Palestinians: Israel asked to annex 6.8% of West Bank
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1046154.html
Palestinians: Israel asked to annex 6.8% of West Bank
By News Agencies
Tags: united nations, quartet
Israel proposed to annex 6.8 percent of the West Bank and take in 5,000 Palestinian refugees, the chief Palestinian negotiator said Friday, speaking for the first time in detail about the yearlong U.S.-backed negotiations that failed to produce an agreement.
Israel never revealed its position on the future of Jerusalem, the most contentious issue in the negotiations, said negotiator Ahmed Qureia.
His comments appeared aimed, in part, at providing a record of the Israeli position ahead of leadership changes in Israel and the United States. Israel's elections are scheduled for February 10, and polls suggest Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to become Israel's next prime minister.
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Netanyahu opposes large-scale territorial concessions and has said he would not continue the negotiations in their current format. He has said he would try to focus on improving the Palestinian economy instead.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also faces a leadership challenge from his Hamas rivals, who rule Gaza and say Abbas' term in office ends in January.
The office of outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declined comment Friday on the specifics provided by Qureia. However, Olmert aides noted recent Olmert speeches, in which he said Israel would have to withdraw from much of the land it occupied in the 1967 Mideast War, including the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem.
Qureia told Palestinian reporters on Friday that Israel wants to keep four blocs of Jewish settlements - Ariel, Ma'aleh Adumim, Givat Ze'ev and Efrat-Gush Etzion.
He said Israel initially asked to annex 7.3 percent of the West Bank, then reduced the demand to 6.8 percent. He said Israel presented maps for both offers.
"Israel offered to give some of its own territory as compensation for the annexed areas, but not an equal trade in size and quality," Qureia said.
The negotiator said the Palestinians did not accept the Israeli offer, arguing that some of the areas Israel wants to annex would be vital to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Qureia has said in the past the Palestinians are willing to consider an annexation of some settlements and a land swap, but on a much smaller scale.
He said the Palestinians repeatedly raised their demand for a division of
Jerusalem, but that Israel's chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, never presented an Israeli position.
Olmert has said Israel would have to give up some Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. However, the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas Party, a member of Olmert's coalition, has threatened to quit if Jerusalem is discussed in the negotiations.
Olmert will step down as prime minister after a successor is selected. He has already been replaced by Livni as head and the ruling Kadima party and its next candidate for prime minister.
Qureia said Olmert's offer of 5,000 refugees over five years was rejected, but noted that the Palestinians don't seek the return of all refugees and their descendants, a group of several million.
"To say that not a single refugee would be allowed back or that all the refugees should be allowed back is not a solution," he said. "We should reach a mutual position on this issue."
Israel has adamantly refused to accept large numbers of Palestinians, saying mass repatriation would destroy the Jewish character of the state.
The negotiations were launched a year ago, at a U.S.-hosted Mideast conference in Annapolis, Maryland.
Since then, Qureia and Livni have met repeatedly, in parallel to talks between Olmert and Abbas. Qureia said he last spoke to Livni by phone a month ago.
Olmert paid a farewell visit to outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush in late November, and Abbas is to meet with Bush at the White House next week.
Qureia said he hopes Barack Obama will make solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a priority when he takes over as U.S. president in January. "We hope that we will not have to wait for intensive U.S. involvement," he said.
The Palestinian negotiator said it's possible Netanyahu, if elected, will seek to erase the last year of negotiations. "There is a possibility that if Netanyahu wins, he will begin things from the point of zero," Qureia said, adding that while each side kept notes during the negotiations, there is no joint written record.
Qureia noted that during a term as prime minister in the 1990s, Netanyahu signed two interim agreements with the Palestinians, despite his hard-line positions.
"Therefore, a person in the position of responsibility could change contrary to his position in the opposition," Qureia said. "At the end of the day, we'll deal with anyone who wins the election."
Quartet to discuss Mideast peace at UN headquarters Monday
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said earlier Friday that the diplomatic group on the Middle East peace process, or quartet, will meet Monday at UN headquarters.
"It is a year which I hope will bear fruit in the Middle East," Ban said in a conference in Geneva announcing the quartet meeting in New York.
"Somewhat below the radar, Israelis and Palestinians have been engaged in direct, intensive negotiations, and have created trust and a framework where none existed only two years ago," he said.
"They are setting the stage for peace and are determined to continue," he added. "It is up to the international community to help them realize that long-elusive dream."
Ban said he has invited several Arab governments to take part in the quartet discussions along with the four principals: the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and high-ranking EU officials will attend the meeting under Ban's leadership.
The quartet has called for the establishment of a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel. Various security and political steps have to be carried out before the two-state solution is achieved under what is known as a road map to end the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.
Palestinians: Israel asked to annex 6.8% of West Bank
By News Agencies
Tags: united nations, quartet
Israel proposed to annex 6.8 percent of the West Bank and take in 5,000 Palestinian refugees, the chief Palestinian negotiator said Friday, speaking for the first time in detail about the yearlong U.S.-backed negotiations that failed to produce an agreement.
