News and Document archive source
copyrighted material disclaimer at bottom of page
NewsMine — war-on-terror — israel — negotiations — Viewing Item |
State trickery > Last update - 19:45 13/05/2002
>
>
>U.S. stands firm on Palestinian state, despite Likud vote
>
>By Ha'aretz Service and agencies
>
>
>
>
>
> Sharon and Netanyahu at the Likud Central Committee conference Sunday.
>(Photo: AP)
>
>The United States said Monday that it would continue to
>support a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, despite
>the Likud Central Committee's decision overnight ruling out the
>possibility of a future Palestinian state "west of the Jordan River."
>
>"The president continues to believe that the best route to peace is
>through the creation of the state of Palestine and side by side security
>with Israel," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said in response to the
>Likud decision.
>
>So ingrained had administration acceptance of Palestinian statehood become
>that Bush's assistant for national security, Condoleezza Rice, and
>Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman made almost matter-of-fact
>references to "Palestine" in speeches last week to the American Jewish
>Committee.
>
>Fleischer affirmed Bush's continuing support for a Palestinian state in a
>meeting with reporters at the White House even while insisting he did not
>"comment in [other states'] domestic politics."
>
>"Every nation has its share of internal domestic politics," Fleischer said.
>
>Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat slammed the vote, calling it "a
>real slap in the face" for Bush.
>
>"[It] just shows that the war being waged by Israel against the
>Palestinians is not a war against what they call terror, said Erekat.
>"It's really their war to maintain the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza."
>
>Sharon: 'party trickery' will not decide policy
>Earlier Monday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon responded fiercely to the
>decision, telling a meeting of the Likud's Knesset faction that he would
>stand by his policies, and not allow "party trickery" to influence him.
>
>"I was elected to be the prime minister, by a majority of two-thirds. I
>will not let party trickery dictate policy. I am responsible for what
>happens, and I must create policy according to decisions I made," the
>prime minister said.
>
>European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Monday he regretted
>the Likud decision.
>
>"It is very sad when the internal politics of a political party can
>interfere in the search for peace," Solana said as he arrived for a
>monthly meeting of EU foreign ministers set to be dominated by the Middle
>East crisis.
>
>"We are all engaged in trying to find peace...And everybody has recognised
>that the only way to peace is through a state (for the Palestinians). It
>is a pity that internal politics can make this process more difficult."
>
>Syrian Foreign Minister, Farouk al-Sharaa has said Monday that Sharon's
>stinging defeat by his own political party will cause a political impasse
>in Israel and further cripples any hope of Sharon coming up with a viable
>peace initiative.
>
>Speaking to reporters in Beirut, the foreign minister said the Likud party
>vote against accepting eventual creation of a Palestinian state was
>Israel's "reply to any true Arab desire for peace."
>
>"I think that Israeli intentions on the highest level are not peaceful
>ones," he said.
>
>"There is going to be a kind of an impasse in Israeli politics for the
>coming few months because of the Likud party (vote) yesterday and Sharon's
>terrible defeat," Sharaa said following a meeting with Lebanese President
>Emile Lahoud.
>
>"This will reflect on the entire Israeli political front in the coming
>months. Sharon will remain in power but will not be able to come up with
>any peace initiatives," he added.
>
>Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Monday that the Likud Central
>Committee's decision was "tragic, tragic to the state of Israel."
>
>The vote was a painful political - and perhaps diplomatic - setback to
>Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Sunday night at the hands of his rival, former
>prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
>
>"What is all this escaping from the need to make a decision, candidly and
>genuinely?" Peres told Army Radio. "I understand that this is a battle for
>power, but I am convinced that if Netanyahu is elected, he will be as he
>was before previous elections, he was in favor of Oslo and he shook
>Arafat's hand."
>
>Asked if he believed Netanyahu were elected prime minister, he would agree
>to establishment of a Palestinian state, Peres replied, "I assume so."
>
>Peres dismissed as "words, words, words devoid of meaning" Netanyahu's
>vision of self-rule rather than Palestinian independence. "If they're
>under our sovereignty, we control their economy, their villages, their
>lives, their houses, and in any case they'll react as they are reacting.
>We must not delude ourselves. All in all, verbal therapy is an
>extraordinary thing, but we're too old for this."
>
>The foreign minister said the coalition government's policy guidelines
>effectively gave the nod to a Palestinian state, by supporting an
>agreement with the Palestinians according to UN resolutions 242 and 338,
>which speak of return of territories captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
>"How else are we going to return this to them? By fax?"
>
>
|
| Files Listed: 13 |
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material
available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political,
human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.
We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research and educational purposes. For more information,
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use
copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond
'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
|
