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Sunday 27 May RNW - News and analysis from the Netherlands in 10 languages, worldwide 24/7 on radio, television and online

Obama hosts talks with Abbas and Netanyahu

Published on 22 September 2009 - 11:48am
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US President Barack Obama is due to host his first summit of Israeli and Palestinian leaders in New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly.

 

President Obama is bringing together Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time since Mr Netanyahu took office in March. The leaders will be discussing the possibility of re-launching peace talks, rather than specific stumbling blocks.

 

Mr Obama will meet the Middle East leaders separately before hosting trilateral talks, but Washington said that there are no "grand expectations" ahead of the summit. Prime Minister Netanyahu has rejected US and Palestinian demands for a moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank.

 

Last week, the US envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, left his latest round of diplomacy without reaching any agreement. Relations between Washington and Jerusalem are facing the worst strains in a decade, as President Obama want to press for a two-state solution.

 

Israeli Foreign Minister Dany Ayalon said that the most significant aspect of the current talks in New York was that they were taking place at all.

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Discussion

Takashi Tsushima 22 September 2009 - 5:50pm
The stranded agenda between Israeli and Palestine governments seems to get stuck in the middle of re-launching peace road map even though a strenuous effort has been put the U.S government under a serious commitment following so have been the EU and Russia. I think the latest contention of this issue has derived from power-sharing governments between Hamas based in Gaza and PLO in West Bank. Palestine Authority separating into bipolar power strugglings has discreditied the U.S government and the EU. The main disagreement of continuing peace road map is that Hamas has not recognized the existence of Israel from the world map and such long-dragged power strugglings incite PLO to tend to get frustrated and bring back fighting stance with Israeli government recently. President Abu Abbas had a chance to commit himself to establish Palestine States once when later Yasser Arafat made a Oslo Accords with later Israel Prime Minister Yizhak Rabin in Washington DC. After the overture of new peace resolutions showed off to the international community, however, because Israel has welcomed to open Israel-Palestine borders, as a result, suicide bombers intruded into Israel, killing innocent Israeli people. And I remembered when I stayed myself as a kibbuzim volunteer and tourist in Israel, Some offshoot group backed by al-Fateh broke into Church of the Naitivity in Bethlehem and took foreign tourists as hostage, kept in standoff situation. Such terrorism acts have kept on and Israeli government countered and retaliated like mouse, had to deal with indicisive Palestine Authority from ever. In the meantime, former Israel prime Minister Ariel Sharon has decided to build up the boundary wall in West Bank, partitioning Jewish settlements and Palestine villages to prevent from coming suicide bombers to Israel. After the wall built, terrorism is tended effectively decreasing, but not completely yet. After passing on PA President, Yasser Arafat, a new replacement of President Abu Abbas has pledged to continue peace process line, but the strugglings of power sharing inside PA and Hamas have been fiercely emerged that pressures the U.S suspicious of Palestine peace road map deal commitments and platform differences concerning about Israel recognition and existence between Hamas and PLO. In my opinion, even though Abu Abbas, al-Fateh led the PLO is recognized Israel existence, some factions of PLO have been reluctant to make a peace deal with Israel. With considered of such chaotic and volitile situations inside Palestine politics, there are many issues to be resolved: Jerusalem capital claimed from both Israel and Palestine, Palestine refugees return from the neighbor of Arabic countries after 1948, the reconsideration of Israel bondary line assuming to the status of pre-1967 and so forth... Even if one of these issues is in impasse, the peace process may be agrounded. So, I understand Israel must act on Palestine Authority unilaterally. The continuation of settlement construction is one of Israeli stance toward the indicisiveness of Palestine Authority. However, Israeli and Palestine governments do need to back off toward a start line with the U.S support, which should be grounded on some practical elements of 1993 Oslo Accords with mutual respect that confirm co-existence principles anew. Terrorizm acts intruding from Palestine soil with funding backed Arabic countries shall be subject to impose the sanctions of close-off Israeli border. Somehow domestic security should be reinforced and trained by the U.S or ISAF of NATO. Crackdown on terrorists inside Palestine states is the most indispensable task to be tackled with the cooperation of the U.S and Europe that help Palestine states start coordinating independent states. To make Israel freeze setlement construction is a ritmus paper of how much Palestine authority shall reform domestic politics and commit itself to abondoning for nurturing terrorists inside Palestine soil, backing on a right track.

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