Rice urges Israel to avoid unilateral steps on Jerusalem

Last Update: 06/02/2005 20:55
Rice urges Israel to avoid unilateral steps on J'lem
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent Haaretz Staff and Agencies

Prime Miniser Ariel Sharon and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ahead of their talks in Jerusalem on Sunday.
(AP)

Condoleezza Rice laying a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem on Sunday.
(Reuters)

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and President Moshe Katsav, and urged them to maintain the status quo over Jerusalem, and avoid taking any unilateral steps on the disputed capital which could harm Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli sources said Rice was referring to the government's decision from last summer to apply the absentee property law to tens of thousands of dunams (acres) of Palestinian property in East Jerusalem. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz last week instructed Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order an immediate halt to the application of the law. The sources said Rice may also have been referring to the decision to build the separation fence in Jerusalem, and to expand Jewish neighborhoods in the city.

Rice said Sunday that the disengagement plan is an historic opportunity, and that the future security of Palestinians and Israelis will be ensured only by two states exisiting side by side.

In an interview with TV Channel 2 Rice emphasized the importance of direct contact between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, and minimum involvement of mediators such as the U.S.

When asked about the right of return for Palestinian refugees, the secretary of state said that while new demographic realities since 1967 must be taken into account, the parties must reach an agreement accommodating to the needs of them both.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who was the first Israeli official to meet with Rice on Sunday, told the secretary of state, "Israel will not relinquish its sovereignty over Jerusalem. The issue of Jerusalem will be left to the final status agreement, but we have to intention to harm the Palestinians."

Rice also said that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan must be implemented without delay, and carried out according to its timetable. She told Shalom that Abu Mazen [Abbas] was elected through democratic elections and he needs as much help as possible to give a firm basis to his leadership. Shalom responded that "the pain of the settlers [to be evacuated under the plan] must be understood and empathy must be shown. These people do not know where they will live or where they will work.

Rice arrived in Israel in an optimistic mood Sunday afternoon, as she prepared for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials two days before the first official Middle East summit since the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat last November.

Her first stop was a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, where she laid a wreath inside the Hall of Remembrance.

She then met with Shalom, followed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. She is also due to meet President Moshe Katsav later Sunday.

Ahead of their meeting, Sharon said he was sure his talks with Rice would "contribute to the friendly relations between the two countries." Sharon said he also expected her visit to contribute to the peace process, "which we want to very much want to push forward in the region."

In response, Rice said U.S.-Israel relations were solid "because we share not just interests but values." She said her goal was to "try to advance the cause of peace and to overcome the scourge of terrorism."

Before meeting Shalom, Rice said, "we will ask of our partners and our friends in Israel that Israel continues to make the hard decisions that must be taken in order to promote peace and... the emergence of a democratic Palestinian state.

"This is a time of optimism because fundamental changes are underway in the Middle East as a whole," she added.

After their meeting, Shalom told Channel 2 television that he gave Rice Israel's demands of the Palestinians.

"If the Palestinians do not to everything to halt the smuggling of weapons through tunnels, close the tunnels, close the weapons workshops, gather up illegal weapons - we would simply be giving the violent groups time to regroup and then carry out terror attacks that could collapse the whole process," he said.

On Monday, Rice will travel to the West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.

Tuesday's summit, hosted and initiated by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, will be attended by Sharon, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah.

Although the U.S. has said that the secretary of state will not attend the talks, her agenda is likely to include in part a review of the plans for the summit.

Rice has signaled she prefers to see Sharon and Abbas make progress as free of foreign mediation as possible.

"I hope we would all get into a mind-set that says if the parties are able to continue to move on their own, that's the very best outcome," Rice told reporters en route to Ankara, the stop before Israel.

Preparations for the Egypt summit are being finalized, but not before her arrival.

Israeli officials assessed that the secretary of state would commend both sides on their recent efforts.

