Posted on 12/24/2002 5:14:52 AM PST by NativeNewYorker
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Sen. Joseph Lieberman expressed support for Palestinian statehood during a visit to Ramallah on Monday and called conditions in the West Bank town "desperate."
Mr. Lieberman, the Democratic candidate for vice president in 2000, is considered a front-runner for the party's 2004 presidential nomination. He has said he will make a decision about whether to seek the nomination early next year.
In violence Monday, Israeli troops killed two Hamas activists, including a leading militiaman, as the men rode a tractor near the West Bank town of Jenin, Palestinian security officials said. The Israeli military said it was checking the report.
Sunday, Palestinians postponed elections scheduled for next month and say the ballot will not take place until 100 days after Israeli troops have left the West Bank, saying Israel's continuing occupation of the region made elections impossible.
On his first trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories since May 2000, Mr. Lieberman said he came with a message from Congress that it wants to take an active part in bringing peace to the region.
"There's strong support for the aspirations of the Palestinian people for independent statehood. The question is whether there will be sufficient leadership here and in the world to bring this about sooner than later," Mr. Lieberman said after meeting Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo. "It's important to bring about hope in Palestinians and among Israelis because without hope there will be no progress," Mr. Lieberman added.
The senator toured Ramallah -- a town that was reoccupied by Israeli troops in June following a wave of suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis -- and expressed surprise at the damage to the main Palestinian West Bank commercial hub. "There are desperate humanitarian conditions here," he said.
Mr. Abed Rabbo said he had explained to Mr. Lieberman the cabinet decision to postpone presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for January, saying it is logistically impossible for people to vote while Israel occupies every major Palestinian West Bank town and city, except Jericho.
"It has become clear to all of us that to hold the elections while all Palestinian cities are under occupation is clearly impossible," Mr. Abed Rabbo said. "But the elections commission will continue its efforts to count and register Palestinians who have the right to vote or become candidates."
The postponement is seen as a blow to U.S. demands for reforms in the Palestinian Authority, but Israel says it cannot withdraw from Palestinian areas because of constant threats of attacks. But the White House and State Department had no immediate comment on the Palestinian decision.
Mr. Abed Rabbo criticized what he called "U.S. administration support of Israeli crimes and atrocities against the Palestinian people." Mr. Lieberman, who held discussions Sunday with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, met later Monday with Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat.
Mr. Erekat said they spoke about the presence of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land and about the urgent need to revive the peace process. "We agreed together that every effort must be exerted to revive the peace process and put it back on track," Mr. Erekat said. "And we agreed at the end of the day that if there's going to be peace, it's going to be in a two-state solution."
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials accused Israel of carrying out a targeted attack in Monday's killing of the two Palestinians. They said the bodies of the two men were riddled by bullets. One of those killed, Shaman Sobih, 28 years old, was a senior militiaman in the northern West Bank and was on Israel's wanted list. Mr. Sobih's home in the village of Burkin near Jenin was blown up by Israeli troops two months ago. The second man was identified as Mustafa Fash, a Hamas activist.
Mr. Sobih and Mr. Fash were riding on a tractor from Burkin to Jenin when they were confronted by an Israeli patrol, the Palestinian security officials said. Members of the patrol and soldiers in a nearby jeep opened fire, security officials said.
Also Monday, an Israeli government spokesman said Israel would decide "in the coming days" whether to inoculate the population against smallpox in anticipation of a possible U.S.-British led attack on Iraq. The U.S. and Britain believe Iraq is hiding nonconventional weapons of mass destruction and have threatened to go to war unless Saddam Hussein comes clean.
I guess me and ole' Orthodox Joe just don't see eye to eye.
ML/NJ
These senior Dems seem to believe that their core voting blocs are populated by total morons who have been witchdoctored into believing that voting GOP will instantly strike them dead.
Peace process...? more double speak...but what can you expect from the party that pandered to and supported (was black mailed by) the terrorist Arafat.
So???
That means that both Joe and George Bush agree on one more thing doesn't it...George and Joe both know that the western Jordanians have one thought in mind; to kill all Israeli men, women, children and babies as soon as the opportunity arises...I'm surprised George doesn't off to let them "summer" in the U.S....
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