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| Israel-Palestine |
| Egyptian Pressence and Moat to change Gaza |
| 2004-06-29 |
| excerpted from Monday’s State Department Daily Press Briefing. I am posting this because I think this section of the Q&A demonstrates a significant change in how Sharon’s Gaza pullout will change the dynamics in the Palestinian situation. QUESTION: Okay -- tit-for-tat with Gaza and also a killing of a member of another militant group up in Nablus. The Egyptians were asked to help with the security in Iraq, and also undoubtedly in Gaza. There was a plan of building a moat, literally 2.5 kilometers in length, to separate Gaza from Egyptian territory. And recently, the, I guess, Mubarak Government has asked, or given an ultimatum to Chairman Arafat to either help with the security matters or -- now, has that been the center of the talks that are going on in Taba with Bill Burns and also Cofer Black as well? MR. ERELI: Cofer Black is the Special Coordinator for Counterterrorism. Ambassador Black was not in the discussions in Taba. Ambassador Burns was representing the United States. The issue of arms smuggling through the tunnels to Gaza was very much an issue at Taba, as was the very welcome and important and positive Egyptian support for consolidating and enabling Palestinian security forces. There has been -- there have been a number of violent incidents in Gaza over the weekend. The important point to make here is that, you know, as we’ve said many times, it’s up to the Palestinians to act to show that they can assume responsibility for security in Gaza once the Israelis withdraw. That’s absolutely critical. The events of this weekend underscore the necessity for that kind of capability. The Egyptians are working, I think, very hard, and so far, very successfully, to help the Palestinians get there, but we still need to see the Palestinians take immediate steps to consolidate their security forces under a single, responsible and accountable leadership that is fully committed to taking steps to end the terror and violence. And that remains a top priority. I’m sorry, we’re going to go to Iraq. QUESTION: Well, can we stay on that? MR. ERELI: One more on this? QUESTION: Yeah. At least some -- a few of those attacks were precipitated by Israel doing a targeted assassination of the leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Do you think that these sensitive -- at this time of these sensitive talks in Taba and, you know, all the things that they’re trying to do with the Palestinians, that this makes it more difficult or a more tenuous situation? MR. ERELI: I don’t think there’s an -- I don’t think there’s an excuse accept -- that’s acceptable for the Palestinians not acting against terror, and that means consolidating the security forces and taking steps against the kinds of groups, Al-Aqsa and others, that practice terrorism, that accept terrorism as a legitimate tool to achieve political ends. I mean, that is just -- there is no place for that in our -- in the modern world. QUESTION: I’m not suggesting that, I mean, of course, they do. But at the same time, I mean, do they need this added burden of having to prevent attacks that wouldn’t -- that perhaps wouldn’t have happened had the Israelis not done this targeted -- I mean, you’ve spoken out against targeted killings in the past, I mean, especially now when these sensitive negotiations are going on. I mean, was this a prudent step? MR. ERELI: Obviously, Israel -- we recognize Israel’s right to take actions in defense, in self-defense. Our focus, and we think the party’s focus, should be on moving with all due haste in preparing to take advantage of a changed dynamic, and that changed dynamic is the Israelis’ plan to withdraw all settlements from Gaza and turn it over to the Palestinians and distractions from that, attempts to find other issues to deal with, are not helpful. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |