Abbas in Argentina: Obama doing nothing to advance peace

Published today (updated) 25/11/2009 13:24

Buenos Aires – Ma’an/Agencies –

The US president, Barak Obama, is currently doing nothing to revive the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians, said President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday during a visit to Argentina.

"For now he is doing nothing, but he has invited us to revive the peace process. I hope that in the future he can play a more important role," Abbas said in an interview with the Argentine daily Clarin.

“The Palestinians expect the US to exert pressure on Israel to get it to show respect for international law and implement the Road Map plan,” he also said.

“They can exert pressure on Israel so as to do two things; halting settlement activities, and withdrawal from the Palestinian territories they occupied in 1967,” Abbas explained.

For her part, president of Argentina Cristina Fernandez on Tuesday criticized Washington for doing too little to restart peace talks that were broken off in December 2008 when Israel launched a war on the Gaza Strip that ultimately killed 1,400 Palestinians.

Last Wednesday, US president Barak Obama criticized the Israeli government for approving the expansion of a Jewish-only illegal settlements on Palestinian land south of Jerusalem. Obama stopped short of threatening concrete action to stop Israel from further violations of its obligations under international law.

Abbas also told the Argentine newspaper that he believed Palestinians had already made enough concessions to the Israelis.

“We accepted to have only 22 percent of Palestine, and that is the biggest concession. And we also accepted that Israel had 78 percent. So what kind of concessions are they expecting from us?" he said. "Now we are ready to announce our independence if the Israelis will allow us to."

US officials survey illegal Israeli settlements

Published today (updated) 25/11/2009 13:51

Bethlehem – Ma’an –

US officials, some of them aides to special envoy George Mitchell, have been visiting the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank as a part of an investigation, the Israeli daily Ma’ariv reported on Wednesday.

In the first such visit, officials from the US consulate in Jerusalem and Mitchell’s team visited the illegal  settlement of Efrat, southwest of Bethlehem, on Monday, the newspaper said. The officials intended to check their maps and verify whether illegal Israeli settlements are expanding.

The officials met with head of Efrat Regional Council, Oded Ravivi, and other settler leaders.

Mitchell has been at the forefront of Obama’s unsuccessful effort to convince Israel to stop expanding settlements as a step toward resuming peace negotiations. President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will refuse to resume talks unless Israel complies with its prior obligations to halt construction.

Last Wednesday Obama himself criticized an Israeli decision to expand the settlement of Gilo, on Bethlehem’s northern side, inside what Israel considers annexed territory.

"I think that additional settlement building does not contribute to Israel's security, I think it makes it harder for them to make peace with their neighbors," Obama told Fox News.

"I think it embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous," he added, stopping short of threatening action to stop the expansion.

Libya wants UN debate on illegal Israeli settlements

Published today, November 25, 2009, 13:28

Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies –

Libya said on Tuesday it plans to ask the UN Security Council to demand an end to Israel’s expansion of the Israeli settlements on land taken from Palestinians.

"We are discussing it with the Palestinians and other members of the Security Council. We are going to do that, yes," Libya's UN Ambassador, Mohamed Abdul Rahman Shalqam, told reporters about the plans, according to Agance France-Presse.

Arab states could prepare a draft resolution by Friday, he said. Text of a similar resolution was prepared in July 2008. At the time Libya, the only Arab country on the 15-member council, was dissuaded from introducing the measure on account of the certainty of a US veto.

According to AFP, the US deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Alejandro Wolff, indicated that Washington would again oppose any such resolution.

"He has lots of ideas," Wolff said, breaking into a big smile when asked about the Libyan ambassador's proposal, AFP reported.

On Tuesday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was visiting Argentina, accused the US of “doing nothing” to advance the long-stalled Middle East peace process.

For now he is doing nothing, but he has invited us to revive the peace process. I hope that in the future he can play a more important role," Abbas said in an interview with the Argentine daily Clarin.

“The Palestinians expect the US to exert pressure on Israel to get it to show respect for international law and implement the Road Map plan,” he also said.

UN Slams Israel’s Plan To Expand the illegal Israeli Settlement of Gilo

Tuesday November 24, 2009 23:42 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The United Nations slammed an Israeli plan to expand the Gilo illegal Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem and considered it as another obstacle to the already stalled peace process.
The UN statement came after Israel announced a plan to build 900 units in the settlement which was built on Palestinian lands located between Beit Jala City, near Bethlehem, and Jerusalem.

Several countries worldwide protested the Israeli plan to expand the settlement.

Furthermore, UN undersecretary general, Haile Menkerios, said that Israel demolished in October 17 Palestinian homes displacing 99 Palestinians, half of them children.

He added that the Israeli actions do not help in advancing the peace process, and that the Israeli army shot and wounded 73 Palestinians, and kidnapped 300 residents in the West Bank.

In East Jerusalem, 24 Palestinians were wounded last month while Israeli also shut down several Palestinian institutions, an issue that violates the Road Map Peace Plan formulated by the European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations.

Menkerios also warned that the ongoing siege on the Gaza Strip is directly affecting the daily lives of the Palestinians, deteriorating infrastructure, and degrading the environment as the residents do not have the materials and resources to rebuild their homes and facilities bombarded by Israel during the war earlier this year.

He added that the ongoing siege on Gaza is preventing the entry of humanitarian supplies and the basic daily essentials.