"67 BORDERS NOT DEFENSIBLE" - SAYS ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU BY: FERN SIDMAN Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was greeted with great enthusiasm and thunderous applause at the concluding banquet of the 2011 AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington last night. "America! We're with you, this day and every day", he said, mentioning the tragic death tolls in the aftermath of the tornados in Joplin, Missouri. Thanking his "good friends", Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Speaker of the House John Boehner, (R-OH) he said that "Israel thanks you for your deep commitment to its security". Embellishing on the unbreakable United States/Israel relationship, Netanyahu said, "Israel is America's indispensable ally" and thus, the two nations should stand "shoulder to shoulder" and protect their common interests. On a lighter note, the Prime Minister mentioned that he and his wife toured Washington, visiting the monuments to America's founding leaders and said that, "I read the words of Thomas Jefferson, who said, 'we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal', and these exalted principles were "first championed by the Jewish people; that we are all created in G-d's image", adding that "Israel is the cradle of our civilization". "Today, one million Muslims enjoy full democratic rights in Israel; Christians are free to practice their faith; all because of the shared principles of democracy that bind us," he said. Receiving a great round of applause, the Prime Minister said, "these rights go forth from the one, united city of Jerusalem". Saying that "Israel and America share deep well springs of our common values as we have forged an enduring friendship, not just between our governments, but between our peoples." At one point in his speech, he stopped and heaped accolades upon Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I) of Connecticut; one of Israel's greatest friends and allies in the US Senate and said there is hope for uniting, 'even independents like you, Joe" "The American people's support for Israel is reflected in my invitation to address a joint meeting of Congress tomorrow" he said. "I will talk about the great convulsion taking place in the Middle East; I will talk about the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran. I will also outline a vision for a secure Israeli-Palestinian peace. I will speak the unvarnished truth. Now, more than ever, what we need is clarity', he added "Since the days of Harry Truman', said the Prime Minister, "there has been broad support for Israel in the US and they have stood by us as we meet the challenges of the future" He also thanked President Obama and Congress "for vital assistance so Israel can defend herself, by herself". Making special mention of the "Irondome" missile defense system, the Prime Minister related a recent incident in which Hamas rockets were intercepted in mid-air. Speaking of the cooperation and state of the art advancements in science, trade, technology and investments, Netanyahu said, "not only do American companies invest in Israeli companies, but Israeli companies have invested $50 billion in American companies, helping to stimulate the US economy." In the field of medical research and development, he spoke of the rapid advancements in research of Alzheimer's disease and cancer and spoke of the Israeli invention of a "tiny diagnostic camera that can fit inside a pill" and of the "miraculous bandage that helped to save the life of Arizona congresswoman Gabriella Giffords" who was the victim of an attempted assassination in January. On the political front, the Prime Minister spoke of the "great convulsion in the Middle East" and "the dangers of a nuclear powered Iran". The simple truth, he said is, "the problems of the region are not rooted in Israel". Illustrating the yearnings for "freedom, progress and a better life" by peoples throughout North Africa and the Middle East, he said that their aspirations are not related to Israel but to their own brutal governments and despotic leadership. In an indirect manner, he took issue with US President Obama by intoning,"peace between Israel and the Palestinians is not a panacea for problems in the Middle East. Israel is not what is wrong with the Middle East but what is right about the Middle East." Expressing his desire for a just and lasting peace, the Prime Minister said, "We want peace; we know the agony of war; the pain of terror". Stating that the impasse of peace negotiations rests squarely on the shoulders of the Palestinians, he declared, "peace has not been achieved because they (the Palestinians) refuse to recognize the Jewish state". Firing yet another salvo at President Obama for his recent shift in foreign policy towards Israel that was outlined in his now infamous speech delivered on May 19th, the Prime Minister declared, "Israel must be left with defensible borders and this cannot be achieved with the 1967 lines". Thanking the US for condemning Hamas in the most vociferous of terms, he also spoke of the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held by Hamas for five years with not a single visit from the Red Cross. “The whole world should join together with a simple message for Hamas: release Gilad Shalit!” called Netanyahu. .
