- The first day of talks
between leaders on the €1 trillion EU budget framework broke up around
midnight on Thursday (22 November) with France and Poland the main
beneficiaries from a new compromise proposal.Following criticism over his initial plans to slash agricultural
subsidies and regional development funds, European Council President
Herman Van Rompuy presented leaders with a fresh compromise text of
figures on which to base negotiations.The draft paper keeps to the same overall top-line figure of 972
billion stated in the proposal sent to national capitals last week,
equivalent to 1.01% of GNI.
However, in a bid to pacify member states, it redistributes the cuts between budget headings.Agriculture is the main beneficiary with an €8 billion increase,
while intensive lobbying by the 15-nation "Friends of Cohesion" group
led by Poland saw it rewarded by a €10.6 billion increase in funds.The EU's own projects aimed at promoting jobs and growth are set to be the main losers from the new proposal.The flagship Connecting Europe Facility, which focuses on
infrastructure projects to develop Europe's transport, energy and
digital networks would be cut a further €5 billion to €41 billion.The Galileo space programme would also lose an extra €350 million.
The irony of EU leaders cutting back on their own growth strategy, just
months after agreeing on a €60 billion ' growth and jobs pact in June,
was not lost on officials.Meanwhile, the "Europe in the world" heading, which covers spending
in Croatia and other candidates for EU membership as well as EU aid to
the world's poorest countries is to suffer a further €5 billion cut.The move is likely to deepen concerns of NGOs.Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso earlier said that
development aid could be among the biggest losers from the negotiations.
Despite being in the firing line of a handful of the net contributor
countries, led by the UK and the Netherlands, the draft leaves
administrative spending in the EU institutions untouched.As expected, UK Prime Minister David Cameron put forward a more
ambitious cuts programme with a €890 billion budget. However, EU
officials expect Cameron to accept a compromise based on the latest
draft.For his part, European Parliament President Martin Schultz told
reporters that a comprehensive budget agreement is unlikely at this
summit."There seems to be very little room from manoeuvre," he commented,
adding that "what is probable is that there will not be an agreement."Schultz also reiterated that the assembly would oppose any budget
lower than the €972 billion Van Rompuy headline figure. "There is no
chance the European Parliament will go along with this,' he said.With the one-to-one "confessional' meetings between leaders and
European Council President Herman van Rompuy delaying proceedings, the
first formal session of negotiation lasted little over an hour, with the
summit negotiations set to resume at midday on Friday (23 November).If the summit breaks off without agreement, EU leaders are likely to
come together in early in spring next year. However the later the deal,
the higher the timetable pressure to get all the corresponding pieces of
spending legislation agreed with parliament by end of 2013.
BRUSSELS - The world's top military powers and Iran aim to restart talks on nuclear proliferation in December or January.The negotiators - led by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and
Iranian diplomat Saeed Jalili - last met in Moscow in June.But Iran declined the international offer - to stop enriching uranium
to near weapons grade, to hand over its stockpile and to close one
enrichment site in return for outside supplies of nuclear fuel.In the meantime, Israel's leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, has on the UN
podium in New York threatened war if Iran crosses his enrichment red
line.The EU has piled on extra sanctions.
And US President Barack Obama got re-elected, removing the spectre of
a hawkish Republican administration taking the talks back to square
one.A diplomatic source from the so-called E3+3 group - China, France,
Germany, Russia, the UK and the US - told EUobserver that when it met
for internal talks in Brussels on Wednesday (21 November) it agreed to
contact Tehran by phone in the next few days to set up an Ashton-Jallili
meeting.The contact said they will aim for December, but it might take until January to agree a venue.Another diplomatic source said the group hopes Iran will be more
willing to make concessions because of prospects of good relations with
Obama in his second term."We want to see where we stand with Iran after the US elections," the contact said.Officially speaking, the E3+3 offer has not changed.
US spokesman Mark Toner this week told press: "The ball's in Iran's
court." EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told this website: "The proposal
is well known ... and that's where we are at the moment."
