Posted by Tina
Israel outlines terms for Palestinian state
** Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced he will back a Palestinian state - but only if it is completely demilitarised. He said a Palestinian state must have no army, no control of its air space and no way of smuggling in weapons. *** The Israeli leader offered to talk to the Palestinians immediately and with "no preconditions". *** "We want to live with you in peace as good neighbours," he said. *** Mr Netanyahu also said he was willing to go to Damascus, Riyadh and Beirut in pursuit of a Middle East peace deal. **
The Palestinians replied immediately as they always do:
** Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said the Israeli leader's speech 'torpedoes all peace initiatives in the region'. Another Abbas aide, Yasser Abed Rabbo, told the AFP news agency that recognition of Israel's Jewish character was a demand for Palestinians 'to become part of the global Zionist movement'. The militant Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, said the speech reflected Mr Netanyahu's 'racist and extremist ideology'. **
** Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak blasted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech on Sunday saying "Netanyahu's demand that Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state is ruining the chance for peace," Egyptian news agencies reported on Monday. Mubarak further added that "not Egypt, nor any other Arab country would support Netanyahu's approach." Earlier Monday, a Syrian government newspaper slammed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech... - Jerusalem Post **
Netanyahu's "approach" is the only place a serious discussion of peace can begin. Unless the Arab world is willing to accept that the Jewish people have a right to their homeland there is absolutely no reason to entertain or bother with a "two" state solution. When one of the parties refuses to acknowledge the right of the other party even to exist the notion of talks becomes ludicrous and a complete sham, if not a waste of time. Melanie Phillips, writing in the Spectator (UK) puts it exactly right :
** Israel wants peace with the Palestinians. The cause of the conflict remains, as it ever was, the Arabs' refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own in their historic homeland of Israel, which (contrary to Obama's claim) predated the Nazi Holocaust by several thousand years. Those (like Obama) who think the cause is the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza are confusing cause and effect. The fundamental prerequisite for ending the conflict is therefore a public, binding and unequivocal Palestinian recognition of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. Far from Israel occupying Palestinian land in Judea and Samaria, it is the Palestinians who are living within the ancient Jewish homeland. Israel does not wish to rule them and they can have a state of their own, provided they accept Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, and provided a Palestinian state is demilitarised so that it does not possess the means to destroy Israel. **
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