Abbas' peace plan: Israeli withdrawal from West Bank within three years

[Jefferson23]

Plan calls for nine months of talks with Israel, with the first 90 days to focus on borders; Palestinian president to present plan to Kerry, Arab foreign ministers.

By Jack Khoury | Sep. 2, 2014 | 2:55 PM

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will present Arab Foreign Ministers next week with a plan for determining borders with Israel and ending the occupation of the West Bank within three years. He will also present the plan to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry this week.

According to one of Abbas' closest associates, Mahmoud al-Habash, the plan includes renewed negotiatons with Israel for a period of nine months and an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank within three years. Al-Habash, who spoke to the Jordanian media, said that the proposal forms a basis for talks, where the first three months would be dedicated to determining borders. Negotiations would focus on other core issues after that period.

The Palestinians are standing by their demand for a freeze on settlement construction during the initial three-month period, Al-Habash said. He also said that the Palestinians are repeating their demand a release of an additional back of prisoners held in Israeli jails. The two sides would agree on the details of Israel withdrawing to the borders agreed upon during the talks.

Abbas will present the plan to Arab foreign ministers in Cairo at an Arab League meeting between September 7 and 9. The Palestinians believe that Abbas will be able to secure their backing, as he has already presented it to the Saudis and Egypt, and both supported it.

in full: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.613677

[Jefferson23]

1. Poll: Support for Hamas rises as Abbas' ratings drop

Survey by Palestinian research center also suggests majority of Palestinians support adopting Hamas' armed approach in West Bank.

By The Associated Press | Sep. 2, 2014 | 2:06 PM

A Palestinian opinion poll suggests Hamas' popularity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has risen dramatically following its war against Israel.

The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research poll indicates 61 percent of Palestinians would choose the Islamic militant group's leader, Ismail Haniyeh, for president if elections were held today. Support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas' rival, dropped to 32 percent.

The poll also suggests a majority of Palestinians support adopting Hamas' armed approach in the West Bank.

The agency says it is the first time in eight years that a majority of Palestinians supported the Hamas leader. But, it says, Hamas' popularity might fall in coming months, as it did following previous Israel-Hamas conflicts.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.613671

[Jefferson23]

2. Lieberman: Israel stands behind decision to appropriate West Bank land

Foreign Minister says Israel's policy is to focus on settlement blocs.

By Barak Ravid

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday that Israel stands behind its decision to appropriate West Bank land, adding that "the official policy of the government of Israel is first and foremost to focus on the settlement blocs, which would clearly remain under Israeli sovereignty in any [future]...

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.613684

[Jefferson23]

3. Lapid: West Bank land grab hurts Israel in international arena

Finance minister says recent announcement of land appropriation wasn't brought to a cabinet vote: 'Was it so urgent to create another crisis with the U.S. and the world?'

By Barak Ravid

Finance Minister Yair Lapid said at a conference in Tel Aviv that the recently announced Israeli appropriation of West Bank land was a move of underhanded opportunism that wasn't submitted for the cabinet's approval and is damaging to Israel in the international arena.

"We need diplomatic conduct that is...

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.613619

[Jefferson23]

4. Ministers Livni, Ya'alon get in shouting match over peace talks

Argument took place at cabinet meeting last week; Kerry decided against coming to Israel after realizing neither Netanyahu nor Abbas are interested in talks.


By Barak Ravid

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon faced off vociferously during a meeting Thursday of the inner cabinet, over whether to renew negotiations with the Palestinians.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.613586

[Jefferson23]

5. Israel, a state of armed robbery

The Israeli regime is based on grabbing land and nurturing the apparatus that secures the plunder — the army, in the local argot.

By Amira Hass


The surprising thing is that some people are still making noises of surprise upon hearing of another successful act of armed robbery, known in bureaucratic terms as declaring a parcel of land to be state-owned. They seem astonished that the Defense Ministry has been made a priority when it comes to the state budget, and that education has suffered the largest government cutback.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.613551

[Jefferson23]

6. Israeli warships open fire at Gaza fishermen off coast of Rafah

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces opened fire at fishermen off the coast of the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, in apparent violation of the ceasefire agreement reached with Palestinian factions a week ago, fishermen said.

Palestinian fishermen told Ma'an that Israeli warships used machine guns to fire at their boats while they were sailing within the agreed-upon six-nautical-mile limit near Rafah.

No injuries were reported.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said fishermen "deviated from the designated fishing zone," and that navy soldiers fired warning shots into the air.

The fishermen then "backed away," the spokeswoman said.

Asked how far the fishermen were sailing from shore, the spokeswoman said she did not know the exact distance, but that it was further than six nautical miles.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=724864

[Jefferson23]

7. US urges Israel to reverse Palestinian land-grab plan

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Israel faced increasing pressure Monday, including from the United States, after saying it plans to expropriate 4,000 dunams (1,000 acres) of Palestinian land in the Bethlehem area in the south of the occupied West Bank.

Ally Washington, the United Nations, and Egypt all called for an urgent rethink after Sunday's announcement, which angered the Palestinians and alarmed Israeli peace campaigners, and comes days after a long-term ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinians took hold.

According to the Israeli military, the land move was a political decision made after the June killing of three Israeli teenagers snatched in the same area, known to Israelis as the Gush Etzion settlement bloc.

"This announcement, like every other settlement announcement Israel makes, planning step they approve, and construction tender they issue, is counterproductive to Israel's stated goal of a negotiated two-state solution with the Palestinians," a US State Department official said.

"We urge the government of Israel to reverse this decision."

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=724839

[Jefferson23]

8. Israeli bulldozers demolish Palestinian structures in West Bank

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli bulldozers demolished a dairy factory in Hebron and Bedouin homes east of Jerusalem early Tuesday, witnesses told Ma'an.

Locals said Israeli troops escorted two bulldozers and two excavators to the al-Rama neighborhood in northern Hebron and began demolishing the factory, which is owned by Hebron's Islamic Charitable Society.

Journalists and bystanders were not allowed to approach the area which the Israeli army declared a closed military zone during the demolition, witnesses said.

Hatim al-Bakri, who chairs the board of directors of the Islamic Charitable Society, said the damages inflicted a loss of "about 2 million US dollars."

"Services the Charitable Society offers to orphans in the Hebron district will be badly affected," al-Bakri said.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=724813

[Jefferson23]

9. Israeli settlers destroy Palestinian grape vines in Beit Ummar

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- A group of Israeli settlers chopped down grape vines on Palestinian agricultural property in northern Beit Ummar on Monday, a popular committee spokesman said Monday.

Muhammad Awwad said the settlers destroyed seven grape vines in the Wad Abu al-Rish area near the illegal settlement of Beit Ein.

The vines belong to Hammad Abd al-Hamid Jaber al-Sleibi, Awwad said.

In 2013, there were 399 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Over 90 percent of investigations into settler violence by Israeli police fail to lead to an indictment.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=724723

[hack89]

10. It will be interesting to see how RoR will factor into this

I can't imagine Hamas asking for nothing less than full RoR while Israel says that partial RoR with reparations is far as they are willing to go.

[Ken Burch]

21. I think something can be worked out.

It would help a LOT of the Israeli government, in addition to offering partial RoR and compensation, would also offer apologies for the expulsions of '48 and '67, and an admission that most of those who were expelled did nothing to deserve expulsion. Simply admitting that wrongs were done can change a lot of feelings.

It's time for the Israeli side in this to admit that the vast majority of Palestinians are ordinary, decent, moral human beings like the majority of any other group...that they are not a bloc of soulless, bloodthirsty ghouls to whom life means nothing-and that Palestinians grieve just as much when THEIR children die as Israelis or any other members of the human race do.

[Jefferson23]

11. Israel seizes most West Bank land in 30 years

Palestinians and US officials condemn move that will connect West Bank settlements to those in south Jerusalem.

Dalia Hatuqa Last updated: 01 Sep 2014



Wadi Fukin, occupied West Bank - Residents of Wadi Fukin have grown accustomed to the sounds of construction. This lush village, which sits just west of Bethlehem along the Green Line, is surrounded on three sides by Israeli settlements that are constantly growing.

Dotted with olive trees and natural springs, the village of 1,200 people is known for its harvest of organic turnips, cabbage and chili peppers. But this small community has borne the brunt of heavy settlement activity for many years. One of the Jewish settlements surrounding the village, Beitar Illit, is so large that it is one of only four settlements in the West Bank classified by Israel as a "city".

Sunday brought even more bad news for Palestinians here: Israeli authorities announced that nearly 400 hectares of land nearby - in what they refer to as the Etzion settlement bloc - are now "state land". This means they are no longer privately owned by Palestinians, and therefore can be used for possible settlement construction.

A settlement watchdog group, Peace Now, called the Israeli move the largest land-grab since the 1980s. Building here would ensure territorial continuity between the Green Line and the settlements of Beitar Illit, Kfar Etzion, and Gevaot, and would help link West Bank settlements such as Gush Etzion directly with Jerusalem, cutting off Palestinian access in the process.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/israel-west-bank-palestinians-land-seizure-201491141050739843.html

[Jefferson23]

12. Gazans demand right of passage to West Bank

Ahead of Cairo talks on easing restrictions at border crossings, residents of Strip want end to 'checkpoint visas.'

By Amira Hass

Following Hamas’ assumption of power in the Gaza Strip in 2006, D.Y., who was born in a Gazan refugee camp, made the decision to leave the region. After a great deal of effort, he was granted political asylum in a European country, and subsequently brought over his wife and adolescent children. His adult children remained in Gaza. D.Y. tries to visit them once a year, traveling to the...