But experts, such as Mark Fitzpatrick from the London-based think
tank, the Institute of International Strategic Studies, believe there is
room for manouevre.Fitzpatrick wrote in August that if Iran froze enrichment at its
Fordow plant and converted its uranium stockpile into a less
weapon-usable form, the EU should consider relaxing sanctions.For its part, Iran still wants the big powers to formally recognise its right to enrich uranium.The step might see little immediate change in terms of activity on the ground.But it would mean a watershed in world affairs - recognition that
Iran is a legitimate regional power, whose views on the future of
Israel/Palestine and its interests in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and in the
oil-producing Gulf states have to be respected.Amid the diplomatic niceties of the E3+3 format, the main line of confrontation is the Iran-US-Israel axis.The US and Israel have demonized Iran as an Islamist basket-case ever
since religious leaders kicked out a US-puppet administration in 1979.Meanwhile, Iran has demonized Israel as an artificial country whose days are numbered.Iranian and US delegates sit in the same room during E3+3 talks.But Iranians are unwilling to hold a bilateral meeting with the US
until Washington takes the big decision on Iran's political status.For its part, Iran believes it is in a strong position ahead of the mooted December/January meeting because of Egypt.E3+3 diplomats say the non-proliferation talks are a "technical" discussion which is separate from broader events.But EUobserver understands that for Tehran, the nuclear talks are all
about the balance of power in the Middle East, with the US and Israel
losing an important ally when pro-Western Egyptian dictator, Hosni
Mubarak, was replaced by Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in the Arab
Spring.
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8,11-18
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye (MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.(RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS)
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I (GOD-JESUS) will set my glory among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS) and all the heathen (WORLD NATIONS) shall see my judgment that I have executed,(AGAINST ISRAELS ENEMIES) and my (GODS) hand that I have laid upon them.(ISRAELS HATER ENEMIES)
JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
37 For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)
ISAIAH 17:1,12-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4 Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY) Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he appointed it.
DANIEL 11:40-43
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south ( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS-MUSLIMS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them,(BEFORE THE NUKE GOES OFF) and behind them a desolate wilderness;(AFTER THE ATOMIC BOMB GOES OFF) yea, and nothing shall escape them.(EVERYTHING NUKED)
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate,(SIBERIAN DESERT) with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
JEREMIAH 8:7
7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times;(MIGRATION TIME) and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming;(IN MIGRATION SEASON) but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.(WW3 MIGRATING BIRDS EAT ISRAELS ENEMIES FLESH AND BLOOD)
ALREADY THE ARABS TRY TO GET OVER THE BORDER.THE CEASE-FIRE SHOULD BE DONE WITH ALREADY AS THE ARABS BROKE IT HERE.
300 Palestinians attempt to breach Gaza border fence
IDF
fire kills one and injures several others, report Palestinian sources;
Palestinian Authority FM, Islamic Jihad spokesman say shooting violates
ceasefire
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Roughly
300 Palestinians approached the border fence at several locations in
southern Gaza, tried to damage it and cross into Israel on Friday,
according to the IDF. Protesters also hurled rocks at Israeli troops.Soldiers fired warning shots in the air to
distance the Palestinians from the fence, but after they attempted to
cross into Israel, troops fired at their legs, the military said. It
also said a Palestinian infiltrated into Israel in the course of the
unrest, but he was returned to Gaza.A Palestinian health official said Israeli
troops shot dead a 20-year-old Palestinian man and wounded 19 people as
crowds surged toward the border fence, the first violence since a truce
between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers took hold some 36 hours earlier.
Palestinians
in the Gaza Strip hurling rocks and attempting to breach the border
fence on Friday (photo credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
According to one version of events, the
Palestinians who neared the border fence were agricultural workers. But
according to another report, the Palestinians were on their way to
prayers, and a family member of the man reportedly killed told Reuters
that the 20-year-old had attempted to place a Palestinian flag on the
fence.Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad
Malki said the IDF shooting of the man was a violation of the ceasefire
agreed upon between Israel and the Palestinian factions in Gaza on
Wednesday night following eight days of cross-border fighting, the
bloodiest between Israel and Hamas in four years.Speaking at a meeting with Italian Foreign
Minister Giulio Terzi, Malki called the incident “a clear violation of
the agreement and should not be repeated”.Hamas officials were not immediately available
for comment, but Nafez Azzam, a spokesman for Gaza’s Islamic Jihad,
also said the shooting was a violation of the truce and that Egypt had
been informed.Gaza prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas,
meanwhile urged militant factions to respect the ceasefire. It appeared
unlikely Hamas would retaliate for Friday’s shooting because that could
jeopardize the militant group’s potential gains from the ceasefire deal,
such as an easing of restrictions on movement in and out of the Gaza
Strip.On Thursday, two people were reportedly injured by Israeli fire while marching near the same area, east of Khan Younis.In the past, Israel’s military has barred
Palestinians from getting close to the fence, and soldiers have opened
fire to enforce a no-go zone meant to prevent infiltrations into Israel.Since the ceasefire, growing numbers of Gazans have entered the no-go zone.
