have been at odds
since the Islamic militant Hamas overran Gaza in 2007, ousting forces
from Abbas’s Fatah. Since then, Abbas has ruled in the West Bank, and
Hamas has held sway in Gaza.
While past efforts to end the split have
failed, the two sides have tried to make a show of unity since Hamas’s
fierce battle with Israel in November and Fatah’s subsequent recognition
bid at the United Nations.
Earlier in the day, Abbas and Mashaal held
talks individually with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. Morsi hails
from the Muslim Brotherhood, the fundamentalist Islamist group that is
the parent organization of Hamas.
In 2011, Mashaal and Abbas signed a
reconciliation agreement, but it was not implemented. According to the
deal and subsequent round of talks held in Qatar, the two factions would
form a national coalition government of independents to oversee
legislative and presidential elections.
The new talks are taking place in a slightly different atmosphere, however, following recent gains by both factions.
Abbas has enjoyed a boost in his status since
he led the Palestinians’ successful bid to upgrade their status at the
United Nations to a nonmember observer state.
Hamas, meanwhile, has gained new support among
Palestinians following eight days of fighting with Israel in November,
during which Israel pounded tgerror targets in the seaside strip from
the air and sea, while Palestinian terrorists fired 1,500 rockets at
Israel and for the first time launched rockets toward Jerusalem and Tel
Aviv.
Following the fighting, Fatah allowed Hamas to
hold its first rally in the West Bank since the 2007 split. Hamas
returned the favor by allowing Fatah to stage its own rally in Gaza, its
first since the Hamas takeover.
Meanwhile, Hatnua party leader Tzipi Livni
responded to Netanyahu’s words with a suggestion that instead
of chastising Abbas, Israel should demand that any future agreement
between Fatah and Hamas include recognition of the State of Israel and
an end to terrorist activities.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Abbas and Meshaal in Cairo for talks
The leaders of Fatah and Hamas are scheduled to meet in Cairo with the Egyptian president in the latest round of reconciliation talks between their long-divided factions.
A spokesman for Mohamed Morsi's office said the Egyptian leader will mediate Wednesday's talks between Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority (PA) president, and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal.
The two factions signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo in mid-2011, but the main points of the agreement have not been implemented.
Officials from Hamas and Fatah said Wednesday's talks would focus on setting up a unity government, which would pave the way for long-overdue parliamentary and presidential elections.
The parties have been at odds since 2006, when Hamas won a majority of seats in legislative elections. Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Ties have slowly begun to improve, with Hamas recently allowing Fatah to start holding rallies in Gaza, and PA allowing Hamas supporters to do the same in the West Bank, which they control.
It is too early to say whether the modest concessions foreshadow more meaningful political reconciliation.
The Hamas delegation will also meet with Egyptian intelligence officials to discuss the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Egypt negotiated the truce that ended an eight-day Israeli military offensive in November in the Gaza Strip, which left more than 150 Palestinians and six Israelis dead.
This will be the first time Morsi hosts a meeting between the two Palestinian leaders.
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