 Hamas and Hizbullah proclaim they will fight until Israel is destroyed, without causing an international furor.In spite of Israel's ongoing dialogue with the United States to search for the right formula for the resumption of talks, the position taken by the Obama administration, and the unfair pressure exerted by the European Union, have brought down the fragile structure which had previously made negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians possible. Though these negotiations did not bring about the desired peace, they did constitute an agreed channel for discussions between the two parties and brought about, for instance, the Olmert government's agreement to an American proposal to train Palestinian forces in Jordan under the supervision of Gen. Keith Dayton, thus paving the way for the creation of a regular Palestinian fighting force trained with Western methods. This was a major concession and a risky one. This force is intended to keep order in Judea and Samaria, but who is to say that it would not turn againstIsrael under different circumstances? Israel has shown a greater willingness in the past year to meet the Palestinians halfway, as exemplified by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Bar-Ilan speech recognizing the two-state principle. Then there was the 10-month freeze on West Bank settlements. HOWEVER, BUOYED by US President Barack Obama's intense wooing of the Muslim world, the Palestinian Authority has chosen the opposite course, refusing to come back to the negotiation table and launching an all-out diplomatic, media and legal war against the Jewish state. The EU is ratcheting up the pressure, and has issued a declaration calling for a withdrawal to the 1967 borders and for Jerusalem to become the capital of both countries. This would, in effect, rendernegotiations useless by determining their outcome from the outset. It is as if the world has forgotten that Israel already made the most extraordinary concessions at Camp David and in Taba. Yasser Arafat not only turned down the Israeli proposals, he did not make any counter-proposition. The same scenario played out at Annapolis in 2008. According to a lengthy Al-Jazeera interview with Saeb Erekat on March 27, prime minister Ehud Olmert made even greater concessions, but that was not enough for PA President Mahmoud Abbas: He walked out when Olmert suggested a jointadministration of the Temple Mount. Erekat also said that when US president Bill Clinton told Arafat at Camp David that he would be the first president of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, but that he had to recognize the fact that vestigesof the Temple were buried under the Aksa Mosque and there would have to be joint administration of the Temple Mount, Arafat put an end to the negotiations. THERE WAS no Israeli denial following these revelations, and recent interviews by Abbas and Olmert support Erekat's version - though the latest round ofnegotiations carried out by Olmert and foreign minister Tzipi Livni enjoyed a degree of secrecy rarely seen here. As such, the extent of the concessions the two leaders had been ready to make was kept under wraps - perhaps for fear of the impact on the coming elections. That was a colossal miscalculation. The Knesset, the country and the world should have been told that the extremely generous terms offered to the Palestinians had been turned down, putting the blame squarely on Abbas. Such a step would have gone a long way to defuse the situation with Obama and his advisers. It seems that the new government led by Netanyahu had not been fully conversant with the details of the failednegotiations and was thus ill prepared to deal with the accusations leveled against it. Then came the Goldstone Report. The main message there is not so much the totally unfounded accusations of war crimes but an attempt to limit the extent to whichIsrael is "allowed" to use force to defend itself against terrorist organizations. Such a move was not totally unexpected coming from the UN, especially from the Committee on Human Rights, where Islamic and Arab countries have a decisive voice. What was not expected was that it would lead, for instance, to the White House asking for "clarifications" following a recent operation in Nablus. (In a confrontation with Israeli security forces, three terrorists who had murdered a father of seven were killed.) This demand, made at the request of the Palestinian Authority, constitutes a dangerous precedent. Coupled with the Goldstone Report, it tends to present a difficult dilemma to the government and to the security forces when contemplating military intervention. AT THE same time, terrorist organizations, at the behest of some Arab countries, will be able to keep attacking our citizens while sheltering behind their civilians, in hospitals, in schools and in mosques. Hamas and Hizbullah proclaim on every available channel that they will never recognizeIsrael and will fight until it has disappeared - without causing an international furor. In fact, Arab organizations, supported by leftist Western groups, are busy getting arrest warrants issued in European countries having relevant legislation against Israeli leaders and army officers for "war crimes," calling for boycotting Israeli products and demonstrating their support for Gaza. In each and every successive confrontation, Arab states and Palestinian movements have been defeated. Now they are seeking other ways to harassIsrael . They are waging an all-out media war to blacken its image and ultimately delegitimize its very existence. They are helped in this endeavor by hundreds of leftist organizations and civil society movements in the West. For them Israel is a neo-colonial power, as is the US. But Israel is easier prey because of its size and isolation. Anti-Semitism is also at work here. Palestinian and Arab media, with the full support of the Islamic establishment in Arab countries, use every anti-Semitic cliché in the book, and some of that leached into the West where it led to a renewal of classic European anti-Semitism. More at JPost 
 Israeli officials on Sunday tried to downplay tensions looming with the United States after George Mitchell, the Obama administration's Middle East envoy, suggested in a PBS interview that the US could consider withholding support for loan guarantees for Israel. Israel's finance minister, Yuval Steinitz, said on Sunday that Israel has "no indication that there is any intention to pressure us through the guarantees ... only a few months ago we reached an agreement with the US treasury and state departments on the extension of their guarantees." However, he also said that Israel could do without the guarantees, if necessary. "We don't have to use those guarantees. We are doing very well without them," Mr. Steinitz said Sunday. He added in his comments that Israel late last year agreed with the US on the guarantees for 2010 and 2011, and no conditions were placed on Israel at that time.
Israeli Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar also addressed Mr. Mitchell's remark at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, saying that Israel would act in its own interests and not according to external pressures.
"The American administration knows that those who are holding up the negotiations are the Palestinians," said Sa'ar. "Israel made many concessions while the Palestinians didn't do a thing."
From the Israeli point of view, Netanyahu's offer of a ten-month freeze in settlement construction back in November was a peace-making gesture that has not been met by Palestinian willingness to come back to the negotiating table.
But from the Palestinian viewpoint, President Mahmoud Abbas is finally "standing up" to Western pressure to return to negotiations by insisting on a full moratorium on building of Israeli settlements, including in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinians see the eastern half of the city – under Jordanian control until 1967 -- as their future capital, but Israel annexed the territory and does not consider East Jerusalem neighborhoods as settlements. US backing for Israel's loan guarantees has been a hot issue in the past, most pointedly in the early 1990s when the administration of George H. W. Bush faced a head-on collision with the Likud premier, Yitzhak Shamir, who refused to curtail settlement building in the West Bank.
Ultimately, the Bush administration decided it would subtract equivalent amounts of money from the $10 billion in loan guarantees for every dollar Israel spent building settlements in the occupied territories. The outcome of the spat was a low-point in US-Israel relations.
