- 24 apr 2010
White House to continue pressing for talks
Bethlehem/Ramallah - Ma'an - The White House is "probably not" expecting a breakthrough to US-backed proximity talks between Israel and Palestine as the American Middle East envoy George Mitchell finished his first day in the region on Friday.
Rather, White House spokesman JP Crowly told reporters, American interests are "trying to move the parties to a point where they agree to proximity talks and to begin to address the substance, the core issues of the process."
The spokesman was frank, and stated, "We know what we want to do. We know what they need to do," telling journalists that "I’ve said to you many times there’s only one path to a peace agreement, and that is through direct negotiation. We’re trying to move them in that direction, but we’re not there yet."
The Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, however, remains staunchly against talks as long as Israel continues building settlements in illegally occupied Palestinian areas. The settlements themselves are also illegal under international law.
Shortly before Mitchell's meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Friday, the envoy said he hoped talks could be "made a reality soon, not in a vague time in the distant future."
He added that a "comprehensive peace should not be just a dream but a reality in the region," and said "achieving this goal is in the interests of Israel and the Palestinians, the international community and Americans."
Mitchell said he would "tell President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad and the Palestinian leadership that the United States shares with them the belief in the necessity to establish an independent, viable, geographically contiguous Palestinian state where Palestinians live and practice their right to self determination."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=278897 6 jan 2012, 17:17 , Respect -
Maria 26 apr 2010
Report: Netanyahu didn't refuse to freeze settlements
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are scheduled to start by mid-May after President Mahmoud Abbas meets with US President Barack Obama, Israeli media reported Monday.
Media outlets reported on Monday that a secret agreement was made between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Obama over construction in Jerusalem. Upon that agreement, the Israelis agreed to start indirect negotiations, reports said.
According to the Israeli daily Maariv, both sides agreed to deny that there were any secret agreements if media outlets mentioned them. This is to protect Netanyahu’s coalition government and to go ahead with the peace process, according to Maariv. Maariv claims that Netanyahu’s response to the US demands was not negative as revealed to media, nor completely positive.
Netanyahu has not agreed to freeze settlement construction in East Jerusalem; his reply to the US demands was somewhere in the middle, according to Maariv. He pledged to reduce settlement construction and to avoid approving new bids. In other words, projects which are under construction will be completed and no new sites will be approved. The US and the Israeli government agreed that Netanyahu will continue deceiving the public by avoiding comments that affirm he will not freeze construction in Jerusalem.
The agreement, according to Maariv, came after two-day consultations between Netanyahu’s advisor Yitzhak Malco and the US National Security Council’s top Middle East expert Daniel Shapiro.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279538 6 jan 2012, 17:17 , Respect -
Maria 27 apr 2010
Arabs believe Obama too weak to make Mideast peace
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Arab world remains deeply skeptical of US President Barack Obama’s ability to achieve a Middle East peace settlement in an increasingly volatile region, according to a vote at the latest Doha Debates.
An audience of more than 300 at the Qatar-based Debates, the only forum of its kind in the Arab region dedicated to free speech, voted by 58 to 42 percent for the motion: “This House believes Barack Obama is too weak to make peace in the Middle East.”
Although the four speakers agreed that President Obama was well-intentioned toward the Middle East, they and the audience were sharply divided over his ability to secure a peace deal.
Philip Weiss, a US journalist and founder of a website focusing on Israeli-Palestinian issues, argued that Obama was seeking “to show even-handedness after decades of being Israel’s lawyer,” but said he feared America was not ready for such a change in emphasis.
He believed “a lack of political space” hampered proper discussion of the issue in the US, adding that “Obama’s a strong man, but he’s not strong enough to overcome these forces or to pull off a Middle East peace.”
Ahmad Moussalli, a professor at the American University of Beirut specializing in Islamic movements, joined Weiss in supporting the motion. He said Obama needed to ”change America’s image in the Arab world if he was to gain some leverage in the region.”
Asked what would constitute a demonstration of strength by Obama, Moussalli replied to sustained applause: “If he told Israel … [unless] you stop your occupation activities I’ll stop the financial aid I give you above the table and below the table.”
