US House against Palestinian State

The US House of Representatives has approved a resolution opposing the declaration of a Palestinian state.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155697.html


The US House of Representatives has declared its opposition to the recognition of an independent Palestinian state, urging Palestinians to stop their efforts to push for such a move.

The House unanimously approved a resolution opposing unilateral declaration of Palestinian state on Thursday, Ha'aretz reported.

Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Howard Berman, who introduced the resolution, criticized Palestinian efforts to push the international community to recognize a Palestinian state.

The remarks came after Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay recognized the Palestinian state to support the rights of Palestinian people, whose land has been occupied by Israel.

The Latin American states announced that they recognize a free and independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

On Monday, the European Union also said in a statement that it "reiterates its readiness, when appropriate, to recognize a Palestinian state."

The resolution also urged the White House to "deny recognition to any unilaterally declared Palestinian state and veto any resolution by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to establish or recognize a Palestinian state outside of an agreement negotiated by the two parties."

According to the resolution, Palestinian leaders should cease all efforts to gain recognition of a Palestinian state from other nations, within the United Nations. It also called upon foreign governments not to extend such recognitions.

Washington, which brought the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel to the negotiation table once again in September, failed to persuade Tel Aviv to extend its partial settlement slowdown, which expired late September.

The ongoing Israeli settlement projects stalled the US-sponsored direct talks.

The United States agreed to provide fighter jets to Israel and veto any anti-Israeli resolutions in the UNSC instead of an extended three-month freeze, but last week the Obama administration said it would not continue to ask Israel for the move.

Acting PA Chief Mahmoud Abbas has said he would not return to the negotiations as long as Tel Aviv continues its illegal settlement projects, adding that he would push for recognition of Palestine in the United Nations should Israel not cooperate over its settlement activities.

Palestinians say that the settlement activities are being carried out to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

The international community backs Palestinian demands for a state in most of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem), all territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Israel rebuffs call to join NPT

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155507.html


Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has dismissed Australia's call on Tel Aviv to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd recently told The Australian newspaper, "Our view has been consistent for a long period of time, and that is that all states in the region should adhere to the NPT, and that includes Israel."

"And therefore their nuclear facility should be subject to IAEA inspection," Rudd said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On Tuesday, however, Lieberman rejected the demand, saying that it did not matter if Tel Aviv refused to be a signatory to the pact, Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported.

Since 1958, when Tel Aviv began building its Dimona plutonium and uranium processing facility in the Negev desert, it has allegedly manufactured scores of nuclear warheads, turning into the sole owner of such weapons in the Middle East.

Former United States President Jimmy Carter has attested to the existence of the arsenal, which he has said includes between 200 to 300 nuclear warheads.

Rudd is on a tour to the region, which has already taken him to Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian territories.

He has also referred to Tel Aviv's relentless settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank as an obstacle to establishment of, what he referred to as, "peace" in the Middle East.

Nader attacks Israel for eluding NPT

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121375§ionid=351020202


Veteran liberal, citizens' rights campaigner and former US presidential candidate, Ralph Nader, has criticized Israel for possessing nuclear weapons and refusing to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"Israel has 250 nuclear bombs and they don't belong to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, so they aren't even part of international law," Nader told Press TV during an anti-war demonstration in Washington DC on Saturday.

Tel Aviv, which is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed power in the Middle East, refuses access to its nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

According to May 2008 comments by former US President Jimmy Carter, Israel has 150 nuclear weapons in its arsenal.

Nader further pointed to the contrast between the treatment Israel is receiving from its Western allies over its nuclear program and the pressure Iran is under for its civilian atomic activities.

"Israel has invaded its neighbors repeatedly. Iran hasn't invaded anybody in 250 years," he said.

Despite Tel Aviv's refusal to renounce nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, Israel and its Western allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian program - a charge strongly denied by Tehran.

Under pressure from the US, Israel's closest ally, the UN Security Council has passed several rounds of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

This is while Tehran's is a signatory of the NPT and its nuclear activities are under the constant supervision of the IAEA.

IAEA inspectors have conducted more inspections in Iran than in any other NPT signatory state, and have confirmed that there has been no diversion of nuclear material from civilian to military applications.

German ex-chancellor: Nuclear powers violate NPT

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120172§ionid=351020604


Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt says certain nuclear powers, including Russia and the United States, violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Moscow and Washington have refused to agree not to be the first to use nuclear weapons if a war breaks out, Schmidt said, expressing regret.

The German politician noted that China is the only nuclear country to have officially announced that it will not be the first to use atomic arms.

Schmidt said the number of countries with nuclear arsenals has increased from five to nine in the past four decades, pointing out that India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel have joined the nuclear club.

Schmidt also said that the NPT has alarmingly failed to halt the proliferation of nuclear arms around the globe, and warned against the possibility that militants in such countries might get access to nuclear weapons.

The former chancellor also rejected some Western countries' claims that Iran is seeking atomic weapons, dismissing the allegations as 'unsubstantiated claims.'