Posts Tagged ‘peace’
Netanyahu: I “stopped” Oslo Peace Process
July 19th, 2010 • Awareness, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: 2001, clinton, IMEU, Institute for Middle East Understanding, netanyahu, Oslo, peace, youtube
from the Institute for Middle East Understanding‘s Youtube channel:
In this video, leaked and aired on Channel 10 News in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen speaking candidly back in 2001 at a constituent’s home about the Oslo Accords, the peace process, Bill Clinton, and the United States.
The embedded video starts at 2m15s with English subtitles (the earlier portion is not subtitled in English) – Netanyahu’s “stopped the peace process” line is at 6m09s.
(Thanks to Elly for the link)
A Partner for Peace?
April 18th, 2010 • News
Tags: east jerusalem, fatah, netanyahu, peace, riz khan
AJE’s Riz Khan speaks with Uri Davis, the first Israeli Jew to become a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, and Gil Hoffman, the chief political correspondent and analyst for The Jerusalem Post.
The dilemma over settlements in East Jerusalem has created a stalemate in the Middle East peace process, further straining the relationship between Israel and its closest ally, the US.
The Obama administration’s repeated calls for a freeze of all new settlements have been consistently rebuffed by Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and his right-wing coalition.
Can the Netanyahu government withstand the pressure to move in opposite directions: Those policies demanded by Washington, and those desired by his coalition partners? Can any of the current Israeli leaders – including Tzipi Livni, the Kadima leader, or Ehud Barak, the Labour leader – make the concessions that allow the peace process to move forward?
J Street: It’s Time
March 23rd, 2010 • News
Tags: aipac, israel, j street, lobby, new york times, peace
J Street (the pro-Israel, pro-peace lobby group) took out a full page ad in the New York Times yesterday to coincide with the AIPAC meeting:
Click to view full ad...
Friendship between Israel and the United States is based on common interests and shared values. Friendship demands respect for each other’s needs. And, sometimes, friendship means telling hard truths — particularly if we’re going to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state solution.
For the U.S., it’s a matter of national security. So says the commander of American forces in the region, General David Petraeus.
For Israel, it’s existential — the only way Israel can remain both Jewish and democratic. So says its Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
This is no time for a business-as-usual peace process — no time for politics as usual.It’s time for the Obama administration to seize the opportunity for bold leadership — putting concrete plans for a two-state solution on the table with the sustained commitment of the United States behind them.
It’s time for the Palestinians to end incitement to violence.
It’s time for Israel to stop allowing extremist settlers and their sympathizers to endanger not only the friendship of the United States, but also the very future of Israel.
Time is running out.
Follow the Women
March 17th, 2010 • Action, Events, News
Tags: Action, charity, cycle, follow the women, peace, women
This inspirational charity completed their 5th bike ride last October with nearly 250 women from more than 30 countries travelling through Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. They were joined by many more local women along the route. Reading PSC attended a talk given by FTW this week.
The Follow The Women cycle ride is the brainchild of 2001 European Woman of the Year and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Detta Regan. In April 2004 she gathered together 270 women from all over the world, including America, Palestine, Britain and Iraq, to ride bicycles for over 300 kilometres through Lebanon, Syria and Jordan to campaign for peace and an end to violence in the region.
“We were told that we would not be able to do it because women do not ride bicycles in the Middle East. They said that the men would throw stones at us and it was too dangerous. That just made us more determined to do it. To show the women in the region that we were not afraid and that we stood with them. In the end the men were giving us flowers and holding out their babies for us to kiss.”
News stories: Pedalling home a message of peace & Inspirational Detta cycles for Middle Eastern peace
If you would like to support them or even join the next trip, scheduled for April 2011, check out their website:
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www.followthewomen.com
- Other countries: USA / Turkey / Iran / Australia / Denmark / Portugal / Estonia
Send Mahmoud to Davos
January 11th, 2010 • Action, News
Tags: activist, davos, hebron, mahmoud jabari, peace, vote, youtube
The Davos Debate: Your Pitch to the World
Mahmoud Jabari, 18 years old, Palestinian youth activist and Peace Ambassador is talking to the world from the southern West Bank city of Hebron about his work and vision about the future of the world from his eyes, and the way leaders and individual should think in order to rearrange our world and promote peace.
Mahmoud is competing to have the chance to attend the Debates of the World Economic Forum in Davos-Switzerland by the end of January 2010.
Mahmoud needs your VOTES!
Visit YouTube & vote, it’s easy…
Palestinians in Statehood Warning
November 5th, 2009 • News
Tags: abbas, bbc, clinton, erekat, palestine, peace, ramallah, settlements
Abbas (L), Erekat (R)
Saeb Erekat says it is a “moment of truth ” for President Abbas
Palestinians might have to abandon the goal of an independent state if Israel continues to expand Jewish settlements, the chief Palestinian negotiator said. At a news conference in the West Bank, Saeb Erekat said it was a “moment of truth” for President Mahmoud Abbas.
He said it might be time for Mr Abbas to “tell the truth” that a two-state solution “is no longer an option”. But Israel rejects a one-state solution as a demographic time-bomb that would make Jews a minority in the country. It may be time for President Abbas to “tell his people the truth, that with the continuation of settlement activities, the two-state solution is no longer an option”, Mr Erekat said in Ramallah.
Clinton row
His comments came as the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, sought to defuse Arab anger after she praised Israel at the weekend for making “unprecedented” concessions on settlement-building in the occupied West Bank.
Clinton tries to keep peace alive
Speaking in Cairo after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Mrs Clinton reiterated Washington’s call for an end to Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank. She had earlier praised the Israeli offer to temporarily limit construction in West Bank settlements to 3,000 additional housing units.
But Mr Erekat dismissed the offer, saying it only opened the door to more settlements in the next two years. “Israel has the choice, settlements or peace,” he said. Mr Erekat said Palestinians had made a mistake in the last round of talks by agreeing to negotiate without insisting that Israel settlement building be stopped, but he said this time would be different.
The alternative left for Palestinians was to “refocus their attention on the one-state solution where Muslims, Christians and Jews can live as equals”, he said.
He suggested that President Abbas might not stand for re-election if the two-state solution were no longer an option, the BBC’s Bethany Bell reports from Ramallah. In its push to restart peace talks, US President Barack Obama’s administration initially demanded a complete freeze on Israeli settlement building. But Israel has refused a total halt, particularly in East Jerusalem, where the Palestinians want to locate the capital of a future state.
In September Washington changed tack, pushing for a resumption of negotiations and saying it demanded no preconditions for the talks – a move which disappointed the Palestinians. After meeting Mrs Clinton, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit appeared to have softened his stance on the settlements issue.
Despite backing the Palestinians’ demand for a total freeze last week, he called for a resumption of talks.
“We have to concentrate on the end game and we must not waste time adhering to this issue or that as a start for the negotiations,” he said.