Roger Cohen, a New York Times columnist and former foreign correspondent, arguing against the motion, dismissed the notion that the president would use a cut in aid to place pressure on Israel. “It’s too sensitive and it certainly won’t happen in his first term. He’s serious [about getting a result] but he’s also a politician.”
Moussalli said Obama’s failure to deliver on his “get-tough” tactic of putting an end to Israel’s building of settlements on the occupied West Bank had resulted in renewed scepticism in the Arab world of Washington’s ability to impose its will on Israel.
Cohen argued that far from being weak, Obama had become an “expert in overcoming obstacles. It is going to be tough, but the realities of the Palestinians are changing. The president is determined to move forward step by step. The change is not going to come overnight.”
Sami Abu Roza, a political analyst who has worked as an adviser to the Palestinian President’s Office, praised Obama for “reframing the conflict to one about land and freedom for the Palestinian people.”
Speaking against the motion, Roza said that “by pinpointing the settlement freeze, the President had also pinpointed the problem of de-colonisation” that was at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279808 6 jan 2012, 17:17 , Respect -
Maria 29 apr 2010
Cosmetics company on settlement withdraws from West Bank
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Gush Shalom Settlement Boycott Team decided to remove the name of the cosmetics company Intercosma from its list of settlement products, following confirmation that the company finally left the Atarot Industrial Zone on the West Bank.
"We oppose all settlements in the Occupied Territories and all industries facilitating these settlements' growth, which are a violation of International Law as well as a major obstacle to peace with the Palestinians," said Adam Keller, Gush Shalom spokesman. "We are in particular opposed to the Atarot Industrial Zone, whose main purpose is to drive a wedge between the Palestinians in Ramallah and those in East Jerusalem."
When Gush Shalom started compiling its boycott list some 15 years ago, Intercosma had both its manufacturing plant and its management in a 3,700 square-meter structure at Atarot, and it was put on the blacklist of companies whose products Gush Shalom calls upon consumers in Israel and worldwide to avoid.
At the beginning of the Second intifada in 2001, when the Atarot area became a virtual battleground, the company moved the factory to Beit Shemesh and then to Ashdod. It did, however, keep possession of the Atarot structure and established there "a distribution center", so Gush Shalom maintained the boycott campaign against the company.
Last year, however, Intercosma finally closed down the distribution center and sold the Atarot building.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=280229 6 jan 2012, 17:17 , Respect -
Maria 30 apr 2010
Letter spells out US assurances
Bethlehem – Ma'an – The Obama administration's private assurances encouraging the Palestinians to join indirect negotiations with Israel came in writing, Ma'an has learned.
In a letter delivered by Mideast envoy George Mitchell, Obama informed President Abbas of the US stance on the peace process – including its rejection of Israel's settlement enterprise.
A top PLO official confirmed the letter's existence a day after The Guardian of Britain reported that the Americans had presented an offer to allow the UN to condemn any significant Israeli settlement activity. The US has historically used its veto to thwart international resolutions concerning Israel's conduct.
Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat refused to disclose details of the letter, but said that the message "clarified the US stance on the peace process and Israel's intransigence on the issue of settlements."
Erekat added that it was "too early to discuss the issue in detail," before the Arab League meeting on Saturday in Cairo as well as PLO talks scheduled for Ramallah next week, "when we'll make a decision."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the peace process should get back on track next week.
"Ultimately, we want to see the parties in direct negotiations and working out all the difficult issues that they must," Clinton told reporters in Washington after meeting with Kuwait's foreign minister on Friday.
"The Middle East will never realize its full potential, Israel will never be truly secure, the Palestinians will never have their legitimate aspiration for a state unless we create the circumstances in which positive negotiations can occur," Clinton was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=280771 6 jan 2012, 17:17 , Respect -
Maria 1 mei 2010
Sha'ath says no date set to begin peace talks
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Despite US officials' remarks that proximity talks would begin next week, Fatah central committee member Nabil Sha'ath said there had been "no appointment or dates" scheduled for the talks.
