Israel 'wants West Bank land'

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Israel has proposed annexing 6.8 per cent of the illegally occupied West Bank, the chief Palestinian negotiator has said in his first detailed comments about the stalled US-backed negotiations.

Israel proposed a swap of some of its own territory in return for the annexed area but the Israeli land was not an equal trade in size and quality, Ahmed Qurei said, adding that the Palestinians rejected the offer.

Tel Aviv has also said it would allow 5,000 Palestinian refugees to return to the territories as part of the plan to take the land in the West Bank, Qurei said on Friday.

The latest peace efforts were launched a year ago at a US-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland, where George Bush, the US president said he wanted to see a deal by the end of his presidency in January 2009.

Qurei's comments came before Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, was due to meet Bush at the White House next week."

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[aquart]

1. Whatever happened to the lion's share of the Palestine Mandate?

You know, the great BIG piece that was set aside for the Arabs as opposed to the postage stamp that set aside for Jews in the partition vote of 1948. It's always fun to see the way people pretend the Jews got everything and the Arabs nothing. Whatever happened to that land? Martians come and vaporize it?

[MUAD_DIB]

2. Don't you worry now.

It'll take time, but I'm sure that the state of Israel will absorb all the land they believe that they deserve: with US financial help of course.

:sarcasm:

[Crunchy Frog]

4. What? You mean expelling the Palestinians to Jordan?

[wellst0nev0ter]

5. *Why* Would They Set Aside A Bigger Piece For An Arab Majority-?

oops.

[Puregonzo1188]

6. Um...what? Under the UN partition plan Israeli was given 56% of the mandate of Palestine, as

opposed to the Palestinians who were given 43% of the land. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_UN_Partition_Plan#Proposed_division This is despite the fact that Arabs made up a majority of the population, including within the Jewish state. So Israel may have been a "postage stamp" but the the Arabs certainly did not get the lion's share of the population.

[Kurska]

8. They got the bulk of the good land

A huge portion of the land israel got was the sparsely populated negev desert. And The jews made up a majority of the jewish state, about 55:45

[Puregonzo1188]

9. No thet did not, the original UN numbers did not include the Bedouins.

It was corrected later on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un_partition_plan#Last_Minute_Corrections

[azurnoir]

3. Stall somemore

about a month or so, better yet until after the Israeli elections remember that Barack in 2001 said that a newly elected administration in Israel would not honor any agreements signed the old one how can anyone be sure that a new Israeli government would not follow his lead after all they said it once so it be for all time right?

[IndianaGreen]

7. Listen Israel: America ain't gonna to be there for you!

The USA is finished as an empire and it is bankrupt. The days of American might and weapons being used to prop up unpleasant regimes is over, simply because we no longer have the wherewithal to do the things we used to do.

You are better off making peace ASAP, or live with the consequences!