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Israel will establish borders in 4 years: Olmert

2006-03-10 18:26:21

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"whereby we will completely separate from the majority of the Palestinian population and preserve a large and stable Jewish majority in Israel,"

It couldn't be any more clear that Israel's agenda is to kick out all Arabs and non-Jews from their country while Palestine gives people of other faiths the same rights and doesn't take their land.

Israel would develop the corridor between Jerusalem and its largest settlement, Maaleh Adumim, says the Jerusalem Post.

Any peace deal I thought was supposed to allow Palestinians access to East Jerusalem as their capital although Israel has maintained they will never agree to this. I wonder why no news outlet is drawing maps so we can see how Israel is isolating Palestinian settlements and stealing more land each day........

Olmert said he still hopes for a negotiated peace deal and would give the incoming Hamas government "a reasonable amount of time" to recognize Israel's right to exist and renounce violence.

Once again I'm seeing a double standard. The funny thing here is that Israel has never recognized the existence of Palestine, the right of return of refugees they forced out and their agenda has always been to completely taken over Palestine and seize as much land as possible. I do not agree with violence but who are they kidding here? Israel as a country has used terror and violence against even civilians and children and they have always used violence as a first resort and always find excuses to stop negotations based on conditions that they know will never be met. Hamas has actually been the one group to largely obey the truce for the past few years except in some exceptions after Israel has attacked their members or civilians which is not different from the Israeli policy of harsh and brutal retaliation. If Israel (and others) refuses to recognize a democratically elected party then how hypocritical of the world to complain about the lack of democracy in the Middle East and then be furious because the party that won, fair and square is not the one they like. If this is the case the world should refuse to recognize the US and list them as a terrorist organization based on their actions, and the same for Israel if we apply the same standards that the world applies to Palestine.

Full Article:

Israel will establish borders in 4 years: Olmert

Last Updated Fri, 10 Mar 2006 11:35:40 EST

CBC News

Israel will set its own permanent borders within the next four years in the absence of a negotiated settlement, Israel's acting prime minister said in a published interview Friday.

INDEPTH: Middle East

Israel's acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert (AP file Photo)

Ehud Olmert, whose ruling centrist Kadima party is the front-runner going into the March 28 elections, made the comments to the Jerusalem Post.

Israel will establish permanent borders within four years, "whereby we will completely separate from the majority of the Palestinian population and preserve a large and stable Jewish majority in Israel," he told the Post.

Israel would develop the corridor between Jerusalem and its largest settlement, Maaleh Adumim, says the Jerusalem Post.

Olmert didn't provide specifics, but did tell the newspaper that his plans also included the Ariel settlement and the Jordan River, the area along the border with Jordan.

Under U.S. pressure, Israel had earlier frozen plans to link Jerusalem to Maaleh Adumim, and Washington has been cool to Israeli claims on Ariel, located deep within the West Bank.

Israel's security fence will "in certain places move east, and in other places west," Olmert said in the interview.

Palestinians say linking Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim would disrupt their plans to make East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state by cutting it off from the West Bank.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat urged Olmert to focus on restarting talks, while Hamas legislator Mahmoud Zahar rejected Olmert's plan.

Olmert took power on an interim basis when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had a stroke in early January. Sharon remains in hospital in a coma.

Olmert said he still hopes for a negotiated peace deal and would give the incoming Hamas government "a reasonable amount of time" to recognize Israel's right to exist and renounce violence.

Hamas, which won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January, has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks within Israel. The group, which is expected to form the Palestinian government in April, has continued to reject international calls to change its ways.

Washington favours a negotiated settlement and backs a set of conditions laid out by the so-called Mideast Quartet: the U.S., the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.

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