US envoy George Mitchell "has a lot to do to curb the Israelis' stubborn stance toward resuming the peace process," Sha'ath said. Basically all that Mitchell did was attempt to reach an agreement with the Israelis on disputed issues. But did the Israelis agree? We do not know."
"I'll put it frankly: there will be no progress so long as there is the extremist Israeli government headed by that man, [Benjamin] Netanyahu," the official added. "If Israel stopped settlements in Jerusalem, the negotiations would resume."
Concerning the coming government reshuffle and reports that Fatah will try to seize several ministries, Sha'ath confirmed that "Actually, Fatah is demanding key ministries, but these discussions await President Abbas' return from China in six days."
In regard to de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's recent remarks that a Fatah delegation would soon visit the Gaza Strip, Sha'ath said that there was "no appointment or plan for any Fatah delegation to go to Gaza, but visits are ongoing and contact has not been severed.
"Concerning the issue of conciliation, however, there is nothing new. Hamas is still refusing to ratify the proposal."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=280775 6 jan 2012, 17:17 , Respect -
Maria 3 mei 2010
Netanyahu wants secret talks; PLO demands parameters
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli and Palestinian negotiators began to rally their negotiations teams Sunday, with US-mediated peace talks set to begin Monday via "discrete channels," Israeli press reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his advisers that he intends to open the talks in person, and according to news reports asked to be briefed on an “eight point” plan set out by the administration of former Israeli Minister Ehud Olmert, particularly around final-status issues.
Hebrew news website Inyan Merkazi said Netanyahu gave directives to keep the proximity talks secret, with zero information about progress handed out to media until agreements are made, saying media interference could hinder progress.
Palestinian officials continue to be wary of the talks, with PLO officials warning against them and calling for an emergency Central Council meeting on Monday to set parameters for the talks.
Israel’s daily newspaper Haaretz said diplomats advised the Netanyahu government that Palestinian negotiators will likely open the talks with final status issues, including borders for a Palestinian state, the right of return for Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem.
Countering the expected Palestinian strategy, Israeli news reports said Monday, Israeli negotiators may divert attention to security arrangements in the West Bank and water resources, both currently controlled by Israeli forces.
On Sunday afternoon, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said he hoped negotiators would include a request to cancel the Palestinian Authority decision to ban the purchase or sale of goods produced in illegal West Bank settlements. He said he hoped the request would come early in the talks, Israeli media reported, but said it would not be a central issue to the continuation of discussions.
The talks, suddenly aborted in March, resumed after Palestinian officials were reportedly given assurances by American officials that Israel would stop settlement construction in the West Bank including East Jerusalem. The assurances were enough to urge negotiators and the Arab League to okay a re-starting of talks, but other Palestinian officials remain unconvinced.
PLO officials said the Arab League was not a strong enough guarantor for talks given the weakness of the Palestinian position without real assurances from Israel or the US.
Putting ducks in a row
Ahead of the talks Netanyahu met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the resort town of Sharm Ash-Sheikh on Monday, which media sources described as a "constructive" hour and a half long discussion, which focused on resumption of peace talks, advisers said.
The meeting came as Palestinians prepared convene in Ramallah to set parameters for talks under the auspices of a PLO meeting. Statements were expected following the regular Monday cabinet meeting under Abbas.
US Special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell is expected to arrive in the region on Monday to start indirect talks, though his schedule has not yet been announced.
Preliminary speculation said Mitchell would meet with Netanyahu on Wednesday and Abbas later in the week.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=281287 6 jan 2012, 17:18 , Respect -
Maria 5 mei 2010
Israel: PLO delaying talks 'for no real reason'
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - Israeli officials expressed disappointment Tuesday that the Palestinians had not yet announced their agreement to begin proximity talks.
An Israeli official quoted by the Israeli daily Haaretz on Wednesday said the PLO was delaying the announcement "for no real reason."
A senior Israeli source told the newspaper that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his team made all the necessary preparations to restart talks, and had hoped to begin Wednesday.