"Theoretically of course, the withdrawal of loan guarantees could be an act of pressure, but Israel doesn’t really need loan guarantees," says Peter Medding, an expert on US-Israel relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "But if they try to do it, as they did very unsuccessfully in the early 1990s, it would have to come from the White House. I don't think it's Obama's style, and I don't think it fits the circumstances.
If anything, they've been trying to persuade Abbas to come to the party, and are still waiting for him. " More at CSM
 Mideast envoy George Mitchell has threatened that the U.S. could freeze aid to Israel if the country fails to advance peace talks, YNetNews.com reported. Mitchell said the U.S. can legally cut its support for aid to Israel and that all options must remain open, YNet reports, though he clarified on PBS that the U.S. wants to put pressure on both sides in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. The remarks come on the eve of his trip to Israel, aiming to bolster a peace process that failed to get back off the ground during the first year of the Obama administration. "We think that the negotiation should last no more than two years," Mitchell said in an interview on PBS' "Charlie Rose." "We hope the parties agree. Personally I think it can be done in a shorter period of time." Mitchell's comments also come days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signaled he may participate in a U.S.-backed summit with Israeli and Egyptian leaders this year. Click here for more on this story from YNetNews.com FoxNews
 by Khaled Abu Toameh The leaders of the Palestinian Authority have reached the conclusion that, under the current circumstances, it would be a waste of time to return to the negotiating table with Israel.
They are convinced that the only way to get anything is by rallying pressure from the international community against Israel. It is for this reason that representatives of the Palestinians have been negotiating with the Europeans and Americans about the peace process -- not with Israel. The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah is negotiating about the peace process, but with the foreign ministers of France, Sweden, Norway, Germany and the UK and not with Israel. Almost every step this leadership takes is fully coordinated in advance with Western diplomats and their governments. They believe that at present Israel is more isolated than ever in the international arena, particularly in light of the UN’s Gaza War report, the “Goldstone Report.” The Palestinian leadership has chosen to confront Israel in the international arena, and not at the negotiating table. Abbas’s strategy is to further isolate Israel in the world through boycotts and anti-Israel resolutions at the UN and other international forums. They see growing support for Palestinians in many European capitals, and are convinced that this will eventually be translated into heavy pressure on Israel. This is why he is prepared to wait and wait. He believes that the longer he waits, the more Israel will come under pressure. Palestinian leaders see that the UN and almost all European governments have entirely endorsed the Palestinian narrative in the Israeli-Arab conflict Palestinian, namely that Israel must withdraw to the pre-1967 borders, including half of Jerusalem, and allow the establishment of a Fatah-controlled state in these territories. They see increased anti-Israel sentiments in the West and are encouraged that Israel will not be able to tolerate hostility, isolation and boycott for a long time. Abbas believes that the international community is negotiating with Israel on behalf of the Palestinians. He is fully convinced that only increased pressure on Israel, and not negotiations, will bring about a full withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders. And since the whole world, with the possible exception of the US Administration, “is on our side,” why bother return to the negotiating table with Israel? The belief among the Palestinian leadership is that it is only a matter of time before Israel succumbs to the growing international pressure. By negotiating with Abbas and his government, the Western governments are, in fact, keeping the Palestinians from resuming peace talks with Israel. Instead of negotiating with Abbas, these governments should be urging him to return to the negotiations with Israel as soon as possible and before it is too late. But for now Abbas does not seem to be in a rush; this is why those who believe that real peace talks could be “revived” in the near future are living under an illusion. Abbas has set out his demands and conditions in a clear and straight manner and he is waiting for the international community to help him achieve all his goals. If Abbas wants to prove his claim that Israel “does not want peace,” then he should return to the negotiating table tomorrow morning and show the world which party is to blame for the stalemate. Hudson New York
 Israel's prime minister says he is traveling to Egypt this week to meet with President Hosni Mubarak. The declared objective of Tuesday's trip is to discuss Mideast peacemaking.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also expected to discuss negotiations to swap hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel for an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants in 2006. Egypt and Germany have been mediating those talks. Through the mediators, Israel has forwarded its latest proposal to Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers. They have not responded. A Netanyahu ally quoted the Israeli leader as telling Cabinet ministers that "it's not clear there will be a deal." Netanyahu said the deadly shooting of an Israeli settler last week highlighted the risks of a deal. FoxNews
 Benjamin Netanyahu is much more serious about Middle East peace than most Americans realize. With U.S. diplomacy on the brink of a surprising success, it's time for the Palestinians to step up. For a year or two at an early stage in his career, I commuted to and from our adjacent offices each morning and evening with Martin Indyk, later a top peace-process official of the Clinton administration atthe Camp David negotiations and now vice president for foreign policy at the Brookings Institution.
I had just left the Rand Corporation to work at AIPAC,the main pro-Israel lobbying organization in Washington. Even in those pre-Oslo days of 1982 to 1983,Martin was a True Believer in the idea of a grand land-for-peace bargain between Israel and moderate Palestinians. Reviewing each day the latest installments in the Middle East epic as we rolled down Rock Creek Parkway, weargued all the way.
I heaped scorn on any solution that required Israel totrust Palestinian intentions, and I held that Israel's security could only bebased on a qualitative military edge and the balance of power. I told Martinthat he and our mutual friends Dennis Ross, Aaron Miller, and Dan Kurtzer,though with the noblest of intentions, were pursuing an illusion. Martin emphatically thought I was wrongabout the Middle East, and he also thought I was blind to an enduring reality in Washington. He said that Democratic and Republican administrations of the left and right may come and go, and some presidents will have less confidence in Middle East peacemaking than others, but no U.S. president will be able to sustain a policy of benign neglect of the peace process for long.
The American people, the United States' European allies, and U.S. friends in the Arab world allneed to have a ray of hope. They need to believe that active diplomacy under U.S.leadership is bringing closer a resolution of the conflict between Israelis andPalestinians, because it is a conflict that roils other American interests anddestabilizes U.S. relations in the region and throughout the world. Martin often cited our friend, the late Peter Rodman, who taught us that U.S. policyin the Middle East is a bicycle. You can keep your balance if you roll forwardeven at a snail's pace, but if you try to stand still you will fall off. Martin never did succeed in convertingme to the peace camp, but over time I saw the undeniable evidence that he wasright about the imperatives of U.S. foreign policy. Sooner or later, every presidentturns to the peace process, and the Mideast advisors who move to the president'sinner circle are the ones he thinks have the best ideas about how to moveforward toward a contractual peace between Israelis and Palestinians. I think Benjamin Netanyahu has gone through a personal evolution a little like my own. He continues to be profoundly skeptical that signing a piece of paper can put an end to this conflict. He is a fierce advocate of defensible borders and military strength as the true guarantors of Israel's security.
Nevertheless, he has come back to a second term as prime minister with a deeper appreciation of the reality thathis relations with the United States, Europe, and moderate Arab neighbors dependon the perception that he can be a partner in the search for diplomaticprogress with the Palestinians. And he certainly knows that many harbor doubtsabout him. That is why Bibi agreed to do somethingunprecedented, something that six previous Israeli prime ministers since the1993 Oslo Accords (Rabin, Peres, Barak, Sharon, Olmert, and Netanyahu himselfin his previous term) refused to do. Very much against the will of his partyand coalition, Netanyahu consented to putting a freeze on "natural growth"of settlements. He has drastically curtailed the volume of construction starts,even in the "consensus" settlement blocs that he believes wereconceded to Ariel Sharon by George W. Bush. Now, below the radar, Netanyahu is making a series of additional concessions to Barack Obama and his Mideast peaceenvoy, George Mitchell. Their current priority is negotiating "terms of reference"to permit the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations (TORs in negotiators' vernacular).
Dismissed by some as mere "talking about talking," TORs are in fact vital elements to create the parameters for serious negotiations.For example, then-Secretary of State James Baker shuttled around the region for eight months to negotiate the TORs that made the 1991 Madrid conference possible.
All that was done just to phrase a letter of invitation that allsides could accept. The result was far from trivial; it was a framework thatopened the way to all the direct negotiations that followed over the ensuingtwo decades. More at Foreign Policy
 Controversial former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has written a letter to the the Jewish people, asking for forgiveness for stigmas he caused against Israel as a result of his agenda for Arab-Israeli peace. In a letter sent to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) in time for the Christmas season, Carter wrote: "We must recognize Israel’s achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel. As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an 'Al Het' for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so." "Al Het" (literally "for the sin") is a fundamental component of the Yom Kippur prayer service, in which penitents ask for Divine forgiveness for sins committed against G-d. However, the term could also be used to mean a general plea for pardoning. Carter's position on Jews and Arabs in the Land of Israel has been controversial since his presidency. During his term, Carter directed the signing of the Camp David Accords by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, which resulted in the forced expulsion of Jews from the Sinai town of Yamit, as well as the transfer of the giant Sinai region to Egypt. In 2006, Carter authored the book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," in which he lauded former PLO chief Yasser Arafat; said modern U.S. administrations have been "submissive" to "powerful political, economic, and religious" pro-Israel advocates; compared Israel's development of Judea and Samaria to South African anti-black apartheid; and called the biblical heartland of Israel "Palestinian land", saying the Jewish state must retreat to the 1949 armistice lines. In June 2009, Carter visited Arab leaders in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria, receiving the Palestine International Award for Excellence and Creativity. During the ceremony, he told attendees, "I have been in love with the Palestinian people for many years" and promised to bolster Palestinians "as long as I live, to win your freedom, your independence, your sovereignty and a good life." He also visited with Hamas' leadership in Syria. Abraham Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), quickly called Carter's missive "welcome", saying it comes from a "significant individual" and would signal "beginning of reconciliation." INN
 PALESTINIAN leader Mahmoud Abbas has declared that a final-status agreement between Israelis and Palestinians can be completed within six months if Israel freezes all construction in Jewish settlements and in East Jerusalem. In the most optimistic timeframe given by any key player in the Middle East in recent times, Mr Abbas said he had put a fresh proposal to Israel's Defence Minster, Ehud Barak. Mr Abbas made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Israel has announced a 10-month freeze on new construction in the West Bank but Palestinians say it is inadequate because it fails to include Arab-dominated East Jerusalem and allows for at least another 3000 new houses and public buildings to be built. The Abbas comments suggest that East Jerusalem -- the most sensitive issue of all as both Israelis and Palestinians want Jerusalem as their capital -- is the major obstacle to new peace talks. "But I demanded that construction stop . . . during this time, we can get back to the table and even complete talks on a final-status agreement. I have yet to receive an answer. "They tell me I had not previously demanded a construction freeze in the settlements. True, in 1993 we didn't do so, but then there were no agreements about a freeze. Now there is the road map." The road map was an agreement brokered in 2003 by the Middle East Quartet -- the UN, US, Russia and the European Union -- and backed by former US president George W. Bush. With the aim of a formal agreement by 2005 leading to a two-state solution, Israel agreed to halt all settlement activity and gradually withdraw from the West Bank while Palestinians agreed to cease all terrorist activities and incitement to violence against Israel and to improve security in the West Bank. "So come and see what we did," Mr Abbas said in the interview. "The security situation throughout the West Bank is excellent. But what steps have you (Israel) taken so far? "You have not met a single clause in the road map. You removed a few roadblocks and there are still 640. Every day there are arrests, house demolitions. I don't understand why. We have security co-ordination, so why do this?" Mark Regev, the spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told The Australian yesterday that in a speech Mr Abbas gave in Arabic yesterday to a Palestinian conference, he included preconditions that he did not include in the interview. "What is of concern to us is that yesterday in the speech in Arabic, Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) placed more reasons why we can't start negotiations," Mr Regev said. "Up until now, he was talking about a settlement freeze. Now he is adding (a return to) 1967 borders. It's like we have to accept the outcome of negotiations before negotiations start. We are concerned that they are trying to avoid negotiations. "The reason we haven't been negotiating is the Palestinians have been placing new preconditions on talks." Asked about Mr Abbas's claim that he had put a proposal to Mr Barak and had not received any response, Mr Regev said: "Let's be fair: the 10-month cessation of new housing in the West Bank is unprecedented and has been called as such internationally. "No Israeli government has ever gone so far. "Internally in Israel, groups such as Peace Now have called it historic. "Yet he (Mr Abbas) ignores it. "It doesn't make sense to me." The Australian
 IN The Year 2000, Israelis and the Palestinians were on the verge of signing at Camp David, under the auspices of the then American President Bill Clinton, a historical agreement that would have settled all the disputes between them and brought peace and prosperity to the Middle East, in general, and to the Muslims of Palestine and the Jews of Israel, in particular. This agreement would also have made our earth a much better place for all of us to live in relative peace. But when all the arrangements were ready for the signing of the agreement, the Palestinians backed out, demanding, among others, that the Israelis grant them complete sovereignty over East Jerusalem’s Islamic holy site, in particular, the Al-Aqsa Mosque. But what right do the Muslims have to claim their complete sovereignty over East Jerusalem and why Israel should not cave in to their demand? To find the answer to this crucial question, we need to go to the Quran and see what it says about Jerusalem and if Muslims have at all any right over it. The name “Jerusalem” does not appear in the Quran.
However, a verse in it supposedly alludes to Jerusalem, saying: 17:1: “Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless,- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things).” Muhammad was clearly the speaker of this verse. He claimed that Allah took him for a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque (in Mecca) to the farthest Mosque whose precinct Allah blessed in order that he could show Muhammad some of His Signs. Muhammad, however, did not describe where that farthest mosque was located and what Signs of Allah he had seen at or in the vicinity of that mosque. In the footnote to the above verse, Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, one of the foremost Muslim scholars, confirms that the Mosque referred to in the verse was located in Jerusalem.[1] N. J. Dawood holds the same opinion.[2] Abdullah Yusuf Ali, having been helped by the Hadith literature as well as by his strenuous study of them, which also enabled him to elucidate the mystical meaning of the journey, maintains: “The holy Prophet was first transported to the seat of the earlier revelations in Jerusalem, and then taken through the seven heavens, even to the Sublime Throne, and initiated into the spiritual mysteries of the human soul struggling in Space and Time.”[3] The location of the so-called ‘Farthest Mosque’ (‘Masjidul Aqsa’ in Arabic) thus established, let us now focus on whether the night journey Muhammad had allegedly made was corporeal, or a dream But before doing that, let us note one important fact, it being: curiosity to know has always been one of mankind’s strongest instincts. It is not that this instinct is possessed only by the humans, even animals, such as ape and bear et al, are also born with it that allows them to know their surroundings before they can venture out into a difficult and dangerous world of their own. The fact that man had always been curious to know about him, his supposed creator, his surroundings and the universe is manifest from the religious scriptures, in which, at least eighty-five percent of today’s world population firmly believe, supposedly, in order to live a “righteous life.” From these scriptures, we learn how our distant ancestors had tried to uncover the heavens’ secrets. Two of the secrets they tried to unveil related to our origin and the mysteries that abound in the heavens. Because all humans have originated from a single couple (i.e. Adam and his wife who had only sons and no daughters), all humans in the beginning naturally spoke a single language. Using the unity brought to them by their common language, they took to building a tower to the heavens, so that they could learn what was going on inside each one of the seven heavens. More at Islam Watch
