Sharon speech prompts speculation
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| Thu, 12-18-2003 - 10:18am |
Sharon speech prompts speculation
Israelis hope leader tells plan for easing Palestinian crisis
Thursday, December 18, 2003
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER NEWS SERVICES
JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel is scheduled to make a speech today, and it would seem that all of Israel, certainly all of the Israeli media, is speculating about what he will say.
The truth is that Sharon may end up saying very little that he has not said before, particularly on the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, merely stating his known position: that Israel is waiting for concrete steps from the Palestinian side in fighting terrorism before returning to the negotiating table. .
But Sharon will be speaking at a time of especially lively debate among Israelis where some new initiative or proposal seems almost a daily occurrence, and Sharon surely knows that the public will be disappointed if he does not announce at least some modest new measures, most likely, according to local media reports, plans for a limited withdrawal of Jewish settlements from the occupied territories even in the absence of a deal with the Palestinians.
Violence continued early this morning when Israeli troops conducting searches killed four armed Palestinians in clashes in the West Bank city of Nablus, a military spokeswoman said.
Palestinian witnesses said they saw five dead bodies in the casbah, or market section, of Nablus.
The military said one man ran toward troops with an explosive device and was shot as he approached. In another incident, three men with automatic weapons shot at soldiers from a rooftop and were killed by return fire, the spokeswoman said.
Sharon is scheduled to speak at a dinner meeting today in the seaside town of Herzliya, where an Israeli and international who's who has been gathered for the fourth annual conference of the Israeli Institute for Policy and Strategy.
"Even a limited evacuation of settlements, or other significant immediate measures, would prove to both the Israeli public and the international community that Sharon is capable of initiating rather than merely responding," foreign policy commentator Aluf Benn wrote in the Israeli daily Haaretz yesterday.
Many people are expecting Sharon to outline one of two broad options. One would be to announce a concrete and specific withdrawal of all the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and some relatively remote settlements on the West Bank. This would be the bold option, as analysts here have it, but only if Sharon announces a timetable.
A more cautious, and perhaps more likely, approach would be for Sharon to announce in principle a readiness to withdraw some settlements but present it only as a possibility if the U.S.-backed "road map" for peace, is declared dead.
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Qurei "disappointed at Israeli threats to abandon peace process".
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1071721354884&p=1008596981749
The Palestinian Authority on Thursday night rejected Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for unilateral separation, saying it was not a formula for peace. PA officials expressed deep disappointment at the long-awaited speech and stressed that Sharon's main objective was to consolidate the occupation.
PA Chairman Yasser Arafat watched the speech together with his advisors at his office in Ramallah, but did not make any immediate comment.
Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and his senior ministers said they were "disappointed" by Sharon's threat to take unilateral steps if the Palestinians do not move forward on the road map. "Sharon can achieve peace faster than he imagines by negotiating with the Palestinians," Qurei said.
Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for Arafat, said Sharon's plan was unacceptable and could not be implemented. "This is a continuation of Sharon's unclear policy," he said.
Abu Rudaineh said the only plan the Palestinians accept is one that includes an Israeli withdrawal from the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip, an implementation of all the agreements, a halt to assassinations and incursions, and a return to unconditioned negotiations - without unilateral moves.
He added: "Sharon's plans will not bring the Palestinians to their knees. The Israeli massacres against our people, like the one perpetrated in Nablus today, comes in the context of Israel's attempts top avoid fulfilling its obligations." He was referring to the deaths of five Palestinians during an IDF raid on the Nablus casbah earlier in the day.
Minister of Negotiations Saeb Erekat also rejected Sharon's announcement and said the speech was not a peace plan.
Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath responded to Sharon's speech by launching a scathing attack on Israel for the killing of the five Palestinians in Nablus. "Every day, Sharon is perpetrating massacres, demolishing houses, and assaulting Palestinian land in Rafah and Khan Yunis, while at the same time talking about peace steps," he said.
"Today Sharon did not talk about peace," Sha'ath added. "He talked about security measures to reduce Israeli losses and increase the effectiveness of the Israeli army in besieging the Palestinian people. This is not a speech for peace. Nor is it an attempt to move forward with the road map. We will not succumb to Sharon's threats because we are determined to achieve a just peace, a full Israeli withdrawal from all the Palestinian areas, including Jerusalem."
Referring to Sharon's plan to remove some settlements and outposts, Sha'ath said: "Sharon says he will do this for security considerations only. This means more closure on the Palestinians in order to reduce Israeli losses.
He didn't even say which settlements he wants to remove. All we got from him were threats. If he wants to withdraw from a settlement he must pull out from all the settlements. He must withdraw from our territories. Sharon wants security only for himself and not for the Palestinians. He wants to continue the occupation, but in different means."
Main points of Sharon's Mideast policy speech.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/18/international1459EST0663.DTL
The main points of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Mideast policy speech Thursday:
* If Palestinians do not take steps toward implementing the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan by dismantling terror groups, Israel will disengage unilaterally.
* Israel will relocate some settlements to reduce friction, moving them away from Palestinian population centers.
* Israel will speed up construction of its security barrier along the West Bank, part of a temporary border.
* Israel will ease travel restrictions in the West Bank to allow Palestinian civilians to resume normal life.
* Israel will carry out its obligations under the "road map" plan, including removal of unauthorized settlement outposts.
* Israel will coordinate its unilateral moves with the United States.
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