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.613701

[Jefferson23]

13. Smoking gun missing from Shin Bet transcript on Hamas coup plot

Dozens of investigators questioned lead suspect Riad Nasser almost around the clock, amounting to hundreds of pages of transcripts, far more than the norm.

By Chaim Levinson

Last month the Shin Bet announced that a high-ranking Hamas operative was the head of a Hamas network planning to overthrow the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. But transcripts of the Shin Bet’s interrogation indicate that the operative, Riad Nasser, told Israeli security officials that Hamas’ plan...

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.613587

[Jefferson23]

14. Israel halts work on illegal road through West Bank nature reserve

Activists, Palestinian residents claim construction was part of a broader attempt to deepen settlers’ hold in natural area.

By Zafrir Rinat

The Civil Administration and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority have stopped illegal construction that began recently on a road that passes through a West Bank nature reserve. The construction was apparently an attempt to connect the outpost of Alonei Shiloh to various other thoroughfares.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.613628

[Jefferson23]

15. Adalah and Al Mezan demand the opening of investigations into the Israeli military’s bombing of UNRW

02/09/2014

"A large number of the dead are children who were killed in their sleep." These are the words that Adalah and Al Mezan used for the brutal Israeli army bombing of UNRWA schools and facilities, where more than 10,000 displaced persons fled from their homes to alleged safety from the bombing.

With the beginning of the school year 2014/2015, Adalah in Haifa and Al Mezan in Gaza sent a letter on 31 August 2014 demanding that the Israeli Defense Minister, Attorney General, and Chief Military Advocate General open immediate criminal investigations into the Israeli military’s attacks on UNRWA schools and other facilities. The human rights organizations argued that these acts constituted serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, which may amount to war crimes, referring to the Israeli military’s bombing of five UNRWA schools and facilities in different areas in Gaza. The letter was prepared by Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher. The five events follow:

According to testimonies collected by Al Mezan, early Wednesday morning, on 30 July 2014, the Israeli air force bombed UNRWA offices in the Jabalia refugee camp with five airstrikes back to back. These strikes killed 21 Palestinian civilians and injured more than 100 of the 3,200 displaced persons staying in this location. A large number of the dead children were killed during their sleep.

On 3 August 2014, the Israeli military killed 11 civilians including 5 children, and injured 25 displaced persons out of 3,000 who were staying within UNRWA premises in Rafah.

http://www.adalah.org/eng/Articles/2322/Adalah-and-Al-Mezan-demand-the-opening-of-into-the-of

[Jefferson23]

19. Netanyahu: UN should investigate Hamas' war crimes, not IDF actions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that if the UN wanted to investigate Israel's alleged war crimes they should investigate Hamas' war crimes, not those of the IDF soldiers who behaved in an exemplary way."

Netanyahu boasted about the IDF's achievements against Hamas and Islamic Jihad during Operation Protective edge, saying that "to demonstrate the magnitude of the military achievement ... it's important to know ISIS' fighting force is half the fighting force the Gaza Strip organizations have, and world powers are estimating it'll take them years to fight ISIS."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4566929,00.html

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

20. Fuck Bibi the baby killer. Send his ass to The Hague.

[Jefferson23]

16. Egypt official: No date set for renewed ceasefire talks

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Egypt is in contact with Palestinian and Israeli officials to determine a date for further ceasefire talks following a cessation to hostilities last week, an Egyptian diplomat said.

Wael Atiyeh, Egypt's ambassador to Palestine, told Ma'an that a date has not yet been set for a return to negotiations and an agenda still needs to be finalized for upcoming meetings in Cairo, he added.

Egypt and Palestinian officials are still discussing arrangements to deploy presidential guards at the Rafah crossing and along Gaza's border with Egypt, he added.

On Monday, Israel's Channel 10 TV said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not send a delegation to Egypt for further talks.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=725040

[Jefferson23]

17. Ya'alon: It's 'expensive' to fight terror, Gaza op cost $9b.

At cost of $100,000 per interceptor, defense minister says Iron Dome is expensive, but prevented greater economic losses.

Itay Blumenthal
Published: 09.02.14, 23:38 / Israel News

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon commented on the defense budget and the cost of Operation Protective Edge during Calcalist's Economic Forum Tuesday, and said that though military expenses are high, the expense is required to deal with the new form of terror threats Israel is faced with.

"The direct cost of the operation stands at more than $9 billion," the defense minister said, adding that dealing with terror is "expensive," and that even if the "defense budget would be tripled it would still not be a waste of money."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4566828,00.html

[Jefferson23]

18. Kerry to meet Palestinian negotiator Erakat in Washington

American Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to meed Palestinian negotiators in Washington on Wednesday to address a range of disputes between the Palestinians and Israel, the State Department said Tuesday.


The ministry spokesman Jennifer Psaki said that John Kerry would meet with Saeb Erakat, among others, the chief Palestinian negotiator during the nine months of talks with Israel between July 2013 and last April.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4566945,00.html