 The Palestinian observer at the UN, Riyad Mansour, urged the Security Council to take measures against Israel in light of what he called years of failed peace negotiations and a lack of Israeli willingness to advance a comprehensive peace agreement. Speaking on behalf of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Monday evening, Mansour told the General Assembly that the peace talks had been hindered by the "settlements, arrests (of Palestinians by the IDF) and Israeli attacks." In his speech, the Palestinian envoy reiterated the claim that the IDF committed war crimes during its December-January offensive in Gaza. He went on to criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, saying it was "alienating" the Palestinians and withdrawing from "all of the commitments and agreements that we have reached with previous Israeli governments." The UN is currently marking the historic date of November 29 1947, the day in which it approved the partition plan separating Israel into two states – Jewish and Arabic. But while in Israel the date is celebratory, as it marks the end of the British mandate and the beginning of independent rule, the UN headquarters in New York and Geneva are holding ceremonies of mourning and solidarity with the Palestinian people. Mansour added, "Israel's daily actions on the ground prove that it does not want to take one step towards a comprehensive agreement and is realizing its settlement scheme in the West Bank and Jerusalem in blatant violation of international law. "Israeli is turning its back to a return to the negotiation table, which is aimed at achieving a just and comprehensive solution that will guarantee peace for all of the region's nations," he said. "It's time that after all these years of negotiations, which did not yield any results, the international community, and particularly the Security Council, fulfill their obligations." The Palestinian observer said the Security Council must take "immediate and determined measures that will reflect the position of the world's nations, who have repeatedly demanded a two-state solution and an end to the Israeli occupation, which began in 1967." Mansour told the General Assembly Israel has intensified its efforts to "Judaize" Jerusalem, adding that this policy culminated with what he said were excavations under and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque and granting "Zealous Jews" permission to enter the holy site in the capital's Old City. He said these acts may add a dangerous religious element to the conflict. However, Mansour stressed that the Palestinians were committed to peace as a strategic choice.
 FOR all the talk of road maps and roads to peace, if ever harmony comes to the Middle East, it will need to travel along Highway 60 -- the road that winds north from Jerusalem towards the troubled Palestinian city of Nablus. It is in Nablus, one of the oldest and most important cities on the West Bank, that so many of the tensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict intersect. A frail ceasefire exists between three Palestinian factions -- Hamas, Fatah and the Islamic Jihad -- while the Israeli Defence Forces stand at the main checkpoint into Nablus. This city of about 200,000 people still has many problems but it has made great progress. During the worst of the second intifada, in 2002 and 2003, this was a war zone. Palestinian youths clashed nightly with Israeli troops. Nablus is rebuilding after the disaster of the intifada. These days, its youths seem more interested in turning up to An-Najah University than confronting Israeli soldiers. Markets were doing well, building was going ahead and if the standard of cars -- four Mercedes in one block -- is anything to go by, at least some people were doing well. It is impossible not to notice on the top of a mountain overlooking Nablus the palace of the wealthiest man in the West Bank, billionaire Munib al-Masri, whose company Padico owns the lion's share of the Palestinian Securities Exchange. Cities such as Nablus, Jenin and Ramallah have become important beacons for two key players -- the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The PA points to Nablus to argue that their more moderate positions -- which include doing business with Israel -- lead to economic benefits as opposed to Hamas's "armed resistance" model under which 1.5 million Gazans live in despair. The Israelis point to Nablus to argue that for any peace to hold, Palestinians need to have a stake in economic benefits. There are some bright spots, such as the first new cinema in Nablus in 22 years. Cinemas were closed during the first intifada, in 1987, as people stayed at home at night to avoid the fighting. Cinema director Bashir al-Shakah says opening such a complex five years ago would have been impossible. "No one will invest money in a war zone," he says. Attendances at the 175-seat cinema have been good and it has already hosted a film festival. Nudity is a no-no on screen but violence is permitted. Shakah says since the cinema opened in June, Muslim women, dressed in hijabs, have come to see what it's like watching a film in public. Many businesses, he says, closed during the second intifada. Whom do those people blame? "Both sides," he says. Today, Nablus is improving but the recovery is tenuous. Palestinian businessman Ahmad Aweidah wastes no words when asked the state of the Palestinian economy: "It's in tatters." Aweidah, 38, runs the Palestinian Securities Exchange, which has more than $US7 billion in deposits and $US2bn in loans. The stock exchange receives 15 per cent of its funds from foreign investors. Aweidah is contemptuous of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim he is trying to bring peace by boosting the Palestinian economy. "It's bull," he says. "It's just for media consumption. "Netanyahu doesn't want to pay the price for peace. He's not interested in removing settlements, he's not interested in a two-state solution but he has to say something. What he actually believes in is that Palestinians should pick up and go to Jordan." Aweidah says contrary to a professed desire to assist the Palestinian economy, Israel has introduced obstacles. "If Israel wants to see economic development on the West Bank, why do they keep all those restrictions on the Palestinian economy and the Palestinian Authority to do business? "If Israel is so interested in helping the Palestinian territories, why was the biggest direct investment into the Palestinian economy -- $US700 million for another phone system -- delayed for three years by