Paul Patin, a spokesman of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, said Rice would bring up a wide range of issues, including Israel's commitment under the internationally backed road map peace plan to dismantle dozens of unauthorized West Bank settlement outposts and Israeli gestures to the Palestinians, such as the removal of Israeli checkpoints that disrupt Palestinian travel - gestures that would bolster confidence in the new Palestinian leadership.

"Outposts are something that they promised to remove years ago and we expect them to abide by their commitments," Patin said.

She is also expected to call on the Palestinians to do more to restore security and bring an end to violence.

For their part, the Americans are trying to play down Rice's absence from the Egyptian summit.

"It is not necessary to participate at the highest level in every gathering in order to be a major player and part of the solution," a State Department spokesman explained Saturday.

In Israel, police raised their level of operations in various regions around the country Sunday, in anticipation of Rice's arrival and the run-up to Tuesday's summit.

Police decided to bolster forces around the country and checkpoints were set up between the seam line and various Israeli cities. Police will conduct both regular and undercover patrols.

Sharon may invite Mubarak Israeli officials, meanwhile, said Sunday that Sharon may invite his Egyptian counterpart to visit Israel during Tuesday's summit, as relations between the former enemies continue to flourish.

The invitations "is quite likely," said an unnamed official. "We would very much like him to come."

In recent months relations have improved as Egypt took a larger role in mediating between Israel and the Palestinians. The last visit by an Egyptian leader to Israel was by Mubarak in 1995, when he came to the funeral of assassinated prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

My opinion. I don't have to hold all countries to the same standard. I would do far more for England than I would for Israel. What is that to you?

A double standard. Just as I suspected. I have nothing against England. I consider them a first rate ally as I do Israel. You on the other hand consider Israel something other than an ally. Your posts read like you consider them a parasite on US largesse. As I said earlier you have exposed your pro-Palestinian bias. Being pro-Palestinian makes you pro-terror. If I were you I would be telling you to go elsewhere.

NATO serves our purpose. As do coalitions of the willing. That requires no more to be said.

Let's parse this profundity.

"NATO serves our purpose.” -- Translation: Another four word assertion with no back up.

“That requires no more to be said.” -- Translation: I have no facts, no arguments, I can’t answer this.

You have not said anything new or valuable since your first posts.

Why would I? I would be argueing with myself. You have offered nothing here.

All your links are to an organization called PIPA. I know this group. They are the ones that did the “study” showing that more people who watched FOX News believed Iraq was responsible for 9/11 than the viewers of Public Radio and CNN who did not believe such untruths. The entire study was distorted including highly misleading questions leading to the Study’s conclusions that supporters of the Iraq War were misinformed idiots.

PIPA is funded by grants from Ford, Carnegie, Ben & Jerry’s, Rockefeller, et al. These are all very left wing foundations.

In other words I don’t believe a word PIPA says.

Your FOX poll has no link, nor does your poll from the German Marshall Fund of the US. No links are not good enough for me given your pro-Pali agenda and your use of the very left PIPA to bolster your case.

Here is a link from a poll which indicates 71 percent of Americans oppose the creation of a Palestinian state. http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31081

Why do you trust the very leftist anti-Iraq War, anti-FOX News, pro-Kerry PIPA?

You expose your extreme arrogance in your short statement. God is on all sides.

You show your foolishness when you think that God is on the side of evil. Call me a blasphemer if you will, but I bet that God will do as He says in the Bible and destroy the wicked on the earth in His WRATH as he promised. The nice thing is I figure you are going to be alive to see it, nice and personal. I suggest you turn from your wicked ways, or it may be a bit too personal for your liking.

I am just guessing, but I figure you will soon see:

1. nuclear weapons in the hands of Islam

2. World wide economic collapse and financial based famine world wide.

3. Total Anarchy that kills about 25% of man.

4. Totalarian government that systomaticly kills off the people of God.

5.An earthquake on a planetary scale

Then the feces will hit the fan.

In that order. When you see it, you will know that God is NOT on all sides.

