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Emanuel Says Obama Insists On Implementing Two State Solution, No Ifs, Ands, or Buts
Yedioth Achronoth, the largest circulation daily in Israel, reports today that President Obama intends to see the two-state solution signed, sealed and delivered during his first term.
Rahm Emanuel told an (unnamed) Jewish leader; "In the next four years there is going to be a permanent status arrangement between Israel and the Palestinians on the basis of two states for two peoples, and it doesn't matter to us at all who is prime minister."
He also said that the United States will exert pressure to see that deal is put into place."Any treatment of the Iranian nuclear problem will be contingent upon progress in the negotiations and an Israeli withdrawal from West Bank territory," the paper reports Emanuel as saying. In other words, US sympathy for Israel's position vis a vis Iran depends on Israel's willingness to live up to its commitment to get out of the West Bank and permit the establishment of a Palestinian state there, in Gaza, and East Jerusalem.
Yedioth also reports that Obama is conveying his displeasure with the new Israeli government in several ways. "US administration officials informed Netanyahu that President Obama will not be able to meet with him in early May, while the AIPAC conference is held in Washington. The meeting between the new Israeli premier and the president of the United States is perceived in Israel as a sign that the formation process of the new government has been completed and as a salutation by Israel's close friend. Netanyahu had hoped to capitalize on the opportunity and to meet with Obama during the annual AIPAC conference, but the Americans informed the Israelis that Obama was not going to be 'in town.' That being the case, the inclination among Netanyahu's aides is to cancel his trip to attend the AIPAC conference and to try to secure a date for a meeting with Obama later in May.
"Sources in Washington also said that the Obama administration would not continue the tradition that developed during the Bush administration of hosting Israeli premiers many times during the year, sometimes with just a phone call's advance notice."
So far neither the White House or the Israeli government has commented on the report which, it should be noted, comes from Shimon Shiffer, one of Israel's most highly respected journalists.
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Eighty Percent of Territorial Palestine Already Islamic State
Jordan has been independent since 1946 and comprises eighty percent of Palestine. It is time for Jordan to accept its historic responsibility and allow the residents of Gaza and the West Bank who wish to live in an Islamic country to build a life there. Those that choose to remain in Gaza and the West Bank should do so as Jordanian citizens as long as Israeli laws is obeyed. Those that wish to leave can hold on to or dispose of their property as they like. Jordan is only twenty miles from these territories. No one is forced to move. They can stay or move. The choice would be theirs to make.
In 1922 the first High Commissioner for Refugees of The League of Nations was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for this very plan applied in another theater of war. This is not " ethnic cleansing " because no one is forced to move at all. It is simply a political solution to an intractable problem that provides justice and peace for all.
Peace is just a bus ride away.
Palestinian impediment to peace
M.J.,
Isn't this statement from Saeb Erekat, longtime senior Palestinian negotiator, made several days ago on television, incontravertible evidence that Israeli peace overtures have been rebuffed over and over by a rejectionist Palestinian authority?
Transcript by MEMRI, of Saeb Erekat:
"Let me recount two historical events, even if I am revealing a secret. On July 23, 2000, at his meeting with President Arafat in Camp David, President Clinton said: 'You will be the first president of a Palestinian state, within the 1967 borders - give or take, considering the land swap - and East Jerusalem will be the capital of the Palestinian state, but we want you, as a religious man, to acknowledge that the Temple of Solomon is located underneath the Haram Al-Sharif.'
"Yasser Arafat said to Clinton defiantly: 'I will not be a traitor. Someone will come to liberate it after 10, 50, or 100 years. Jerusalem will be nothing but the capital of the Palestinian state, and there is nothing underneath or above the Haram Al-Sharif except for Allah.' That is why Yasser Arafat was besieged, and that is why he was killed unjustly.
"In November 2008… Let me finish… [Israeli prime minister Ehud] Olmert, who talked today about his proposal to Abu Mazen, offered the 1967 borders, but said: 'We will take 6.5% of the West Bank, and give in return 5.8% from the 1948 lands, and the 0.7% will constitute the safe passage, and East Jerusalem will be the capital, but there is a problem with the Haram and with what they called the Holy Basin.' Abu Mazen too answered with defiance, saying: 'I am not in a marketplace or a bazaar. I came to demarcate the borders of Palestine - the June 4, 1967 borders - without detracting a single inch, and without detracting a single stone from Jerusalem, or from the holy Christian and Muslim places.' This is why the Palestinian negotiators did not sign…"
Seinding the Right Signals
Hi M.J.
I'm happy to read that Obama is sending the right signals to Netanyahu, like 'I'll be out of town during the AIPAC conference which you plan to attend'. I've been wondering about how Rahm Emmanuel will influence things with Israel. This is a good sign.
Hope your holiday was as meaningful as you had wished.
Lee