Israelis?" The theme of deliberate obstruction is echoed in another meeting with a deputy mayor of Nablus, academic Hafez Shaheen. He says the world soccer federation, FIFA, has told Nablus it will pay the entire construction cost of a new football and sports stadium on the edge of the city. But Shaheen says the site approved by FIFA is part of "Area C" of the West Bank, which means that under the Oslo accords it is under Israeli army control. Nablus has paid for the site to be levelled but Israel, he says, has refused to approve the soccer stadium. "We are still under occupation," Shaheen says. "The Israeli army are only 10m from Nablus. "I can't leave the country without their permission, I need their permission to dig a well, I need their permission to construct a football field." But nor does Shaheen speak well of the Palestinian Authority. PA security officers turned up to the council one day and took him away, detaining him for two days. They also took away two of his sons. One son was held for months and still will not tell his father what happened in detention. Somehow, through all of this, Nablus and the West Bank more broadly need to find peace in their own ranks before they can bring about a peace with Israel that will hold. The Australian
 PARIS: Israel is ready to restart peace talks with Syria immediately and without conditions, a senior Israeli official said yesterday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Paris. Following talks in Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a senior Israeli travelling with the Prime Minister said: "Mr Sarkozy raised the issue of the Syrian track. "The Prime Minister said he is willing to meet with the Syrian President at any time and anywhere to move on the peace negotiations on the basis of no pre-conditions." Telephone talks arranged by Turkish mediators between the arch foes were broken off last year during Israel's offensive in Gaza, closing a promising diplomatic channel towards a broader Middle East settlement. A short statement from Mr Sarkozy's office made no specific mention of Syria, whose President, Bashar al-Assad, is due in Paris today, but said the French and Israeli leaders had discussed ways to restart the peace process. The statement from Mr Sarkozy's office said the talks had included only the leaders and one senior adviser each. Earlier, in Damascus, Mr Assad told a meeting of Arab political parties Syria would not "put forward conditions on making peace" but warned that it had "rights that we will not renounce", SANA news agency reported. The Paris meeting produced no sign of progress on peace between Israel and the Palestinians. On the eve of the visit, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said a "real political difference" separated Mr Sarkozy and Mr Netanyahu on Israel's continued building of settlements on Palestinian land. "We think that a freeze on settlements -- that's to say, no more colonisation while talks are ongoing -- would be absolutely indispensable," Mr Kouchner said. "We need talks and the peace process to restart." The Australian
 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu left the White House after a one-hour and 40-minute meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama Monday night without speaking to reporters -- a rare occurrence. The meeting had been grudgingly scheduled early Sunday morning by the White House just a few hours before Netanyahu was to leave for the U.S. to speak at the 2009 General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America.
The ninth-hour appointment was a clear sign that relations between Washington and Jerusalem remain strained; Netanyahu had requested the meeting weeks ago. Also in attendance for part of the meeting was Defense Minister Ehud Barak, National Security Council head Uzi Arad, Ambassador Michael Oren and Netanyahu adviser Yitzchak Molcho. U.S. officials included National Security Adviser General (ret.) Jim Jones, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Special Middle East Envoy George Mitchell and National Security Council Director for Near Eastern Affairs Dan Shapiro. On the agenda was the issue of Iran's galloping nuclear technology development, as well as the current paralysis in talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and the claim by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that he is resigning in January. All three matters are being taken "very seriously" by the Prime Minister's Office, said a spokesman. Netanyahu had reportedly been planning to tell the president that Israel was willing to be "generous" in scaling back Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria, and "means business" about rejuvenating talks with the PA. But the brief statement issued by the White House following the talks said simply that the two leaders discussed "how to move forward on Middle East peace." The White House spokesman added, "The president reaffirmed our strong commitment to Israel's security, and discussed security cooperation on a range of issues." Netanyahu declined to comment on his conversation with the president, and cancelled a briefing with the media he had scheduled for the next day. The prime minister departed for Paris on Tuesday morning without speaking to reporters. According to State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, special Middle East envoy George Mitchell is not planning to return to the region anytime soon to pressure either of the parties toward further talks. It is possible that Mitchell has decided to wait until after the PA elections on January 24, when the question of who is actually leading the Palestinian Authority may be clarified. Source: YNet
 US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defended the US stance toward Israeli settlement building to worried Arab allies on Wednesday, saying Washington does not accept the legitimacy of the West Bank enclaves and wants to see their construction halted "forever." Still, she said an Israeli offer to restrain - but not halt - construction represents "positive movement forward" toward resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Clinton met for an hour with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a hastily arranged stopover in the Egyptian capital to soothe Arab concerns that Washington is backing off demands for an Israeli settlement halt.
The fears were sparked on Saturday when Clinton, with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at her side in Jerusalem, praised his government's offer as unprecedented. She has since tried to clarify the remarks, saying that the Israeli offer does not got far enough.
