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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| PLO wants map from US showing Israeli border | |
| 2010-10-14 | |
[Al Arabiya] The Paleostinians are seeking a map from the United States showing where Israel sees its final borders and making clear whether they include Paleostinian land and homes, an official said on Wednesday.
"What is required from the American administration and Israel is that they present us with the map of the state of Israel that they want us to recognize," Abed Rabbo told Rooters. "Is this map on the '67 borders or does it include Paleostinian land and the homes we live in?" he said, referring to the year when Israel captured the West Bank and Gazoo Strip in a Middle East war. The settlement issue has derailed U.S.-backed peace talks which began on Sept. 2. The Paleostinians say they will not resume U.S.-backed negotiations until Israel halts settlement building on occupied land where they aim to found a state. An Israeli freeze on new home building in the occupied West Bank expired on Sept. 26. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would be willing to request another freeze from his cabinet if the Paleostinians recognized Israel as a Jewish state. He said it would be a "trust-building step", while some Paleostinian and Israeli commentators questioned whether the proposal was only a ploy to try to shift blame onto the Paleostinians should the peace processor collapse. The Paleostinians ruled out the idea -- something they see as a major concession that would be tantamount to political suicide for a leadership whose credibility has already been badly damaged by the failure of past peace talks. US sees Israel as Jewish state U.S. State Department front man P. J. Crowley said on Tuesday Netanyahu had "offered his thoughts on both what he's willing to contribute to the process, and what he thinks he needs for his people out of the process. We would hope that the Paleostinians would do the same thing". The United States recognizes Israel as a Jewish state, Crowley said. Abed Rabbo's demand for a map echoed Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas's call for clear terms of reference for the peace talks. Netanyahu's predecessor as prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has said he showed Abbas a map offering him 93.5 to 93.7 percent of the West Bank, with the difference made up by a proposed land swap of 5.8 percent and a safe-passage corridor between the territory and the Gazoo Strip. But the Paleostinians fear Netanyahu, who has not signed on publicly to Olmert's blueprint, has no intention of allowing the establishment of a viable state they seek in the West Bank and Gazoo Strip, with East Jerusalem, which Israel also captured in 1967 and annexed, as their capital. Israel has said it intends to keep major settlement blocs in any future agreement and, citing security concerns, Netanyahu has called for retention of Israeli troops along the Jordan River, the likely eastern border of a future Paleostinian state. "We are ready to recognize, once again, the state of Israel if Washington gives us a map of the borders of that state so we know if they include our land and homes in the West Bank, the Gazoo Strip and Jerusalem," Abed Rabbo said. The PLO recognized the state of Israel in 1993 at the outset of the peace processor. At the same time, Israel also recognized the PLO as the representative of the Paleostinian people. The Paleostinians say recognizing Israel as a Jewish state would compromise the rights of Arab citizens of Israel who make up 20 percent of the population. It would also effectively forgo the right of return of Paleostinian refugees who decamped or were forced from their homes in Arab-Israeli wars to return to territory that is now Israel. Their fate is one of the "final-status" issues in the talks. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 Hmmmmm....that map of Israel presented by P2K shows a greatly truncated Gaza. We are talking Superfund class cleanup stuff here, folks. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2010-10-14 20:29 |
| #7 I've worked with Paleo-American engineers who've had wall maps showing all of Israel, Gaza, and WB as "Palestine". Apparently, projection is acceptable. A "Israel, including Judea and Samaria" map would twist some knickers. I'm sure Bibi has one somewhere nearby just for negotiating purposes |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-10-14 19:33 |
| #6 "We don't need no stinkin' maps" is an appropriate Israeli answer. BTW, I thought the Arabs believed he Israeli Flag represented the map of Israel. If so, use it! Pals belong (at best) on the east bank of the Jordan, if not the Euphrates. Then there is always beautiful Manchuko... |
| Posted by: borgboy 2010-10-14 15:50 |
| #5 Re: Arizona (or northern Sonora, if you so wish). When it comes to "multiculturalism" you can't win here for trying! Yesterday I went to a Mexican bakery (Spanish speaking) and asked for a loaf of "Pan del muerte"! ("Day of the Dead" bread) - very sweet, tasty, colorful, with devilish figures on the frosting. I told the clerk it looked beautiful. She rolled her eyes at me and declared that she was not an idol worshiper - giving me a sour face all along. Said I: "I am a Jew not an idol worshiper either. I bought it to eat not worship!" _________________________ In the Hispanic area I live in no one calls themselves a "Protestant", but rather a "Christian". To them, Catholics are not Christians but idol-worshipers - they sound like anti-Al Smith voters. Moreover it is widely believed by many (including the "educated") that Jews read and follow the Koran. One day I will soon start foaming at the mouth when I do business with these folks... |
| Posted by: borgboy 2010-10-14 15:41 |
| #4 Heh. I knew I loved you, P2k. ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-10-14 12:33 |
| #3 How's about this one. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-10-14 12:01 |
| #2 Grom, it also wouldn't include AZ and probably NM. Of course that means he would have to add 11 states to get to his count of 57. I'm thinking a few from China, one each from Pakistan, Venezuela, Syria and Greece with the remainder coming from Kenya. |
| Posted by: Alan Cramer 2010-10-14 11:10 |
| #1 Now, I would ask Bambi for a map of USA (any bets it doesn't include Texas, CA, etc...?) |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-10-14 09:59 |
