Sharon to remove some settlements

[Classical_Liberal]

Personal note: The binational state talk certainly seems to have created alot of love for two states on the right.

Sharon to remove some settlements

West Bank, Gaza plans mean room for a Palestinian state

Saturday, November 22, 2003
BY DAN WILLIAMS
REUTERS

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon plans to remove some Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by the summer of 2004 to make way for a Palestinian state, Israel's Channel 2 television said yesterday.

Israeli and Palestinian officials were not immediately available for comment, but a source in Sharon's office said: "There is such talk, but for now it only concerns settlements in Gaza. A lot could happen by next summer."

The decision would mark Sharon's most significant move toward implementing a U.S.-backed "road map" to peace and Palestinian statehood -- and away from his traditionally unswerving support for settlements in the occupied territories.

"Sharon is once again poring over maps and planning. Where will the settlers go? To the Negev," Channel 2 political correspondent Amnon Avrahamovitch said, referring to Israel's largely unpopulated southern desert.

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1069482819287430.xml

[ThorsteinVeblen]

1. I'll believe it when I see it.

Sharon is a liar.

[number6]

6. me too

..

[Jack Rabbit]

2. Reserving judgment

We've seen Sharon too often hold up and olive branch and then crush it in his hands. We've seen too often Palestinian terrorists attack Israeli civilians without cause when there is a sliver of hope.

Nevertheless, this is, as it says, Sharon's most significant step away from his "unswerving support" for settlements in the occupied terrirtories. That much should be welcome.

This is a war neither side can win. It's long past time to stop pointing fingers at who is to blame and just make peace.

[bemildred]

3. There is a story in Haaretz about demonstrations

on the Palestinian side AGAINST the Geneva Accords.
We are far from out of the woods, but any more accomodating
change in rhetoric is to be welcomed.

Still, as you say, words must be followed by deeds to count for much.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. That doesn't surprise me

There can be no such thing as a perfect solution to the I/P conflict. Some hardliners on both sides are going to object to any solution that doesn't result iin a single, ethnically cleansed state.

Do you have a link to the Ha'aretz story?

[bemildred]

7. Here:

Scroll down a bit.

Thousands of Palestinian militants protested in
the Gaza Strip and West Bank on Friday against
the Geneva Accords, calling the peace
initiative a "betrayal."

"Foreign occupation is destined to be erased, as
is the monstrous Geneva Agreement," Islamic
Jihad chief Mohammed al-Hindi said during a
mass Gaza rally called to denounce the document
named after its Swiss mediators.

"The cause of Palestine is a cause of refugees
and any solution that does not secure our
return will not be accepted," said a resident
of Gaza's Jabalya camp which hosted the rally.


Hamas and Islamic Jihad called for protests to
be held outside the homes of Geneva's
Palestinian signatories - former cabinet
minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, Minister for
Prisoner Affairs Hisham Abdel-Razek, and
lawmakers from Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

Haaretz

[Jack Rabbit]

8. Thanks

Hamas and IJ. The Islamic fundies. What a surprise!

Hamas and Islamic Jihad called for protests to be held outside the homes of Geneva's Palestinian signatories - former cabinet minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, Minister for Prisoner Affairs Hisham Abdel-Razek, and lawmakers from Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.
"They must be punished and prosecuted. Who gave them the right to speak on behalf of our people inside closed restaurants and air-conditioned hotel rooms?" Hamas political leader Nizar Rayan told a cheering crowd of thousands.

That sounds like the same abuse heeped on Yossi Beilin for negotiating the Geneva Accord from the rightwing kooks in the Knesset.

[bemildred]

10. A fundy is a fundy, to my mind.

And they are the enemies of the peace and prosperity
of all the rest of us who have better things to do.

[Muddleoftheroad]

11. As opposed to the terrorist scum

Who kill women and children and blow up restaurants and are the defenders of democracy that 75% of the Palestinian people reportedly support?

[bemildred]

12. I'm sorry, I have no idea what that is supposed to mean

in the context of my post.

[Muddleoftheroad]

13. Unsurprising

You were saying, "A fundy is a fundy, to my mind. And they are the enemies of the peace and prosperity of all the rest of us who have better things to do."

Blaming the victim is a classic game in the I/P conflict. Don't ever dare blame the terrorists however.

[bemildred]

14. I am still lost here.

Who might be the victim that I am blaming?

The particular fundies that were in question here were
IJ and Hamas, or so I thought,

[Muddleoftheroad]

15. The I misread

In which case, I apologize.

[bemildred]

16. Accepted. nt

[Classical_Liberal]

5. Yes, but I don't think you can win over everyone

I think you can get an enforcable majority at best. If moves toward a state are made, the hardliners in the Palestinian camp loose 90% of the suicide bomber recruites that sure as hell helps.

[Muddleoftheroad]

9. The other 10% is still a large number

And the Palestinians have shown no interest is dealing with them.

[Classical_Liberal]

17. It will be easier to deal with them when only 10% are left

and they have a state with which to crack down on them.

[IndianaGreen]

18. Sharon should move his fat ass out of Gaza, West Bank, and East Jerusalem

Israel should return to its pre-June 1967 borders, with Jerusalem under international control and supervision.