Arabs ask US to push Israeli ally on settlements

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121872&sectionid=351020202


Arab leaders again resort to Washington to urge its closest ally Israel on halting settlement projects, ruling out 'peace talks' as long as settlement expansions continue.

In a final statement after a two-day summit, the leaders stressed "their total rejection of the settlement policy carried out by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories," calling on US President Barack Obama to pressure Israel to completely halt settlements.

Israeli settlement policy poses "a dangerous obstacle to a just and comprehensive peace process," said the resolution of the summit held in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte.

The two-day meeting was attended by 14 leaders of the 22-member Arab League, many of whom have already said they are convinced that indirect talks between the Tel Aviv regime and the Palestinians would end up nowhere.

Earlier this month, the Israeli regime announced plans to build 1,600 new settlement units in annexed East Jerusalem al-Quds, viewed by Palestinians as the capital of a future independent Palestinian state.

The announcement smothered US-sponsored "proximity talks" with the Palestinians, negotiations that had also enjoyed the backing of Arab leaders.

Conditions further deteriorated when Tel Aviv fueled more tensions by reopening a synagogue close to the highly revered al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of East al-Quds, drawing wide-spread alarms of an Israeli scheme to demolish the occupied city's Islamic sites in an effort to Judaize the region.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani urged the global community on Friday to "accept its responsibilities." For the first time, he also called for international sanctions against the Israeli regime, which, al-Thani said "behaves as if it has immunity."

The monitoring committee of the Arab peace has conditioned the resumption of peace talks to a freeze on Israeli settlement building and an immediate reversal of the decision to build 1,600 new settlement units.

Hisham Yussef, a senior Arab League official, said there were several options for a new Arab strategy towards a defiant Israel.

"Some talk of war, others talk of armed resistance or pacifist resistance," he said, also noting the alternative option of "going to the UN Security Council to get an agreement imposed on the parties."

"It's time for the Security Council resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be dealt with under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter" that calls for more pressure when international peace is threatened, said Yussef.
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Israel condemned at Arab summit



Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/201032712314275602.html

Regional leaders meeting in Libya have been united in their condemnation of Israel's settlement activity in occupied Palestinian land.

The Arab League summit began on Saturday in the Libyan city of Sirte, with Amr Moussa, the Arab League chief, warning that continued Israeli settlement building would end efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.

"We have to study the possibility that the peace process will be a complete failure," Moussa said in his opening speech to the two-day annual summit.

"It's time to face Israel ... We have accepted an open-ended peace process but that resulted in a loss of time and we did not achieve anything and allowed Israel to practise its policy for 20 years."

Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as a joint capital for a future state, has been a particular point of focus for delegates.

Jerusalem's significance

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, reiterated that Israel's settlements were illegal under international law, and called for Jerusalem to be part of peace negotiations.

"Jerusalem's significance to all must be respected, and it should emerge from negotiations as the capital of two states," he said at the meeting's opening session.

Ban also called for Arab leaders to support US-led efforts to facilitate indirect "proximity" talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Palestinians pulled out of the talks in reaction to Israel's announcement it would build 1,600 settlements on occupied land.

The Israeli move has also caused a rift between Israel and Washington as it came during a visit to Israel by Joe Biden, the US vice-president.

"I urge you to support efforts to start proximity talks and direct negotiations. Our common goal should be to resolve all final status issues within 24 months," Ban said.

But Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, ruled out taking part in the talks unless Israel stops building settlements.

"We cannot resume indirect negotiations as long as Israel maintains its settlement policy and the status quo," he said in his speech.

The warnings over Jerusalem were echoed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, who called Israel's policy of considering Jerusalem as its united capital "madness".

"Jerusalem is the apple of the eye of each and every Muslim ... and we cannot at all accept any Israeli violation in Jerusalem or in Muslim sites," he said.

Danny Ayalon, Israel's deputy foreign minister, called the declarations coming out of the summit "aggressive", saying that the arguments put forward were based on "very selective opinions".