“We hope we will be able to start the proximity talks soon, and that the Palestinians will not use delay and avoidance tactics,” the government source reportedly told the Tel Aviv-based publication. “Prime Minister Netanyahu has warned for a whole year against wasting time, and has repeatedly called on the Palestinian Authority leadership to renew the peace process without delay.”
A source in the US administration told the newspaper that at this point it appeared the Palestinian announcement would come only on Saturday, after a meeting of the PLO Executive Committee.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expects the peace process to get back on track this week.
The Obama administration has offered private assurances encouraging the Palestinians to join talks. In a recent letter delivered by Mideast envoy George Mitchell, US President Barack Obama informed President Mahmoud Abbas of the Americans' stance on negotiations – including its rejection of Israel's settlements, Ma'an has learned.
Abbas said he would enter talks on the condition that the Arab League and PLO approved.
Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat last week refused to disclose details of the letter, but said that the message "clarified the US stance on the peace process and Israel's intransigence on the issue of settlements."
Erekat added that it was "too early to discuss the issue in detail," before the Arab League meeting in Cairo, as well as the PLO talks scheduled for Ramallah "when we'll make a decision."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=281898 6 jan 2012, 17:18 , Respect -
Maria 7 mei 2010
PA: Mitchell will not get answers Friday
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Special US Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell will "not get any answers from the Palestinian leadership" when he meets with President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh said.
In a Thursday statement, the spokesman said Mitchell would have to wait until the PLO Executive Committee met on Saturday for an answer as to the conditions under which Palestinian negotiators would proceed with talks.
Abu Rudaineh said Mitchell would sit with Abbas Saturday night or Sunday morning to hear his official stance on the talks.
During the Saturday Executive Committee meeting, Abbas is expected to show officials a letter Abu Rudeineh said he received from US President Barack Obama, pledging to establish a Palestinian state.
Mitchell met with Israeli leaders on Thursday following his arrival in the region, in the latest attempt at launching proximity talks leading to a peace deal with Israel.
Controversy remains, however, around the alleged securing of an Israeli promise to halt settlement construction in the West Bank including East Jerusalem for the duration of the talks.
Leftist parties condemned the return to talks, calling Arab League support and a vague media promise around settlements shaky ground to place the future of the Palestinian national project.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=282447 6 jan 2012, 17:18 , Respect -
Maria 9 mei 2010
White House: Talks serious and wide-ranging
Bethlehem - Ma'an - A White House statement announced the conclusion of the first round of proximity talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on Sunday, as US Special Envoy George Mitchell left the region on Sunday.
The statement described the talks as "serious and wide-ranging," noting "both parties are taking some steps to help create an atmosphere that is conducive to successful talks."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the statement, made a statement that there would be "no construction at the Ramat Shlomo project for two years." The settlement, in occupied East Jerusalem, is one of approximately 21 settlements in the Palestinian municipality of Jerusalem.
On the same day, the Israeli peace group Peace Now announced that construction was already underway on a not-yet okayed settlement in the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras Al-Amud .
The White House statement said President Mahmoud Abbas had promised to work against incitement of any sort.
"We have received commitments from both sides, and we have made assurances to both sides, that are enabling us to move forward. The full scope of these discussions will remain private," the statement said, adding that sides who "seriously undermine trust," will be held accountable.
The statement came as some PLO factions in Gaza urged Palestinians to rally under the organization's umbrella, and embrace it as the sole representative of the Palestinian people, while the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also a PLO member, slammed the proximity talks calling them outside the Palestinian national interest.
The body only gave its official support for the proximity talks on Saturday, several days into the start of the process by Mitchell.
The envoy will return to the region in a week to continue talks, the White House said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=283014 6 jan 2012, 17:18 , Respect -
Maria 11 mei 2010
EU welcomes talks, urges 'refrain from provocation'
Bethlehem - Ma'an - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton welcomed proximity talks and stressed that they should "lead as soon as possible to the resumption of direct bilateral negotiations," in a statement released on Monday night.
Speaking on behalf of the EU, Ashton reconfirmed support for US mediation, noting regional peace would have to include Syria and Lebanon, and promised to "remain actively involved," in the process.
