Kissing Oslo Accords Good-bye

Nadene Goldfoot

Salam Fayyad, unelected Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, just announced on Wednesday on his radio show that the PA will no longer be following the Oslo Accords that they signed in 1993. He said they wouldn't be a prisoner to their restrictions any longer. I wonder if he's also put this in writing.

The Oslo Accords were said by Feisal Husseini to be a Trojan horse designed to deceive Israel. So obviously this must mean that since the accords are now broken by the PA, Israel can also kiss them goodbye.

It could also mean that Israel could now annex the Israeli controlled areas of Judea and Samaria and create my new idea of calling the PA's area "Israel's Commonwealth," just like Puerto Rico is to the USA.

On the other hand, "Abbas said that despite the crisis in the peace talks with Israel, the Palestinians remained committed to a political solution on the basis of the road map and the Arab peace initiative, which he described as a “precious gift” to peace in the Middle East. Abbas plans to go to talk to Hosni Mubarak in Cairo tomorrow and discuss the situation. He said that as a last resort, he would ask Israel to take over.

"In exchange for statehood, the road map requires the Palestinian Authority to make democratic reforms and abandon the use of violence. Israel, for its part, must support and accept the emergence of a reformed Palestinian government and end settlement activity of the Gaza Strip and West Bank as the Palestinian terrorist threat is removed." They have not complied in reforming their educational goals in their hatred of Jews as shown in their textbooks. Their maps refuse to show Israel and instead just show Palestine. That would be under democratic reforms and using violence. They have had outbursts of violent acts of course, coming from their teachings and attitudes. Hamas broke off with Fatah in June 2007, so there is no reason for Israel to abide by the accords being they are constantly attacked. The Palestinians themselves are a divided group intent on different goals, at least on the surface. I do believe that Fatah differs only in that they are trying to achieve the same goal by diplomacy instead of so much bloodshed.

"Palestine" was to be all the land east of the 1949 armistice according to Palestinians. "The territory in question is home to approximately 500,000 Jews, along with up to 1.5 million Arabs, and includes historically Jewish towns as well as the Temple Mount, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, and Rachel's Tomb, Judaism's first, second, and third most holy sites respectively".

Resource: http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/ Palestinians Say They Are No Longer Bound By The Oslo Accords Daily News.

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=198572

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_map_for_peace

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/world/africa/15iht-mideast.5.6163185.html

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/141037

Netanyahu and Palestine

by Nadene Goldfoot

One thing I've always been able to count on since 1948 is that the Arabs have refused all our offers of being able to create their own nation next door to us. Arafat refused so many times that it simply was amazing to me. We've offered them everything including the kitchen sink and they have refused doing so. We've moved out of land we were living in and it only led to another place they could stage rocket firings upon us.

I've become very jaded in my attitude wondering which will happen first; the Messiach's arrival or a change in the Arabs. Not Netanyahu. He remains hopeful. Maybe it's because he's the prime minister, younger, and I'm not. He is ready to talk to their government leaders without preconditions. He said it wasn't Israel that had preconditions but that they have been placed on Israel, something that has not happened to previous Israeli governments. This is another stone thrown at Israel by the Obama government, as far as I can see.

Netanyahu isn't even saying that the "Palestinians have to recognize Israel as a Jewish homeland before he will talk with them. He's hoping that after the talks they will, though. He's hoping that the talks will be like a reconciliation of two people who will emerge with dignity, respect, and cooperation-something that has never taken place yet.

Netanyahu also has a vision for regional peace. All of Israel does and has been praying for it since 1948. It's not fun to always be immersed in a war or constantly threatened. Imagine what it does to the people. They cannot let their guard down. Their family members are always doing a milueem, which is going into the army for at least a month every year of practice. No one in Israel wants to be a warrior, but have to be alert and ready at anytime.

Netanyahu rightly hopes that many Arab states need to change their attitude and get involved in the peace process and help out the Palestinians economically, and not just arm them with weapons to be used against Israel. They need to advance income producing projects like commerce, agriculture and tourism. Palestine has to be demilitarized. Two Arab states have signed a peace treaty with Israel like Egypt and Jordan, but others have not. It's a belligerent neighborhood that Israel finds itself.

Our biggest problem with Abbas and his followers is that they still refuse to recognize the legitimacy of Israel and that it is a declared Jewish state. They refuse to accept Israel's right to national self-determination. They refuse to accept Israel-period.

Then again, the Hamas group living in Gaza refuse to accept Abbas or Israel. How in the world can there be a state of Palestine when their total being is to destroy Israel? Well, like waiting since 1948 when I was a little girl, it may have to take the arrival of the Messiach to bring this about.

Right now Netanyahu is going through tremendous pressure from the USA, Europe and from the Arab states to give in to their demands and expectations which are not considering the welfare of Israel at all. The whole world is pressuring him and they have not placed themselves in Israel's shoes at all. He's a bright man and does not want to repeat what happened in Gaza to happen in the "so called West Bank which we call Judea and Samaria". He will expect some international guarantees, especially from the USA. This cannot be conducted like promises in a political race where promises suddenly are off the table once elected. They must be made honestly. Obama is the one pressuring Israel so much. Will he take the responsibility of these guarantees? If the Arabs truly believe in peace, they will guarantee their acceptance of Israel and desire to live in peace. I haven't been able to count on that for 60 years. Why is this different now?

Netanyahu took a big step towards peace as Israel has done many times. He's using the word "state". He also intends to honor the road map, but then Bush also added guarantees onto that that haven't been met, and the wordage is not understood as having the same meaning by both Israel and the USA. (Read my blog article before this ). I wonder if he feels like me in that the Palestinians will exhibit the same old-same old attitude of rejection. They have yet to bend to anything that would spell out peace. Their response to Netanyahus speech has been most negative. I'm not surprised. Again-it's the same old same old attitude as usual.

I've had nightmares of Israel being surrounded by two Palestinian states; Gaza and the "West Bank". Gaza hasn't stopped firing upon Israel yet, and people in the West Bank have managed to get their licks in at Israel many times in ruthless terrorist attacks. Well, why should I be worried. Looking at past history, it'll be the day when they accept anything said by Israel to make peace.

Reference: http://www.theisraelproject.org/atf/cf/%7B84dc5887-741e-4056-8d91-a389164bc94e%7D/PRESS_CONFERENCE_WITH_MARK_REGEV_15.6.09.PDF

Obama and International Law Concerning Israel

by Nadene Goldfoot

Unlike past presidents, Obama is demanding tht Israel prevent its citizens from building onto their homes and communities in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria which is something we all do at one time or another to our own homes in the states. Sometimes there is a need for an additional rumpus room or bedroom when we can't afford to buy another home. We try to improve on what we have.

Obama goes along with Arab philosophy by calling "settlements" illigitimate. Joining him in this chorus are Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Middle East envoy of Obama, George Mitchell, who never liked Israel to begin with from what I've noted in the past.

Obama says that Israel "has obligations under the road map." Let's look at that map.

Israel has never taken a legal obligation to ban such building. Israel never signed an agreement that describes any Jewish community as "illegal." Ariel Sharon's chief of staff Dov Weisglass and Bush's deputy adviser Elliott Abrams both stated that Sharon's decision to curtail Jewish building in Judea and Samaria was based on explicit understandings with Bush's administration describing Jewish building that they would maintain for the duration of the peace process. There were agreements and the prime minister of Israel relied on them.." The road map was approved as a cabinet decision-not an international agreement. The Netanyahu government is under no legality to follow it. It can even abrogate Israel's accepting the document by calling for another vote. The road map lacks the seal of international law. It was not adopted as an internationally binding document under Chapter Vii of the UN charter. Israel has no international legal obligation to end Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria or Jerusalem.

Israel is on board for the 1976 International Convention for Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits all forms of discrimination against people on the basis of religion and nationality. The USA signed that one, too. According to that, Israel would be most discriminating if it followed the dictates of Obama, so by international law would not even be able to push such a law that is against the law. The road map is calling for a breach of international law!

What bothers me is that here we have a group of people who will not accept Israel's state of being and will not recognize Israel, and yet so many are on board to punish Israel and reward the bullies. What kind of world is this? Here we also have Iran, who has threatened Israel repeatedly with death and destruction, doing this to their own people and yet our administration has been reticent about saying anything to upset their regime. I note that they are not shy about demanding something from Israel that is completely wrong and unfair and only serves to reward the people who want to see the demise of Israel. All I can say on retrospect is that our Democrats certainly have changed course in mid-stream. I seem to remember a lot of promises pouring out of Clinton and Obama when pleading for votes. Of course, I never believed a word. Politicians. They're becoming more and more like snake-oil salesmen.

Reference: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245924931885&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

Realistic Creation of a Palestine State

by Nadene Goldfoot

Israel is not about to jump into the fire to please the nations of the world. It doesn't intend to self-destruct.

Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud party has just been deemed the new Prime Minister. His foreign minister is Avigdor Lieberman of the Yisrael Beitenu , the 2nd largest party in the coalition. Lieberman has declared that Israel will not follow the 2007 Annapolis meeting's outcomes. Israel had never ratified Annapolis, nor did parliament. Instead, they will continue to follow the 2003 road map.

Netanyahu has not endorsed statehood for the Palestinians. He believe they should govern themselves but have limited powers of authority that would not harm Israeli's security. The 2003 road map was more realistic. This plan made the Palestinian state contingent on the Palestinians reining in militants.

To me, it is utterly ridiculous to create a state that is bent on destroying its neighbor. They must sign papers and show after an x amount of years that they are accepting Israel and willing to go to the nth degree to live in peace. Otherwise, it's like taking a new medicine that you know will create cancer and kill you. I am very happy to read that Israel's new government is more realistic and not so eager to satisfy and please greedy nations.

Resource: Yahoo News: Israel not bound by Annapolis understandings: Lieberman, by Jeffrey Heller http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090401/wl_nm/us_israel_12