U.S. Reverses On Middle East Peace Measure

U.N. Resolution Endorsing Agreement By Israeli And Palestinian Leaders Is Withdrawn

(AP)  In an about face, the United States on Friday withdrew a U.N. resolution endorsing this week's agreement by Israeli and Palestinian leaders to try to reach a Mideast peace settlement by the end of 2008, apparently after Israel objected.

Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff informed the Security Council that the United States was pulling the resolution from consideration less than 24 hours after Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad had introduced it and welcomed the "very positive" response from council members.

Khalilzad had said he needed to consult with the Israelis and Palestinians overnight on the text of the resolution to ensure it was what they wanted.

Well-informed diplomats said Israel, a close U.S. ally, did not want a resolution, which would bring the Security Council into the fledgling negeotiations with the Palestinians. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters Friday in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, that while he didn't know the details of the draft resolution it was a sign of the seriousness of the United States, which he also perceived at this week's Mideast conference in Annapolis, Md.

"This means, if what we have learned is verified, that there are serious steps that speak to the existence of an American position supporting the negotiations," Abbas said.

Wolff told reporters the U.S. had held intensive consultations in the past few days "and the upshot was that there were some unease with the idea" of a resolution.

"The focus, we all realized again, should be placed and remain on Annapolis and the understanding that was reached there," Wolff said. "It's a momentous decision ... and rather than dilute from that and in respect to both parties in terms of what they thought would be most helpful, we reached a conclusion that it would be best to withdraw it."

The Annapolis conference drew 44 nations, including Israel's neighboring Arab states whose support is considered vital to any peace agreement. A joint understanding between the Israelis and Palestinians, in doubt until the last minute, was salvaged and Abbas and Olmert reiterated their desire to reach a peace settlement by the end of next year.

[grazinggoat]

Single-State Peace:

Powerful groups on both sides of the Mid-East conflict are undermining Annapolis. On the Palestinian side, Hamas controls Gaza, is surging in popularity and rejects the notion of two states. While on the Israeli side, the group previously known as Irgun, and now as Likud, is again consolidating power with the alarmist and militant Bibi at the helm. Thus politically fractured, neither Mr. Abbas nor Mr. Olmert has the muscle needed to force lasting peace.
Posted by GreatDriveW at 02:05 PM : Dec 01, 2007

-Why isn''t BIBI deported or imprisoned if he''s against peace and share of land as Olmert is pretending?

-Arabs have sent their representatives to the negotiation table, because they have been promised backbone subjects and quick results (by the very incompetent CondiRice and her twitty boss...) Obviously with no such results, was Annapolis the last sitting between Arabs and Israelis?

-As long as there is no will for peace emanating from the AIPAC decision makers and a clear policy structure favoring such initiatives, Middle-Easterners will stay still, but not for long. They will take the initiative themself and try to heal the bleeding wonds by their own means, with no predictable results.

-Obama is the only one who came up with such resolve and he knows what he''s talking about. He''s a credible counterpart as perceived in the Middle-East countries.

[glaswolf]

GreatDriveW at 02:05 PM: A jewish controlled state is not viable in Palestine. Many jews are recent converts and they stand on a bible to displace people who have lived there for centuries. Orthodox jews get along with orthodox moslems, but secular jews present a problem because they really have no ethical claim to a presence in Palestine. Perhaps the very religious or historical jews can live in Palestinian areas and the secular jews could be relocated. Europe is friendly with the jews again, perhaps they can take them back, repatriating their historical brothers. They were allied to the Ottomans and the Caliphates, historically. Maybe Turkey can make them a homeland with Turkey''s borders if Europe won''t take the jews back. We clearly have an immigration problem, with Pollard and such spies, and should not let them into our nation because AMerica has too many illegal immigrants from the euromediterranean regions as it is.