Ashton reiterated the 24-month timeframe for talks specified by the Quartet, within which partners would be expected to "resolve all final status issues and lead to the two-state solution," the statement noted.
She reiterated warnings posed by the US, calling on "the parties and on all regional and international actors to support this political process, including through confidence building measures, and to refrain from any provocation or unilateral measure that could jeopardize it."
Already, however, Israeli settlement construction has threatened the proximity talks, derailed in March when Israeli officials announced the construction of 1,600 settlement homes in Ramat Shlomo, an illegal settlement in occupied East Jerusalem.
Palestinian negotiations officials said promises had been secured by the US around an Israeli halt to construction, while the White House outlined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's promise to halt building in Ramat Shlomo, with no mention of the other 20 settlements in the illegally annexed area.
Word of continued settlement construction in the West Bank emerged on Monday, with Israeli Civil Administration officials stating that permission for the building had been given on the day the West Bank settlement freeze was put in place.
Speaking after the weekly Ramallah-based cabinet meeting, President Mahmoud Abbas demanded answers for the Jerusalem building, and intimated that Israel was not a peace partner, asking the international community not to be surprised if Palestine was declared independently.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=283417 6 jan 2012, 17:18 , Respect -
Maria 12 mei 2010
Israel plans Jerusalem expansion over Green Line
Ramallah – Ma'an – Plans for Israel's expansion of Jerusalem's borders were revealed on Wednesday, which include a 12,000 housing unit complex on land belonging to the West Bank village of Al-Walaja, south of Jerusalem, The Islamic Christian Commission for Support of Jerusalem and the holy Places (ICC) said.
ICC Secretary-General Hasan Khatir said during a news conference that the new settlement would be called Giv'at Ya'el, and house approximately 45,000 Israelis, with plans laid for a large park.
Khatir added that the project would "foster the enclosure of Jerusalem from the south," lay the foundation for the appropriation of land between Jerusalem and Gush Etzion, and consolidate the illegal southern settlements of Har Homa (Abu Ghneim), Gilo and the smaller Har Gilo settlement in Beit Jala, Bethlehem governorate.
"While Israeli authorities refuse to allow the Palestinian residents of Al-Walaja to extend their building area and suppress anti-settlement demonstrations, they try to blackmail the residents through threatening to demolish their homes claiming they are built without permits," Khatir said.
He said Israeli authorities threatened to demolish 95 houses in Al-Walaja, telling residents that the demolition would be stayed if they complied with Israeli construction in the area.
Israel claims that two brothers, Dani and Beni Cohen, bought 2,500 dunums of land in Al-Walaja 20 years prior, Khatir said, adding "Israel has always used such claims to justify the appropriation of Palestinian lands."
"The new Israeli plan is a dangerous development toward settlement construction and judaization of Jerusalem," the ICC secretary-general added.
Al-Walaja lies east of the 1967 armistice line, inside the occupied West Bank. In January, Israeli bulldozers entered the neighboring town of Beit Jala to complete construction of the separation wall in the area.
In April, Israeli bulldozers razed lands near the eastern entrance of Al-Walaja as preparations continued for the construction of the separation wall south of Jerusalem, and a curfew imposed upon residents.
The latest settlement plan follows a string of defiant construction, breaching Israel's 10-month settlement freeze in the West Bank.
One Palestinian lawyer told Ma'an "the plans in Al-Walaja fall in line with the expansion of the illegal Ma'ale Adumim settlement in East Jerusalem, which forms part of Israel's attempt at establishing a 'Greater Jerusalem' by expanding its municipal borders in contravention of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=283803 6 jan 2012, 17:18 , Respect -
Maria 13 mei 2010
Israeli FM says US 'misunderstood' plans for J'lem settlements
Bethlehem - Ma’an - Enumerating what he called Palestinians “slap in the face” following “countless gestures” by Israel, the nation’s Foreign Minister said the Palestinian president asked that forces press harder in Gaza to overthrow Hamas.
“Abbas himself called and asked us, pressured us to continue the military campaign and overthrow Hamas,” Avigdor Lieberman told Haaretz in a report published on Thursday.
