Posted on 03/29/2007 6:23:30 AM PDT by familyop
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in separate talks Sunday as she continued a quest for what she termed a "common agenda" to move forward on a two-state solution of the Middle East conflict. She'll complete her fourth mission to the region in as many months on Monday with a meeting in Amman with Jordan's King Abdullah and follow-up talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. VOA's David Gollust is traveling with Rice and has this report from Jerusalem.
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| Condoleezza Rice speaks during a joint press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, not seen, in West Bank town of Ramallah, 25 Mar 2007 |
Rice's mission follows creation of a new Palestinian unity government and precedes a critical Arab League summit later this week in Riyahd.
She is pushing not only to revive a negotiating process between Israel and the Palestinians but to create a parallel peace channel between Israel and the Arab states based on their 2002 Beirut peace initiative.
That plan offered Israel normal relations with all 23 Arab League member countries for returning to 1967 borders and reaching a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, including settlement of the refugee issue.
Rice has repeatedly said on this trip she does not want to try to tell the Arab League what to do. But in a talk with reporters late Sunday before a dinner meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, she said it is a time for the Arab states to back up their expressed desire for a solution of the conflict with action.
"I've had very good discussions with the Arab leaders and I have a sense they understand and want to exercise their responsibilities for moving forward for peace," she said. "And I don't know how they will express it. But this is a time when it seems to me that there is a great desire to try and promote and a great desire to try and create the conditions for peace."
Rice said she hopes to find a "common agenda" between Israel and the Palestinians despite continuing problems, including the new unity government's refusal to accept international terms for peacemaking including a renunciation of violence and recognition of Israel.
She said with support from President Bush, she is prepared to continue investing time and effort to the task, while mindful that early breakthroughs are unlikely.
"My approach has been, I admit, careful. It's been step-by-step," she said. "I've not been willing to try for the 'big bang.' I don't think that that's where we are. I think that there are a lot of moving pieces here. I think the Palestinian unity government was a new factor as of a month ago. So to take the time to talk to the parties on the basis of the same questions and the same issues, I think is well-worth the time."
Rice began a long day of diplomacy with talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Nile River city of Aswan, before flying on to Tel Aviv from where she motorcaded to the West Bank town of Ramallah to meet Mr. Abbas.
The Palestinian president, who is due to attend the Arab League summit in Riyadh Wednesday, said he agreed the organization's 2002 peace plan needs to be reactivated. But, he resisted the idea it should be amended to deal with Israeli concerns.
"The Arab initiative, when it was launched was highly welcomed in the different Arab and international circles, and also in the Israeli circles," he said. "This initiative has become an important part of the 'road map' plan adopted by the Quartet. The road map has become a resolution of the [U.N.] Security Council with the number 1515. I didn't hear anybody saying that you need to amend or change or alter any of the articles of the Arab initiative."
Israeli officials say language in the Arab League plan providing for the return of refugees would threaten Israel's existence as a Jewish state unless it was amended to say that refugees should resettle only in the envisaged Palestinian state.
Earlier at a joint press appearance with Rice in Aswan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Ghiet said any talk of the Arab League amending the initiative was "illogical" unless and until it became a subject of actual negotiations with Israel.
She is pushing not only to revive a negotiating process between Israel and the Palestinians but to create a parallel peace channel between Israel and the Arab states based on their 2002 Beirut peace initiative.
That plan offered Israel normal relations with all 23 Arab League member countries for returning to 1967 borders and reaching a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, including settlement of the refugee issue.<<
Back to the 67 borders? What Abba Eban referred to as the Auschwitz borders. Condi if you love Abbas so much why don't you two get a room together and set up housekeeping. Everyone else knows he is useless.
"In the pre-1967 borders, Israel was barely ten miles wide at its narrowest point. The bulk of Israel's population lived within artillery range of hostile armies. I am not about to ask Israel to live that way again." Ronald Reagan, September 1, 1982.
'Nuff said.
As long as Condi is wasting her time in this pointless, endless idiocy, she can't screw anything else up.
I think she is inspired. Get those people talking to each other instead of demanding we fix it while they undermine.