[greatdrivew]

Single-State Peace:

Powerful groups on both sides of the Mid-East conflict are undermining Annapolis. On the Palestinian side, Hamas controls Gaza, is surging in popularity and rejects the notion of two states. While on the Israeli side, the group previously known as Irgun, and now as Likud, is again consolidating power with the alarmist and militant %u201CBibi%u201D at the helm. Thus politically fractured, neither Mr. Abbas nor Mr. Olmert has the muscle needed to force lasting peace.

However, the international community is growing tired of the constant bickering and tireless focus of attention and resources. So while continuous struggle might be popular in the region, it cannot be sustained. Hence, the entire international community %u2013 with or without the input of Palestinians and Israelis %u2013 is likely, at some point, to step in. The question then becomes, what would be the outcome?

The entire international community would probably not seek a two-state solution. Instead, it is more likely that the outcome would be a single state. That is true for several reasons, not the least of which is that it would appeal to Moderate Muslims and Jews, as well as Christians seeking to protect their share. Thus, neither an Islamic theocracy nor a Jewish theocracy, but instead, a constitutionally-mandated, secular parliamentary system, with equal power-sharing for Muslims, Jews and Christians alike. Like it or not, single-state peace is preferable to miserable, eternal war.

[neoconrcrazy]

israel says dance!

we dance...

israel says pay !

we pay....

we are prisoners of our own holy-land fantasy...lost crusaders....duped by our own love story with this troublesome jewish statlet.

[glaswolf]

This is one reason we should just stop pouring weapons into the mideast unless our soldiers are using them on other people. Israel and the Palestinian are like Mutt&Jeff act ... we are being conned by both sides and just wasting our time over religious stupidity. We should just let them deal with their own reality, if they go to war and the oil fields are threaten, Russia, Red China and the United States should coordinate the capture and control of all mideast oil. I tire of religious dogmatist wasting our international currency on the stupidity of these religious freaks of nature. We need to rebuild our own national institutions and we have a war on terror to fight. Let them both wallow in their mire, they can flip flop together in their own political waste. The NeoCons can share their mud hole of a reality, they deserve little else for their dysfunctional service to the nation.

[Con Mohrat]

Zalmay Khalilzad in the UN must have joined to Bush-Cheney-Rice Axis of Incompetence to introduce something in the UN without much analysis. Apalling.

[klifton2-2009]

The Middle East peace process is another adventure that will fail because there is no sincerity on the part of the main broker of the peace, Bush. The man is a war criminal having caused so much deaths and destruction now decides he wants to be a messenger of peace. It does not work! It is like some mass murderers finally decides to do God''s work. Bush''s "efforts" are just about as genuine as a $30 dollar bill. It does not exist, and if it does it is only in his mind just the WMD story he and the other war criminal Cheney thought up. As for Olmert, what can one conceivably expect from another war monger whose hands are just as tarnished as Bush with blood. What about Abbas? He is a lost cause because he does not represent the majority of the Palestinians. He is a hen talking peace with two foxes.

[feelfree1]

Re: "It''s like we work for Isreal. We are their puppet state."

&

Re: "The pro-Israel lobby have a lot to answer for and we''re being taken for fools."

Both comments deserve repeating.

[cdfoxtrot]

It''''s like we work for Isreal. We are their puppet state.


Posted by frankly6

No sh*t. The US media is very complicit in promoting Israel''s interests, as if they are ours. And what happens, one day, if we decide not to give them their $3bn+ annual allowance? Are they going to go crazy and threaten us, the way they threaten their neighbors? The pro-Israel lobby have a lot to answer for and we''re being taken for fools.

[b-easy63]

Without a resolution and endorsement from the international community and the UN to ensure both parties stick to and honor what they said--Bush, Abbas and Olmert have NOTHING.

Just backroom deals and secrecy where each side can renege, claim misinterpretations and do NOTHING and keep no promises--at the same time both sides can return to their publics and each claim things that were alluded to but not agreed on as victory.

It is classic common sense and business practice: "IF IT''S NOT IN WRITING, THEN IT NEVER HAPPENED.

A joke of a meeting as usual. Touted as a great success. the details are secret though. Matter of National Security ya know.