The comments came amidst a growing list of what some analysts say are Israeli violations of the terms set out by the Barack Obama administration in Washington when the nation’s mediators brought Palestinian and Israeli officials back into proximity talks.
Lieberman called the removal of roadblocks and a partial short-term settlement construction freeze in the West Bank “dramatic” actions in support of proximity talks, then challenged recent Palestinian and international efforts to have Israel held to account for allegations of war crimes.
“They keep going on with their stories about war crimes during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza,” he told the Israeli newspaper, adding accusations that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had in fact asked Israel to push harder during their 2008-9 war on Gaza, and overthrow the de facto government in the Strip.
Lieberman called international efforts to prevent Israel from acceding into the OECD “sabotage” and backed statements from Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch made on Wednesday, saying Israel would resume the demolition of Palestinian homes declared illegal in Jerusalem.
Palestinian officials say they agreed to enter into proximity talks after receiving secret assurances from the United States that Israel would halt settlement construction in occupied East Jerusalem, though Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) publically announced that no such guarantees had ever been offered.
When asked about the issue during the Haaretz interview, Lieberman said American officials likely misunderstood Israeli intentions.
“I think this is simply a misunderstanding. We aren't being contrary with anyone, including the Americans. We're not being contrary and we won't accept any dictates. The ordinary processes of life go on and we're not going to interrupt them,” he told the paper.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=284066 6 jan 2012, 17:18 , Respect -
Maria 13 mei 2010
PFLP chief urges Abbas to cancel talks
Bethlehem – Ma'an – The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's leadership is urging President Mahmoud Abbas to reverse his "miserable decision" to return to peace talks with Israel.
"Israel's leadership has proven in action and word that they will not stop settlements or abide by international legitimacy," secretary-general Abed Al-Rahim Mallouh said in a statement.
"The US administration has done nothing. It has not fulfilled the guarantees that were declared by its envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, the first of which was to halt settlements," he added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=284160 6 jan 2012, 17:18 , Respect -
Maria 15 mei 2010
US funds Israel’s 'apartheid' roads plan
By Jonathan Cook
Jerusalem - The construction of sections of a controversial segregated road network in the West Bank planned by Israel for Palestinians -- leaving the main roads for exclusive use by settlers -- is being financed by a US government aid agency, a map prepared by Palestinian researchers has revealed.
USAid, which funds development projects in Palestinian areas, is reported to have helped to build 114 kilometers of Israeli-proposed roads, despite a pledge from Washington six years ago that it would not assist in implementing what has been widely described as Israel’s “apartheid road” plan.
To date the agency has paid for the construction of nearly a quarter of the segregated road network put forward by Israel in 2004, said the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ).
The roads are designed to provide alternative routes to connect Palestinian communities, often by upgrading circuitous dirt tracks or by building tunnels under existing routes.
Meanwhile, according to human rights groups, Israel has reserved an increasing number of main roads in the West Bank for Israelis so that Jewish settlers can drive more easily and quickly into Israel, making their illegal communities more attractive places to live.
The US agency’s involvement in building a segregated West Bank road infrastructure would run counter to Washington’s oft-stated goal, including as it launched “proximity talks” last week, to establish a viable Palestinian state with territorial contiguity.
“The displacement of Palestinians from the West Bank’s main roads improves the appeal of the settlements by better integrating them into Israel,” said Suheil Khalilieh, the head of settlement monitoring at ARIJ. “Conversely, creating an inferior, alternative network of local roads makes travel between the main regions of the West Bank difficult and time-consuming for Palestinians.”
Israel proposed the creation of two separate road systems in 2004, after many of the West Bank’s main roads had been sealed off to Palestinians following the outbreak of the second intifada.
Ariel Sharon, the then-prime minister, argued that segregated infrastructure would create “contiguity of transportation” for Palestinians and help to alleviate economic hardship resulting from hundreds of roadblocks and checkpoints that restrict Palestinian movement.
The international community was asked to finance 500 kilometers of roads for the Palestinians, later termed “fabric of life” roads, including upgrading agricultural tracks and constructing many underpasses and bridges, at a cost of 200 million US dollars.
