Posted on 10/22/2001 12:33:36 PM PDT by CommiesOut
| US says Israel should leave Palestinian - run areas | |
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WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The United States called on
Israel on Monday to withdraw its troops at once from all
Palestinian-controlled areas and stay out in future.
"The government of Israel has told us that it does not
intend to remain in those areas. Israeli defense forces should
be withdrawn immediately from all Palestinian-controlled areas
and no further such incursions should be made," State
Department spokesman Philip Reeker told a daily briefing.
Reeker also called on the Palestinian Authority of
President Yasser Arafat to "do all in its power to halt
violence and terror and bring to justice the terrorists whose
actions are betraying Palestinian interests."
((Jonathan Wright, State Department bureau, +1 202 898 8393,
fax +1 202 659 5254, jonathan.wright@reuters.com))
22 OCT 2001 18:41:55Do you ever try other news services besides "we don't call them terrorists" Reuters? It's a big world out there...
That's a strong charge. Perhaps you are just projecting.
| Israeli rally demands end to Palestinian Authority | |
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JERUSALEM, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Thousands of Iraelis gathered
in Jerusalem on Monday for a rally to remember a cabinet
minister assassinated by Palestinian radicals and demand an end
to the Palestinian Authority.
They brandished banners calling Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat a "murderer" and reading "Arafat invented hijacking," as
they massed in central Jerusalem's Zion Square.
It was one of the largest demonstrations since a Palestinian
uprising against Israeli occupation erupted last year after
peace talks stalled.
Right-wing leaders spoke from a stage posted with a picture
of Arafat and Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born militant the
United States is pursuing in its anti-terrorism campaign after
September 11 hijacked airliner attacks on New York and
Washington.
Dubbed "The Twins," the pictures were accompanied by a
banner reading "Get rid of Arafat, fight terrorism."
Right-wing anger against the Palestinians has risen since
far-right Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi was shot dead last
Wednesday in the first such assassination by Palestinians.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said it
killed Zeevi -- who advocated what he called the "transfer" of
Arabs from the biblical land of Israel, including the West Bank
-- to avenge Israel's assassination of their leader Abu Ali
Mustafa in August.
The right-wing show of support also served to put pressure
on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who launched the
country's biggest offensive against the Palestinian Authority
after Zeevi's killing.
Israeli forces remained in or around six Palestinian cities
in the West Bank on Monday amid international and left-wing
pressure to withdraw.
Sharon has said Israel does not seek to regain control of
Palestinian-ruled areas but will crack down on militants there
which it says the Palestinian Authority has not reined in.
Jewish settler leader Benny Kashriel said his YESHA council
of settlers in the West Bank and Gaza seek Arafat's exile.
"We should get rid of (Arafat) and wipe out the Palestinian
Authority, not by killing and murder, but to get rid of it and
restore security to our towns," he told Israeli television.
((Jerusalem newsroom, +972-2-537-0502,
jerusalem.newsroom@reuters.com))
22 OCT 2001 19:17:16
http://www.reuters.co.il/news2000/N2SMLM10.HTM
| US says Israel should leave Palestinian - run areas | |
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(Incorporates MIDEAST-USA-WITHDRAWAL)
By Jonathan Wright
WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The United States called on
Israel on Monday to withdraw its troops at once from all
Palestinian-controlled areas and rebuked the Israeli military
for killing innocent Palestinians.
In an unusually strong statement, reflecting U.S.
impatience with Israeli-Palestinian violence, State Department
spokesman Philip Reeker said: "Israeli defense forces should be
withdrawn immediately from all Palestinian-controlled areas and
no further such incursions should be made."
"We deeply regret and deplore Israel Defense Force actions
that have killed numerous Palestinian civilians over the
weekend. The deaths of those innocent civilians under the
circumstances reported in recent days are unacceptable.
"We call upon Israel to ensure that its armed forces
exercise greater discipline and restraint," he added.