Still, she has indicated that the Palestinians should resume negotiations with Israel without a full settlement halt as they demand. On Wednesday, Clinton insisted "our policy on settlement has not changed." "We do not accept the legitimacy of settlement activity. Ending all settlement activity current and future would be preferable," she told reporters after talks with Mubarak. Of the Israeli offer, she said, "It is not what we would prefer because we would like to see everything ended forever." "But it is something that I think shows at least a positive movement forward toward final status issues being addressed," she said. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is sticking to his refusal to resume negotiations until Israel stops building settlements. He rejected the Israeli plan to complete 3,000 housing units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and to continue to construct public buildings and other construction in east Jerusalem - a territory Palestinians hope will be their future capital. After Arab criticism of her comments in Jerusalem on the Israeli plan, Clinton delayed her return to Washington after attending an international conference in Marrakech, Morocco, and flew instead to Cairo. Read more here,,,, Source: JPost
 A halt on settlement construction in the West Bank is not a pre-condition for the resumption of talks between Israel and the Palestinians, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Saturday. "There has never been a pre-condition. It's always been an issue within the negotiations," Clinton said about the settlements. Speaking at a joint press conference ahead of her meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Clinton said that she was eager to see the sides embarking on talks, but added that a settlement freeze was not a pre-condition for negotiations. "I want to see both sides as soon as possible begin in negotiations," said Clinton. "Both president Obama and I are committed to a comprehensive peace agreement." "I think where we are right now is to try to get into negotiations. The prime minister will be able to present his government's proposal about what they are doing regarding settlements, which I think when fully explained will be seen as being not only unprecedented, but in response to many of the concerns that have been expressed," she said. Meanwhile, PM Netanyahu said that Israel is interested in progressing on the peace front vis-Ã -vis the Palestinians, and also in respect to regional peace. Israel is willing to embark on peace talks immediately, he said. Responding to Clinton's remarks, a Palestinian official said Israel must halt settlement building for peace talks to resume. Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said: "A settlement freeze and acknowledging the terms of reference is the only way towards peace negotiations." He added: "Settlement is illegitimate and it is not possible to accept any justification for the continuation of the settlement activity or to defend it in the lands occupied in 1967, including Jerusalem." The Palestinian Authority is aiming to prevent negotiations with Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman charged earlier Saturday in his meeting with Clinton. Lieberman especially criticized the Palestinians for presenting pre-conditions for the resumption of talks, noting that the PA did not make such stipulations in their dealings with the Olmert, Barak, and Sharon governments in recent years. The foreign minister also told Clinton that he recommended, in a talk with Netanyahu, not to embark on negotiations with the Palestinians as long as they continue their incitement over the Goldstone Report and insist on bringing the matter up with the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Earlier in the day, the top State Department official met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinians, however, rejected her request to resume talks with the Jewish State based on understandings reached between the US and Israel.
 Israel must display vision and seize the current window of opportunity to resume negotiations on a final peace treaty with the Palestinians before it closes, United Nations Middle East envoy Robert Serry said on Friday. US President Barack Obama took office in January and "from day one" made a Middle East peace deal a priority, Serry said. Despite hard going so far Obama is not giving up, and he has full European Union, Russian and United Nations backing. "I am pessimistic that another such opportunity would come anytime soon," the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told Reuters in an interview from his Jerusalem office. "The window is closing down ... we should not believe time is on our side." "The parties, deep down, know what it takes. They need the political will," the envoy said. "Frankly I don't see urgency on the Israeli side. I would like to see more commitment." "If Israel has a sense of urgency and finality it will live up to its commitments," Serry said. To those Israelis who believe the status quo is acceptable, he said: "I do not agree." It is obvious, Serry added, that there is no point in "talks for the sake of it". The negotiations must have "a credible political horizon", with two-state solution at the end. They must resume where they left off with the last Israeli government in late 2008, and not start from scratch while the new Israeli government continues to permit the building of settlements on occupied West Bank land, he said. Read more here,,,, Source: YNet
 Roni Sofer Russia has made it clear to Israel that it will oppose a Goldstone Report discussion at the United Nations Security Council or at the International Criminal Court in Hague, although its representatives voted in favor of adopting the report accusing the Jewish state of committing war crimes at the UN Human Rights Council, Foreign Ministry officials told Ynet on Sunday night.
The remarks were made in a meeting between Russian Ambassador to Israel Peter Stegney and a Foreign Ministry official. The ambassador relayed messages from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Ministry sources said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon on Saturday expressed his deep disappointment over Russia, India and China's vote in favor of adopting the report. Stegney noted that Russia had voted in favor of passing the report to the UN headquarters in New York "because it had no choice," and even blamed European Union countries.
According to the ambassador, the EU tried to ease the resolution's wording, but failed "due to the stance of Western countries." Stegney stressed that Russia believes Israel should investigate itself. "The most important thing is that the peace process won't suffer," the Russian ambassador said. State officials said that Stegney had slammed the Goldstone Report, saying that "it includes statements that do not relay on facts, but rather on subjective estimations." Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is expected to examine the messages conveyed by Moscow and decide how to act, in light of his attempts to reach an understanding with the Russians before the Geneva vote and his desire to improve Jerusalem's relations with Moscow.
Source: YNet
 Jordan's King Abdullah II warned Israel of "disastrous repercussions" if it crosses a "red line" on Jerusalem, in talks on Friday with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. "Jerusalem is a red line and any manipulation in this city would have disastrous repercussions on the security and stability of the region," he said, quoted in a palace statement. Abdullah urged the international community, especially the European Union, "to act firmly against any Israeli measures aimed at changing the identity of the Holy City of Jerusalem and threaten the places of worship." The fate of the Holy City, with sites sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims, is one of the most sensitive issues in the decades-old Middle East conflict. Israel captured east Jerusalem in 1967 and annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community. It considers the entire city to be its "eternal, indivisible" capital. The Palestinians want to make eastern Jerusalem the city the capital of their promised state.
They are angry over encroachment there by Jewish settlers while accusing the Israeli-run municipality of making it virtually impossible for them to get permits for new homes or extending existing ones. Zapatero was in Jordan on a regional tour aimed at advancing Middle East peace efforts that has taken him to the Palestinian territories, Israel and Syria. He travelled on to Lebanon. Source: YNet
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