Israel never revealed its position on the future of Jerusalem, the most contentious issue in the negotiations, said negotiator Ahmed Qureia.
His comments appeared aimed, in part, at providing a record of the Israeli position ahead of leadership changes in Israel and the United States. Israel's elections are scheduled for February 10, and polls suggest Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to become Israel's next prime minister.
Advertisement
Netanyahu opposes large-scale territorial concessions and has said he would not continue the negotiations in their current format. He has said he would try to focus on improving the Palestinian economy instead.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also faces a leadership challenge from his Hamas rivals, who rule Gaza and say Abbas' term in office ends in January.
The office of outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declined comment Friday on the specifics provided by Qureia. However, Olmert aides noted recent Olmert speeches, in which he said Israel would have to withdraw from much of the land it occupied in the 1967 Mideast War, including the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem.
Qureia told Palestinian reporters on Friday that Israel wants to keep four blocs of Jewish settlements - Ariel, Ma'aleh Adumim, Givat Ze'ev and Efrat-Gush Etzion.
He said Israel initially asked to annex 7.3 percent of the West Bank, then reduced the demand to 6.8 percent. He said Israel presented maps for both offers.
"Israel offered to give some of its own territory as compensation for the annexed areas, but not an equal trade in size and quality," Qureia said.
The negotiator said the Palestinians did not accept the Israeli offer, arguing that some of the areas Israel wants to annex would be vital to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Qureia has said in the past the Palestinians are willing to consider an annexation of some settlements and a land swap, but on a much smaller scale.
He said the Palestinians repeatedly raised their demand for a division of
Jerusalem, but that Israel's chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, never presented an Israeli position.
Olmert has said Israel would have to give up some Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. However, the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas Party, a member of Olmert's coalition, has threatened to quit if Jerusalem is discussed in the negotiations.
Olmert will step down as prime minister after a successor is selected. He has already been replaced by Livni as head and the ruling Kadima party and its next candidate for prime minister.
Qureia said Olmert's offer of 5,000 refugees over five years was rejected, but noted that the Palestinians don't seek the return of all refugees and their descendants, a group of several million.
"To say that not a single refugee would be allowed back or that all the refugees should be allowed back is not a solution," he said. "We should reach a mutual position on this issue."
Israel has adamantly refused to accept large numbers of Palestinians, saying mass repatriation would destroy the Jewish character of the state.
The negotiations were launched a year ago, at a U.S.-hosted Mideast conference in Annapolis, Maryland.
Since then, Qureia and Livni have met repeatedly, in parallel to talks between Olmert and Abbas. Qureia said he last spoke to Livni by phone a month ago.
Olmert paid a farewell visit to outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush in late November, and Abbas is to meet with Bush at the White House next week.
Qureia said he hopes Barack Obama will make solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a priority when he takes over as U.S. president in January. "We hope that we will not have to wait for intensive U.S. involvement," he said.
The Palestinian negotiator said it's possible Netanyahu, if elected, will seek to erase the last year of negotiations. "There is a possibility that if Netanyahu wins, he will begin things from the point of zero," Qureia said, adding that while each side kept notes during the negotiations, there is no joint written record.
Qureia noted that during a term as prime minister in the 1990s, Netanyahu signed two interim agreements with the Palestinians, despite his hard-line positions.
"Therefore, a person in the position of responsibility could change contrary to his position in the opposition," Qureia said. "At the end of the day, we'll deal with anyone who wins the election."
Quartet to discuss Mideast peace at UN headquarters Monday
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said earlier Friday that the diplomatic group on the Middle East peace process, or quartet, will meet Monday at UN headquarters.
"It is a year which I hope will bear fruit in the Middle East," Ban said in a conference in Geneva announcing the quartet meeting in New York.
"Somewhat below the radar, Israelis and Palestinians have been engaged in direct, intensive negotiations, and have created trust and a framework where none existed only two years ago," he said.
"They are setting the stage for peace and are determined to continue," he added. "It is up to the international community to help them realize that long-elusive dream."
Ban said he has invited several Arab governments to take part in the quartet discussions along with the four principals: the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and high-ranking EU officials will attend the meeting under Ban's leadership.
The quartet has called for the establishment of a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel. Various security and political steps have to be carried out before the two-state solution is achieved under what is known as a road map to end the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mazin Qumsiyeh on -
Qurai is obfuiscating reality again. the 6.8% of the West Bank is on top of Jerusalem which Israel already annexed (some 8% of the West Bank area). Also he did not say anything about water and teh Jordan valley. The "stake" Israel would keep in the valley and in the Western Water aquifer would deprive the Palestinians of any meaningful state. It is just a "state" by name which is "autonomy" under occupation. 5000 refugees! give me a break.
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Permalink Reply by Neri Bar-On on -
I do not belive that we can have peace without resolving the water management and use. The water issue is a problem that the region has and it needs cooperation to resolve - and not ownership of the Israeli.