In one incident captured by Associated Press
video, several dozen Palestinians, most of them young men, approached
the fence, coming close to a group of Israeli soldiers standing on the
other side.Some Palestinians briefly talked to the
soldiers, while others appeared to be taunting them with chants of “God
is great” and “Morsi, Morsi,” in praise of Egyptian President Mohammed
Morsi, whose mediation led to the truce.The ceasefire agreement allowed both Hamas and
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step back from the brink of a
full-fledged war. Over eight days, Israel’s aircraft carried out some
1,500 strikes on Hamas-linked targets, while Gaza fighters peppered
Israel with roughly the same number of rockets.
The fighting killed 166 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians, and six Israelis.In Cairo, Egypt is hosting separate talks with
Israeli and Hamas envoys on the next phase of the ceasefire: a new
border deal for blockaded Gaza. Hamas demands lifting all border
restrictions, while Israel insists that Hamas must halt
weapons-smuggling to the territory.In Israel, a poll showed that about
half of Israelis think their government should have continued its military offensive against Hamas.The independent Maagar Mohot poll released
Friday shows 49 percent of respondents feel Israel should have kept
going after the squads that fire rockets into Israel. Thirty-one percent
supported the government’s decision to stop. Twenty percent had no
opinion.
Twenty-nine percent thought Israel should have
sent ground troops to invade Gaza. The poll of 503 respondents had an
error margin of 4.5 percentage points.The same survey showed Netanyahu’s Likud Party
and electoral partner Yisrael Beytenu losing some support, but his
hard-line bloc would still be able to form the next government.
Elections are January 22.
Hamas ‘victory’ sparks fighting spirit in the West Bank
Activism
inspired by ‘steadfast’ rocket-firing Islamists in Gaza seems to be
rising across the territories and East Jerusalem, with Palestinians
increasingly dismissive of negotiations
Jerusalem’s Old City was
bustling as usual on Thursday afternoon. Arab school children in uniform
were rushing home, groups of tourists with cameras hanging from their
necks were peeping into gift shops; and elderly Arab women from the
countryside were sitting on the ground selling fresh bundles
of coriander and sage.In the Muslim Quarter, Gaza was the talk of
the day. Inside a falafel shop, three men watched Hamas Prime Minister
Ismail Haniyeh deliver a victory speech on a TV latched to the ceiling.“We want a final resolution of the Palestinian
issue,” said one of the men, as he glanced away from the screen. “These
temporary solutions that drag on for years while the West Bank is
swallowed up by settlements are unacceptable.”The man was referring to Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas and his continued advocacy of peace
negotiations with Israel. Twenty years of talks have left West Bank
Palestinians with little, many East Jerusalem residents say today, and
Hamas’s steadfastness during operation Pillar of Defense has provided
them with a new source of inspiration.After weeks of deriding Abbas for his bid to
win limited UN recognition next week, Hamas and Islamic Jihad seemed to
magnanimously change their tone. Ismail Haniyeh and two Islamic Jihad
leaders each called Abbas on Thursday, the official WAFA news agency
reported, telling him they would support his bid to have “Palestine”
join the UN as a non-member state. Later, though, a Hamas spokesman
denied the conversation ever took place.Nevertheless, celebratory rallies in Gaza
called for national unity and an end to the political divide which has
pitted Fatah against Hamas since 2006.
“If someone presents you with a clear agenda, you respect him even if you disagree with his ideas,” says Abu-Ahmad
Any report of Hamas overtures towards Abbas,
true or not, would not have been credible just eight days ago. The
perceived victory of Gaza’s armed resistance over Israel has given
fighting spirit to many Palestinians, new Israeli data shows.The IDF reported a steep rise in violent
activities in the West Bank during the week of fighting in Gaza. Rocks
and Molotov cocktails were thrown at civilian cars and a bus was shot at
from a passing car near Gush Etzion junction, south of Jerusalem. In
Jerusalem’s Old City, a young woman stabbed a soldier on Thursday.The Palestinian street is quickly slipping
into combat mode, inspired by the fighting words emanating from Gaza.
