Powell meets Geneva group but says road map is still the plan

JPost ^ | Dec. 4, 2003 | GIL HOFFMAN

[veronica]

Geneva Initiative architects Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo met US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington Friday in spite of growing resistance to their plan. The meeting lasted 40 minutes, and before continuing to their meeting with UN Gen.-Sec. Kofi Annan, the two met with the President's adviser on Middle Eastern affairs Elliot Abrams, Assistant Secretary of State William Burns and his assistant David Sutherfield.

Powell told Beilin and Abed Rabbo that their initiative did not affect the Road Map timetable, which envisions a Palestinian State by 2005, and the two said after the meeting that Powell regarded the initiative as a supplementary document to the Road Map's third stage.

The Israeli and Palestinian authors of a private Middle East peace plan presented their proposals to Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday but were unable to alter the Bush administration's approach to peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians.

"It was a very good meeting," Powell said. "We welcome other ideas."

However, Powell said, the internationally-backed road map for peacemaking still had "primacy" in moving forward on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

And the State Department's deputy spokesman, Adam Ereli, said the blueprint, which seeks establishment of a Palestinian state in 2005, would not be altered as a result of Powell's meeting with former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo, his Palestinian negotiating partner.

Ereli also said there were no plans for a follow-up meeting, although contact at some level could not be ruled out.

MK Amnon Lipkin Shahak (Center) told reporters after the meeting, "anyone who reads the document can easily see there is no right of return. Palestinians will be able to live within the PA, including areas they will receive under land exchange agreements. Israel retains the right to decide upon the number of Palestinians it allows into the country."

Geneva Initiative architect Yossi Beilin told Israeli Radio Friday morning that the next step, is next month's meeting in Cairo between Geneva Initiative signatories and Arab countries, some which still do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Beilin said it is a mistake for the Bush administration to continue its policy of refusing to deal with Arafat in the search for an end to the latest round of Mideast violence. Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York he said, "At the end of the day, if we want an agreement, it won't be without him, and we have to understand that."

Over the past few days, pressure has been mounting both in Israel and in the US against the Powell – Geneva meeting. Although the State Department continues to emphasize the meeting does not undermine the Road Map, pro-Israel lobbies have been joined by US legislators.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said in a statement Thursday that "entertaining freelance peace plans" is dangerous and validates terrorism. "No wonder Yasser Arafat likes the thing."

Powell himself defended his position to EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels Thursday night, saying that when different ideas come in from different directions, it would be wrong for a state secretary to dismiss them off hand. They must be heard and judged on their merit.

The Annan meeting was added to a busy Friday schedule for Beilin and Abed Rabbo, who will be joined in the three meetings by former Center Party MKs Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and Nehama Ronen, Palestinian Authority Planning Minister Nabil Kasis, and Palestinian Preventive Security chief for the West Bank Zuhair Manasra.

Kofi Annan was one of the first international figures to express support for the initiative. Anti-Defamation League national director Abe Foxman, last month, called Annan's intervention "arrogance which borders on disrespect for the Jewish state."

While the initiative continues to gain backing overseas, public opinion polls within Israel that are set to be published on Friday indicate that support for the accord is falling in Israel.

At a Labor Party convention in Ramat Efal near Tel Aviv, MK Matan Vilnai., who is running for party chairman, attacked Yuli Tamir and Amram Mitzna for acting irresponsibly and without party sanction. Whereas he was a firm supporter of Oslo, he attacked the Geneva document and said it would finally stand in the party's way come next elections.

"As an academic exercise, this would be fine; but as soon as you negotiated on the Negev, where do you think it will go? You have given them Jerusalem, and the right of return is open to any interpretation one may want."

"You say that incitement should cease on both sides! Where have you ever seen Israeli summer camps where children are taught to hate and murder?"

The ADL's Abe Foxman said,"We are greatly concerned by the potential ramifications of the so-called Geneva Accord might have on the ability of the Israeli government to negotiate freely, and in good faith with the Palestinians."

"This initiative prejudges many issues that need to be resolved by the legitimate parties to the conflict. We certainly welcome private individuals coming together to seek ways to promote Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. However, this effort is far from a grassroots initiative. It is a highly political venture, with the authors avidly seeking the involvement and encouragement of international figures, circumventing and undermining the democratically elected government of Israel."

[Diogenesis]

Yes, it validates terrorism. And that is why Powell likes it.

[EverFree]

It doesn't matter if Arafat or Powell "likes it" or not:

Powell told Beilin and Abed Rabbo that their initiative did not affect the Road Map timetable