US-Israel: Unsettled dispute

March 24th, 2010 • News
Tags: aipac, dispute, ei, inside story, israel, settlements, US

AJE’s Inside Story:

It is the annual conference of the pro-Israel lobby in the US (AIPAC), where Israel and the US have been keen to take the heat off the settlement dispute and re-emphasising their friendship.

Earlier this month Joe Biden, the US vice-president, was in Israel – attempting to restart the indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace effort. But just after he had arrived, the right-wing interior ministry released plans for 1,600 new settler homes in East Jerusalem. The announcement was called insulting to the US and an obstacle to attempts at peace.

But soon after, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said that the bonds between the US and Israel were “unshakeable.” Both emphasised their friendship but speeches given by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and Hillary Clinton at the AIPAC summit, show that on the fundamentals of the issue, they are far apart.

Can these differences be reconciled, will Israel take the US advice or will it impose its will? And how powerful is the Israeli lobby?

Joining the programme are Meagan Buren, the director of research and training at the Israel Project, John Mearsheimer, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago and author of The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, and Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of the website electronicintifada.net.

US and Israel: scarred relations?

March 23rd, 2010 • News
Tags: aje, israel, relations, riz khan, US

AJE’s Riz Khan:

Much has been made of a “crisis” in US-Israel relations due to Israel’s refusal to stop all settlement construction in the Palestinian territories it occupied in 1967. Washington was indignant over Israel’s latest announcement that it will build 1,600 new homes for Jewish settlers in Arab East Jerusalem. Israeli leaders apologised for the timing of the announcement, upon the arrival of Joe Biden, the US vice-president, but not its substance.

Beyond the issue of settlements in Jerusalem, there has been no progress on resuming the Middle East peace talks, and Palestinians fear that there will be no land to negotiate about within the next few years. On Monday we take a closer look at Middle East developments with Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel, Rami Khouri, the editor of the Beirut-based newspaper Daily Star, and Avi Issacharoff, a reporter for the Israeli daily Haaretz.

Sami Awad speaks on Palestine

November 19th, 2009 • News
Tags: Churches for Middle East Peace, Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding, Holy Land Trust, Sami Awad, US

Dr Sami Awad is the Executive Director of the Holy Land Trust.

This presentation on the future of Palestine was delivered at an Executive Briefing sponsored by Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding (EMEU) at the Capitol Visitors Centre, Washington.

Ambassador Warren Clark speaks on Palestine

November 19th, 2009 • News
Tags: ambassador, Churches for Middle East Peace, Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding, US, video, warren clark

Ambassador Warren Clark is the Executive Director of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP).

At this Executive Briefing sponsored by Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding (EMEU) Amabassador Clark speaks about the Israel-Palestine conflict and the role of the US Administration.