In the beginning of his first term President Bush supported Israel and things were going very well for him but then he appointed Condi Secty of State and the more she travelled around the Middle East and talked to the Arabs the more she seemed to be leaning towards the Arabs and especially the creation of a Palestinian state. Then they came up with that Middle East roadmap and she's been pushing it ever since and, consequently, things have been going steadily downhill for Bush's presidency. Every time they talk about dividing God's land some catastrophe hits the US or the Bush presidency. Won't they ever learn not to mess with God's covenant land and that the Jews are "the apple of His eye?"
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Rice said she hopes to find a "common agenda" between Israel and the Palestinians despite continuing problems, including the new unity government's refusal to accept international terms for peacemaking including a renunciation of violence and recognition of Israel.
Notice, 2002 offer was not from our State, it was from Saudis. But she also has to deal with Olmert and his willingness to sell some kind of "peace" for his "legacy" and possibly enough political popularity to survive in a fractured government, so she is paying lip service to other so-called "plans" while insisting on her prerequisites - this buys precious time until Olmert is replaced with someone with a spine (Bibi?) who will get Israel ready against attacks from Hizbollah, Hamas and Iran.
I can't believe how every stupid (and often misleading) headline from these phony ME "peace" initiatives generates "I hate Condi" and "Bush and Condi are traitors to Israel" reflex here on FR. Media wants to poison opinion of American conservative Jews on Bush's real support for Israel... Things have been much better for Israel under Bush in last few years than at any time during Clinton. Bush and Condi supported Israel with Lebanon / Hizbollah and gave her all the time she needed until Olmert decided he didn't have the stomach to fight.
With friends like Olmert Condi does what she can to stop him from making stupid decisions on "peace" while at the same time making "Palestinians" and Hamas look unreasonable, uncooperative and ineffective. Takes us off the hook and puts the onus on them. Really simple and effective diplomatic game - stake your position on something that is unacceptable to the other side and the rest of "conditions" and "giveaways" are irrelevant.
...not my Platform and no longer my Party.
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Yeah, it's looking like I'm gonna have to jump ship on the sinking Republican Titanic, as well.
Specially since Rice seems to be the direction the party wants to go in.
:-(
Yeah, okay...
Or she could simply tell Olmert that the US position is that there should be no Palestinian state and that Israel needs to keep the Judea, Samaria, the Golan Height, and the Gaza Strip.
And that if Olmert doesn't like that position, he is free to pursue something else, but to not expect any US help in the matter.
But instead, we see Rice supporting the suicidal positions Olmert is taking.
Yeah, tell me again how great our administration is in helping Israel. Friends don't let friend commit national suicide.
If you re-read my post, especially part about including the new unity government's refusal to accept international terms for peacemaking including a renunciation of violence and recognition of Israel, you'll see that that's exactly what she is doing. We are not the ones who "elected" Olmert, and he couldn't get elected today. She is actually making sure he doesn't make irreversible mistakes (the likes of which Peres made) in order to boost his "popularity" or establish "legacy".
Please, separate the facts and actual quotes in the articles from authors' opinions and headlines (which invariably mention Condi, just like they were doing with Rumsfeld and other targets du-jour) which are served to readers as news. Outside of the phrase including the new unity government's refusal to accept international terms for peacemaking including a renunciation of violence and recognition of Israel, which reaffirmed our position and puts "Palestinians" and their Arab benefactors in a terrible bind with Hamas, there was nothing worthwhile in this article as in most articles about ME "peace process" and "peace initiatives".
She just essentially said "Here's another peace proposal, this time by the Saudis, and Hamas is and Palestinian government are standing in the way. Now go and fight it out among yourselves, call me when naives get restless again and you or we have another proposal, we'll do the same kabuki dance... Till next time..."
I don't expect to convince you, but how many times in last few years did we read essentially the same article written about her going to ME, talking to Arabs, to Israel, "selling Israel" with yet another proposal, yet somehow nothing happens and everything dies until someone brings another great "proposal" to the table? What's going to happen with this 2002 Saudi proposal? Nothing - it will be buried for another 5 years when the noise dies down. Or she could give ultimatums to Israel, to Arabs, to Palestinians and make more noise, more enemies, and only raise international demands for "solution" involving pressing Israel into "land for peace" deals. I like her approach far better.
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