The Palestinian Authority, however, objected, saying the plan would further entrench the illegal settlements in the West Bank and justify confiscating yet more Palestinian land for the new roads.
That position was backed by international donors, including the US, which declared it would not finance any road projects against the PA’s will.
Despite the US promise, however, a map of the West Bank recently published by ARIJ shows that 23 per cent of the “alternative” road network Israel proposed has been built with USAid money.
Many of these roads are located in so-called Areas B and C, more than 80 per cent of the West Bank that was assigned to Israeli security control by the Oslo accords. Israel oversees all road projects in these areas.
Khalilieh said the PA was being effectively bullied into conceding the road infrastructure wanted by Israel.
“What happens is that USAid presents a package deal of donations for infrastructure projects in the West Bank and the Palestinians are faced with a choice of take it or leave it. That way the PA is cornered into accepting roads it does not want.”
He said some roads were also being approved because of a lack of oversight by the PA. An inter-ministerial committee to vet proposed roads to ensure they did not contribute to the Israeli plan had been inactive since 2006, he said, following the split between Fatah and Hamas in the Palestinian elections.
After PA officials were presented with ARIJ’s map, Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, issued a statement last weekend denying that the PA had contributed to the Israeli-proposed road network.
However, in a sign that such reassurances were unlikely to dampen concerns, he reconvened the inter-ministerial committee to conduct field vists to check on road projects that had been carried out or were in progress.
Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian government spokesman and a former planning minister, said the PA was taking the issue “very seriously” and was doing everything possible to resist the emergence of an “apartheid system” in the West Bank.
He added that, if roads were being built that served the settlers’ interests, “that is not supposed to happen”.
According to USAid’s figures, it has financed 235 kilometers of roads in the West Bank in the past decade, and is preparing to add another 120 kilometers by the end of this year.
Critics add that in some cases the upgrading by USAid of minor roads, even those not included in the Israeli plan, has worked to the same end of keeping Palestinians off the West Bank’s main highways.
USAid officials were unavailable for comment.
Among roads for Palestinians funded by USAid are several projects south of Bethlehem that appear to be providing an “alternative” to Road 60, a busy highway that has traditionally linked Jerusalem with the Palestinian cities of Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern West Bank.
Israel has increasingly restricted Palestinian access to Road 60 because it also serves as a fast direct route for Jewish settlers in the Gush Etzion bloc driving to and from Jerusalem.
As a result, residents of several nearby Palestinian villages, including Batir, Wadi Fukin, al Walaja and Husan, have been forced off Road 60 and on to USAid-funded side roads and underpasses to connect them to Bethlehem and other neighboring communities.
Sarit Michaeli, a spokeswoman for B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, said 170 kilometers of roads in the West Bank were either off-limits to Palestinians or highly restricted, creating what the organization has called “forbidden roads”.
B’Tselem noted that, after the 2004 scheme for complete separation was rejected by donors, Israel adapted the plan, using bridges, tunnels and interchanges to create partial separation, with Israelis “traveling on the fast upper levels, and Palestinians on the lower levels”. It concluded: “The plan allows Palestinian vehicles to travel on only 20 per cent of the [West Bank] roads on which Israeli vehicles travel.”
Michaeli added that the growing dependence of Palestinian traffic on underpasses meant that Israel was in a position to control or even sever connections between Palestinian areas with only one military jeep.
Ingrid Jaradat Gassner, the director of BADIL, a Bethlehem-based organization that has lobbied against road segregation in the southern West Bank, said there was considerable domestic and international pressure on the PA to agree to roads dictated by Israel, if only because they often eased the existing restrictions on Palestinian movement.
“Sadly, the PA is helping to build its own Bantustans,” she said. “Palestinian towns and villages connected by back roads and tunnels while the settlers control the main highways is what the US appears to mean when it talks about a viable Palestinian state.”
Jonathan Cook is a writer and journalist based in Nazareth, Israel. His latest books are “Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East” (Pluto Press) and “Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair” (Zed Books). His website is www.jkcook.net. A version of this article originally appeared in The National (www.thenational.ae), published in Abu Dhabi.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=284469.