In general we see how this "negotiation" bring us to a zero sum game as if only one side win from peace and the other side loose. we need to strategic grass root cooperation for bringing in the human factor for the resolution. its not issue of presentage (as negotiators play with number) it is an issue of creating condition for stability and cooperation, which significantly link the issue of water to a problem we all have and not a problem that Israel can solve by negotiation it need respect and cooperation.
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Chase on -
I reallly hope that Netanyahu does not come to power-- I (personally) do not see how he will bring about peace (Please correct me if I am wrong). But I feel that his guidelnes are a trick:
--> by allowing 5000 Palestinian refugees in, and then annexing more land--> I don't understand how having Israel annexing more land in the West Bank will solve anything. If you think about, a lot of the land in the West Bank is being used for the illegal settlements.
And even the 5000 Palestinian refugees that are admitted to Israel proper, how do we know that they won't face discrimination?
As for the land swapping, the article says that Israel would annex 6.8 %. The article mentioned how "Qureia has said in the past the Palestinians are willing to consider an annexation of some settlements and a land swap, but on a much smaller scale." --> What would be a much smaller scale?! (Again, I know NOTHING about statistics and math-- it was my worst subject in school) Is 6.8 % a lot? I mean in measuring amount of land, how many miles, square miles would that equal? And then what type of percentage would be feesable?
And also, why would it be so bad if the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas Party quit Olmert's party if Likud negotiated about giving East Jerusalem to the Palestinians?
Also, another question on East Jerusalem--> Before 1967, East Jerusalem was under Jordanian control, while West Jerusalem was under Israeli control, no?
And East Jerusalem holds the Al-Asqa mosque, along with the Wailing Wall, no?
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Chase on
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Just another quick question-- do you think that Zipni Livni would be more willing to make a negotiation with the Palestinians than Netanyahu?!
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Permalink Reply by Noa D on -
Hi there Stephanie,
First of all I share your hope that Netanyahu doesn't come to power.
Second, here are some answers to your questions:
When land swapping is discussed, the meaning is that Israel will return the land occupied since 1967, while keeping certain areas (usually they mean the big settlement blocks such as Ma'ale Edumim outside Jerusalem, Ariel and Gush Etzion) and in return giving part of the land west of the green line to the future Palestinian State. The problem is that when talking about land swap it isn't only a question of percentage (meaning, is 6.8% alot or a little), it is also (and mainly) a question of land "quality" and also of land continuity. This means that swapping 6.8% of the west bank's agricultural lands, for desert Negev lands, even if it is 6.8%, is very problematic. Also, it is a question of where these settlement blocks are- if their presence "cuts up" the west bank, separating its different parts (for example, north and south being parted by the Jerusalem settlement blocks), then it is more than a simple question of "land for land". It is about ability of Palestinians to move easily and freely.
About Jerusalem: yes, untill 1967 east Jerusalem was under Jordanian control. My mother, who grew up in (west) Jerusalem and was 14 during the war, remembers the wall parting the two parts of the city, on which Jordanian snipers stood. She remembers the day the wall was taken down, after the war, when she realized how close the old city (yes, including the Al-Aqsa mosque and Wailing Wall) was, right on the other side of the wall. [may I recommend Tom Segev's excellent book 1967. It is translated to English and you can easily get it in the States. It is a fascinating- and depressing- description of Israel before, during and after the 6 day war].
About the question of discrimination against refugees that are admitted to Israel: sadly I will say that they probably will face discrimination. Israel gave equal citizen rights to the Palestinians inside the green line, but they are still badly discriminated against, be it under the surface but also over it. There is alot of work to do, much change needed.
why will it be so bad if the Shas party quits? Personally I will be the last one to be disappointed. But, coalitions are usually formed with religious parties, and so, if they leave the coalition, the prime minister either has to try to form a new one (and forming one without the religious is close to impossible), or go to new elections. Politically, this is not a smart move...
All the best,
Noa
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Permalink Reply by Mazin Qumsiyeh on
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I would say don't pin your hopes on politicians who have to do dirty dealings to get power anyway. They are tainted (and I include people like Netanyahu, Livni, Barak, Obama, and yes Mahmoud Abbas). They all stick their finger in the air to test where the wind comes from). We must build a ground swell movement for peace and justice (based on human righst and International law) that makes sure they get a hurricane to move them. If the people lead, the leaders will follow.
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Permalink Reply by Neri Bar-On on
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that the Palestinian-Israeli challenge of changing the way we manage our internal and inter-society Politics..
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למחנה קיץ בן שבוע ימים העוסק בשלום ופתרון סכסוכים בין לאומיים דרושים צעירים הרוצים לקחת חלק בחוויה ייחודית ומעמיקה.המחנה יערך בתחילת יולי בפארק שעשועים בגרמניה, ומשתתפים בו צעירים מכמה אזורים בעולם; מידע נוסף ניתן בטפסים. דרישות:- גיל 19-24- שליטה…
source: http://alwasattoday.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6127:-q-q-&catid=62:2009-07-28-09-09-03
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America got slapped in the face, kaman.
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