Jibril Rajoub, a former Palestinian security chief who speaks fluent
Hebrew, appealed to Israel on Channel 2 News Thursday to stop that
process by re-engaging the PA, which has favored negotiations over
violence.“For eight years, we’ve not thrown a stone at
you from the West Bank,” he said. “What have we gotten from you? We want
our state on the 1967 borders … to live in peace alongside the state of
Israel.”
‘My brothers, if the death of 163
martyrs including the leader Ahmad Jabari, with thousands of wounded and
all [government] institutions destroyed is considered a victory, then
by God what is defeat?” Zakarneh wrote on his Facebook page
As demonstrators flocked to the main squares
of Ramallah and Hebron to celebrate Hamas’s victory Thursday, Fatah
official Bassam Zakarneh was incredulous.“My brothers, if the death 163 of martyrs
including the leader Ahmad Jabari, with thousands of wounded and all
[government] institutions destroyed is considered a victory, then by God
what is defeat?” Zakarneh wrote on his Facebook page.But Abu-Ahmad, a 40-year-old hotel employee,
sitting on a bench outside Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate, had no hesitation
when asked who is the big winner of the latest round of violence.“Of course Hamas won this round,” he said.
“Israel certainly came out as the loser. Hamas achieved almost all of
its demands, and all Israel got was missiles.”And the big loser? That’s the Palestinian
Authority, which he said won’t be able to recover from the blow it
received with the rise of Hamas.“The Palestinian Authority is out of the
picture and will stay out,” said Abu-Ahmad, explaining that the PA has
not managed to present a clear vision to the Palestinian people, unlike
Hamas. ”If someone presents you with a clear agenda, you respect him
even if you disagree with his ideas.”Izz A-Din Sheikh Qassim, bearded and with a
white cap traditionally worn by religious Muslims, owns a small shop in
the Muslim Quarter where he sells spices and oil. He presented himself
as a “a native of Lydda,” (Israel’s city of Lod) although he was born in
Jerusalem five years after the war of 1948.
Izz A-Din Shiekh Qassim, a spice vendor in Jerusalem’s Old City, November 22 (photo credit: Elhanan Miller/Times of Israel)
“We are weak and can’t attack them too much,
so we agreed to a ceasefire proposed by Israel,” said Qassim. “But if
someone is to attack us, we will respond … This is only a ceasefire, we
will never recognize Israel.”For Qassim, who spent three years in an
Israeli prison in the late 80s, the choice between the PA’s strategy of a
negotiated settlement with Israel and Hamas’s strategy of armed
struggle is clear.“Forget about institutions. Do I need
institutions or do I want my land? Why should I go begging from the West
for food when I have my own land I can sow?”Even the language of Al-Quds, a
privately-owned daily read by the Palestinian intelligentsia,
is beginning to change. An op-ed published by the Jerusalem-based daily
Thursday expressed the second thoughts of many Palestinians regarding
the possibilities ahead.“Yes, the blood has triumphed over the sword, and the nation has triumphed over occupation,” wrote columnist Ibrahim Mulhim.
“Hamas may receive funding from abroad, but they produce their weapons themselves. Thank God, they’ve proven their strength”
Um-Issa, waiting for her shoes to be fixed by a
local cobbler, considered Hamas’s resilience in the face of Israel’s
superior military technology a victory, even if no tangible goals were
achieved.“Hamas may receive funding from abroad, but
they produce their weapons themselves. Thank God, they’ve proven their
strength,” she said.She said that Abbas’s negotiations are
pointless if they result in giving up the Palestinian right of return —
the demand for millions of refugees and their descendants to return to
live in Israel.
“Abu-Mazen and Israel come and go negotiating, with no result,” she said, using Abbas’s nom de guerre.
Qassim, the spice vendor, said he is sick of symbolic actions on the part of the Palestinian Authority.
“Abbas’s people put some candles at the
Damascus Gate in solidarity with Gaza,” he said with scorn. “Gaza needs
you to stand with it! Send it doctors, send it food, cook for the
warriors.”
US embrace of Morsi in Gaza conflict resolution shows the White House’s new detachment
American
political analysts see Obama administration, while supportive of
Netanyahu, deprioritizing the Israeli-Palestinian issue
NEW YORK — It was a good week
for Mohammed Morsi. The Israel-Hamas ceasefire, which sees Egypt as the
responsible enforcer of the peace, marks the final embrace of Morsi’s
Muslim Brotherhood government by the West.“Egypt’s new government is assuming the
responsibility and leadership that has long made this country a
cornerstone of regional stability and peace,” Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton said glowingly, standing alongside Morsi’s foreign minister
Mohammed Amr.“This was a major moment for Mohammed Morsi,”
noted Nicholas Burns, former undersecretary of state for political
affairs and now a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.“There were a lot of doubts about how he would
lead Egypt, whether he would maintain the peace agreement with Israel,”
Burns told the PBS NewsHour on Wednesday. But Morsi “showed that he is
very tough minded. He was willing to pressure Hamas, he was able to work
with the Turkish and Qatari governments as well as the United States.
