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Foj
Citizen
Username: Foger
Post Number: 993
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 11:26 pm: | 
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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N25273343.htm
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Eats Shoots & Leaves
Citizen
Username: Mfpark
Post Number: 3066
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 11:35 pm: |
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Yah, the terms are "F*ck You!"
Haniyeh also said Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, was ready to consider talks with Israel if the Jewish state withdrew from the West Bank and East Jerusalem and recognized the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees who fled in the 1948 war and their descendants.
David Makovsky, director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said, "This interview is filled with contradictions, including putting old wine in new bottles.
"He is hinting that they might be reasonable if Israel does everything and they do nothing, while in Arabic they say they will not recognize even an inch of Tel Aviv," Makovsky told Reuters in a telephone interview. |
Foj
Citizen
Username: Foger
Post Number: 996
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 11:43 pm: |
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Fine statesmen they are-- |
Paul Surovell
Supporter
Username: Paulsurovell
Post Number: 561
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2006 - 7:55 am: |
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A viable solution to the Palestinian refugee problem has been offered by The American Task Force on Palestine, whose executive director, Rafi Dajani spoke at South Mountain Peace Action's forum at the Woman's Club on November 7, 2005.
In practical terms, Palestinian refugees would be offered reparations for property lost in 1948 and they would be given the right to return to the new Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza. This is consistent with the Geneva Accord, a non-official document produced by former Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Here's the ATFP's position:
http://www.americantaskforce.org/refugees.htm
Quote:American Task Force on Palestine's Statement of Principles on the Palestinian Refugee Issue
The objective of ATFP is the establishment of a Palestinian state living in peace and security alongside Israel, and an end of the Israeli occupation that began in 1967. ATFP is opposed to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, but is not opposed to the state of Israel in its internationally recognized borders.
1) A resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue can only come about through direct negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials as an expression of their national policies. No other parties are entitled to negotiate on this issue. However, individuals and organizations are free to express their opinions on this issue in the spirit of free, open and respectful debate.
2) There are many parties responsible for the suffering of the Palestinian refugees. Responsible parties include first Israel for displacing the Palestinian refugees, refusing their return and confiscating their property without compensation. Some Arab states also bear varying degrees of responsibility; some for allowing generations of refugees to languish in camps under miserable conditions, or by placing various restrictions in terms of their legal status, employment and travel rights, and others for not having done enough to ease the suffering of refugees. Finally, the Palestinian leadership has been at fault for not communicating honestly and openly with the refugees on what they can expect for their future.
3) The right of return is an integral part of international humanitarian law, and cannot be renounced by any parties. There is no Palestinian constituency of consequence that would agree to the renunciation of this right. There is also no Jewish constituency of consequence in Israel that would accept the return of millions of Palestinian refugees.
4) Although the right of return cannot be renounced, it should not stand in the way of the only identifiable peaceful prospect for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: a resolution based on a state of Israel living side-by-side with a Palestinian state in the occupied territories with its capital in East Jerusalem. Implementation of the right of return cannot obviate the logic of a resolution based on two states. The challenge for the Israeli and Palestinian national leaderships is to arrive at a formula that recognizes refugee rights but which does not contradict the basis of a two-state solution and an end to the conflict.
5) As part of any comprehensive settlement ending the conflict, Israel should accept its moral responsibility to apologize to the Palestinian people for the creation of the refugee problem. Palestinians should accept that this acknowledgment of responsibility does not undermine the legitimacy of the present-day Israeli state.
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joel dranove
Citizen
Username: Jdranove
Post Number: 101
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2006 - 11:32 am: |
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The no friend of Israel magazine, The Economist, October 2, 1948, reporting about why ninety percent or more of the Arabs of Haifa had left, stated "[T]here is but little doubt that the most potent of the factors were announcements made over the air by the Higher Arab Executive, urging Arabs to quit....It was clearly intimidated that those Arabs who remained in Haifa and accepted Jewish protection would be regarded as renegades."
The Arab National Committee, in March 1948, ordered women, children and the elderly to evacuate Jerusalem, telling the Arabs that opposition to the order "is an obstacle to the holy war... and will hamper the operations of the fighters in these districts."
U.N. resolution 194, the December 11, 1948 one, specifies "refugees wishing to return to their homes, and willing to live in peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date."
Willing to live in peace with their neighbors seems to be a problem, and "should" is not "shall."
So, don't start a war without considering you may not win.
I say give back South Orange and Maplewood to the Lani Lenape Indians first. After cleansing you souls at home, turn to the rest of the world.
The so-called "right" of return does not exist.
When John Pasha Glubb led the Arab Legion into Israel in 1948, those who had not left their homes already to allow for a quick victory, then followed suit.
It didn't work out the way they wanted.
Too bad.
They lost.
To quote another liberal/left-wing so-called think-tank, "move on."
jd
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wendy
Supporter
Username: Wendy
Post Number: 2019
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2006 - 8:02 pm: |
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Joel, I agree with many of the points you've raised, which is why I, even though I'm a liberal, treat with the utmost diligent analysis the "Palestinian solutions" proposed by the left. Those that don't border on antisemitism, are just plain ignorant with an agenda I don't get and probably never will. |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4106
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2006 - 9:14 pm: |
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The long-term strategic outlook for Israel is not good. If or when the Arab states ever organize themselves in such a way that they can progress economically and politically, Israel will be in an dwarfed in economic terms. Economic terms are the ones that count in the end. |
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