Kurtzer (US Ambassador to Israel) slams settler movement

Ha'aretz ^ | December 4, 2002 | Ha'aretz Staff

[E Rocc]

Kurtzer slams settler movement

By Ha'aretz Staff

"Settlers represent a particular point of view in Israel about the future of the occupied territories; they do not represent a national consensus," U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer told the third annual Herzliya Conference on National Security yesterday.

"The settlements movement today is not about the future existence of the state. Israel needs to make choices and define priorities," said the ambassador.

He reiterated Secretary of State Colin Powell's statements, quoting directly from Powell that the "Israeli settlement activity has severely undermined Palestinian trust and hope. It preempts and prejudges the outcome of negotiations and in doing so cripples chances for real peace and security. The U.S. has long opposed settlement activity, and consistent with the report of the Mitchell Committee, settlement activity must stop." During the delivery of his speech, he paused with the phrase "settlement activity must stop," emphasizing the point.

But the U.S. ambassador's speech, which outlined what he called "road maps and roadblocks," describing it as a "practical approach to peace-making," also took the Palestinians and Arab states to task. He said "the fact is that Palestinians and Arab states voted against UN Resolution 194 when it was adopted 50 years ago. They preferred to keep the refugees outside Israel," when Resolution 194 would have allowed them home if they were prepared to live in peace alongside Israelis. Israel voted in favor of the resolution.

"Fifty years later, a new reality exists. Many Palestinians accept that Palestinian refugees will not return to the homes they left behind in 1948. The new state of Palestine will have the option of opening its doors to those Palestinian refugees, just as Israel has done in the Law of Return."

Kurtzer went on to emphasize that the "road map" being drawn up by the U.S. and other members of the international Quartet is alive and well. He said President George W. Bush's June 24 speech - which Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has accepted "in principle" - is now "being worked on in an evolving document ... a living document that exists in the real world. It will continue to be shaped by the views and attitudes of the parties themselves and will continue to reflect what is happening on the ground."

National Union MK Avigdor Lieberman termed Kurtzer's statement "a gross intervention in domestic politics." Last year, when Kurtzer said funding for settlements would be put to better purpose by investment in development towns, MK Zvi Hendel called Kurtzer "a jewboy," sparking a firestorm of controversy. Kurtzer, a modern Orthodox Jew, refused at the time to comment, but an embassy source was quoted as saying that Hendel's remarks "are indicative of his character."

U.S. votes against anti-Israel resolution at UN

In New York, the U.S. voted against a UN General Assembly resolution calling for the Knesset law unifying East and West Jerusalem into one city to be annulled. The vote was a departure from past votes on the issue when the U.S. abstained.

The General Assembly has been debating the Middle East since November 29 and yesterday's session was the final one in the current debate.

Five countries voted against the Jerusalem resolution, which was backed by 154 states. the five were the U.S., Israel, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Costa Rica.

[E Rocc]

I believe a large aid package to Israel is currently under discussion. The message is being sent regarding what it may not be spent on, as per longstanding US policy.

-Eric

[goldstategop]

Dan Kurtzer is still a Jewboy. And I guess no he hasn't heard yet of the Palinazis slaughtering Jews left and right INSIDE and OUTSIDE Israel in the last year not just in the disputed West Bank and Gaza. According to Kurtzer's reading of the settlement movement, the entire Zionist enterprise is just a particular point of view. Oh and cause you're Jewish it just feels morally superior to gang up on the Jews, eh Mr. Ambassador? One wonders why Kurtzer can't see fit to reserve American ire for those really obstructing peace in the Middle East, the Palestinian homocide bomber hordes. And since Kurtzer doesn't ride on a bus in Israel I guess he doesn't have to live with the ever constant worry of being blown up. It sure feels good to criticize the victim and tell him to get it over with.

[American in Israel]

Indeed even Hebron a spot that was given in trade to Israel in treaties is called a "settlement" by this buffoon. He is so worried that "Israeli settlement activity has severely undermined Palestinian trust and hope. that he has forgotten that the Arabs have been settling land at twice the rate of Israel with only half the population!

Perhaps some Israeli's have lost hope and trust in the Palestinians after the death parades for the bus bombers. How much do we pay this moron to make fools out of us on the world stage?