He can be, based on this performance, I think an important partner for
the United States. I think this is a confidence builder both for the
Israelis and Americans in knowing they have a stable and impressive
leadership in Cairo now that we can deal with.”Perhaps it should not surprise, then, that the
day after the signing of the ceasefire and the heaping of American
praise, Morsi issued a presidential decree declaring his decisions as
president are no longer subject to judicial review until a new Egyptian
constitution is adopted.A few commentators on the American right have
pointed to the embrace of Morsi and suggested it marks an Obama
administration that is weak in confronting the Middle East’s Islamists.But if weakness in the face of Islamists was
the problem, it’s strange that the Obama administration, along with
hundreds of American leaders from across the political spectrum, was
adamant and vocal throughout the crisis in its support of Israel, and
placed the onus for the violence squarely on Hamas’s shoulders.Indeed, Obama’s embrace of Israel was so
complete that Jewish Democrats went to the trouble of celebrating it in a
press release that seemed to continue the bruising election spat with
Jewish Republicans over which party supported Israel more.“We are proud to see that the Obama
Administration has forcefully condemned Hamas’s terrorist attacks and
reiterated its support for Israel’s right to defend itself,” the
National Jewish Democratic Council declared last week. “We are also
deeply gratified to see that President Obama and Israeli President
Shimon Peres conferred about the situation this afternoon — an action
that is a testament to the deep strength of the US-Israel relationship.”But the partisan repartee seemed to miss the
key shift in American policy that explained both Obama’s embrace of
Morsi and his unconditional support for Netanyahu.Simply put: Obama is walking away Barack Obama in 2012 seems to be what Johnny
Cash once called a “wiser weaker man.” Gone is the faith in the power of
words or in the courage of the region’s leaders. The Middle East, the
White House seems to believe, has its own peculiar dynamics and
dysfunctions, and it’s a fool’s errand to invest political capital and
reputation in once again dragging the region’s players kicking and
screaming to the table.Time magazine’s political analyst Mark Halperin spoke for many American analysts on Wednesday.“You can’t say the administration has put a
high priority on this or the kind of full-time engagement that Secretary
Clinton’s husband [former president Bill Clinton] engaged in or we’ve
seen in previous administrations. I don’t think anybody [in Washington]
thinks we’re going to build off of this,” he said.Susan Page, the veteran Washington bureau
chief of USA Today, similarly suggested on Wednesday that detachment
seemed to be the key message in the administration’s handling of the
Gaza crisis.“I think they’ve tried to stay clear of it,”
she told MSNBC. “I think Hillary Clinton thought, ‘I’m almost out the
door as secretary of state,’ and events there forced her to get involved
and forced the president to get more involved. How many times have you
been in a news conference and someone says, ‘last question,’ and the
last question is the one you did not want to get.”The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, most
American observers seem to agree, has become the question the White
House doesn’t want to touch.
Report: Egypt Warned Israel that a Ground Op would End Peace
Channel 2: Egypt, U.S. warned Israel that a ground invasion would endanger its peace agreements with Cairo, Amman.By Gil Ronen First Publish: 11/22/2012, 9:54 PM-INN
Mohammed Morsi-Israel news photo: Flash 90
Israel decided to refrain from a ground
invasion of Gaza after it was warned that such a move could spell the end of the peace
agreements with Egypt and Jordan,
Channel 2 reported Thursday.
According to the report, Mossad Head Tamir Pardo, who went to Cairo as Israel's representative in the contacts that preceded the
ceasefire, was told in messages from Cairo and from Washington that the peaceful relations between Israel, Jordan and Egypt were at risk.In addition,
Channel 2 reported that the Americans asked
Egypt's president Mohammed Morsi to talk directly with Israeli Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu about the ceasefire – but Morsi refused pointedly.Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told
Channel 1 that some of the considerations behind the unpopular decision to agree to a ceasefire
could not be made public. He said, however, that if the government's
motivation had been political, it would have made the opposite decision.