Reeker also called on the Palestinian Authority of
President Yasser Arafat to "do all in its power to halt
violence and terror and bring to justice the terrorists whose
actions are betraying Palestinian interests."
The State Department said last week that it opposed Israeli
incursions but declined to call openly for Israeli withdrawal.
Fighting has raged between Israelis and Palestinians since
the army moved into or around six West Bank cities.
It made the incursions after the radical Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) assassinated far-right
Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi last Wednesday.
Arafat, who is also under pressure to stop the violence so
that peace talks can resume, outlawed the military wing of the
PFLP on Sunday, but would take a big political risk by bowing
to a demand by Israel to hand over the assassins.
Reeker said, "The Palestinian Authority's decree outlawing
such activities is a positive step, but as we've said many
times in the past, actions are required, not just words."
"Failure on the part of the Palestinian Authority to
confront terror in a decisive manner is absolutely
unacceptable. Retaliatory actions by Israel cannot produce
lasting security, which is the goal we so long advocated."
STRAINS IN UNITY GOVERNMENT
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon from Shanghai on Sunday and said he hoped
that Israeli forces would soon leave Palestinian-run areas. He
also spoke to Arafat, Reeker said.
On Monday, U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Kurtzer met
Israeli officials to follow up and the U.S. consul-general in
Jerusalem, Ron Schlicher, met Arafat, he added.
"We've made very clear to Chairman Arafat and the
Palestinian Authority that they must act immediately to arrest
all those responsible for the assassination of Minister Zeevi
last week, as well as moving decisively against those planning
and conducting other acts of terror," Reeker added.
The Israeli incursions have added to the strains in
Israel's "national unity" government, which includes both
Sharon's rightist Likud and the center-left Labor Party of
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
But Peres, who is in Washington for talks with the Bush
administration, said on Monday he favored remaining in a
coalition with Sharon and Likud.
"I think that we have to continue and work together in the
face of the extremely challenging situation as much as we can,"
Peres told a news conference.
"The government is trying to navigate in a very stormy sea.
... We are together in the storm. We may be separate in the
destinations," he added.
Peres said Arafat must arrest "10 or 15 troublemakers" and
make sure his police force stops suicide bombers from entering
Israel. Sharon has said Arafat should turn the assassins of
Zeevi over to Israel for trial.
At a Washington lunch on Monday, Arab League
Secretary-General Amr Moussa put forward the Arab consensus
that Israel should withdraw to its 1967 borders -- which would
include all of Arab East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
Speaking of the link between the Middle East conflict and
U.S. attempts to muster Arab support against the al Qaeda
organization in Afghanistan, he said anger at the occupation
gave "terrorists" a chance to hide behind a legitimate cause.
"The anger in the Middle East, the frustration and despair,
emanate chiefly from the major injustice done to the
Palestinians and other Arabs and the continued occupation and
seeing no light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
((Jonathan Wright, State Department bureau, +1 202 898 8393,
fax +1 202 659 5254, jonathan.wright@reuters.com))
22 OCT 2001 19:48:05
http://www.reuters.co.il/news2000/N2SMMHJ0.HTM
The State Department is truly pathetic. Like the Bourbons, they've learned nothing and forgotten nothing. They just refuse to acknowledge that their formula for "peace" has failed again and again. By treating Israel and the Palestinians as moral equivalents even in the aftermath of major Palestinian escalations, they encourage, promote, and reward Palestinian terror. When more terror results, the Foggy Bottom set just dusts off its old shibboleths--"cycle of violence yadda yadda yadda"--and away we go again. They don't have a clue on how to find a clue.
Unfortunately, Bush has allowed this dysfunctional approach to persist, and has even participated personally. This just guarantees that nothing will improve. It's time to cut the knot and let the Israelis handle it their way. After all, they've got the most to win and the most to lose, and hence have the greatest incentive to do it right.
Would somebody just tell the COMMIES at the U.S. State Department to sit down and shut up?
Would somebody just tell the COMMIES at the U.S. State Department to sit down and shut up?
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