Sharon gets it. Perhaps you will allow yourself to read his words with an open mind and heart?:

>>>We have an opportunity to break away from the path of blood which has been forced on us over the past four years. We have an opportunity to start on a new path. For the first time in a long time there exists in our region hope for a better future for our children and grandchildren. <<<

>>>We must move forward cautiously. This is a very fragile opportunity, one the extremists will want to exploit. They want to close the window of opportunity for us and allow our two peoples to drown in their blood.<<<

>>>If we do not act now they may be successful.<<<

>>>There is only one answer to them: We must all announce here, today, that violence will not win, that violence will not be allowed to murder hope. We must all make a commitment not to agree to a temporary solution, not to allow violence to raise its head, but to act together, determinedly, to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, to disarm and subdue it once and for all. Only by crushing terror and violence will we build peace. <<<

>>>I have no intention of missing this opportunity – because we must not let the new spirit, which grants our peoples hope, pass us by and leave us empty-handed…<<<

Jerusalem Post

You are sick. Read what you just wrote. To assign such devastation to God is truly sick and blasphemous. For you to dream of such things happening...that is evil.

To put what I said in context:

REVELATION CHAPTER 6

Second Seal: Conflict on Earth
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come *and see."
4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; (1) and there was given to him a great sword.
Third Seal: Scarcity on Earth
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see." So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
(2) 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A *quart of wheat for a *denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine."
Fourth Seal: Widespread Death on Earth
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come and see."
8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. (3) And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
Fifth Seal: The Cry of the Martyrs
(4) 9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
Sixth Seal: Cosmic Disturbances
(5) 12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and *behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the *moon became like blood.
13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.
14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, *the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,
16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

So we see what I said, right out of the bible. The one you are calling Blasphemous is The Book of Revelations. I suggest you quit being such a liberal mamby-pamby CINO and read your Bible. You know little of the time of the seasons and apparently less about God. I would hate to see you miss this part:

REVELATION CHAPTER 7

A Multitude from the Great Tribulation
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying:

"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen."

13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?"
14 And I said to him, *"Sir, you know."
So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

You wash your robes in the Blood of the Lamb by picking up your Cross and following Him, by applying scripture and the urging of the spirit to cleanse your life from iniquity. If you do NOT do this, you are a Christian In Name Only, and are in danger of this happening to you:

MATHEW 22

11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.
12 So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.
13 Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, *take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 "For many are called, but few are chosen."

There, that was FUN, I have been wanting to do the multi-color "8x10 color glossy but the judge was blind" thing for a long time. (Alice B. Toklas)

I suggest my friend, that you take scripture FAR more seriously:
REVELATION CHAPTER ONE
Introduction and Benediction
1The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,
2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near… (Don't stop here, keep going!)

There, I have delivered to you a door, a fire excape. The bridge is out in your spiritual life, wake up and take charge, because your present path leads to destruction.

You are indeed sick. Quoting the Bible in order to justify hatred and excitement over death and destruction has nothing to do with what Jesus taught, imo.

I am not a Christian or a Jew. But I know that the teachings of Jesus are about Love and forgiveness and you are woefully inadequate on that score.

For you to revel in the possible destruction of others speaks volumes about you. It is evil to hold the desire that you do. Period. I can see no difference between your desires for death and destruction to come to those you hate than the desires of Islamic terrorists. You are more like them than you are different.

But I would say this. If that is what you believe - Vengence is mine sayeth the Lord and the wrath of God - then you must leave those things to God and not seek them yourself. You are disobeying God if you don't.

Spirituality is about your relationship with God and it is, in the end, about being a loving person - loving God, loving yourself and others. And it is about forgiveness. You are in great need of forgiveness. Your heart is hard and filled with evil dreams that you seem to cherish.

If you think that God does not love the Palestinians - you know nothing of God. Perhaps what you are really worhipping is hatred and your desire for revenge? Who knows?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.