"We say strongly and firmly that we have a legal right to build in Jerusalem and those that seek to enshrine the 1949 Armistice Lines, the so-called 'Green Line' as a border have not understood history nor legal precedence," he said.

"We call on the Palestinian Authority to cease living in delusions of forcing Israel to the pre-1967 lines and to come and join us at the negotiation table without preconditions."


'Playing with fire'

Many Arab leaders have been angered by the opening of a restored 17th century synagogue near the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, home to Islam's third holiest site.

They see such acts as a clear intention by Israel to "Judaise" Jerusalem and undermine chances for a peace agreement with the Palestinians who consider East Jerusalem the capital of their future state.

Jordan's King Abdullah warned that Israel was "playing with fire" and trying to alter the identity of Jerusalem.

Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, described tensions with Israel as a "state of no-war, no-peace", and said his country was ready if "war is imposed" by Israel.

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, opened the summit with an unusually short speech in which he said that Arabs were "waiting for actions, not words and speeches".

The Libyan leader, whose country is hosting this year's summit, has said he wants the meeting to be one of unity and the issue of Jerusalem has proved a unifying factor.

"The whole issue of Israeli actions has been under intense discussions, particularly in light of what has happened in that region in recent days," Mike Hanna, Al Jazeera's correspondent reporting from Sirte, said.

"Very clearly the issue of Jerusalem has been brought up and focused on because it is the one issue that would be very difficult for the international community as a whole to ignore.

"If, for example, resolutions would go to the UN General Assembly or the Security Council ... on the question of East Jerusalem and Israeli occupation, it is very difficult for international bodies - or countries such as the US - to veto or abstain over something they've already condemned."

Arab leaders are expected to ratify an agreement drafted by their foreign ministers to raise $500m in aid to improve the living conditions for Palestinians in Jerusalem as part of a "rescue" plan for the city.

A senior Palestinian official said the money would go towards improving infrastructure, building hospitals, schools, water wells and providing financial support to those whose houses have been demolished by Israeli authorities.

The leaders are also due to discuss a number of strategies, including keeping a record of what they consider to be Israeli "violations" in Jerusalem to refer them to higher bodies such as the International Criminal Court, based in the Hague in the Netherlands.

The last Arab League summit, held two years ago, was hosted by Qatar.
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Time to Face Israel, Mideast Peace a Failure



Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121790&sectionid=351020202

The Arab League chief cautions that the so-called Middle East peace process may be “a complete failure”, calling on Arab states to seek other alternatives.

Amr Moussa's warning came on the first day of the Arab League Summit in the Libyan town of Sirte.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, however, told the summit of Arab leaders that there would be no alternative to indirect “proximity” talks on a two-state solution.

The two-day summit is being held amid Israeli plans to build new settlements in annexed Arab East Jerusalem al-Quds in defiance of international condemnations.

“We have to study the possibility that the peace process will be a complete failure,” Moussa declared to the summit.

“It's time to face Israel. We have to have alternative plans because the situation has reached a turning-point,” he said.

The Palestinians pulled out of the 'peace' talks after Tel Aviv announced plans to build 1,600 more settlement units in East al-Quds, which was occupied by Israel in 1967 — a move considered illegal under the international law.

The 22-member Arab League plans to appeal to the International Court of Justice for an end to Israel's settlement expansion plan.

The UN chief on Saturday urged Arab leaders in Libya to support indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks.

"My message to you is that, whatever our concerns, there is no alternative to negotiations for a two-state solution," Ban claimed in an address at the opening session of the summit.

"I urge you to support efforts to start proximity talks and direct negotiations. Our common goal should be to resolve all final status issues within 24 months," he added.

Ban further reiterated that "settlement activity is illegal and must stop."

His remarks come a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tel Aviv's policy on East al-Quds would not change.

Observers point out that Ban's emphasis on continued talks with the Tel Aviv regime despite its defiance of the international community and even its own commitments is contradictory and a double standard.

They add if the Israeli regime can defy the international community while the Palestinians are always demanded to make concessions, even on their basic rights, what sense does it make for the rest of the world to respect any UN decision?